ice auger

[jriggs10]

What is a good affordable ice auger?

[FishingFrenzy]

Power or hand?

[jriggs10]

power

[ak-71]

Brand wise for quality vs. $ - I would look at Eskimo, from a lot of reading this summer.
I went with z71, but it is the most expensive they have, Maco and z51 seems to get good reviews too. Not the lightes augers, but seem to be solid

[FishingFrenzy]

Originally Posted by ak-71

Brand wise for quality vs. $ - I would look at Eskimo, from a lot of reading this summer.
I went with z71, but it is the most expensive they have, Maco and z51 seems to get good reviews too. Not the lightes augers, but seem to be solid

X2, Just have to add, last year i bought a Jiffy White Lightning, POS. It was probably a lemon but the thing would NOT start in the cold, tried everything, got it warrentied at the lawnmower hospital, finally returned the damn thing. Im going to buy an eskimo shark Z51 tomorrow. Hope they have it in stock!

[JohnnyD]

Watch for ice augers at costco. Usually $299 for the Mako 43cc, and its a great unit

[Guitarplayingfish]

I bought an 8" eskimo last year (wish I could have gone bigger but I couldnt afford it), its done the job pretty good. It's fairly heavy but its been a reliable machine so far so Im happy with the purchase.

[Kim473]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

Watch for ice augers at costco. Usually $299 for the Mako 43cc, and its a great unit

Don't think costco will have the mako this year. They have a differant one on there web site that is green in color. $329

[cribfisher]

I'm pretty sure that is the mako, just sold under a diferent name. the fishing hole has the same auger sold as a rapela for the same price. they both have the viper engine and the exact same specs as the mako. at 329 its a great deal as cabelas sells the mako for 360.

[Kim473]

Eskimo changing color tho? Green??

[FishingFrenzy]

Originally Posted by Kim473

Eskimo changing color tho? Green??

This is branded "Tempast", either made by Eskimo for another company or an eskimo knockoff, eitherway I wont be buying it.

I can see having trouble getting parts/might need different parts from a mako/etc.

[lifesagarden]

IMO find an older used one if you want to aviod all these POS's. Have had both eskimo and Jiffy with the plastic and while they both worked great for a yr they both got replaced by my older heavier White lightning. That being said how often you go out and how you go about getting there also makes a difference. Not gonna lie, I am not easy on my ice augers. That being said my vote for the Older used White lightning

[noslack]

I bought the Jiffy STX Pro 10" couple years ago while living in Slave Lake.

As far as starting it in cold temps....well Slave Lake was pretty chilly and the auger would start no problem. Ok maybe couple more pulls on the cold days but it always started without issue.

Sure the beast weighs a bit, at 54 lbs. But it punches quick big holes in no time. The unit is well balanced.

Alot of people have said that the auger is a POS, that the gears are made of plastic...they were just bashing it. Well, there was a great review done by a member of an ice fishing board, and it was very accurate and it had pictures to debunk the plastic gears.

It's a great auger and it works great for me.

Get something in your price range and check up reviews on the ice fishing forums out there and go look at it in the store just don't buy the first one you see.


Stay safe on the ice!!

[npauls]

Take a look at the strikemaster mag. series.

I bought the mag 2000 a few years ago from Wholesale because it was on for dirt cheap. It is a pretty light rig and I haven't had any problem with it. It doesn't cut holes as fast as some but I punch hundreds of holes a season without a problem.

My buddy bought the 4 stroke strikemaster last season and that thing cuts really fast and is as quiet as they get. From the feel of it mine and his weigh pretty much the same weight and he has the ultra light plastic auger system.