Ice auger

[Altaboy]

I'll be needing a new auger this year. I've seen adds for the propane fueled Eskimo auger. Are they any good or should a guy go electric?

[yoteblaster]

I retired my 24 year old Eskimo last year and went electric. LOVE it. No gas, no fumes, lightweight. Have never run out of battery power yet while out fishing. Would definitely recommend electric

[PerchBuster]

X2.....picked up an ION X this fall and will never go back to fuel. No park plugs to change out, no spilling fuel, don't have to carry around a gas can, no pulling your guts out to get started, no flooding issues, no carb rebuilds or pull cord breakage, no fumes in your fish shack, super stealthy quiet, instantaneous start and the reverse feature is awesome for flushing the chips back down the hole. 21 lbs and a kid could operate it. Even has a light that comes on when started so you can see what you're doing inside your shack when drilling holes. Has a quick disconnect for another $50 that makes it a snap to remove auger from power head which makes it very nice and compact for packing your sled up and can use it to drive in your ice anchors. It's the only way to go in my opinion, why continue to buy propane or gas and oil. No brainer to my way of thinking. Good luck! For what it's worth the Strikemaster 50V drills faster holes but lacks a lot of the great features above like reverse.

[Stubb]

x3 had my Ion for a few years now and love it. Wouldn't buy anything else.

[calgarygringo]

Take a look at other things out there they are all focusing on battery power. Walk through the tool dept. in the store and you can see where that is going and fishing tools are the same.
Ion with their new battery, Strikemaster, drill attachment augers are all making waves. As battery technology gets better I bet you won't see nearly as many fuel augers sold.
I have been looking at the Kdrill myself. I already have the big drill and from what I have seen it works really well. The reverse is really nice for cleaning holes and with the Kdrill they make it easy to drill several holes side by side or open old holes. This would allow a smaller auger but flexibility to make your hole larger. This is tougher to do with one of the gas propane unit and some they don't recommend. For you guys with shacks the no fumes is great too or set your tent up and drill inside after setting up. Most of your slush goes back down the hole and no fumes.
I have a 10" Eskimo now and love it but the less weight and size when hauling my sled out by hand would be real nice. As battery technology gets better I would bet they will sell as many or more electric than gas.

[astepanuk]

I purchased my ION last year and would never go back I did buy a spare battery as I like to hit remote makes. Both battery's are stored in a ION insulated bag if it's really cold out i throw in a few hand warmers. Enjoy you won't regret

[Iceman80]

ION hands down. You'll pay a bit more but well worth it.

[SamSteele]

Just to chime in to the chorus here, I have a Strikemaster Mag 2000 that still runs great but I would love to go with a new ION for ease of maintenance, no fuel smell, and lighter. Plus it would be easier for the kid to use.

SS

[neilsledder]

I to am looking at a new auger but am not ready to buy a battery operated one! Everything battery I own it's dead when I want to use it lol. My memory sucks to bad for them. I am looking at a 10" Eskimo. Of course I want the Z71 but like the price of the 10" mako by Eskimo. Anybody here have experience with the mako?


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[RavYak]

If you want to go electric and have an extra battery you can save a bit of money by getting the regular Ion and then picking up the Ion X battery as a spare. Where the electric really shines is for guys like myself that use an SUV and hate when their vehicle starts to smell like gas or propane...

If you want a 10 inch hole I would go with the Eskimo Propane or a gas auger though. You can get a 10 inch bit for the ion but you have to buy it separately and it will reduce your number of holes significantly(10 inch holes cut 50% more material then an 8 inch hole). The Eskimo propane has tons of power and cuts easily with a 10 inch bit.

I use a Mako 8 inch and it cuts good and a Mako 10 inch would probably be good in most ice conditions but if I was going to get a dedicated 10 inch auger I would jump up to the 51 cc shark which does have noticeably more torque.

[PerchBuster]

[QUOTE=neilsledder;3418476]I to am looking at a new auger but am not ready to buy a battery operated one! Everything battery I own it's dead when I want to use it lol. My memory sucks to bad for them. I am looking at a 10" Eskimo. Of course I want the Z71 but like the price of the 10" mako by Eskimo. Anybody here have experience with the mako?


I keep an inverter in my truck along with the charging unit just in case. This way I can charge up my camera, auger, cordless drill, iPhone etc should anything run low or I forget to charge overnight prior to fishing

[Stubb]

[QUOTE=PerchBuster;3418599]

Originally Posted by neilsledder

I to am looking at a new auger but am not ready to buy a battery operated one! Everything battery I own it's dead when I want to use it lol. My memory sucks to bad for them. I am looking at a 10" Eskimo. Of course I want the Z71 but like the price of the 10" mako by Eskimo. Anybody here have experience with the mako?


I keep an inverter in my truck along with the charging unit just in case. This way I can charge up my camera, auger, cordless drill, iPhone etc should anything run low or I forget to charge overnight prior to fishing

I think of it like it's just as easy to forget to throw the gas can in the truck.
For me, sonar, camera, light/fan, auger batteries all need to be charged so I just make a habit of plugging them all in the night before. If I forget one I forget them all sort of thing.

[astepanuk]

Before I bought my Ion I cheaper out and bought an Eskimo auger can't remember the model got it running so the next morning we headed out 2 hrs to my favourite perch spot. First pull with the new auger pulled the cord out of the auger through the POS in my truck went right back to crappy tire and bought an ION from AO and never looked back.

[neilsledder]

[QUOTE=Stubb;3418718]

Originally Posted by PerchBuster

I think of it like it's just as easy to forget to throw the gas can in the truck.

For me, sonar, camera, light/fan, auger batteries all need to be charged so I just make a habit of plugging them all in the night before. If I forget one I forget them all sort of thing.

Yah but I can stop at any rode side gas station get a gas can and gas and be on my way. And I do lots of sxs in trips for a few days at a time would be worried if running out of batteries! The Eskimo Z71 is on sale at cabelas right now! So that being said I am going to drill my first hole with it in a hour or so lol.


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[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

A friend has an ion,works good but the battery is weak after 2 yrs,he also drilled a hole half way through to leave it standing instead of layin down,he couldn't get it back out because it didnt have enough power to drill all the way through to get it out.After chopping the ice for half an hour he finally got it out but it was damaged beyond repair.He has to buy a new auger and possibly a battery.I had my jiffy model 30 for 10-12 yrs,beat the hell out of it ,drilled hundreds of holes,it stinks,its loud and it won't die!!!!!

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by FISHBATTEREDBEER

A friend has an ion,works good but the battery is weak after 2 yrs,he also drilled a hole half way through to leave it standing instead of layin down,he couldn't get it back out because it didnt have enough power to drill all the way through to get it out.After chopping the ice for half an hour he finally got it out but it was damaged beyond repair.He has to buy a new auger and possibly a battery.I had my jiffy model 30 for 10-12 yrs,beat the hell out of it ,drilled hundreds of holes,it stinks,its loud and it won't die!!!!!

Leaving an auger standing in the ice is a bad idea no matter what type of auger you have. If the ice cracks water seeps up then freezes and even the strongest gas augers won't have enough power to break free and usually guys end up damaging something trying to get them out.

[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

Originally Posted by RavYak

Leaving an auger standing in the ice is a bad idea no matter what type of auger you have. If the ice cracks water seeps up then freezes and even the strongest gas augers won't have enough power to break free and usually guys end up damaging something trying to get them out.

I've been doing this for 20 yrs,no prob.I've seen 4-5 augers get ran over by trucks and one time a friend had his laying down and a guy came flying by on a sled and ran it over,destroyed!

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by FISHBATTEREDBEER

I've been doing this for 20 yrs,no prob.I've seen 4-5 augers get ran over by trucks and one time a friend had his laying down and a guy came flying by on a sled and ran it over,destroyed!

Anyone capable of running over an auger laying on the ground is capable of running over one standing up too lol.

I've only been ice fishing for 3 years now but I have seen pics and heard of multiple augers frozen in the ice from standing them up...

[JohninAB]

Originally Posted by RavYak

Anyone capable of running over an auger laying on the ground is capable of running over one standing up too lol.

I've only been ice fishing for 3 years now but I have seen pics and heard of multiple augers frozen in the ice from standing them up...

Exactly. If someone is going to run over my auger lying on the ice, having it standing upright will make no difference.

[Jigger]

Originally Posted by FISHBATTEREDBEER

A friend has an ion,works good but the battery is weak after 2 yrs,he also drilled a hole half way through to leave it standing instead of layin down,he couldn't get it back out because it didnt have enough power to drill all the way through to get it out.After chopping the ice for half an hour he finally got it out but it was damaged beyond repair.He has to buy a new auger and possibly a battery.I had my jiffy model 30 for 10-12 yrs,beat the hell out of it ,drilled hundreds of holes,it stinks,its loud and it won't die!!!!!

I have a model 30 thats pushing 30 years, Cant kill the thing dump new gas in it sharpen blades and good to go, carry around a gallon of gas and spare blades/plug in the same tote i carry the engine and usually lasts all season with lots of drilled holes. Seen lots of ekimios and there full of cheap plastic and usually something goes wrong and the ole faithful jiffy usually comes out to save the day. If you can find an older model 30 at a decent price buy it or i will hahaha

[Stubb]

Originally Posted by Jigger

I have a model 30 thats pushing 30 years, Cant kill the thing dump new gas in it sharpen blades and good to go, carry around a gallon of gas and spare blades/plug in the same tote i carry the engine and usually lasts all season with lots of drilled holes. Seen lots of ekimios and there full of cheap plastic and usually something goes wrong and the ole faithful jiffy usually comes out to save the day. If you can find an older model 30 at a decent price buy it or i will hahaha

I happen to have a jiffy 30 that I replaced with the ion. It's for sale if you're serious.

[prosnowsk8er]

I might be interested also, where are you located and how much,

[Stubb]

Originally Posted by prosnowsk8er

I might be interested also, where are you located and how much,

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