Powered ice augers

[notyalc]

I'm sick of spending most of my time drilling through ice with a hand powered auger and figure I can get a lot more done with a powered one.So this year I'm thinking of picking up a gas/electric ice auger. I go out about twice a year so I don't need anything with a crazy amount of power, nor do I want to spend a ton of $$ on one. Any recommendations? Any I should stay away from? I've seen a battery powered one made by Eskimo called the "ion". Haven't seen many reviews but it says it will drill 40 holes in 2' of ice on one charge. Seems pretty good to me.

[BRvalley]

if you only go out twice a year...upgrade to a quality hand auger at 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of any power auger, or treat your old auger to new blades

how thick of ice are you drilling? hand auger shouldn't kill you, say up to 16-24" of ice, just warm you up

for a casual user, the ion is one of the more expensive augers on the market...for gas I'd look at lower cc eskimo or jiffy models, should be 400-500 but often on sale...but I'd also check out the finbore manual auger too, with the conical blades, cuts great

[Sunzuki]

There are propane powered augers out there as well.
Run on those green screw on types.
No regards for these either?

Seen some on sale for around the three brown ones mark.

No fun drilling holes by hand if one has injuries to contend with.

[Trekker]

If you already have a chainsaw maybe consider one of these.

http://www.lewiswinch.com/multidrill/Ice_Augers.html

[swamper]

The Ion is a great auger. A friend got one for Christmas. It is super quiet, but at $599 a shot it might not be the one for the occasional fisherman. I just got the Canadian Tire flyer and they have a gas one by Eskimo for $299. It's the same 8" auger that I have had for five years. All a guy needs.

[Sofa King]

TWICE a year?
and you need a power auger for that?
AND you are in the LML, not the NWT.
sounds like a big waste of $$.

[Dannybuoy]

Or hook one up to your 18v drill .... I did this year and it works great ...

[notyalc]

TWICE a year?
and you need a power auger for that?
AND you are in the LML, not the NWT.
sounds like a big waste of $$.
We go up to our cabin for a week or two at a time.
Why hunt with a rifle that costs $$ while a spear will do the job? Why spend thousands on a vehicle when you can buy a bus pass instead? Why buy a computer and Internet when we have books? Why get married when you can buy a hooker and not have to deal with the BS? Sometimes it's all about making life easier and not about the cost.

[Vanislehiker]

Thank you!!!^. I had already sent him a PM stating he is full of useless comments and needs to keep his (Sofaking) mouth shut if he has nothing to add regarding a thread. ( yes I know neither am I at the moment lol )

[M.Dean]

A Power Auger??? What's a Auger??? I like to ice fish, But, I's got a screwed up back, both hips don't work no more, got a Aneurism on my Aorta, and I'm a Diabetic to boot, and I use my pocket knife to make holes in the ice! Sure, takes me a bit longer, but look at all the money I'm saving each time I go Ice Fishing! 1, 2 even 3 feet of ice, no problem for me and my 3 inch Buck! I see guys with there nice and shiny Ion Rechargeable 10 inch Ice Augers, and I laugh! It must cost a small fortune every 40 holes in 2 foot thick ice to recharge them fancy battery's, nope, I'll stick with my "Buck", Thanks!!!

[knighthunter]

When I moved here to BC 5 years ago, I sold all my ice-fishing gear including my jiffy 3 hp 8 inch power auger that I owned for 12 years. I had very few problems with it, such as plugs, tune-up, recoil once. I drilled hundreds of holes thru 2 1/2 to 4 feet of ice.
I still keep in touch with my old fishing buddies and they tell me the new jiffy's have a lot of problems including plastic parts that do not hold up. Most have switched to the Eskimo auger's. Some have tried the propane powered with problems due to the cold weather, the ion/electric auger's are very pricey.

[tigrr]

I bought an Eskimo Shark 51cc - 8 inch auger from Canadian Tire last year on sale. Best investment I have made in a while. Push the primer bulb till fuel flows through the hose. Choke and it usually starts on the first pull. Keep fingers way from the blades. Wicked sharp even after 100 holes.
Only drawback is the weight when pulling by hand on a sleigh.
In the 70's all I had was a spud.

[.308 NORMA]

I bought an electric (ION) this year in Dec, used it already a few times, It works great ,like they say they are pricey but I know that I will enjoy it.

[knighthunter]

I read on one of the Canadian fishing sites that you can order one online from Costco that is manufactured by Rapala, the model name is Tempest. Supposed to be very similar to the Eskimo's. One of the guy's recoil rope broke and he emailed Costco and they sent him out a complete new recoil.

[BRvalley]

I bought an Eskimo Shark 51cc - 8 inch auger from Canadian Tire last year on sale. Best investment I have made in a while. Push the primer bulb till fuel flows through the hose. Choke and it usually starts on the first pull. Keep fingers way from the blades. Wicked sharp even after 100 holes.
Only drawback is the weight when pulling by hand on a sleigh.
In the 70's all I had was a spud.

I have that same model, also on sale from 2 years ago...best auger i've ever used, prime, choke, pull once and it starts 1st pull 99% of the time....gets used in sask every winter, with the extension on and just burns through 5-6' of ice, beats the jiffy every time

eskimo also has great customer service, dropped the auger and cracked the cast alum handle, had a new one to northern BC in 5 business days, no charge

[notyalc]

Thanks for all the info! I've been reading up on the Eskimos a little more and seems like it's perfect.

[markomoose]

I bought an "Earth Auger Motor" from Princess Auto for 150 bucks.They are made by Ardisam,same as Eskimo.Then ordered an auger through Cabelas for 200 bucks and 3 seasons in they are running strong.Two feet of ice is no sweat. Tight Lines Buddy!

[jdmck]

Just purchased an eskimo 33cc 8" from surplus herbies yesterday will find out how good it works this weekend

[Benthos]

Given your infrequent use described I suggest buying a Clam conversion kit and using an 18v cordless drill. you wont have to worry about maintenance of a gas engine, the weight of the propane engines, or dealing with the new ION expensive batteries with relatively short life. use a decent quality drill and you can use it all year on projects around the house. http://www.basspro.com/Clam-Ice-Auger-Conversion-Kit-Drill-Plate/product/1308191158/

check out some youtube videos on it, works pretty slick.

[Xish]

This is seemingly an old thread, but I'll add my two cents.

I have a 6" diameter manual auger like this https://under-the-open-sky.com/best-ice-augers/ that I bought about 25 years ago for $49 About 5 years ago I bought an 8" gas auger for a lot more. If the ice is less than 12" thick, sometimes even less than 18" thick, I prefer the manual auger -- a lot less weight to haul, easy to drill through 12" of ice manually. More ice than that and I get lazy and want the ease of the gas auger to punch lots of holes. Plus, a 6" diameter hole is kind of like having tunnel-vision when you stare down a through 3' of ice before you get to water... the 8" power auger hole gives a much better window on the world below. But none of that matters if the ice is only a foot thick. In fact, it's easier to land a fish in a smaller diameter hole, because in an 8" or 10" hole they can turn around and try to swim down, whereas in a 6" hole they can't turn around.
With a manual auger, you want to keep the blades as sharp as possible since you are doing all the work. I found I had to replace them once a year when that was the only auger I was using. I could sharpen them with Japanese sharpening stones at home and sometimes get another full season out of them, but that was really pushing it and it's better to buy brand new blades each year unless you are a master at re-sharpening them.
I've never cut myself so many times and so badly as when I used to change blades on my manual auger... they couldn't invent a razor blade so sharp and so sneaky!
I have used a manual auger to drill through 3 feet of ice on numerous trips. But those tended to be one-hole or two-hole fishing days. That's why I bought the gas auger -- to punch 20 holes thru 3' of ice and give myself lots of variety on where to fish. But if you are fishing ice of a foot or so thick, a manual auger is all you need.

There are many interesting videos on YouTube on this topic.

https://youtu.be/q_m2hBP5t70

[Cyrus]

I have the Ion X, worth every penny. Can drill countless holes and contrary to popular belief the battery does not go dead on the ice.