If you could only have 1 type of auger what would it be and why? I’m in the market for my first power auger and am trying to decide between the Ion, Strikemaster Honda, and 1 of the infinite amounts of 2 stroke options out there.
Thanks
I was in the same boat a few weeks ago. I was dead set on an electric or propane because I was sick of the gas/oil issues and carbs fouling up. After watching James punch 100+ with the Strike Master Lithium Ion, I was sold. I’ll have a full review next week after my Red Lake trip.
Gas 2 stroke has by far the longest running record. If you only have one, tried and true is the only way to go for reliability.
Depending on use, but 2 stroke gets my vote. Yes, you have to mix oil once a year but it’s more powerful, starts good even in cold weather. Less parts to break.
I own quite a few different augers that I have acquired over the many seasons. Here is my list.
8 inch jiffy gas
5 inch tanaka/laser gas
6 inch mora laser hand auger
8 inch ion electric
4 inch flat blade hand auger
The ion was my last purchase and I have to say even after only running it the last half of last season it……is…….fantastic! Short, light weight, no gas/oil mess, and most appealing it doesn’t hang up at the bottom of the hole even if its an old hole. I have had no issues at all with drilling 50+ holes, but was advised by the ion rep to keep the battery warm in the heat pouch or inside your jacket or inside the flip over which I have done. They are $100 more than most big gas augers but after testing a unit on the ice, the benefits for me out weighed that extra cash. Ion is now my go to for every trip no matter what we are chasing.
Just a little side note and tip, I never go on the ice fishing alone or especially with fishing clients without my 6 inch hand auger. This advice has saved me a few times when the gas wouldn’t start. My arms will never let me down where a motored auger certainly can. Stay safe and happy fishing this season!
I was in the same boat a few weeks ago. I was dead set on an electric or propane because I was sick of the gas/oil issues and carbs fouling up. After watching James punch 100+ with the Strike Master Lithium Ion, I was sold. I’ll have a full review next week after my Red Lake trip.
I haven’t started my gas auger on the ice this season given the warm temps and thin ice. It will be interesting to see how deep in the season I’m able to go with the Lithium Lazer now that we’re finally seeing some colder temps which should pile up some ice thickness in short order.
If you plan to open holes inside a closed house propane should be considered. Very little smoke & fumes, plenty of power for 10″ holes, quieter than gasoline. I was interested in the new electrics until I heard about the cost of a replacement battery.
I’d stick with a gas auger if you drill lots of holes, if you have lots of money buy an electric for early ice and a gas for later in the year otherwise if you’re running and gunning I’d get the gas. 2 strokes are faster than 4 strokes from what I’ve figured out
My ol’ strike master is super fast and light weight. Love it. My only issue was what to do with the left over mixed gas in the spring. I don’t have any other 2 stoke engines that use mixed gas. Getting rid of fuel (appropriately) is not an easy task.
I bought a Jiffy 10″ propane and LOVE IT!! It is heavy and its slower than the strike master, but super easy to start, dependable and doesn’t use a whole lot of fuel. Plus I don’t have to worry about gummed carbs and bad gas.
The electric ones do catch my eye tho. I’m curious to see how they hold up to numerous recharges, cold temps, and the abuse of bouncing in a sled going across a lake.
I have a 2 stroke… everybody I talk to these days, is switching to Electric. Quite honestly, do you worry about your Cordless drill “breaking down” ? As long as you can maintain a simple battery, it seems like the way to go 
2 stroke is by far the best. I mixed up a one gallon tank two years ago and still haven’t used it all so I will be getting rid of that gas and getting some fresh stuff. I drill easily 300 holes a year the new two strokes burn less gas then the older ones and or dont leak. It is cheaper than propane and with the propane augers that I have used I was not impressed. Last year me and a buddy fished when it was 0 degrees and he got about 4 holes out of a two year old propane jiffy and it just wouldn’t start. Do yourself a huge favor and check out the three or four top makes of augers and see which one is the only one that makes a metal crankcase cover. That will surprise you. When plastic warms up and cools down frequently it warps and then you will find it will leak oil. Everyone that posted grout up great points and everyone fishes different from drilling holes in a shelter to only drilling a few or to hundreds of holes a day. If you treat a two stroke good it will last forever. I let mine warm up for 5 minutes while I set up my pop up get my rods ready or pick out my tip UPS that I want to use.
Lets put it this way. Would you buy a 10 year old computer? 2 strokes are on there way out, 4 stroke (gas/propane) and electric are on there way in. This is very obvious if your paying attention. I’m not saying 2 strokes will not be around they will just not be produced in any numbers. Over 60 to 70 percent of the manufactures market are gas and electric. Buy something that is truly New. The rest to me is merely a Ford VS Chevy question. I’m a 6 year Propane Jiffy owner.
Good Luck!
If you could only have 1 type of auger what would it be and why? I’m in the market for my first power auger and am trying to decide between the Ion, Strikemaster Honda, and 1 of the infinite amounts of 2 stroke options out there.
Thanks
I’ll just recount my auger saga and let you make up your own mind.
1. 7′ Lazer hand auger as I got back into ice fishing in 2009
2. Learned to hole hop hand drilling 7″ holes got old as soon as there is a
foot of ice to drill through.
3. Bought Ice Gator power head for 7″ Lazer 2010.
4. Ice Gator Power head burnt switch learned 7″ holes were hard on Gator and
are too big for pan fishing any way.
5. Bought 6″ Nils hand auger, wonderful and when ice go thick put repaired
Gator on it. Ice ripping machine.
6. Bought 4 1/2″ Nils for early ice. Love it, pan fish bite better in small
hole, and can’t turn around as easily if they come unhooked in the hole.
7. Ice Gator burnt up again, no customer service, none, Ice Gator goes in scrap
pile.
8. Bought Tanaka power head at end of season sale Spring of 2013. Why oh why
did I wait so long? Quiet, powerful, easy starting, Amsoil Sabre, no smoke.
9. Picked up a Nils 8″ hand auger in Bargain Cave. Only gets used on trips to
big water, thick ice. 6″ or 8″ Nils on Tanaka cut like raped ape.
10.Bought Milwaukee Fuel 18v drill and Ice Master adapter. Handles 6″ Nils
piece of cake. I do not use Nils to reopen old holes. They jump around too
much and if some jerk freezes beer can in old hole Nils edge suffers badly.
Also when cars and trucks use gravel roads to access ice, grit is bad for
Nils.
11. Scored a 5″ Lazer hand auger, fabbed up an adapter to use Ice Master
drill from the Nils for the Lazer. So now I can hand drill 4 1/2″ 5″, 6″,
and 8″ holes. I can cordless drill the same, I can put the Tanaka on any
of the augers. The 5″ Lazer may be the single most useful pan fish auger
but is not of the same quality as the Nils. It works to reopen old holes,
has replaceable blade, and is not as delicate as the Nils. I can now hand
crank it, cordless drill it, or run it on the Tanaka.
Not all 2-strokes are created equal. Like Duke said, the Tanaka powerhead is an animal. It is the only 2-stroke powerhead I truly enjoy. I’ve extensively used a Jiffy pro-4 lite and enjoy it, but weight is a factor. Never ventured into electric and don’t necessarily plan on it. Nothing wrong with them, just not my cup of tea.
Milwaukee M18 cordless drill and Vexilar K- Drill 6 or 8 inch. Milwaukee hasn’t failed me but still has great warranty on powerhead and batteries. I use that drill for everything including building a new porch deack and a bedroom in the basement last summer. K-Drill cuts like butter and exerts less torque than some of the holes I drilled in wood. It also reopens holes with ease…and the whole unit is only 10 lbs.
The Ion and Lithium StrikeMaster interest me the most in that you don’t have to start them, you just push the button, they are also quite a bit lighter it seems, and don’t have the loud noise and fumes. I haven’t just gone and pulled the trigger however, in that they are a bit spendy, and I wonder if the Honda motor will last longer. There’s a bunch of small engine shops around that could get her purring again if I needed. Would you worry about the Electrics lasting 10+ years? And with it being newer tech, is there a likelihood that I won’t be able to find batteries in the future because the companies changed to something new by the time I need it? I’m not really worried about the cold. I normally fish from a 1 person flip-over and with my buddy heater on low it’s 70+ degrees in there. Maybe I’m just overthinking this all… As I type this, that Honda Strikemaster seems to me like the smartest choice.
If just one auger then gas all the way. After you have the one auger that can do it all (for many many years) you can start getting specialized models.
Imagine the controversy back in the day when the automobile was coming on the scene…aii those good old reliable horses, where are they now. Back in the day you had to crank over your car…until the electric starter was invented, who here can crank over their car if either its starter or battery dies??? You can go kicking and screaming cluthing your gas auger, but face it, electrics are here. They are as reliable as gas, the only mass recall has been the Strikemastwrlithium lazer, and the company did right by the customer. There is no 100% reliable auger out there. Batteries and electrics will fail, gas motors will sieze and break, and hands will tire and get arthritis.
I see your point, but with that said… where’s it end? I’m sure I can chat with my Brother in the AF and see about having my holes cut with a laser from a satellite in space, but there’s a bit of a cost restraint there as well 
Havnt you seen the latest Jiffy commercial? They have an auger that shoots a beam that opens multiple holes at once while it hovers self suspended over the ice. Just say’n, its got to be true, I seen it on TV during Gilespies fishn show.
Castle rock… I saw that too! I had a hard time deciding two years ago as well. So I went to cabelas.com and simply read all the reviews and bought the Eskimo 43cc auger. Its the only one on the market that had a cast crankcase cover. To me that was huge considering jiffy and strikemaster both had many reviews of leaking or cracked covers. And it simply had the least amount of poor reviews. Now I’m not saying everyone on cabelas that writes a review is knowledgeable. But I just went off simple things like recoil and the mechanicals like the throttle cables and thumb tab on the jiffy are kinda chintzy also I thought the plastic throttle arms on the strikemaster not something I want to mess with. The Eskimo throttle cables have a quick snap back when let go. Yes strikemaster has the Honda motors and that’s good but there were lots of bad reviews on there recoil problems. And the could wreck a good day of fishing real quick if you can’t get it fixed on the ice. If you go with gas get a two stroke they are simple motors that good power. If something did happen a two stroke motor is at least half the price to get fixed. I race motocross and still to this day I will take a two stroke any day due to the simple fact of how easy they are to fix and work on. Also I love the smell. 
that’s my take on auger choice when picking yours just think of the simple things like reliability and the mechanicals, specs, and maybe gear ratios cuz that can give you an idea of power and speed of the machine
Augers are like condoms, read reviews, consult forums, do tour homework,choose wisely. Hopefully you get the right one, your future happiness could depend on it.
Tanaka 2 stroke here…. Put any shaving auger on you want. Nils, mora whatever. Light weight, fast. I also have Jiffy model 31 8″. Loud , heavy, throws ice chips all over. I love that auger too! both will last for many many Years! I believe the saying is a good auger is like a good woman, light enough to lug around, doesn’t smoke much and goes good with very little choking.
My vote is the strike master 2 stroke just got one this year. A few of my buddies have them and have never had a problem ever with them. The power of the 2 strokes is by fare the best in my opinion but buy what suits your needs and what u want to do with it. And the sound is music to my ears lol
So I ended up going with an 8 inch 4 stroke Honda-Lite and a 6 inch Lazer hand auger as back-up (after last year I don’t think i’ll ever go with only 1 auger again). I was holding off on it since this winter has SUCKED around me and there hasn’t been any fishable ice (well not that I was willing to risk).
Question about my gas auger. How many holes do people normally get out of a tank of gas through say… 12 inches of ice? Do most people bring extra gas out with them or does what’s in the tank last them the day?
If you burn a tank full of gas in one outing, you will have sore arms. The only time I bring an extra quart of gas is if I’m going for 2 or 3 days of fishing.
My strike lite Honda 35cc cuts like butter, is quiet, and very light. On its 2nd season. I am only concerned with long term reliability at this point as there does not seem to be any downside to this auger. Oil change???… it takes 2 minutes, that’s the same time it takes to mix gas but doesn’t include the smoke or smell. Hopefully it runs well for the longterm.
And, as a testament to strikemaster and people complaining of their flimsy plastic handles— mine went end over end on mile lacs at 25-30mph and simply needed a blade adjustment to cut like new. Thanks again D-ROCK.
The strike light will cut 75 holes or more I bet. I always refill mine before I go out but I seem to cut about 35-45 holes and still have slightly over 1/2 tank of gas. Just a guesstimate.
So I ended up going with an 8 inch 4 stroke Honda-Lite and a 6 inch Lazer hand auger as back-up (after last year I don’t think i’ll ever go with only 1 auger again). I was holding off on it since this winter has SUCKED around me and there hasn’t been any fishable ice (well not that I was willing to risk).
Question about my gas auger. How many holes do people normally get out of a tank of gas through say… 12 inches of ice? Do most people bring extra gas out with them or does what’s in the tank last them the day?
Be sure to let the auger warm up for a good 5 minutes before cutting, it’s very important with this auger being a 4stroke.
I have a solo, and I also tend to drill a lot of holes if necessary, but I go through the extra gas can besides the tank, so I always carry my 5gallon can with non oxy and a couple mixes worth of oil in the truck too.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
