My Solo 142 powered lazer mag 7″ auger is on her last leg. After years of drilling thousands of holes, it is time to look at a new one for next year. I welcome any suggestions from those that drill 20 holes before they ever open their rod case. Lightweight, powerful & fast…..and no I don’t want to mess around charging batteries! Thanks!
I’m sure you can get a lightly used solo 142 for a steal from someone who is ok charging batteries. 
Call D-Rock Center in New Brighton. I bought a slightly used (actually I don’t think it was even used) Lazer Mag from them two years ago late in the season, from the batch they buy annually from the Gull Lake tournament from Strikemaster. I got a great deal on it.
Easy, get an ION.
You say you don’t want to mess with batteries so I have to say go with the Lazer Pro instead of the Mag. It’ll drill holes quicker than the mag and has so much power. Buddy used my on Winnipeg when he has issues with his throttle on his Jiffy and said its the most power auger he’s tried. I’ve seen D-Rock with specials on the just the auger head at different times during the year.
With that said, I’d check out 40v Lithium. It cuts almost as fast and its so nice only having to hit the switch and it starts drilling. I haven’t holed hopped much with it but a buddy of mine has the 8″ and said he has gotten over 100 holes with one battery. It will be my go to auger for almost everything next year.
Fleet farm had some gas augers on sale. Try red rock(?) in Ely. They run good sales.
I would highly recommend going propane. And ya watch Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. There are a lot of nice augers for sale since guys are jumping on the electric bandwagon. I have a Eskimo P1 Rocket that works awesome that i would recommend.
If you want to drill a lot of holes fast in thick ice there’s really only one auger…
Strikemaster Lazer Pro 3hp. Lighter and more powerful than any other stock auger out there. I have an 8″ and 10″ bit.
I will be adding a Dewalt cordless 20V Max with a Strikemaster 6″ laser bit soon though. I can get a LOT of holes with a 5AH battery. It’s amazing how far these have come and the Laser bits will get more holes than the K-Drill ones.
Why not get a honda powerhead? I switched from the solo, been giving the honda a solid workout on lake winnipeg. Lots of power, light, quiet and reliable.
Why not get a honda powerhead? I switched from the solo, been giving the honda a solid workout on lake winnipeg. Lots of power, light, quiet and reliable.
Every Honda owner I know has said the power is fine but definitely less than the Solo. I’ve only used one and it seemed like the Honda wasn’t very hard to bog down if you pushed on it. I guess that would be only reason as to, why not.
I’d think the Honda would be just fine for most situations. In my opinion it has similar power to the propane augers. The Solo is just on another level. It’s an angry hole cutting machine. The power is nice to have when you need it but if I could only have one auger it’d be electric.
The lightest fastest and most durable auger is the Nils. If you want the best you have to pay a little more. I have been able to laugh at all the new auger threads for over ten years now. The latest and greatest won’t outlast the nils.
Agree with Joe, the Honda isn’t as powerful, great auger still.
Agree with Joe, the Honda isn’t as powerful, great auger still.
But running a 7” bit, how much power do you need?
Hey there. It’s Tucker. I’ve been running a Solo Pro for a few years with an 8 inch bit. Lots of power and the same weight as your Solo I think.
My pitch is off and my blades are a bit dull right now… but if you want to slap your 7 inch bit on my powerhead sometime to see what you think let me know.
If looking for something all around different I think the Nils/Tanaka powerhead would be a dream. My Nils hand auger just cuts so easy. I think they offer them with a 48 inch shaft for you tall guys too.
Tucker
I’ve got the Honda with a 10 inch auger. It’s not the lightest auger, but I like fishing a 10 inch hole especially with the transducer float in there. No mixing gas and a tank of premium lasts for ever! It has more than enough power. My question is, why push?
I heard that Nils/Tanaka were bought out by Hitachi and are no longer sold with the Nils hand flighting/auger setup, glad I got one before that happened.. but now what if there’s a failure… anybody know a good Hitachi service center… LOL… Hopefully there won’t be anything serious, had no problems yet, but I also use a drill set up most of the time and reserve the Nils for deep ice… besides Im short and need a box to stand on when I use the Nils… LOL…
anybody know a good Hitachi service center…
Omega industries in Minnetonka is who I’ve gotten parts from.
The lightest fastest and most durable auger is the Nils.
Funny, I’ve had a Nils/Tanaka for 10 years now. Lightest and fastest? Oh yeah. Most durable? Unless you’re talking about the Tanaka motor and not the bit, Sorry, not even a chance against any other mfg out there! Flighting is lightweight, which means it can be prone to cracking (I’ve cracked two). I’ve also stretched the blade mounting hole on the bit on one enough that it’s no longer useable. They were not originally designed for that kind of abuse and prolonged use will cause them to fail. Pre-Hitatchi Tanaka motors are bulletproof but the Nils bits are very far from that.
Glad to hear you say that, mine is pre hitachi… and It does feel brittle, the flighting that is… as for speed, the only auger I owned that even came close was a strikemaster lazer mag express, the one with the tecumseh two horse pre-yellow button era…
Kind of wish I didn’t sell it…
I’m interested in this as well. Probably going to go with a Lazer Pro 8”. Drilling holes with electric sucks when there’s 36” of ice. I got only 20 holes today on a 50v Strikemaster and it was done. 2-month old blades. That’s 60 feet of hard ice, which is usually enough, but still. I was wishing I had gas today instead of electric.
I heard that Nils/Tanaka were bought out by Hitachi and are no longer sold with the Nils hand flighting/auger setup, glad I got one before that happened.. but now what if there’s a failure… anybody know a good Hitachi service center… LOL… Hopefully there won’t be anything serious, had no problems yet, but I also use a drill set up most of the time and reserve the Nils for deep ice… besides Im short and need a box to stand on when I use the Nils… LOL…
Tanaka is now owned by Hitachi and there are still shops that do Tanaka warranty work. But the Tanaka TED-270 is discontinued so no more Nils/Tanaka can be sold.
The only connection Nils and Tanaka ever had was that NilsUSA bought the TED-270pfdh bulb planters and sold them with their hand ice augers and an adapter. It would be like K-drill buying a bunch of Milwaukee drills and selling them with their augers. The companies were never affiliated in any way.
I will most likely buy another Solo 2.5 and buy a separate 7″ bit. Hard to change when this old auger has drilled thousands of holes with minimal issues. I will finish out the season before making my final decision.
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