Electric vs. Gas ice auger

Gotta get an ice auger for this winter season and have heard pros and cons about both so I was curious about everyones experiences. Thank you!

It all comes down to how many holes you will drill in a day.

I would not be drilling to many holes in one day. Anywhere between 5-15 holes.

I love my ION.

Big decision with all the options available. I’ll just throw out my opinion and do what you want with it. I got a Milwaukee Fuel 18 drill and an eight inch Nils convertible and not looked back. I can get all the holes I need on one four amp battery plus I got a great drill. Sold my gas auger and will never own another. Used it for three years and not one problem. Again just my experience and I’m sure there are those with other opinions.

If you only drill 5-15 i also do have a drill with an 8 inch nils as well. And i love it. the down side is to it my drill isnt the greatest so its an early season auger for now. Nothing cuts like that nils does.

Youbetcha wrote:

If you only drill 5-15 i also do have a drill with an 8 inch nils as well. And i love it. the down side is to it my drill isnt the greatest so its an early season auger for now. Nothing cuts like that nils does.

That is the difference in drills. I’ve drill 36 holes in 14″ ice and 10 holes in over thirty inch ice with one battery. Love that Nils though.

I wouldn’t do a drill setup but that just my opinion, buy an Ion if you want electric. You should do a search on this and other sites, these tend to get very long and sometimes not so friendly. What a person owns is always the best, right.

with that few holes drilled you might be able to get away with the older Strikemaster electric augers that use a vexilar battery, buying a used one would save you around $250 over an Ion. I’ve had an Ion the last 3 years, to me it’s the perfect Ice Auger, I drill less than 40 holes per outing. There were a couple of used Ions on c-list for around $350

Lots of holes= gas

Few holes, buy whatever you want

I’ll always have gas, I never know how many holes it’ll take before I’m done fishing for the occasion.
Sometimes two, sometimes 150.

I’m usually done after 150. That’s a lot of drilling and hole checking

buy a gas powered one,why? along with a chainsaw and weedeater,it is one of the few things left that you can legally run wide open throttle!!

AaronMoore wrote:

I love my ION.

I love my 8″ion also.

rayc wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>AaronMoore wrote:</div>
I love my ION.

I love my 8″ion also.

Yep, for the amount of holes you’ll be drilling I’d highly recommend the ION route. I drill WAY more holes than this, have two batteries for the ION, and I’ve never run out of juice on the ice. Love it.

If you only are doing 5-15 holes, electric is the way to go. I just bought a milwaukee m18 fuel last year and bought the adapter to hook up to my 6″ nils hand auger. Even at the end of the season when the ice was super thick we were still getting about 25-30 holes per battery. Its so nice not having to worry about gas, just pull the trigger and drill.

For me…….small tip up fishing 5-10 holes=really sharp 6″ FIN Bore
…….Large tip up fishing 15-30 holes=8″ Jiffy gas or Ion
…….small jigging set up + long walk + 5-20 holes=6″ FIN Bore
…….small jigging set up + short walk + 20-30 holes=5″Lazer/Tanaka gas
…….Large jigging set up + long walk + 20-40 holes=8″ Ion electric
…….LG jigging set up + short walk + 20-40 holes=8″ Jiffy or Ion

I have to say once you start using an Ion, its hard to put it down and use something else. Very light, NO gas/oil, no staining on clothes, very quiet. Very nice NOT to catch at the bottom of the hole when drilling. But $400 is a big investment over a $100 FIN Bore hand auger. If you get the chance to buy an Ion, one tip I will offer is to keep the battery inside your jacket to keep warm until you need it. I have also used a small insulated soft side lunch bag with a thermos of hot coco placed out of the wind and had that work too.

GOOD FISHING TO YOU ALL THIS SEASON!

The ION is real nice. If you want to drill lots of holes get a second battery. Buy the battery case too. It’s insulated and has a place for you to put hand warmers inside. Works great. You can drill lots of holes through thick ice with two warm batteries. The 10″ works great for inside the fish house or if you only plan on drilling a handful of holes.

Mike Stark wrote:

The ION is real nice. If you want to drill lots of holes get a second battery. Buy the battery case too. It’s insulated and has a place for you to put hand warmers inside. Works great. You can drill lots of holes through thick ice with two warm batteries. The 10″ works great for inside the fish house or if you only plan on drilling a handful of holes.

Bingo! I have two batteries just in case, even though 95% of the time one is enough for me and I drill more holes than most.

Also, I second the battery bag. I have the ION bag because it was part of a promo. Works perfect, but in reality a small lunch box / bag would probably do just as well.

A third option that I didn’t see mentioned above is propane. Propane is more convenient than gas and with high octane propane, they are a bit lighter and just as powerful as a gas auger. By the looks of it, you can pick up a propane auger for a couple hundred dollars less than the Ion. I have a classic Jiffy 2 stroke, but if I was in the market for a new auger I’d be looking at propane or a good electric like the Ion and the not insignificant price difference might nudge me towards propane.

Get the Ion, easy choice for you. No gas or mixing to worry about, no carbs to clean, no fuel line hose problems.

Here’s a chart I made to help in the decision making process:

Drill < 20 holes a day: ION
Drill 20-40 holes a day: ION or Gas
Drill 30+ holes a day: Gas

Only fish in a permanent house: ION