Ice Auger Injuries?

Anyone here ever see someone get injured while drilling a hole? I have. It was not serious so it was hilarious to watch. I just saw something said on another site that made me remember it, so I thought you guys might get a kick out of it too.

We were fishing the river backwaters here, must have been 3 years ago. We had good ice, probably 18″ or so, and me and my buddy were the only ones out there. We fished for a little while and a group of guys came out to join us. They walked up and asked if the fish were biting and all that crap. Then one of them pulls out one of those cordless drill auger set-ups and proceeds to show it to me (bragging). I looked at it and it was an old black and decker 18v with no side handle on it. I told him to be careful, I’ve tried them and they jerk pretty good if the auger hangs up.

He walked over about 20′ from me and popped two holes, worked pretty good I must say. Then he handed it to his buddy (who I imagine has never used it before) and told him to try it. He holds it with his right hand like he is drilling a hole in a 2X4, I cringed because I knew what was coming. He put the hammer down on it and that bit caught the ice, the drill came right out of his one hand (lucky he didnt break a wrist) and spun right around nut checking him at mach2. He fell straight down and curled up in a ball. I about fell off my bucket laughing, and so did his buddies. It took him a few minutes but he got back up and finished his holes, with TWO HANDS.

The old black and decker pecker wrecker got him good.

Story time over, anyone else got one?

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The old black and decker pecker wrecker got him good.

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Now that’s plain funny as long as it’s not me getting the black and decker in the ##%$#

Nard stories always take the cake.
I don’t understand why but they do.

I watched a guy fro a distance drill his wholes for the whole family when he was done he proceeded to store the auger in the most appropriate place, a freshly drilled hole.
I didn’t think of it to much at the time. An hour later he decided to use it again. Well, I knew something was up while I sat in the shanty when I heard this auger rev up then bog down, rev up bog down, rev up bog down and so on.
Snickered as I no what happened, obviously it froze in. Then the noise stopped, so I figured he got it out. Nope 15 minutes later rev bog, rev bog rev bog. This was getting rather irritating as it was one of those loud ars jiffy’s. After 10 minutes he go tired and quit. I think he got so tired 20 mimnutes later he sent his young son to give a try. No luck. Father came out got pretty mad and just started reeling on it like it was a fence post in clay soil. Man that was getting loud over there and I started to feel bad for him.
Finally got it out but not with out injuries. Pride and a bent auger and a long ride home.

Just had my first one the other day. Tried some sketchy waters on the river..Wanted to check the ice thickness fairly close to shore before venturing any further. Drilled the first hole and drilled right into the rocks in about a foot of water. Auger hit the bottom, spun, and whacked me in the thigh. got a nice bruise and I feel really smart.

You need to be more careful and leave that hole drilling to Coley.

My wife and I were at Volga Lake with some friends, the lake had no snow and was like glass, we had our cleats on and watched a husband and wife come out about 50 yards from us. The husband started setting the shack up and the wife proceeded to drill holes. On the first hole the bit grabbed and with no cleats on started spinning her around, she was so scared that she wouldn’t let go of the throttle. Her husband ran over to help her and got knocked down, finally he screamed at her to let go of the auger. She was a little unsteady on her feet for awhile!!

Ed

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You need to be more careful and leave that hole drilling to Coley.

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Just don’t let her have any shots sorry Coley

I remember the time my Strike Master froze up because a certain fool didn’t put it away in the basement. The next time out, It started up fine but then the throttle stuck at WOT. As I was trying to shut it off one handed it broke free from my grip and there it was spinning round and round stuck in the mud in 3 feet of water. So I grabbed it as best I could and was able to hold it long enough to shut it down. Took a pretty good crack in the face in the process. Bent my auger and needed a new 8 inch bit. Bad day for me. The moral of the story was to store my auger in a warmer place than my garage. I also managed to break my stupid plastic choke when I tried to work it when too cold and had to replace my whole gas tank. I use my electric drill now most of the time (it has a second handle).

Im surprised you dont see or hear of some serous cuts from the blades on the augers. I always try to put the auger some place so those blades are not in the way. Under the back end of the truck with the blades up under it. Do not do this under the side of the truck as it will only be a matter of time before someone drives over the auger.

coming back from a trip we saw blood flying in the back of the truck, somehow the auger cover came off and his yellow lab got cut bad, can’t be too careful! We had to go to a vet.

That sucks.

You should see what happens when a Muskrat comes out one of the holes in your shack when you buddy has a sharp spud….

It’s not pretty

I didnt actually witness this and the details were vague because it was a very panicked situation but i was at the baitshop when the guys buddy came in to call 911

I dont remember what model it is but it was one of the old jiffy with the single handle. Some how this older gentleman got the auger caught in the ice and it was stuck standing in the ice spinning. when he tried to grab for the handle his glove somehow got snagged by the thumb on part of the power head and proceeded to tear his thumb off. Last i heard they had flown him and the thumb to the hospital they were keeping the thumb on ice while they assessed the damages and tried to figure out if they would be able to reattach. Pretty scary for sure.

Ill ask when i stop in the shop this weekend how that all ended.

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Im surprised you dont see or hear of some serous cuts from the blades on the augers. I always try to put the auger some place so those blades are not in the way. Under the back end of the truck with the blades up under it. Do not do this under the side of the truck as it will only be a matter of time before someone drives over the auger.

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you dont say….

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You need to be more careful and leave that hole drilling to Coley.

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Just don’t let her have any shots sorry Coley

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thank God I read the IDO ice-fishing safety campaign: Don’t auger on alcohol… its right under AA
whew!

When I was a little tyke I got a lesson in the dangers of an auger. There were several adults around, my ma and pa included. My dad was drilling and I just had to get a closer look. The bit caught me just outside the eye socket. As the story has been recollected for me, I quickly backed up. To everyone’s surprise, I took it rather well. Just a look of shock on my face. Until the blood started dripping on the ice. That’s when the crying started. A butterfly band-aid later and I was fishing. I still have the scar though.

Some interesting ice auger follies today on U-tube. Am going to check Red Green site to see if he’s still pulling for us.

No injuries but a good story and lesson learned.

Was fishing LOTW with a group of 6 guys and my buddy was drilling holes. Gets done drilling and decides to drill half a hole and leave the auger in it. The problem is that he drilled the hole right in front of the ATV. Somebody got excited, jumped on the ATV and took off right over the auger!

That auger hasn’t ran right since.

Buddy of mine(who shall remain nameless) always buys the best gear/outerwear….etc. When I bought my first strikemaster in 1987, he couldn’t wait to give it a try and show off a little. He fired it up, bore-down hard, drilled a perfect hole and then looked at the front of his brand new ice suit. He learned a valuable lesson that day…always make sure the hot muffler faces away from you! Hole was about the size of a softball and I still have the remnants melted and stuck on the ol’ muffler to this day! Brings a smile to my face even now…

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Im surprised you dont see or hear of some serous cuts from the blades on the augers. I always try to put the auger some place so those blades are not in the way. Under the back end of the truck with the blades up under it. Do not do this under the side of the truck as it will only be a matter of time before someone drives over the auger.

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you dont say….

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That sucks to.

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Im surprised you dont see or hear of some serous cuts from the blades on the augers. I always try to put the auger some place so those blades are not in the way. Under the back end of the truck with the blades up under it. Do not do this under the side of the truck as it will only be a matter of time before someone drives over the auger.

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I used to lay my auger under my wheeler so as not to cut anyone. Well, one day out in SD I was fishing a lake with at least 18″ of snow. I punched a large circle of wholes around my wheeler finishing in front of the wheeler. Perfect. Lay the auger down.

I go about my trip around all the holes, no fish marked. I’m at the back of the wheeler. Throw my stuff in the Otter box and mount up. I grabbed quite a bit of throttle to get going in the deep snow. The front end jumps in the air and I’m thinking WTF?? Oh ya dumby, you left the auger lay. I didn’t want to back off it as it appeared undamaged. My only option was to lift the front end of the wheeler up, hold it with one hand and pull the auger out with the other. In theory this is rather simple. Well let’s just say my back was shot the rest of the trip.

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Buddy of mine(who shall remain nameless) always buys the best gear/outerwear….etc. When I bought my first strikemaster in 1987, he couldn’t wait to give it a try and show off a little. He fired it up, bore-down hard, drilled a perfect hole and then looked at the front of his brand new ice suit. He learned a valuable lesson that day…always make sure the hot muffler faces away from you! Hole was about the size of a softball and I still have the remnants melted and stuck on the ol’ muffler to this day! Brings a smile to my face even now…

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Yep
I still smile about that too!
I remember that day I was with you. He had a very expensive snowmobile suit. I am glad it happened to him first. To this day I always make the muffler is pointing the other direction.

Haha, been there. The original lazer mag I had didn’t have the chizel point and you had to chase it around the ice a bit to get it started. I too ruined a nice pullover trying to coral the auger. That “plastic” material stunk.

A guy I used to work with opened up his leg real good with an auger. He was up on Red and on the first hole he hit his leg pulling the auger out of the hole. I cannot recall how many stitches he got but the blade opened his shin up all the way to the bone.

I would guess the only thing that saves a lot of people from this is the layers of clothing that are worn.

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Some how this older gentleman got the auger caught in the ice and it was stuck standing in the ice spinning. when he tried to grab for the handle his glove somehow got snagged by the thumb on part of the power head and proceeded to tear his thumb off.

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I had something similar happen to me. I was up off Garden Island using a brand new solo 10″, as I was about to finish the 4th hole for me and my dad on the last morning of the trip the handle popped apart. I pulled up and it felt wonky, so I released the handle to take a look at what happened, this allowed it to sag below the engine and open up the throttle. Not thinking I did a quick grab and got whacked on the wrist pretty bad. I backed up and the auger was whirling around like crazy. I wound using my shovel to turn it off..

The handle cross sections had numerous large air bubbles at the break points. Decided then that plastic handles and 10″ bits were not my thing.