My fishing partner just purchased a new 6 inch auger for his Strikemaster right from Rapala and it only drilled THREE holes. After those three it just would spin on top of the ice! We removed the blades and it said Made in China on the back. He has emailed them because there was no telephone number on all the paper work that came with the auger. Why are they still putting these blades on power augers? THREE HOLES!!!
curious to the the reply you will get…
I had ordered a bit from them(6″) it had the other blades on it.. same issue.. new blades were sent to me NC..
keep us informed !!
do a search here there is a phone number posted someplace..
I emailed with a similar issue last season and they responded within a few days and I got new blades within a week or 2.
x2…my experience was even faster than that. I was pleased, but still confused as to why they’d keep putting those blades on if they keep getting negative feedback on ’em…..
And all this just too save a few pennies…I dont get it!Do they have the cheap blades on the Honda Lite 35cc SM also??
Are all the blades made in Sweden ok, or are some of them of lesser quality also?
Ive never heard of any problems with the mora of Sweden blades.
Ecnook – was your 6″ drill ordered recently?
It is really hard to believe Rapala is still kicking out “old stock” with non-mora (bad) blades intentionally. The last new auger drill I bought had a mora of Sweden sticker on the drill itself and mora stamped blades, that was a 10″ last Feb.
The front side of the horse definitely doesn’t want this, that’s why Mora was acquired. All I can say is WTF?! I think we can all agree that if you buy a new strikemaster, you are paying for the Mora drill and blades. 
I took back 3 sets of new from the box blades. Got them @ farm and fleet for my power auger. All 3 from china and the return clerk told me she had seen 15-20 sets returned this winter. In the intern time the set of sweedish blades I had for sharpening were done. Sounds like it’s exclusive to the crap coming from china! BIG SHOCKER
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Ecnook – was your 6″ drill ordered recently?
This was late 2012 early 2013.. I would have to back to my reciepts to make sure…
Now don’t quote me but I thought they were trying to eliminate them from everyones inventory… guessing that could be a little harder then you think…
I think when it comes down to it they did a fantastic job of taking care of my issue.. 
SM was a great company with outstanding service and quality, all the problems seem to be coming since Rapala got involved.?????
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SM was a great company with outstanding service and quality, all the problems seem to be coming since Rapala got involved.?????
Pretty sure the Chinese blades were a Strikemaster experiment before Rapala was involved.
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SM was a great company with outstanding service and quality, all the problems seem to be coming since Rapala got involved.?????
No, that’s not exactly right. Strikemaster decided to do the China blade switch before the Rapala folks got involved. Rapala is just mopping up the mess. It’s a tough deal, definitely gonna leave some mental bruises for years to come. I had a 7″ non-mora drill with chinese blades. I had a good run with it before needing new blades.
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SM was a great company with outstanding service and quality, all the problems seem to be coming since Rapala got involved.?????
Pretty sure the Chinese blades were a Strikemaster experiment before Rapala was involved.
+1 
I hate it when a company with a good rep will “Quietly” switch over to china. Most will do it and keep the same “Made in the US” prices. Only now they are paying a 6 year old in China $.05 for the same labor.
Vice-Grips
Craftsman (They are being VERY sneaky)
Carhart
Even Lisle tools
I’d hate to be that Chinese child working for 5/100 of a penny.
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SM was a great company with outstanding service and quality, all the problems seem to be coming since Rapala got involved.?????
Pretty sure the Chinese blades were a Strikemaster experiment before Rapala was involved.
!00% correct. Rapala doesn’t buy any blades from China. All Chinese blades pre-exist Rapala although it is possible to run into old inventory that has the Chinese blades.
I posted some detailed info on this on this thread awhile back >>> http://www.idofishing.com/forum/showflat.php/Number/1310030/93/fpart/all
Here’s a portion of that info:
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I honestly think Rapala’s purchase of Strikemaster was a much needed tonic and has brought that brand back to a position of growth and momentum it was not experiencing prior. Allow me to elaborate…
Several years before Strikemaster was purchased by Rapala the owners at the time were having a hard time dealing with pricing increases on components coming from Mora of Sweden. The augers were getting more expensive. The cost of Lazer blades was really taking a bite out of profit margins.
The owners at the time, before Rapala bought the company, made the decision to test the waters with substituting components made in China for the Swedish-made counterparts.
The company contracted to provide the parts from China was Vista International.
The china-made components started to show up on SOME augers and problems started to show up. Note – not all Strikemaster augers used these components but a good number did. Call it a “test run” that last several years, if you will.
Some blades dulled much quicker than loyalists were used to. Some augers no longer pulled themselves through the ice… owners had to apply pressure on them to get them to cut. At times, it was a lot of pressure. Welds ripped out of blade mounting pads and blades broke. And who can forget all the problems with the augers that locked up at the bottom of the ice just before breaking through? Of course that was due to faulty angles on the blade mounting pads.
2 years ago Rapala steps in and buys Strikemaster. They’re hit with the quality control issue and they make the decision to stop all component purchases from China. All Strikemaster Solo augers being released for sale this winter by Rapala have Mora augers and blades. The issues mentioned above… all but gone. Nothing made by man’s hands will ever achieve perfection but things are back to where they should be.
Currently the Strikemaster Solo augers have a transmission made here locally in MN, and all Mora augers and blades. They’re definitely NOT made in China as asserted by some.
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I’d hate to be that Chinese child working for 5/100 of a penny.
They are happy to have some money to buy some food. Maybe if more americans thought the same way all of these jobs would not be outsourced to other countries
Don’t worry, I edited it and added a “$”
Feel better?
If I could just find the “cent” symbol on this thing..
5 cents, is what I meant. Although the labor rate for Chinese workers is rising. The quality sure isn’t.
boy things have gone down hill fast sense rapala bought them……
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boy things have gone down hill fast sense rapala bought them……
Dude…read the thread. Rapala stopped the Chinese blades. The previous owners of Strikemaster made the move to Chinese blades before selling the company.
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boy things have gone down hill fast sense rapala bought them……
Dude…read the thread. Rapala stopped the Chinese blades. The previous owners of Strikemaster made the move to Chinese blades before selling the company.
Not only was it not any of Rapala’s doing, but they are even sending out new blades after the fact. Pretty good customer service if you ask me. Also, I was one who had a problem with my Otter cover ripping because it was too tight. I went through the proper channels, filled out the proper paperwork and now I have a new canvas. That’s awfully good customer service in my book. The thing is folks need to go through the proper process and more than likely you will be satisfied with the results. I even know Marcum is sending out new chargers free of charge for the ones not working.
Never quite understood why we ice fisherman tend to be so demanding compared to other products on the market. I believe if we spent 1/2 the amount of time learning about the fish we are trying to catch vs. worry about our gear, we would all be better fisherman.
Just an afternoon rambling from an average nobody.
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boy things have gone down hill fast sense rapala bought them……
Dude…read the thread. Rapala stopped the Chinese blades. The previous owners of Strikemaster made the move to Chinese blades before selling the company.
I love it when you can count on a guy to post the facts here…
Thanks James !!! 
I seen this posted on a online retailer’s facebook page a couple weeks ago. Has anyone else heard this?
“Just heard from a bird that Rapala, who owns Mora and Strikemaster have pulled all production of Mora augers out of Sweden and moved it to Finland. Expect significantly higher prices there. Also, Rapala pulled all of it’s manufacturing of Strikemaster out of China and moved the machinery to Finland as well. Expect higher prices there as well.”
50’s next week 
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I seen this posted on a online retailer’s facebook page a couple weeks ago. Has anyone else heard this?
“Just heard from a bird that Rapala, who owns Mora and Strikemaster have pulled all production of Mora augers out of Sweden and moved it to Finland. Expect significantly higher prices there. Also, Rapala pulled all of it’s manufacturing of Strikemaster out of China and moved the machinery to Finland as well. Expect higher prices there as well.”
If true I could care less. I’ll pay more for a quality product. They already make a good product but if it was even better I’d pay a few buck more for that.
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I seen this posted on a online retailer’s facebook page a couple weeks ago. Has anyone else heard this?
“Just heard from a bird that Rapala, who owns Mora and Strikemaster have pulled all production of Mora augers out of Sweden and moved it to Finland. Expect significantly higher prices there. Also, Rapala pulled all of it’s manufacturing of Strikemaster out of China and moved the machinery to Finland as well. Expect higher prices there as well.”
“Just heard from a bird”
Must be a Parrot
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I seen this posted on a online retailer’s facebook page a couple weeks ago. Has anyone else heard this?
“Just heard from a bird that Rapala, who owns Mora and Strikemaster have pulled all production of Mora augers out of Sweden and moved it to Finland. Expect significantly higher prices there. Also, Rapala pulled all of it’s manufacturing of Strikemaster out of China and moved the machinery to Finland as well. Expect higher prices there as well.”
In an effort to keep things factual I called and talked to a contact at Strikemaster regarding price increases for next season. When asked point blank if the move of manufacturing from China would result in price increases to the consumer his response was NO. There will be NO price increases to the retailer for any Strikemaster next year. If a price goes up over this winter it is at the retailer’s choosing but will not be due to a price increase coming from Strikemaster to the retailer.
Strikemaster got back to my buddy quickly and said they would send him new blades but would not admit to the Chinese blades being the problem. They said he must have hit something with the blades after looking at the pictures he sent them. The blades clearly have the edge along the whole length of the blade rolled over with no nicks, etc. This is not what blades that have hit something look like. The new blades they are sending better be Mora blades or he will be wild. This is the only problem both of us have had with our Strikemasters and we love them. I can not remember how old my Mag 2000 is but it is bulletproof.
I bought two augers this week. One with a power head and one without. The first auger was a 7″ drill unit and after mounting it one one of my other augers I noticed it got stuck in the bottom of every hole. On the sticker it says made in china and big lake minnesota. My other new auger came in and it was a honda lite and that sticker says made in sweden and big lake minnesota. This thing never got stuck in the hole, and is smooth as ever. My other older augers that don’t even have the power point never have gotten stuck in the hole! I emailed strikemaster and I am confused. I have ran these augers for 20 years and have never had one get stuck in every hole like that new 7″does! Plan on ordering another 10″ drill unit tomorrow and hope it doesn’t get stuck like that 7″ does. Strikemaster is an incredible company and I’m sure we will get this all figured out.
My fishing partner just got new Mora blades from Strikemaster in one day!! 
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