power augers and cold weather don’t mix

  • AkDan
    Posts: 104
    January 17, 2006 at 9:46 am #1297584

    Well we are on auger #3 right now. My buddies first two mako’s were pretty much toast right out of the box. Sportsmens warehouse did take great care of us. We jumped up to the barracuda and I have to say. It DOESN’T like the cold. Today we couldn’t keep it running enough to drill one hole from top to bottom. This is the second time we’ve used this auger and up till today had less then a dozen holes on it. There isn’t enough room in the ice house for the head let alone the hole auger. The small buddy doesn’t even put out enough heat in these temps to pull your jacket off. And they say this is fun, hmmmmph. …………….

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    January 17, 2006 at 12:45 pm #412456

    Dan, in the winter months you should take a tropical vacation..

    Come to Forrest Lake, Minnesota!

    It was a balmy 38 degrees F the other day. Don’t forget your sun screen!

    I don’t know anything about the type of auger you’re using, but I think at this point it’s time to switch to a differant brand…or contact the factory.

    I did this with my Jiffy a couple years ago and found out that I’ve been adjusting my carb in the garage. This doesn’t work with Jiffy’s, they have to have a “load” on them when setting the carb up. As in cut a hole…adjust…cut another hole….adjust, until it’s dialed in. The way it ran the other day, I need to do this again…but my point is that sometimes the factory knows something that isn’t obvious.

    dougie
    Sobieski,Wi
    Posts: 456
    January 17, 2006 at 2:38 pm #412493

    How fresh is the gas you are using? Maybe you have water in the gas. Ice augers don’t mind the cold temps. Hope you get it running.
    Doug

    AkDan
    Posts: 104
    January 17, 2006 at 4:01 pm #412524

    Brian,

    I am originally from Scandia. STill have family and a load of friends in the area, small world eh.

    The gas is less then three weeks old. The auger runs great in the garage where it’s warm. I’ll call the manufaturer here in a bit and see what they have to say.

    amwatson
    Holmen,WI
    Posts: 5130
    January 17, 2006 at 5:05 pm #412547

    If I had to live and fish in the temps you are in, I wouldn’t want to work either That area will make the best equipment think twice about working

    dougie
    Sobieski,Wi
    Posts: 456
    January 17, 2006 at 5:09 pm #412549

    What I’m thinking if the auger runs fine in the garage when it gets out in the cold the water in the gas freezes you get gasline freeze.
    Doug

    dodge_boy
    Minocqua, Wi
    Posts: 554
    January 17, 2006 at 5:09 pm #412550

    It’s becouse of that pollution control. They lean out the 2 strokes so bad they don’t run in cold weather. I took mine to my small engine guy and that is what he see alot. He put an older carb on that you can adjust and that fixed that problem.

    AkDan
    Posts: 104
    January 17, 2006 at 6:41 pm #412573

    Well just got off the phone with Eskimo’s customer service. He said to try and run it leaner, the thicker mixture (24-1) starts to bog it down or over protect the engine. He also wasn’t a big fan of nonventing caps in which the cuda has instead of a vented fuel cap. Said to unscrew it to the point it just stays on and see what happens. Temps are -33 right now, going to go out tomorrow and see how it does.

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    January 18, 2006 at 2:33 pm #412787

    Quote:

    Temps are -33 right now

    A warming trend eh?

    Good luck…don’t sound like fun…screwing around with carb adjustments in the cold!

    Hey Dan? Do they add anything to the gas up there for water, like they do here in MN?

    Slightly off topic, but wond’rn.

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