Nil’s power Augers vs Strikemaster

Heard a few post about the Nils Augers. Anyone ever used that brand, and vs Strikemaster?

Strikemaster is an IDO sponsor. You do the math.

I am not associated with IDO other than making posts here. That being said the Strikemaster solos are faster than the Nils and at a much cheaper price. combine that with the fact that they are a minnesota company with great customer service, it is hard to beat. Earlier this year i almost beat a 5″ nils with an 8″ solo

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Heard a few post about the Nils Augers. Anyone ever used that brand, and vs Strikemaster?

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Those two posts after yours pretty much says it all. Doesn’t it????

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Heard a few post about the Nils Augers. Anyone ever used that brand, and vs Strikemaster?

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Those two posts after yours pretty much says it all. Doesn’t it????

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I used to be a Jiffy guy until I tried a buddies Strikemaster. They are lighter, cuts faster and most imporantly RUNS great not half of the time all the time.

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Strikemaster is an IDO sponsor. You do the math.

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And yet you will still get the least bias response here than on any other site.

I can’t compare as I’ve never used a Nil’s, but I love my Strike master.

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I am not associated with IDO other than making posts here. That being said the Strikemaster solos are faster than the Nils and at a much cheaper price. combine that with the fact that they are a minnesota company with great customer service, it is hard to beat. Earlier this year i almost beat a 5″ nils with an 8″ solo

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That Nils must have had a dull blade Bob.

SM has closed the gap significantly with their new Solo engines and it sure is nice to see a local company put out such a fine product.

But the auger wars are hilarious. You certainly cannot go wrong having either one.

All I know is that I love my Nils and would recommend it to my closest friends in a heartbeat.

I’m a Jiffy guy and I will say the Strikemaster is a better unit then the Nils for a guy punching a lot of holes. My main reason for not liking the Nils is once the Nils go dull or get dinged up what do you do? Last I heard you had to ship the blade head off to be resharpened for a nice chunk of change. I like my old Jiffy for working rentals, it always starts, takes a beating and a quick swipe with a file and its good to go. Although I did get to try out the new Solo and it was a a nice unit; it cut fast and smooth all the way through. None of that jarring or “locking” into the hole that some of the chipper style suffer from.

If I had to break it down: If a guy redrills a ton of holes and plans on not treating his auger nice go with the Jiffy. If you are punching a bunch of holes in search of fish the Strikemaster is fast, smooth and light. The Nils is nice with its longer bit and more compact size but I’m not sure about the blades being resharpened and I understand they have a high performance motor that is a bit touchy with fuel and jetting. I could be wrong but that is what turned me off when I was offerd a deal to try out a Nils a few years back.

Good deal on an 8″ eskimo in the classifieds

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Strikemaster is an IDO sponsor. You do the math.

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Let me assure you, I’ll be the one of first to light up anyone who endorses a product solely because they are a forum sponsor.

In fact through my history here on IDO, I’ve come to find a reassuring trend (and I know it isn’t by accident) The products you’ll find endorsed on here will be done so by the merits they have earned. I’ve found this to be true, thus far everytime I’ve encountered a product endorsed by the “staff”

So I have some trust that they aren’t just out to get my money, but to help me get the best product for my money too. The day that ends will be the start of the end of my posts on this site.(tempting right? )

I try to be a man of my word, and expect the same of other’s that give their word.

Again to date, never an issue with this site… Now there is another Fishing in Minnesota site, I’ve come across that I have heard testimonials and such, that I firmly believe are total hogwash, unlike here, If I were to really voice my opinion about their blatant lies, I would surely and promptly be perma banned. Not to say I probably couldn’t find a way to get myself perma banned on here (If I were so determined) On here, they’ll let you speak your peace (if done so respectfully) and everyone moves on, pretty tough to get banned on this site, and I’m pretty sure the perma ban numbers on here are ridiculously low, compare to most forums.

All in all in my time on the internet and forums, and not to say IDO has always been a perfect flawless environment, I do truly have to say what we all have here in IDO is an exception to the norm.

I’m not staff, I have no ties to this site in any such way, or than posting my .02 when I feel like it and I like being a “neutral” party.

EDIT: I should mention I’m a huge SM fan, and though I have little doubt the Nils makes some pretty good stuff, at this point I’d have a hard time straying to a different company when I’m really happy with SM. Also I like that they are “local” to me, I like to support local businesses.

Well put Nick….

Nils cost $20 and shipping to be resharpened and you’ll have it back better than new in a weeks time, may go 3-4 year without needing sharpened. I run a Nils and it’s a great machine. Hard to beat a unit that runs a motor thats been around for 50-60 years or more. The Tanaka power heads they use are industial motors built for industial applications and last forever.
Look around and see how many Nils you find for sale used, my guess is not many, guys get them and they just never wear out.

I was once a dedicated Stikemaster guy but they went more and more plastic, Nils is all Steel and still only weighs 22 pounds with a 48″ 8″ auger bit. May cost a little more in the beginning but it’s an auger you can bet your grandkids will enjoy 30 years from now.

SM has definately inproved their product, because just a few years ago, when they first went to plastic handles…..all you heard about was broken handles. It was a dang joke – if your auger got bumped or dropped, the handles would break.

All of the SM endorsers beat the drum that it was “operator error”….gimme a break. Now they seemd to have corrected it and have a quality product again.

As far as NIls vs SM, give me the SM any day – because I can drill a 10″ hole with it. I believe the nils comes in 8″ max? That is the deal breaker no matter how great it drills.

Tim

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Look around and see how many Nils you find for sale used, my guess is not many, guys get them and they just never wear out.

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That is because there are only a few hundred around. Noone owns them, so there are not many for sale. Treat a lazer mag well and you won’t wear that out any faster than a Nilsy.

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Strikemaster is an IDO sponsor. You do the math.

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Here we go again…another auger debate.

This website didn’t have anything to do with me winning a Solo Lazer Mag in a fishing contest a couple weeks ago, nor did it have anything to do with my first Lazer purchase in 1997.

With years of reliable use and abuse, I was going to buy a new Strikemaster anyways. I stick with products that perform well for me.

To the original poster:
I’ve used a Nils. Great auger, but just not for me.

If you can find both to test, that would be ideal, however difficult to accomplish unless someone’s willing to help.

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Look around and see how many Nils you find for sale used, my guess is not many, guys get them and they just never wear out.

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That is because there are only a few hundred around. Noone owns them, so there are not many for sale. Treat a lazer mag well and you won’t wear that out any faster than a Nilsy.

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Guessing since theres 20+ year old Nils running around theres more than a few hundred out there. I know at least a dozen guys with them.

In my years of fishing, having spent countless days on popular fisheries, I can honestly say that I have seen one nils hand auger and zero nils power augers. I have seen thousands of SM’s, Jiffys, and eskimo’s, a couple of kluges, plus a handful of other off-brands….but I have never seen a nils power auger.

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a couple of kluges,

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I forgot about those old war monsters. A old friend of mine had one of those ultra fast yet ultra loud units made in the sixties I believe. He used to yell at the top of his lungs “KLUGEEEEEEE” before he would fire it up every time and send ice chips sailing for a ten foot circle.

Good times and a great auger…just that it wieghed in at metric ton good thing he was 6’5″ and 280lbs. Although I loved the twist grip throttle.

Although now KECO LLC (Modern day Kluge) makes a new version that looks pretty fast also.

They still make them. I think they want near $1000 per auger.

This guy is the staff administrator on that other fishing in Minnesota site. They always are pushing there advertisers down your throat and have smart a** remarks for question or comments. Last year I got kicked off the site for a month because I questioned why they talked so highly of Nils and said SM wasn’t even in the same league! Now this year StrikeMaster is a partner just like Nils guess what? It seems the people in Big Lake produce a superior product and now they have nothing good to say about Jiffy or Eskimo… Even with SM having recoil grease issues early in the season. Now if that happened last year boy I couldn’t imagine what they all would have said lol.

The people that run that site think they are on a high horse and are the greatest fisherman in the world. Thank You IDO for keeping it real To the point: StrikeMaster Solo’s are sweet and the Nils are good too! I just like to keep the people in Big Lake going strong!!

I owned my Nils before I even knew of the other site. If I lived near Big Lake that may have swayed my decision at the time but they aren’t close and I spent to many weekends without an auger waiting for parts. 2 recoils, 2 carb kits and finaly a new carb in a season made me look at other brands. I’m happy with my little 1.5hp auger that eats most 2-3hp augers.

I can honestly say i,ve seen only one Nils power auger and i pity the guy which i,m guessing had no idea he needed to get it sharpened in a bad way. Over a minute for two holes in 20 inches of ice. I can,t say anything bad about them i have no experience with them. But i still love my strikemasters. I wanna see somebody race them to see how much differance there is.

Ajs

Just tossing this out there I’ll race any nils with my 3hp 224 solo and bet $25 bucks I’ll beat them As I told Cal it dosent so mutch cut as it dose scare the ice out of the hole.

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Just tossing this out there I’ll race any nils with my 3hp 224 solo and bet $25 bucks I’ll beat them As I told Cal it dosent so mutch cut as it dose scare the ice out of the hole.

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Shaley and I already have a competition for some unknown date in the future. Shaley, I drink Premium or Molson

Bring your knee-highs,…its gonna get deep

Has anybody ran a 224 solo versus the plain lazer pro? How much differant is it speed wise. I wanna know if its worth buying a 224 bit for my power head

Ajs

I ran my solo with a reg 8″ lazer blade for about 75 holes the last 500 have been drilled with a 224 I’ll never go back. The 224 is smooth from top to bottom Spend the money and buy the 224.

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Just tossing this out there I’ll race any nils with my 3hp 224 solo and bet $25 bucks I’ll beat them As I told Cal it dosent so mutch cut as it dose scare the ice out of the hole.

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Shaley and I already have a competition for some unknown date in the future. Shaley, I drink Premium or Molson

Bring your knee-highs,…its gonna get deep

Shaley you and I can drink molson and talk Muskie and Matt can sweat drilling holes.

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Now thats the best idea yet Tim

The 4 blade 224 bit is a smooth drill from start to finish. I did rip a weld off a older 224 bit this winter with the 3 hp solo, but I would imagine that the weld got worn down a bit from drilling. Its a very smooth drill process with the 4 blade compared to the 2 blade in my opinion…

The 224 is sick!!I love mine.