Strikemaster – no gas augers?

I was looking on the Strikemaster site, as I’ve got a coupon, for a new gas auger. They have only the Lazer Lite and the Chipper Lite (Chipper is out of stock) listed. What’s up?

Gas is a thing of the past. Times have changed!

Fowldreams55398 wrote:

Gas is a thing of the past. Times have changed!

Is this an opinion? Or is this a report of what Strikemaster is doing?

It’s legit. They’re going to electric.

You think they’d keep at least one or two has augers in production for guys that fish remote or very thick ice, but that doesn’t sound like the case.

That sucks for us. We only fish remote, and it’s super cold with 30+” ice and lots of holes drilled per day. No good.

fishinfreaks wrote:

That sucks for us. We only fish remote, and it’s super cold with 30+” ice and lots of holes drilled per day. No good.

We haven’t used anything but the 40Vs on our backwoods laker trips for the last couple years and we fish much like you…. lots of moving and non-stop hole punching. They’ve been fantastic.

This was just discussed on another thread here a couple days ago.

You should be able to pick it up here… http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/electric-auger-questions/page/3/#post-1880117

James Holst wrote:

We haven’t used anything but the 40Vs on our backwoods laker trips for the last couple years and we fish much like you…. lots of moving and non-stop hole punching. They’ve been fantastic.

Very good to know. I guess I’ve ignored the electric augers, assuming they couldn’t roll in the cold and drill the numbers of holes we drill. I’ll look into them a bit.

How are you carrying them on your sleds? That’s another concern to me. How much of a beating can they take?

fishinfreaks wrote:

How are you carrying them on your sleds? That’s another concern to me. How much of a beating can they take?

I honestly think they’re more reliable than gas augers. No plugs to foul. No carb issues. No hard starting in extreme cold. We put them in the tub of our sleds or mount them on the snowmobiles and never give them a second thought. My pair of 40Vs and four batteries batteries are the original units I tested for Strikemaster three years ago. They will be going into their fourth season this winter with not one issue and every hole I’ve punched over that time period has been with one of these two augers. How many holes is that? Easily thousands. When it is below zero we keep the batteries in a cooler with a hand warmer. When it is above zero you don’t have to do anything special. By the time the guys with a gas auger get theirs started and warmed up we’re usually half way done drilling.

And 30″ of ice is nothing to a 40V.

fishinfreaks wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>James Holst wrote:</div>
We haven’t used anything but the 40Vs on our backwoods laker trips for the last couple years and we fish much like you…. lots of moving and non-stop hole punching. They’ve been fantastic.

Very good to know. I guess I’ve ignored the electric augers, assuming they couldn’t roll in the cold and drill the numbers of holes we drill. I’ll look into them a bit.

How are you carrying them on your sleds? That’s another concern to me. How much of a beating can they take?

The last 2 winters we’ve had a trip with lows -30s and highs -10s. The 40v was flawless and much quicker than the gassers for morning startup. The auger rides on the front of the snowmobile for an hourish ride each morning with the battery kept warm in a hoody pocket. Drilled holes all day with no issues.

I guess if you have 4 batteries you can make a day of punching holes. How does one battery with 30” fair? Curious what you get…

The thing that scares me is the battery availability. All batteries will fail eventually. And when that happens will they still have replacement batteries? I’ve had bad luck with cordless drills and other tools. You charge the battery that one millionth time and it’s shot. And then you find out they quit making that model. On the other hand, they’re still making gasoline.

S.R.

I used my Milwaukee drill and lazer bit combo a lot last year. I love the light weight, great for walking out, also saves a lot of space in the otter sled.
That being said im not excited that they are discontinuing gas augers.
I’ve had my honda/ strikemaster auger since they came out in 2011 or 2012 and it’s been a great machine. Drilled thousands of trouble free holes in its lifetime. Problem is, that’s it’s getting tired and I was hoping to replace it with another Honda/ strikemaster either this year or next.
Like Steve mentioned, I worry about battery life and availability 8-10 years down the road. Im sure I’ll be forced into a new auger again should a battery fail a couple years down the road.
I still want a gas auger, I will just have to look into other brands when the time comes.

Gasoline powered augers will be going the way of steam powered boats within the next 5 years.

I too was very hesitant to make the switch. I think propane augers will be a fad that fades to electric as well (if it hasn’t already). Strikemaster, Ion, and then all the companies’ augers engineered to pair with powerful drills have really worked to produce quality products that fulfill almost every niche if the right tool is purchased. (dirty ice, clear ice, light weight applications, wheel houses and no fumes, replacement parts, extra batteries, rapid charges, long excursions, etc)

I put 58 holes in 24″ of solid clear ice on Pool 4 last year using a K drill and x2 5.0amp batteries that are beyond their prime and a set of blades that needs to go in for free sharpening. This arguably wasn’t even the best choice of electric options for that task, but it still performed perfectly.

I wouldn’t be terribly worried about battery replacement in 8-10 years. 25 years….yes. But the technology then will be insane and you wouldn’t look back.

When did the Ion debut? 2012?

I had one the first year they came out and it’s still flawless…..AND I can still get a replacement battery if needed without even batting an eye (still the same).

I think the biggest concern would be if the brand you have goes teats up. Which wouldn’t be any different than a gas auger…..if replacement parts aren’t available….. you’re SOL.

Electric is here to stay…..and it’s the future.

Going to toot my own horn here a bit, but I was a pioneer outside the industry

I wanted a fast and fumeless auger for indoors.

A decade ago, the only electrics available were the dreaded Electra and the very expensive and unreliable Ice Gator (who by the way, was the true pioneer in fast electric augers).

Cordless drills at the time couldn’t reliably turn an 8″ bit. So I came up with my own AC design to run off a generator.

My first design was a 120 volt well jet pump motor mounted in place of the gas Tecumseh on a Strikemaster. I used the existing handle bars and gear box. It worked, but it was slow and the clutch would slip.

Next, I used a 120 Volt Milwaukee Hole Hawg with an adapter to a Lazer bit for the hardshack.

It worked AMAZING (faster than a gas auger), but the obvious limitation was it had a cord. My tip ups stayed within 100′ of the shack if I didn’t want to break out the gas auger LOL

In reality it’s still a great option for wheelhouse guys. You can buy a generic Hole Hawg from Northern for $100 or a genuine used Milwaukee for not much more and run it off your generator. A ton less money than a $500-$800 Lithium auger.

I do not fish the great north but a couple times a year.. I mainly fish the back waters of the Mississippi.. But it’s been all electric for me… The 40v has been flawless…. I may even add the Lite Flite Lazer Drill to the 40v power head to lighten up the load by a couple pounds !!

No more gas… push the button and go !!!

ClownColor wrote:

I guess if you have 4 batteries you can make a day of punching holes. How does one battery with 30” fair? Curious what you get…

5AH battery on a milwauke m18 with a 6″ Kdrill i get 1000″ of ice.

I don’t make a habit of counting ice holes or inches. Got other things on my mind when I’m on the ice.

The factory claims 1600 inches of ice per battery. That’s 100 holes in 16″ of ice. I know they’ve done a number of tests to back that claim and my best guesstimate based on actual use is it seems accurate.

So the best answer I can offer is I’ve never had to reach for a third battery for a single auger. Ever. Two has always been more than plenty. Most of the guys I fish with run one battery and if they’re hitting it hard they charge that one battery while on the ice by pulling power from their ATV or truck.

Steve Root wrote:

The thing that scares me is the battery availability. All batteries will fail eventually. And when that happens will they still have replacement batteries? I’ve had bad luck with cordless drills and other tools. You charge the battery that one millionth time and it’s shot. And then you find out they quit making that model. On the other hand, they’re still making gasoline.

S.R.

Batteries Plus will actually rebuild cordless batteries. There is nothing super complicated about the internals of any of these batteries, but getting them apart may be another story, but they can relatively easily replace banks within the battery pack.
I may have to migrate my way to a battery powered auger, but it will depend largely in how this season goes and my Solo. Its just been so dang fantastic. My buddy has an Ion and that thing is terrible. He wouldnt let me bring my solo on a late ice trip 2 years ago and just used his Ion, well, he drilled maybe 12 holes all day and the last 2 holes took like 25 minutes because it would make like 1 revolution and stop because the battery was so low. He kept the battery inside the whole time too. Ice was super thick and it was dang cold.

Well, thanks everyone for helping me spend more money than I was planning on. I’m going to grab a 40V Strikemaster with a spare battery from H2Outfitters up in Big Lake. Time to take the plunge, I guess. Gotta keep up with the Jones’s.

Now what am I saving for weight over my 2.5hp Solo?

The biggest issue I see with the electric augers is if you go off the grid for an extended trip, you need multiple batteries…. and they are what, $150-$200 a pop? Heck, thats half the cost of an entire new auger. Whereas with a gas auger, you just fill up an extra gas tank or two and you are set to go. Plus you may need 2 or 3 extra batteries depending how far off the grid you are and how cold it is.

Gas augers will last 30+ years with nothing more than a couple new spark plugs and a can of carb cleaner. Cleaning carbs is definitely too hard of a task for some people to do on their own, but its pretty easy work to keep a gas auger functional for 30+ years. I’m skeptical an electric auger, more specifically the battery, will last that long. And if the battery craps out on you, you might as well buy an entire new auger with how expensive the batteries are.

I just finally bought a gas auger last winter. Guys were practically giving them away.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Gas augers will last 30+ years with nothing more than a couple new spark plugs and a can of carb cleaner. Cleaning carbs is definitely too hard of a task for some people to do on their own, but its pretty easy work to keep a gas auger functional for 30+ years. I’m skeptical an electric auger, more specifically the battery, will last that long. And if the battery craps out on you, you might as well buy an entire new auger with how expensive the batteries are.

This is very true! In the past when people didnt go through much gas or use fuel stabilizer, ethanol free fuel, crappy things happened to small engines like in augers. I have exclusively used Trufuel for the last 4 seasons in all of my gas powered items, leaf blower, Gas auger, weed trimmer and I never have trouble starting them. Except last year my Solo leaked gas over the summer so the seals in the carb dried up and it was a PITA to get going again, but once I got it started it was first or second pull all winter regardless of temp. The TruFuel cans are nice to carry around and dont leak like a regular gas can.
It will be a while before I ditch the gas auger, but its inevitable I guess. By then they will be 100 Volt Solar charged jobbies that will cut 10,000 inches of ice in 20 seconds I am sure.

fishinfreaks wrote:

Well, thanks everyone for helping me spend more money than I was planning on. I’m going to grab a 40V Strikemaster with a spare battery from H2Outfitters up in Big Lake. Time to take the plunge, I guess. Gotta keep up with the Jones’s.

Now what am I saving for weight over my 2.5hp Solo?

I love my battery auger but running in 30+ inches in remote wilderness seems like a bad idea if that’s where and how you fish.

CaptainMusky wrote:

By then they will be 100 Volt Solar charged jobbies that will cut 10,000 inches of ice in 20 seconds I am sure.

Did you know…that Clam introduced (rebranded) a new 120V electric auger this year? Not solar powered though, you still need to charge the battery although I cannot imagine anyone going off the grid for so long that they couldn’t even charge their cellphone battery somehow.

Funny too how this entire discussion was a 4 page thread less than a year ago.

Where my obsession arises is that I’m currently looking to finally “modernize” my auger tool.

I’d mostly made up my mind on the Strikmaster 40V until my head keeps getting spun back around. There seems to be a growing number of advocates for the brushless drill/K-Drill approach that they seem to swear by. It looks like the only advantage that a 40V Strikemaster or Ion is that they offer a 10″ which the “drill” types do not. At least not yet.

And then there are some saying this or that one is great while the next person comments it’s junk.

Price checking…
Strikmaster 40V 8″ w/one battery…$550
K-Drill combo with Milwaukee Drill 8″ w/two batteries…$500
Clam 120V 8″ “extension included” one battery…$600
Original Ion 8″ “extension included” one battery…$400

Think I’ll be shopping at the Ice Expo in Blaine this year again.

James Holst wrote:

I don’t make a habit of counting ice holes or inches. Got other things on my mind when I’m on the ice.

This is all estimating based on our typical ice depths and how many holes we typically drill.

like you we’ve never ran out of juice and we drill a ton.

For the guys debating on strikemaster 40v vs cordless drill with k drill. I still go with the mindset that the strikemaster was designed to be a auger. A cordless drill was never intended on putting a 8 inch bit on it. How many of these drills have burned up? Lots!

For me and my K-drill, being able to use half my auger year round was a big factor. When else can you write off a fishing tool?

The worst thing is the M18(or M12) line can be addictive!

I might even try my new M12 fuel drill during early ice.

For those concerned about battery availability on the SM 40v – I’ve read they can run on the Greenworks GMAX 40v batteries. I haven’t seen this myself but they definitely pass the eye test.

Greenworks is an electric lawn tool company pumping out a lot of volume with a huge customer base relative to ice augers. The GMAX 40v has been around since 2013 so batteries should be widely available and for a long time.