I tend to think JWheelz is no longer in production. I’ve tried communicating with them in the past and no responses. There are a few problems with them. Hard on tie rods and bearings when you start to plow through snow, very hard on lug nuts, few reports that exist indicate they slip off frequently. So that is likely the problem with them.

I don’t believe they work and I wouldn’t waste time looking into them further

You are far better off going with the widest tire you can fit. I have 27×12’s on all 4 corners. Run the tires backwards which helps with floatation rather than typical rotation which promotes digging. Use chains on the back. Should be good for a lot of snow. I was fishing Devils Lake in March on my ATV last winter when everyone kept saying “tracks only”.

You will get stuck, but that’s why you have a winch

______________ wrote:

IMO, drills are a better choice for 80% of <em class=”ido-tag-em”>ice fishing applications, maybe more. All you get with a ice auger company is a higher cost and a lesser battery design.

There is truth to this. Issues with the hand drill setups in general are due to using inferior equipment (Craftsman, Bosch, B&D). High-end, modern, DeWalt and Milwaukee drills have proven their capabilities over several years.

You do use them in unintended ways that could potentially pose reliability concerns if you’re not careful (heavy bits that put a lot of leverage on the chuck and driveshaft), but the actual torque placed on the drill itself is well within the capabilities of a DeWalt 996 or Milwaukee 2804. Extra thick ice isn’t going to change this either. There is a lot of competition for performance in the drill market for power, reliability, and run time.

Plus now you get a super high end drill to use around the house all 12 months of the year, whereas a dedicated auger sits on the shelf and doesn’t get used. If money was no object I’d grab a new model strikemaster to always have the optimal setup to choose from. But really, you have pro tournament fisherman using drill setups so I’d say that’s validation enough the drill combo is a legit solution

First post here!

My $.02:

Gas and even propane augers are yesterday’s technology and they will most likely be going away in the near future. It’s the horse and buggy of the early 1900’s. The legitimate reasons for owning a gas are dwindling by the day and I can’t honestly think of one that can’t be easily mitigated with electric. Electric is simply far superior from nearly every standpoint…speed, no fumes, quick startup, portability, off-season use, etc, etc..
Added benefit is you can reverse your drill to blow all of the ice chunks down the hole and not mess with sifting out the slush.

My setup:

Milwaukee Fuel Hammer Drill model 2804 (updated handle design – ~$100)
2 – 6AHr H.O. batteries (~$130 for the pair)
8″ blue Nils hand auger
Ice Master drill adapter (can get it from FishUSA for ~$40)

You can drill holes until you are blue in the face with this setup. Add a 3rd extra capacity battery for fishing LOW or Canada with 4 ft + of ice. Keep the battery in your pocket to stay somewhat warm, even though Milwaukee batteries tend to do extremely well in the cold. This setup will punch multiple holes through the ice before the gas augers even get started. No more tune ups, spilled gas, Stabil, fumes in ice house, cold start issues, annoying noise, etc!!!!

Pros/Cons for your auger choice to go with a drill:
– you can either go with a chipper auger (typical Jiffy style or K-Drill style bit) or you can go with a cutting blade like my Nils
– Chipper bits like K-Drill are great for reopening holes in permanent ice houses and for drilling double holes (side by side hole with overlap to make an extra wide hole, possibly if you wanted to stay 6″ bit but fish big pike). Chipper bits also can be easily sharpened and will continue to drill when they get a bit dull (albiet slower). Chipper bits can also handle dirty ice (sand, wood chips, etc). Chipper bits can get hung up on the punch through at the bottom of the hole.
– Nils or HT mini cutter bits are far superior from a speed and effort standpoint. There is simply no faster ice drill bits on the market. You also don’t apply pressure to the top, but rather let the drill do all the work and you sit back and drink coffee while your buddies are sweating with their Jiffy or Lazer! Cutter bits can get dull in dirty ice! And speaking of getting dull, protect that blade! If it gets dull you are pretty much done drilling. When it gets dull the sharpening process can be more difficult. However, I’ve never sharpened my blade and if you keep it protected they will go a long time. Cutter bits are smooth as butter on the punch through at the bottom of the hole
– if you can stay with a 6″ auger bit you will get many more holes out of the same battery size or allow you to purchase a cheaper battery and drill same number of holes. The effective cutting surface area of a 6″ is about 1/2 that of an 8″! With that said, high end drills will have no problem turning even a 10″ bit if you prefer to keep your sonar in place while landing large fish or visually see down in shallow water. The idea that you absolutely need an 8″ or 10″ bit is B.S. Quite frankly, you will lose just as many fish at the hole using the larger bits. The benefit of a 6″ bit is that big fish can’t turn around in the hole and if it gets off they will almost surely float to the top of the hole if you let them!

Drill selection:
– most reputable drill manufacturers now have equipment that is capable of handling an 8″ auger bit these days. (Rigid, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita, etc, as long as you go with at least 750 in/lb torque, preferably 1000)
– Milwaukee has superior cold performance and there is a reason why K-Drill only recommends this brand with their product (steel chuck, better internals, etc)
– get the biggest battery you can reasonably afford, but keep in mind not all batteries are created equal, even at the same AHr!!
– only go with a brushless motor drill (higher efficiency and power)
– cheapie old NiMH brushed drills will burnout and you will not be satisfied with the performance. Don’t use them!!