started years ago with a strike master,, nothing but problems, then read an article by the inventor of the Jiffy and how it rotates counterclockwise and pulls itself into the ice, it is a little heavier, but have had it 7 years now and never encountered a problem, and never sharpened the blades, my fishing bud has had 3 strikemasters in the last few years and as I posted elswhere I drilled 2 holes to his 1 last Sunday at 11 mile...

 

i've had 3 jiffy's and they all were bad a$$ thats all i will probably ever buy. my buddie has an eskimo that sucks, he always uses my auger.

 

I used a strikemaster 2000 last year. This year I purchased a 10" Jiffy stealth STX 3.0hp. It blows away that strikemaster 1000% And it seems to be better on gas than the strikemaster.

 

My votes also with Jiffy, but I have no experience with any other brands. I have a jiffy lite model 50, made 88 and it still runs and cuts great.

 

A spud.

 

A spud.

Lol!

 

Hey now, whats so funny.

 

I was @ aurora the other day and one guy was using a hatchet!!!!! now THAT was funny. I offered to punch him some holes but he refused, I think, no english. After he left I went and checked out his other Spot . there was a three foot crater with a four inch opening in the ice. So much for being mobile.

 

wow, that would be pretty humorous to watch him hack through the 30 inches of ice some of the mountain lakes get. i take that back the constant thump,thump,thump, would probably get pretty annoying after the first 3 hours.

 

Yeah no kiddin, was VERY funny. so much for a quiet day in the ice.


(ended up moving for some peace and quiet)

 

say what you want about strike masters but I had one for years and no problems. starts and drills every time. gave it to a friend of mine this year he has kids that like to fish and no money for power auger felt sorry for him having to drill 5 holes with a hand auger just to get started. bought a new strikemaster lazer mag and there is no problem with it. any gas auger that starts and drills is a good one in my opinion.

 

I think if you take care of your auger then either brand will work fine. However I have not read one good report about eskimo's. I myself have used a jiffy for the last 11 years and have only changed the blades one time and only a few minor problems which where operater problems ( not opening the air cap on the gas all the way and trying to adjust the carb with no idea what i was doing ) lucky slayer was there and knocked those problems out in a snap.

 

I like my Eskimo. I used an Eskimo 8" hand auger for 2 years -- it cut a lot of holes and I have not changed the blades yet.
I just upgraded (in Nov) to the low end Eskimo 8" power auger. It cuts great and starts on the first pull every time. Which is better than many of the augers I hear people trying to start out on the lake.
I am sure the other auger brands work well also and any modern gas auger should last a very long time as long as you know a little about maintenance and small engines. People tend to blame the tool and not their misuse of said tool. Treat any modern small engine well, I.e. clean and tune the carb, change the spark plug, clean the air filter, etc..., and it will treat you well in return.

 

i agree with the starting and running part, my buddies eskimo does start and seem to run better than my jiffy when cold, but it just doesn't cut nothing like any of my jiffys have.

 

I THINK JIFFY BY FAR IS THE BEST POWER AUGER!!!
MY BROTHER BOUGHT ONE YEARS AGO FROM AND OLD FARMER AND IT SAT IN OUR SHED FOR A COUPLE YEARS INTELL I GOT A WILD HAIR IN MY A$$ AND PULLED IT OUT LAST YEAR GAVE IT SOME GAS AND TWEEKED IT A LITTLE BIT RUNS LIKE A RAPED APE AND SOUNDS LIKE A HARLEY .
CUTS A FOOT AND A HALF OF ICE IN 5 SECONDS FLAT..
ITS AWESOME !!!
MADE IN THE 60S PROBABLY

 

Hubby and I are proud owners of 2 StrikeMasters. Have his 1995 Lazer Mag Express, which he bought after spending 1 day hand drilling holes up at Taylor Reservoir. (20" of ice will do that to you!) He's drilled a gazillion holes with the old thing and with a lot of abuse and a little maintenance (new air filter 4 years ago and tune up last year), and even having left fuel in it all summer several times, it still runs great. Bought him a 10" blade kit for it for Christmas last year and he was stoked! (Ya can't pull the big fishies outta little holes!)

Got a smokin deal on my Strike Lite last year (extra discount days, a gift card, and employee discount adds up). Had some troubles with it at first, rejetted it, and finally called Strikemaster after much work, they said send it back. We did, and they called us back, apologized to us for the fact that we'd had a defective head and were sending a new 2007 powerhead to us to replace it. Keep in mind, a Strike Lite is a different animal - it's a 35cc Robin four stroke, it takes oil in the crankcase, but runs on plain ol unleaded. You have to let it warm up, but once it's warm, its quieter and no black smoke, and lighter too. (18# and the blade is maybe 2#) And it sliced thru the ice at Cherry Creek like soft butter. Only comes in a max 8" size, but still works really nice.

Yeah, you can call the Strike Lite my girly auger - but it cuts quick and I don't throw out my shoulder trying to start it!

 

how come no mora votes

 

Husqvarna, Stihl, Honda, Kawasaki...

 

Amen to that! Whats up bro glad to see you could make it on here . Alot of very experienced fisherman on here. You have a question and most likely someone will have the answer. By the way dont write in all capital letters it looks like you are YELLING!!!! Dont worry I had to be told too. Have fun! ;D

 

I used a spud for the first ten years I ice fished. If the ice was too deep, I would just look for a hole from the day before and break it out. I have moved up to a Mora hand auger. Works like a charm but I replace the blades with new every year, which makes a huge difference on a hand auger. Larry