Which Auger?

[Genofish]

I need to decide which auger to purchase. The Jiffy Artic Blast or the Strike Master MAG 2000.(both are 2hp) I have used Jiffy's for years with good results but have no experince with Strike Masters. What would you do?

Thanks

[anyfishwilldo]

No question, strikemaster. You couldnt give me anything but a strikemaster. If you want to get the mag, you can always down the road get a lazer.

[MJCatfish]

I love my new Strikemaster Lazer 224. All I have to do is hang on!

[Guest]

Strikemaster all the way. If you ever do have a problem, they have the best customer service out there to boot.

I believe the Mag has the chipper type blade? I dodnt have any problems with the old chipper type blades, but was much more satistfied with the lazer type.. they cut fast and dont grab nearly as bad breaking through the bottom of the ice. A huge drawback to the Jiffy's I have had in the past is you had to let the things warm up for a bit before drilling.. strikemasters your grilling in a couple seconds and you will have holes drilled before the Jiffy warms enough to drill on a moody day.

[Genofish]

Thanks for the input guys. I will go with a Strike Master

[SCOTTJ]

Sorry to be so negative but...

Based on the last couple of posts, I must have gotten a real lemon of a Strikemaster two years ago. I'm on my third recoil, second choke/gas tank assembly, and the thing takes much longer to warm up than my old Tanaka did. On top of that it doesn't start for crap when its cold out (which it sometimes is while icefishing). If that recoil blows up on me again while I'm on the ice I'm gonna throw the whole thing down the hole.

If I would have done my research rather than relying on the majority of opinion here, I would have chosen the Nils. They have the Tanaka motor, and are rated at much higher hours than Jiffy or Strikemaster. Also, you can convert it back and forth to a hand auger without bringing a separate unit out. As I mentioned earlier, I had an old Tanaka auger that worked fine until the rough ice on LOW bounced it an broke the casting the frame attached to.

Strikemaster has been very friendly, and provided good service, but unfortunately I've had to find out too manay times. Example= plastic choke lever. What the H???. For a cold weather machine? Poor design. Another example= Tech up at Big Lake said that due to a design error, I should disregard the on/off toggle, and shut it off each time with the decompression button. Great.

The Nils will cost you more, but I haven't heard one negative thing about their performance.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I love my Nils!

Best power auger I have ever owned, and I have owned almost every brand out there! Jiffy would be my second choice.

Cliff

[Guest]

It doesnt make a difference what you buy, once in a while everyone gets a lemon. Sorry to hear you have had your problems.

I think I have had to repair recoil units 2 times on my own strikemaster augers.. thats in about 15 seasons of use, and I fish a lot. I have had to repair friends on a few occasions also, one auger moe than the others but I soon realized it was from operator error, not poor design. My friend kept pulling the cord out until it hit the end of the rope every time creating a sharp jerk at the end of the pull... its only a matter of time before a recoil gives on anything.

If an auger has problems starting, its usually due to poor carb settings.. which can be right out of the box on any gasoline engine. An auger should always start within a few pulls no matter how cold it is, and it should pop off on the 1st pull once it has already been run, 2 pulls tops. Many problems people have are caused by their own habits.. 2 cycle engines have an attitude, and its not as simple as the lawn mower or snow blower that once it starts the throttle is held at a higher rpm and a governor often takes over to maintain the rpm. Ther is no neautral like a boat motor to start the engine and be capable of running a higher rpm for a short period of time without load(neautral).

My auger doesnt have the pressure release valve.. it does sound a bit annoying, but it still beats drilling multiple holes by hand any day!

[Genofish]

I ended up getting the Lazer Mag Xpress, thanks to everyone for the advice.

[brianh]

same unit I have, going on fifth season, no problems

[hanson]

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I ended up getting the Lazer Mag Xpress, thanks to everyone for the advice.

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Good choice!

My Lazer Mag Xpress is on season 4 or 5 now, I'm not sure anymore.

I haven't put a new plug in it yet, and I haven't done proper summer storage procedures either. Yet, I pull it out of the garage and starts 4th pull this year after sitting for many months. My poor maintenance on this thing is going to bite me some day but it hasn't argued with me yet.

The one thing I do is put new blades on every year. I cut a lot of holes, fish a lot, and like a sharp auger so I just put the new blades on.

The other thing I've recently done is switch to Amsoil Saber for my premix oil. I'm really loving this stuff so far. The one noticeable improvement so far is the auger starts easier (less pulls) and idles better.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

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The other thing I've recently done is switch to Amsoil Saber for my premix oil. I'm really loving this stuff so far. The one noticeable improvement so far is the auger starts easier (less pulls) and idles better.

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100-1 mix? I may try 80-1 Syn.

[hanson]

I think I'm running close to 100:1 right now. I've got a few of those sample pouches that I've been mixing. 1 gallon of gas and 1 pouch of oil gives you 100:1.

The auger hasn't seized up yet.

Lots of guys on here say they are running 100:1 with no problems so I'm putting a little trust in that. So if something does happen to the auger, I can blame FM.

[SCOTTJ]

Cliff, where did you get your Nils? I've seen them online and that might be the best way to go, but I'd like to look at them on display somewhere too if possible. Thanks.

[Northlander]

I have been running 100/1 saber in my Nils for 2 years and many many holes. I really like the sabre.

My 1st couple tanks I ran the Sabre 80/1. I also ran it in my old Jiffy at 80/1 and had no problems at all.

[huntingmaxima]

strike master only for me!

[outdoor ran]

I went with a jiffy auger again. Got over 20yrs out of the last one. Laser mags are nice augers too. I don't care for eskimos at all.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

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Cliff, where did you get your Nils? I've seen them online and that might be the best way to go, but I'd like to look at them on display somewhere too if possible. Thanks.

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I ordered my Nils thru FM.

Cliff

[anyfishwilldo]

You know I think the whole auger thing is probably like the Chev, Ford, Dodge thing. They will work only as well as you treat them. I will still only buy Chev, and Strikemaster though.