Electric Augers

[ozzie]

So now that there are many options out there, what are people thinking on the new electric augers?  I have been impressed with the drill attached augers that I have used this year and also the Strikemaster 40v electric auger.  For next year I will certainly be investing into one of these options as they are so powerful, quiet, and dont use gas!!!  I now have used a kdrill and Strikemaster drill attachments and both are nice but the strikemaster rips throught the ice faster than the kdrill IMO.  I love how I don't need to worry about gas spilling onto by ice suit and don't need to worry where the exhaust is!!  The one thing I found using a drill is they are very powerful and that you do not want to stop mid hole and try to restart as you may end up with a broken arm the way the thing grips!!!! (Lucky I didn't break my arm!)  It appears Millwaukee and Dewalt are the most common Drills I have seen used for the auger attachments.  I am leaning towards a drill attachment combo rather than one of the electric models as I just don't see the reason why I would go that route and have an auger that can only be used for an auger where the drill set up I still have a powerful drill to use on projects around the house.

 

What are some pro's and con's you all have come up with since using the electric augers and or the drill attachments augers opposed to a gas auger?

 

 

[ozzie]

well i finally pulled the trigger and found a strikemaster lite flight 8" and will paired it with a milwaukee fuel m18 2804.  the set up came with 2 5amp batteries so hope that gets me what i need!  going to get out tomorrow and rip this around the lake and hopefully make swiss cheese of it!

[papadarv]

On 11/1/2021 at 2:41 PM, Stephanie Buckley said:

Hello. Where did you get it online? Can I learn? I need a good drill. I can't go out to buy. I am in quarantine.

In my opinion, the best ice drill is the Milwaukee 2804 - 1200 IP drill. Home Depot, Northern tool, Fleet Farm and Amazon all sell these on-line shipped to home. Because you are starting new you will need a drill, battery and battery charger. The 2804-22 is the model that comes with all 3 (2 - battery  5 MAH) $299. The 5 MAH battery will give you a dozen 8" holes in 20" of ice. If you want more holes get the 8 MAH you will get about 30 holes another $250. For drills I would go with the K-Drill or Eskimo Pistol bit (less than 5 lbs.). Both work very well. Make sure you get the center point on the pistol if you go that route. When drilling ice the drill often stops and which could sprain your wrist. The use of an Eskimo Clam Plate could prevent a sprain but adds another 6 lbs. to the set-up.

Edited November 4, 2021 by papadarv

[rundrave]

I am using a Makita drill with a 8" lazer hand auger. Works great, cuts fast and gets the job done and has a good solid side handle. And way less weight than my old Jiffy Model 30 lol. The only issue I have is the Makita batteries do not hold a charge well in low temps and the biggest battery Makita offers is only 5amp. If I keep them in a warm cooler they will last. If they get cold they are worthless.

 

The Strikemaster 24v and 40v both have perked my interest but I am hesitant to drop the $$$ for something that is only proprietary used for ice fishing and ice fishing only.

 

For virtually the same cost I could get a Milwaukee drill use it year around for everything around the house etc. plus get lots of attachments and accessories to use with the batteries.  The Milwaukee batteries appear to hold up to elements and you also can get some pretty large Amp hour batteries also 9 and 12 I believe. The only down fall to the Milwaukee drill is not having a good heavy duty side handle but I think that has been improved also I just haven't seen or used one first hand.

[Reno911]

Using an ION Gen 2...love it.

 

biggest pluses for me

1)definitely the lack of exhaust, you can set up shelter and drill away without getting gassed out.  With my pop up it simplifies setup for me, i don't have to guess where to put the holes and then move poop around or sit in CO2 death trap waiting for the thing to air out.

2) reverse...push that slush back down the hole so there is less to scoop out.

3) weight...sooo much lighter than gas powered, less weight = better everything

 

on a side note i picked up the Clam auger plate for a backup solution, tried it for the first time this weekend and it was an epic bust.  didn't get a single hole drilled using a 7" blade, thought my Makita was munched up with all the metal shavings.  Nope, the hex drive on the auger plate itself was shaved smooth like i ran it through a lathe. It didn't just slip off, it chewed through it like it was metal on wood. In other news my new Makita 18v has some serious power.  (good thing i simply brought it out to test the setup, will be returning that piece of @#$%)

[Getanet]

I run a 6" Nils with a Dewalt drill. This weekend I went out with my dad who recently got an ION.  The Ion was pretty slick and I'm sure you could cut a ton of holes based on the size of the battery. Still, the Ion was just a bit heavier and took up more room in the sled than I thought it would. After seeing an Ion in action I don't have much bad to say about it, but if you have a good drill, and probably as importantly batteries, I still think that makes more sense. As the OP pointed out, you also then have a good drill for other projects.

[bobberineyes]

I went with an old hand auger laying around doing nothing and chopped the handle off, paired it it with a 996 dewalt hammer drill and works slick. It has shaver blades on it but I'm might try a set of chipper blades just to see the difference.  So far  its been great and a cheap set up, even if one purchased a drill and and a bit its still cheaper over all and like others said more uses year around with the drill.

[monstermoose78]

Ozzie, 

I have using my clam plate and my Dewalt dcd985 for 5 seasons now and is worth it!! I did up grade to the bigger batteries. 2 9 amp hour and that’s a game changer. My drill is not a brushless drill and anyone who tells you need a brushless drill is full of it. I would say I am way over 6,000 holes now more than likely just over 8,000. But I could be off a few hundred.

 

I used the 6 inch auger bit that came with my clam plate set up and this year I got the 8 inch lite flight. Both are amazing also my 6 inch bit has not needed the blades changed yet and that auger has most of my holes cut except I would say 400-500. 
 

a couple years ago I met up with a bunch of the St. Cloud guys and the ice was 42 inches thick and I got 30-33 holes per full charge with my 9 amp batteries. That is with the 6 inch bit. 
 

the clam plate to me is the way to go as I know that it’s a solid place to hang on to. I watched a guy screw up his wrist his little whimpy Milwaukee handle broke when his auger grabbed the ice. I also like setting my auger down on the plate handles like I did with my gas auger. 

[papadarv]

I also switched from mixed gas to electric 5 years ago. No more exhaust and leaking gas fumes in my wheelhouse and dragging that heavy gas auger on early ice. Started with clam plate, dewault drill and several Mora hand augers modified to electric. After 2 years the clam plate bearing started to fail, the chuck on the Dewalt constantly came loose so I switched to the Milwaukee Mud Mixer. Also took a part time job at Home Depot Tools & Hardware getting educated on both Milwaukee & Dewalt from respective reps. The Mud Mixer has a Thermo cutout and stops after 3 to 4 holes for several min. so went to my current 1200 ip Milwaukee 2804 drill and Mwlk offers a better range of batteries. Both Milwaukee 2804 and Dewault 996 (and up) are excellent drills with 5ah and up batteries. The greater the amp hour the more holes you can drill per charge. 

I configured my 3 Mora augers with smooth (Eskimo), chipper (strikemaster) and aggressive chipper (K-drill) type blades. The smooth blades drill 18" ice in about 21 seconds, chipper in about 17 seconds and aggressive in about 14 seconds ( about equal to my sons K-drill with the same Mwlk 2804). I prefer the chipper version. Next season i plan on changing to one of the plastic Flight versions as they are about 1/4 the weight of my steel flight Moras. I also made an adapter to replace the chuck and added the Ion quick release for faster auger exchange and drilling portable ice anchors.

 

My brother-in-law has the Eskimo Ion and buddy has the  Strikemaster 40V. Both are dedicated to drilling ice holes for 3 months of a year than sitting in your garage for 9 months. With the drill version the drill can be used all year. Better bang for the buck.

 

On your auger, make sure you get one with a center point. Without a center point the augers "Walk" usually toward your boots can cause serious foot injury. My brother-in-laws Ion did not have a center point and caused extensive damage in 2 holes of my wheelhouse. I put a center point on his Ion to resolve the issue.

 

Auger blade styles

My augers.

 

 

My drill

Edited February 2, 2021 by papadarv

[Rick G]

22 hours ago, monstermoose78 said:

Ozzie, 

I have using my clam plate and my Dewalt dcd985 for 5 seasons now and is worth it!! I did up grade to the bigger batteries. 2 9 amp hour and that’s a game changer. My drill is not a brushless drill and anyone who tells you need a brushless drill is full of it. I would say I am way over 6,000 holes now more than likely just over 8,000. But I could be off a few hundred.

 

I used the 6 inch auger bit that came with my clam plate set up and this year I got the 8 inch lite flight. Both are amazing also my 6 inch bit has not needed the blades changed yet and that auger has most of my holes cut except I would say 400-500. 
 

a couple years ago I met up with a bunch of the St. Cloud guys and the ice was 42 inches thick and I got 30-33 holes per full charge with my 9 amp batteries. That is with the 6 inch bit. 
 

the clam plate to me is the way to go as I know that it’s a solid place to hang on to. I watched a guy screw up his wrist his little whimpy Milwaukee handle broke when his auger grabbed the ice. I also like setting my auger down on the plate handles like I did with my gas auger. 

Mooster.. I burned up no non-brushless pretty quickly with a clam 6inch... after maybe 15 holes through a foot of ice it pretty much started on fire...lol. 

 

Have tried most of the electric augers out there at one point or another... used a k-drill since they hit the market, love how light it is and the durability of the blades is the best in industry.  Yesterday I pulled the trigger on a strikemaster light flight after using eyeguy's for a afternoon...gotta say it's quite a bit faster than the rest except maybe the nills...

 

Nicky, pic of old "wimpy"  version of milwaukee handle, and their new design...ain't breaking this one

 

[Wanderer]

I liked my Ion (40v with reverse) but was always concerned with just how many holes I would get with it.  Mainly used for wheelhouse fishing or very controlled hole hopping.  With the metal ring on the bottom it failed me big time on a laker trip to Ontario.  20 below and slush would freeze it   up so I couldn’t get more than one hole cut without thawing or chipping it clear.  I understand they have a new cutting head that doesn’t freeze but I already got rid of it.

 

My Milwaukee 2804 and 6 inch Nils has cut a ton of holes for me.  The drawback(s) are re-sharpening the bit instead of replacing blades and it leaves more slush in the holes than I’d like since the flighting is a little smaller than the cutting head.  But nothing has shredded more ice faster.  I bought an 8 inch Nils bit that also performs well and I’ll use it for walleye and pike fishing.  It does feel a little heavy on the drill.  But very tight and solid.

 

I finally tried a 6 inch K drill this year.  Good auger and cleans the holes better than the Nils but will never cut as many holes on a charge as a sharp Nils.  We did some simultaneous drilling with my semi sharp Nils and a K drill last weekend teaming up on a spear hole.  No doubt the Nils was faster. 
 

Finally, the wheelhouse auger now is a Jiffy E6 in 9 inch.  Love it for its user friendly features and how well built it is.  Great battery life and just a straight up power house.  To label a drawback it would be weight but I honestly don’t mind it at all.  They can be ordered in 8, 9 or 10 inch with a high or low gear transmission.  The low gear will be better for the 10 inch, the high for the 8 and either for the 9.  I went with the high gear.

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by Wanderer

[monstermoose78]

10 minutes ago, Rick G said:

Mooster.. I burned up no non-brushless pretty quickly with a clam 6inch... after maybe 15 holes through a foot of ice it pretty much started on fire...lol. 

 

Have tried most of the electric augers out there at one point or another... used a k-drill since they hit the market, love how light it is and the durability of the blades is the best in industry.  Yesterday I pulled the trigger on a strikemaster light flight after using eyeguy's for a afternoon...gotta say it's quite a bit faster than the rest except maybe the nills...

 

Nicky, pic of old "wimpy"  version of milwaukee handle, and their new design...ain't breaking this one

 

Ricky I kept up with you and Royce cutting holes on a few lakes. I bought the highest end drill at time I got my drill and it’s still going strong. 
that handle looks much stronger than the one I seen break. 

[Rick G]

you got a good one then, take good care of it... just saying, I have personally burned up my Milwaukee, and buddies I didn't realize wasn't a fuel right away...lol....and have seen a ridgid and a couple ryobi go in the trash .... even eyeguy switched to brushless once he wore out his brushed model... 

[ozzie]

A lot of great information on this subject!  Follow up question for you electric auger users is did you get rid of your gas augers or do you have them hanging up in the garage?  I am contemplating selling my strikemaster as I don't see myself using it often or at all if I buy an electric model.  The bad thing is I just had it tuned up for $110! 

[monstermoose78]

I sold my strike master for 25 bucks 

[Wanderer]

1 hour ago, ozzie said:

A lot of great information on this subject!  Follow up question for you electric auger users is did you get rid of your gas augers or do you have them hanging up in the garage?  I am contemplating selling my strikemaster as I don't see myself using it often or at all if I buy an electric model.  The bad thing is I just had it tuned up for $110! 

I still have my 25 year old Eskimo 8 inch gasser “hanging up in the shed”.  I consider selling from time to time but continue to hold on.  If I sold it I might get enough to cover the cost of a second battery for the E6?

 

It owes me nothing and continues to start and run.  Just might want it down the road...

[Kettle]

On 2/1/2021 at 8:14 PM, monstermoose78 said:

I watched a guy screw up his wrist his little whimpy Milwaukee handle broke when his auger grabbed the ice. I also like setting my auger down on the plate handles like I did with my gas auger. 

I noticed pretty good wrist torque when I attached a 6" Lazer mag bit straight to a drill with the 15$ bit. Definitely have to have it on the lowest setting. I could see some ligament/tendon damage occurring from this. Moose valid point here

[papadarv]

I'm with Wanderer, my 10" Mako 43 hangs in my garage. Never know if I going to diill 4ft. of ice some day.

 

The thing that blows my mind is why are so many in a race to drill 20 inches of ice. "My set up keeps up to you, my setup will out drill you any day", etc. are ferquent comments when comparing electric ice drilling. To me, weight, drill power, battery duration, physical strain, ease of use has more value than the 4 to 6 seconds difference between electric drillset-ups drilling holes, about the same amount of time it takes some of you to pop a beer can, open the Ice Hole and take a swig. 

[CigarGuy]

Just got back from Costco. No, it didn't come home with me.

[fishingstar]

A few years ago I bought a 40 volt. I still have my mag III  I use it for a post hole digger.

Edited February 3, 2021 by fishingstar

[Rick G]

8 hours ago, ozzie said:

A lot of great information on this subject!  Follow up question for you electric auger users is did you get rid of your gas augers or do you have them hanging up in the garage?  I am contemplating selling my strikemaster as I don't see myself using it often or at all if I buy an electric model.  The bad thing is I just had it tuned up for $110! 

I kept my Solo just in case... never know when I might need it but then again Im a packrat... still have my first Vexilar, and all the other ones that came after... fish houses, augers and gear just get pushed further back in the shed to make room for new stuff

Edited February 4, 2021 by Rick G

[Wanderer]

3 minutes ago, Rick G said:

I kept my Solo just in case... never know when I might need it but then again Im a packrat... still have my first Vexilar, and all the other ones that came after... fish houses, augers and gear just get pushed further back in the shed to make room for new stuff

Same boat pretty much.

 

I just sold my first FL8 a month ago and still have all my Marcums.  I’ve sold one 10 inch Lazer and then my Ion, still have 4 left.  Sold my 20 year old Fish Trap Voyager for what I had into it last Sunday in 2 hours.  Now I’m down to 5 houses.  I just got my first 20 gauge single shot back from my bud after 10 years.  Happy to have it for squirrels and chippers around the house.

 

Every time I dig deep in the shed it’s like a shopping trip.  Lately it’s been getting on my nerves, hence the recent sales.

[smurfy]

Sounds to me some of you fellers have self control issues 

[Rick G]

1 hour ago, smurfy said:

Sounds to me some of you fellers have self control issues 

lol...maybe a little  

[Wanderer]

3 hours ago, smurfy said:

Sounds to me some of you fellers have self control issues 

That’s a FACT! 

[rundrave]

22 hours ago, ozzie said:

Follow up question for you electric auger users is did you get rid of your gas augers

 

I still have my jiffy model 30. I dont use it other than to start it up every now and then just to here the pop poppop pop...pop pop sound and smile.

[ozzie]

I am similar to all of you and that I just can't get rid of my old stuff and that is why I asked about your old augers.  I have not been able to ice fish much the last few years due to kids in basketball.  A few years back I had my auger tuned up and was rip roaring ready to go.  I probably used it 2 times and then back onto the hanger in the garage where it sat for 2 years without any use.  during that time the gas all leaked out onto the garage floor so I needed to tune it up again.  I would like to keep it, but if this situation were to keep up, there is no need to keep it as when I will want to use it I am sure it won't be in working order again.  Thanks for all your replies and comments on this.  Amazing that there are this many people still active on this site!!

[PRO-V]

I still have my 27 year Strikemaster Cobra 10". Still runs like new. Have never had to do any maintenance to it. Changed the plug maybe 3 times just for the heck of it. Did buy the 40v Lazer last year. Alot easier to lug around and cut more holes than the gas job. Saved the Cobra for lake trout fishing.

[Hookmaster]

I still use my 1995 Jiffy White Lightning. It's light weight for a gasser. A few plug changes, a gas line change and a new auger bit (drilled in to some shallow rocks) . It's been rock solid. I bought an extension and adaptor to run my 6" Lazer auger on a drill but haven't bought the drill yet.

[whateverisbiting]

I love the reverse feature on the electrics.  Great inside a house and when setting up the tip ups outside very little to no work in cleaning up the hole.  Saves a lot of time and saves on the back not bending over to dig out a couple feet of slush.

[Rick G]

12 hours ago, Hookmaster said:

I still use my 1995 Jiffy White Lightning. It's light weight for a gasser. A few plug changes, a gas line change and a new auger bit (drilled in to some shallow rocks) . It's been rock solid. I bought an extension and adaptor to run my 6" Lazer auger on a drill but haven't bought the drill yet.

Pretty sure I still have my little yellow 2horse somewhere yet... best gas auger I ever owned They sure knew how to build em back then....