But Joel, think of all the additional exercise we get when pulling heavier loads! lol. I agree, weight matters. After pulling an Otter Magnum on a 2 mile walk on Independence this year, I HAD to use a Smitty. Never again without a Smitty!
Seen a couple post now about Smitty sleds. People really seem to like them.
JD – can you post a picture of yours when you have a moment.
Thanks!
Aaron get yourself a Tanaka power head off ebay and put whatever drill you want on it. The 8″ mora hand auger on it with clams extention will drill endless holes and fast. Very light weight for walking out also. You will save money on it in the end also. If you can make a bowl of cereal you can mix a gallon of gas with amsoil. Self venting cap no leaking or gas smells in my rig yet. Good luck they all look like fun to try but that’s my setup.
Time and place my friend! I get what you were after about starting times but honestly, 1 to 2 pulls and a cold propane is running just fine. Considering ice fishing usually consists of more than one hole at a time, I arbitrarily picked 5. We could make it more or less. I have no doubt there are certain advantages to the electric (weight) and that they are fine units. But I do have my doubts about an electric in a winter like last year where even with my auger extension I was down to the handles. I could not imagine being satisfied with an electric in that scenario if I were running and gunning and wanted to pop 40 holes or more in a day. But I am willing to be proven wrong.
I have an ION 8″ (first gen) and last season we had 2’+ in northern IL. Not the 3’+ all north of us had but it was plenty thick for us.
Keep in mind keeping the battery in my shelter with me I was able to drill all the holes I needed to explore new bodies of water and drill enough to find my spots and get my shelter set up. Easily more than 50 holes through 2′ each time I went out.
I did have to buy new blades but that was after two seasons of use. I’ve also invested in a diamond sharpener so now I have a backup set of blades sharp and ready.
I agree electrics can absolutely work for an ice angler depending on the way they fish. If I had lakes the size of those in MN and WI I’d probably be toting a gas auger around so I could run a snow machine or ATV to the areas I’d fish. Since most of my ice time is spent on lakes I can walk across in no more than an hour I schlep my electric and drill all the holes I need.
In regards to drilling with downward pressure. Your not drilling through steel. Let the auger do the work, if you have sharp blades or chippers, you shouldn’t need any downward pressure. Just pull the trigger and keep the unit straight. It’ll suck itself through.
Aaron,
Look at the K Drill. I just got an 8″ K Drill and paired it with a Milwaukee 18v fuel lithium ion with the 4ah batteries. Yesterday, the first time out with it, I drilled 26 holes through 12-13″ of ice with one battery. The entire unit (with Milwaukee) weighs 9 pounds. It drills just as fast as my gas powered 8″ Strikemaster Lazer. The bonus is it opens old holes with ease. Something the Lazer cannot do well. While it is spendy, NOTHING else offers the versatility, speed & light weight.
I do have days where I drill 70-80 holes, so I’ll have to buy a 3rd battery for those days or add a Tanaka power head. Also note the Strikemaster power head will bolt right up.
If you want a really fast light weight gas powered auger, add a Tanaka power head & you’ll have a 17 pound gas powered auger that will drill as fast as any power auger that there is.
Again, there is not another auger that will offer you the versatility at twice the weight on the market.
Look io K Drill on YouTube & you’ll see some videos. I’m not a Tom Zaneco fan, but this drill rocks.
I got a Jiffy pro4 lite earlier this season, so far i have drilled 80 holes on the original tank of propane! that is through anywhere from 9 to 20 inches of ice. and this morning, after the drill and propane tank sat outside through a week of below zero weather here in central wisconsin, it started on the 3rd pull. i’d like to see a gas auger do that. yes the propane auger was expensive, but i will never go back to gas after this. I listen to people fight with their gas augers all day long when on the ice and i just smile every time my auger starts on the first pull. I’ve never used an electric auger but one of them is just as expensive as a propane one, and from what i’ve seen, they always start, regardless of the temperature, and the battery will never run dry.
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