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Wopfisher

Electric ice augers

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Wopfisher

I’m in the market for a new ice auger currently I️ own a jiffy and I’ve had a lot of problems since I️ have bought I️t I️ was looking at the ion augers was just curious if anyone has used these in our area and how well they work with 3 feet of ice and slush 

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AB

I work for a company that builds ice roads in the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut. Part of the construction process is flooding ice crossings. You need at least 36" of hard blue ice for commercial loads to cross.

 

We went to the Ion augers 2 yrs ago and haven't looked back. We had a lot of different gas powered augerd and got fed up with their problems. No problems with the Ion's. 

 

We keep a couple spare batteries in the flood trucks as we might be drilling a hole every 25 meters on crossings over a kilometer. You get you about 1000" out of a battery as advertised.

 

If it wasn't for the $700 price tag I'd dump my jiffy tomorrow...but it still runs once I get it started.

 

AB

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johnr

I own a StrikeMaster electric lazer . Ive had it for 4 years now and am on my second battery and still using the original blades I bought the extension, spare blades and it comes with a remote cord [has a switch for internal power or external ] I have used it once every two weeks on average but drill only an average of 8 holes per trip . You must drill and extract the clippings every foot [more if its slush] as well as manipulate the auger when you are just about to break thru. The torque is no where close to the gas augers. This auger gets a rating of 10/10 from me for my application which is an argo with plenty of back up remote power, no gas to spill, no plugs or fouling to deal with, very quiet and I have nothing but time! Don't expect to race a gas fired auger and make sure to carry a spare battery {$35 } if you are going to drill 20 plus holes. BTW...it also came with a 12 volt charger. Hope this helps 

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Zackcorbin1401

I’m also thinking going to ion next year I’ve talked to many guys and I’ve never heard a problem with them. The new ion x 8” can drill 1600” ice on a battery which is more than I drill on average

 

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eddylives

Has anyone here tried to adapt an auger to a 1/2 inch cordless drill like a dewalt brushless?


Have no fear of perfection.....you will never reach it

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Zackcorbin1401
On 2018-02-10 at 2:03 PM, eddylives said:

Has anyone here tried to adapt an auger to a 1/2 inch cordless drill like a dewalt brushless?

It works well, you want to use the most powerfull drill possible and you get a lot more holes out of a 6” over an 8”but mostly depends on your battery. Dnr sells an adapter to attach your hand auger to a drill for 15$

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Wopfisher

Thank you good to hear some reviews from locals definitely gonna have to invest in one in the near future 

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Steinhoff

I have an ion x. I love it for the fact that there is no exhaust fumes in the tent after drilling holes and it is considerably lighter than my jiffy. A few draw backs though. As mentioned above it is considerably slower than a gas auger and you have to make sure to keep your battery warm. I went out last weekend and had the auger packed in the truck the night before. When I got set up and went to drill my holes the light turned on but the auger didn’t turn. Had to warm the battery in the truck for about ten minutes. After that good to go. 

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Some Old Guy

That would be nice to have no exhaust fumes! My Eskimo Auger runs pretty good but it can smoke out an enclosed area!

 

Roger


R.T.R. Respect the resource!

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Red_Nuck
On 10/02/2018 at 1:03 PM, eddylives said:

Has anyone here tried to adapt an auger to a 1/2 inch cordless drill like a dewalt brushless?

I've been doing this with a couple drills at the shack. My dewalt 20v doesn't like to turn the 8" auger too much, but my buddies rigid 18v struggles a little less. We've tried running a couple different corded drills that either don't like the load or the generator doesn't (only a 2000 watt inverter gen). The corded drills have all been single speed though, gonna try finding a variable speed corded drill next....

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filletandrelease

I put a carb rebuild kit on my old jiffy this year. Cost 20 bucks and took about a half hour. Starts first pull every time now. I also switched to using premium gas and higher quality mix oil. Smokes much less with the better oil too. Buddies of mine started using the stihl premixed gas. Has a shelf life of like 3 years so much less likely to get green death in the carb and no ethanol to give you troubles. 

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wampa

I just bought an Eskimo Rocket propane auger. Have had it out only once so far but what a difference from my old gas Jiffy.  Cut holes twice as fast as my old one and no fumes either so drilling in the shack didn't require evacuation for half an hour.  Started first pull every time too.  I would recommend them!


Never hold your farts in.

They travel up your spine into your brain, and that is where crappy ideas come from.

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Billy Strings

I have only heard good things from Ion owners and many run them in lots of ice.   My eskimo has treated me well over the years but when/if it finally dies I will be looking at an Ion or cordless drill combo.   A Milwaukee brushless drill with lithium batteries paired with a nils blade is worth looking in to. 

 

The propanes are awesome too but I don't like that the 1 pound tanks freeze or gel up in cold temps.   Several of my buddies have them and they run great but have run in to frozen propane issues in really cold temps.  You also need to keep them upright or you get oil flooding.

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Billy Strings
2 hours ago, filletandrelease said:

I put a carb rebuild kit on my old jiffy this year. Cost 20 bucks and took about a half hour. Starts first pull every time now. I also switched to using premium gas and higher quality mix oil. Smokes much less with the better oil too. Buddies of mine started using the stihl premixed gas. Has a shelf life of like 3 years so much less likely to get green death in the carb and no ethanol to give you troubles. 

 

Premium non-oxy gas and better oil definitely help.   Amsoil sabre pro is great oil.  Not sure if that is available in Canada or not.  You can mix it 80-100:1 instead of 50:1.

 

Another tip is to empty all of the gas out at the end of the season.  Then choke/prime and pull until the engine won't even sputter.  This gets all the gas out of the system which prevents carb and fuel line issues. 

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The_Outdoorsman

in my opinion the eskimo barracuda has to be the gold standard for augers. its always worked no problem, had it for over 10+ years! im pretty hard on my gear too, i dont even detach the head from the drilling part during travel anymore. works like a charm. and the sparkplug has only been replaced once in its lifetime. i really like the metal throttle it has compared to the plastic ones on other models.

  • Haha 1

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RLK
On March 1, 2018 at 10:50 AM, filletandrelease said:

I put a carb rebuild kit on my old jiffy this year. Cost 20 bucks and took about a half hour. Starts first pull every time now. I also switched to using premium gas and higher quality mix oil. Smokes much less with the better oil too. Buddies of mine started using the stihl premixed gas. Has a shelf life of like 3 years so much less likely to get green death in the carb and no ethanol to give you troubles. 

Where did you get your carb kit from?

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filletandrelease

Northern turf had it on the shelf

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