Ion Elec Ice Auger

My gas one failed me when i needed her most last trip ... Looking at this Ion electric auger but reading reviews of battery's freezing and not worth the $$$. Any thoughts or reviews from people who have one?

Derelict2, check your piston. I was having similar issues and found my piston skirt was cracked and not drawing in enough fuel and air. If that is the case message me and I'll let you know where I got parts for mine which will be here this week. 

Well I took the plunge last week and bought one of these. I have had an Eskimo Z71 for about nine years that worked flawlessly the first five and then has been giving me random issues for the past four or five seasons. I have replaced the carb, fuel lines, all sorts of things and I still get a lot of gas leaking and sub par performance. The thing will not run with the choke wide open, only with the choke about half open will you get usable power. Not sure what I am doing with it yet, but I feel it is still salvageable.

Decided to go with the Ion X and I ended up with both the eight inch and the ten inch auger bits which is nice. Used it both Friday and Saturday of last week and it worked great. While I'll admit it's not quite as "exciting" of a hole drilling experience as the big ole gas Z71, it just works and frankly that's the most important part! I'm not 22 anymore so hauling around a 35 pound auger all over the ice is less appealing. This thing seemed to be the next step in modernizing/reducing weight on my continuous quest to make ice fishing easier/lighter/faster.

Battery charging was nice and straight forward (and fast). We didn't drill enough holes to even touch battery capacity issues yet, but I'll be going on a three day trip in a few weeks here where we will probably drill 100 holes or more.

Yeah. That's what I was meaning.  Let us know how it works for you. 

Do you mean a Work Sharp?

I used my work sharp on it today but just used the extra fine belt to touch up the auger blade and grind off little nicks in the blade. Will be another week before I see the results.

Maybe a dumb question. I don't even own one of these. But would a work shop knife sharpener work for auger blades?

auger sharpening

 a good way to sharpen augers, looks like buffing and very fine fine abrasive on top of blade only. Not sure if it applies to the Ion though.

Great question, Observation..

Anyone ever have ION blades sharpened? It's time for me. Going on Year 5 and I bet I could get even better results if I took care of this. Going to have both the 10 and 8 inch blades sharpened sometime this week unless I hear a bad story or two from some of you. I would think they would be just like any other blade....

Changed my Bit to the 10 inch today. I plan to use the 10 inch bit until ice gets about 15 inches. Then, the 10 inch isn't the best option I've found. Drains battery and slows down. (I've still drilled 30 plus holes in thick ice with the 10....)

The 8 inch drills smooth as butter through any ice. 10 inch is a great option to have though. I have all the old ION parts, so I'm sure they've made advancements in the 10 inch bits.

Big Musky, I can't speak the margins on ice auger as I am now aware of the cost to do the research, development, and manufacture of an ice auger.  As Strikemaster can attest, without stringent R &D, it can cost you later.  I would be willing to bet that the margins on an electric or propane auger are no different than on a 2 stroke auger, but I could be wrong too.

Maybe this belongs in the 'stupid question' thread. When I look at Dewalt 60V chainsaw for $350 and dewalt 60V wormdrive circular saw for $250 then I see Ion 40V ice auger for well over $400...........best price I see on amazon is 450..............does the ion auger look overpriced?  To me the ion auger looks overpriced. How is that Ion price justified?

Wow, $200 was a heck of a price

Gander had the Ions for less than 200.00 when they went through Liquidation. If I didn't already have the MKE Fuel/KDrill set up, I'd have gotten one for sure.

Not sure if you have seen, but Ion is now offering the Ion auger in a 10" model, you do not need to purchase a seperate 10" bit.  They had a excellent performance out of IonX unit with the cast bottom bit.

Did not know that. Cool! I'll keep that thing going until there is reason not to.