The Great Auger Debate

This auger debate is getting darn right hilarious. Why is gas vs. electric somehow become compound vs. crossbow? Why do people care what others use? What really cracks me up is the justification by both sides to somehow discredit the other side.

Electric crew:

1. Gas/Oil is messy. It's a hassle to mix gas. I don't want to bring a gas can along.

It takes approximately 1 minute to mix up 1 gallon of gas that will last the entire season for the average fisherman. If that’s too tough, you can buy premixed gas. I would guess the average gas guy spends less time mixing gas/filling the tank than electric guys spend plugging and unplugging their charger.

Bring gas along? A gas auger will punch more hole on one tank of gas than an electric will on one charge. I never bring gas along for a single day of fishing.

2. Gas augers are hard to start. I pull the trigger and I’m cutting a hole.

I you truly believe this to be true, you have never owned an Eskimo gas auger. I’ve owned mine for 5+ years, and I would say 90%+ it starts and idles on the first pull. I don’t believe I have ever pulled it more than 3 times to start. The same guys that have crappy gas augers probably don’t take care of any of their crap. If they switch to electric, they won’t charge their battery or sharpen their blades and will likely be using your auger by the end of the day anyway.

3. Electrics are quiet.

Frankly, I think this point is moot. Fish will be spooked by the blades cutting through the ice, not the sound of the motor. As far as residents on the lake? That is part of the joy of lakefront living. And if that is your motivation, I hope you never take a quad or snowmobile on the ice!

4. Electrics are light.

Truth. This is by far the most compelling reason to go this direction. Most options are substantially lighter than any gas option.

Gas guys:

1. As one person on another thread put it, electric guys are “Sally’s”.

That is about the dumbest thing I’ve heard and frankly it deserves no comment or consideration.

2. Electric options are expensive.

Truth. This is the most compelling reason I can see to avoid this route.

Electric augers run in the $450 - $600 range from what I’ve seen. And if you ever burn through your battery, you will likely be in the price range of a gas auger just to replace the battery.

I think you can go cheaper if you set up your own with a cordless drill. But if you want a nice setup (full plate with handles, good bit, good drill), You are still going to end up in that $400 - $500 range from what I’ve seen.

On sale, a very nice Eskimo gasser with a Viper motor can still be had for well under $300.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Why do people care what others do? It is so weird to me.

Electric Advantage:

+ Weight

+ I guess noise, but that is a weak one to me

Gas Advantage:

+ Cost

+ The fact they are always easily ready to go. If you run out of gas, you can be back up and running in seconds. Run out of battery power, not so much. It likely rarely comes into play, but I think about weekend trips or just simply forgetting to charge the electric one!

If I was starting over, I would likely go the electric drill set up so I could then also use the drill to drive shack stakes.  Many times now I'm taking my gas auger and a cordless drill to drive stakes, so I'm really losing on the weight side.  But I'm not starting over and my Eskimo Mako is a very nice rig.  No way I could justify the cost of a drill set up.

Dude, you had an oversight in the positive column for a gas auger.  Ha, don't get rid of that gas auger just yet! Check both of these videos out.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71bsHpKk3uc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41qG0UDBpVY

fishinerman, man that is a classic story, so funny. That stirs up many memories of the struggles of being a kid. 

I bought an exhaust tube for mine stick it  out the door of course that was after I ruined the front of my Ice suit.Lazer mag always starts.

When I was a kid, maybe 12 and my younger brother 11 went icefishing. We had no clue what we were doing.  We had no auger but my dad got us a chisel spud.  Fearing the worst he tied a 12 foot rope to the spud and on the other end tied a plastic milk jug so we would't lose it in the hole. He had some business near Random lake so he dropped us off for a few hours.  We had no idea where to go but we had swam there before so I had an idea of where it got deep.  We walked out about 100 yards and proceeded to take turns chopping through 18" of ice.  Then the hole had to be enlarged.  Then we decided we could see how deep the water was by letting the spud bar down into the hole by the rope.  As it slid through my hands the rope whizzed through with no jug.  We had cut through it in the process.  We were then stuck with one hole for 2 hours, probably too deep and miserable.  When pops finally picked us up and we told him what happened he called us tweedle dee and tweedle dumb and said, " you guys work out who is tweedle dumb.  Oh yeah no fish no bites bad equipment and no knowledge. I do think we got a bit smarter that day.  

As for the great debate:  I would go electric.

My long gone bud Cal made 1 ft by 8 ft skis out of 3/4 plywood and would go out on 1 inch of ice, 2 or 3 pokes with the spud between his legs and had a hole to fish thru. Not 2 ft of ice, but did he qualify as a real man?

You're note truly ice fishing unless you spud or chisel your way through two feet of ice.  All those mechanical augers are for wimps.  

So the word is 5 in favor of loud gas augers and 0 in favor of quiet electric augers. That’s cool. But I completely disagree with the idea that electric augers scare fish as much as gas augers. Many times I have drilled a hole with my electric and started catching fish immediately, even in shallow water. Then some guys see me pulling them in and start drilling around me with gas augers. It’s not my lake, people are welcome to drill near me. But many, many times when the loud drilling starts around me, the bite has completely shut off at my hole.

I'm going out to wake up all the lake folks with my propane auger in the morning. Love the sound of a gas or propane auger. Weight doesn't  bother me.....yet.

If my gas auger makes too much noise,  I will gladly take all donations to purchade a quieter one. I'd rather hear an auger than atv's, snowmobiles or loud trucks on the ice.

I actually enjoy the sound of gas or propane augers. Off in the distance of course, I don't like being around people in general. Not going to lie, the sound of an electric auger grinding through ice kind of annoys me.

Dude and fishloveme...perfect example of how posting about something can help others.  Great sharing of DIY information there!

Earplugs cost 19 cents

Does anybody out there care about the noise issue? I get out mainly to catch fish, but also to be in a beautiful, quiet place and relax. A bunch of gas augers around me sounds like I’m at the local motocross or snowcross track. I like the quiet drill auger I have. 

What "the Dude said", Replaced the tank on my Eskimo also, fixed the leak, as stated poor design on original.

Other than the tank gas leak, I have used the auger alot and rate it high.  Blades are also cheaper than other brands.

Also have a Strikemaster, not impressed with it.  Starting and running issues, buddy also experiencing the same.