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.

Fishloveme, 

I'm guessing your Eskimo gas tank has two nuts molded into the tank that the screws that hold it on go into, no?

If so, your tank is leaking around one or both of the nuts.  As much as I love my Eskimo, that was an absolutely terrible design.  They sell replacement tanks that are a completely different design.  I swapped mine out and haven't had an issue since.  I feel they should have sent me the new tank free, but oh well.

I see almost zero gas augers on the Madison chain anymore.  Almost everyone has a cordless drill though.  I have 4 augers in all - an 8" Eskimo Shark Z43 that I bought on clearance ten or twelve years ago.  It has suited me well, but I don't need it that often. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it, but I have only used it once in the last 3 years.  Starts on first or second pull every time, but I have a leak somewhere in the gas tank, so I can't add much gas to it when using it.  I've replaced the fuel line, cap, and grommet and it still leaks! Going on my snowmobile and putting it in my sled has spilled gas everywhere in the shanty, so I leave it in a case I bought from Cabela's - it helps!

I then have 3 hand augers, all Lazers, in sizes 5, 6, and 8 inch.  I had a 5 inch years ago and didn't care for it in colder temperatures - the holes freeze up too fast, so I actually traded a guy for an 8 inch.  That beast 8" drills holes OK in ice less than a foot thick, but normally I only use it to drill a hole or two for a tipup anyway, so it's fine.  Works with my cordless drill just fine for a few holes.  The six inch I've had for as long as I can remember and is what I keep on my clam plate with a Dewalt DCD 991 most of the time.  It's virtually unstoppable.  I've never had to use the second battery yet.  I have 5 ah batteries for it.  The third drill I got was the 5" again, bought when Gander Mountain was going out of business and I got it for like 30 bucks.  I like using it when chasing bluegills at late ice when the ice is thicker, and I open a ton of old holes with it.

Especially if you ice fish Southern Wisconsin a lot I wouldn't get a gas auger, if buying new.  Buy a cordless drill, doesn't have to be an expensive one but make sure it has plenty of torque, and you can find a hand auger for fairly cheap at the end of the season or buy one from someone for cheap, and then for a grand total of under 200 bucks you have a setup that'll last for years!  Keep the batteries in a color or some sort with a hand warmer or two during the coldest of temperatures when not in use and the battery will never die on you while out in the cold. I highly recommend this setup!

I have the Nils cordless 6" auger and a drill. It does work awesome. I have a cheapo drill but if I got a good drill it would easily out cut my Jiffy 3hp by so far as to be on a different level. But you have to charge it. If I left it in the back of the pickup for a month  would it cut holes? Idk but the Jiffy doesn't care if I don't use it for 2 years. I live in Iowa where 25mph wind is nothing. I put the Jiffy on the flap of the shack to hold it down. Can't do that with a drill. As  far as having a nice drill to work on my house, fudge that. That's what they make checkbooks for. 

I think the main point I usually try to make is this.  If you have a working gas auger then I see no reason to switch to an electric unless you are trying to go lightweight.  However, if you are starting from scratch or need a new rig then I see no reason to not go with electric.  I'm more for hammer drills and Nils or K-Drill, compared to Ions or the Strikemaster.  They're faster, cheaper, lighter, less maintenance, and you have a hammer drill you can use around the house.

I could write a book about my auger woes over the last 25 years. Started with the trusty Jiffy model 30, always ran but weighed a ton. I'm not a big guy so lugging that thing around was a chore. Purchased a Strikemaster lazer mag express, biggest POS i have ever owned. Went with a Jiffy stealth stx 2500 8" maybe 10 years ago and after three carb replacements finally got that thing running great. You don't clean those carbs, you replace them. It was a hole cutting machine but gave me some trouble last weekend.

I found an identical STX on craigslist that looks almost new, paid way too much for it this week plus purchased a K-drill set up with a Milwaukee 2704.

I've used a K-drill before, i don't find it the most comfortable to hang on to when drilling but sure like the weight.

I never trust going in to ice season with only one auger, in hindsight i probably should have passed buying the STX this week and bought a second Milwaukee but i sure like how those stealth STX rip through ice! 

I started ice fishing in the late 60's,made my first hole with a hand ax.Then it was a spoon hand auger.After high school we got into gas augers wow we could now drill to find fish.Now I can use a drill moter and  a older lazer hand auger,that weighs around 10lb to do the same thing my 25lb gas auger did only faster.It is a better mouse trap.

I have used both. I used an ION when I first started ice fishing. I rented it a couple of times just to make sure I like ice fishing before I started forking over big money for everything I needed to fish. I loved it. The battery would start dying towards the end of the day. When I decided to buy, I found a Eskimo Mako on sale and paired it with the Cabela's spend 300 get 50 off deal. Ended up being maybe $220 for the drill. Also got a free carrying case. The ION at the time was upper $400's on price. 

With that being said.... Last year I went to pull to start and the ReCoil snapped. I was dead on the ice. I didn't pull hard. It just happened. And yes things like that happened. Other than that the Mako starts pretty much first pull every time. 

If I was to start over and get a new one, I would probably go electric. Just based on using them both it seemed better for me and the type of fishing I do. I don't go drill 10 holes every 20 minutes to try and find/follow the fish.

Personally?  I'm newer to ice fishing.  Did a lot of research about augers before getting one.  That thread about augers gave me a ton of information concerning batteries and the Clam plate.

If a thread helps someone with their choice, awesome.

I don't really care...gas versus electric versus propane.  If you like what you've got, great.  If you are looking for something else?  At least there are guys willing to share their experiences with yah.

Been helpful to me...then again...I am newer to ice fishing like learning about the equipment.

Ulbian - where did you find a bit for $40?  That seems lower than I've ever seen 'em.

Strike Master Mora is 39.99

For the guys running gas augers I have 1 question, have you actually tried an electric? I'm not asking if you have a buddy who has one and you saw it. I'm asking if you've actually spent time with one drilling holes? If you have and still believe your gas auger is the cat's pajamas, then good on you. If you honestly haven't, try one if you get the chance. Maybe someday when that old Jiffy White Lightning takes dump and you need to spend 100.00-200.00 in repairs, the benefits of going with an electric will sway you.

What this debate is very similar to is electronics, "do I upgrade to a new model or stick with my old Fl-8?". There's no right or wrong, it's just preference and whether the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Ulbian - where did you find a bit for $40?  That seems lower than I've ever seen 'em.

What about propane augers? Where's their due?

Well those are just stupid.  

What about propane augers? Where's their due?

I'm w/ Grizwald.  I'm not spending $$ on an electric, when my gas works great.

But,switching is probably good for a lot of guys...because they simply don't do the minimal maintenance on their gas auger.  Clean the carb every year?  I've never cleaned the carb on my 2hp Tecumseh and it's old!  But, if you use cheap gas and leave it sit, you're going to have trouble.  Guys are buying pre-mixed gas, because they can't do it themselves.  Seriously?!

I switched to electric this year.  For early season I purchased a drill plate.  I already had a drill and a hand auger, so it was only $60-$70 to have a power auger.   I got a 10"  40 volt strikemaster because I was sick of messing with gas and cleaning the carb every year.  The strikemaster came with a free $180.00 battery, which also helped me decide.  Ive drilled tons of holes this year and have never gotten past the first light on the battery.  If you drill 75 holes theough 2' of ice electric might not be for you, unless you have a second battery.  Btw, I now have 2 10" gas augers for sale.  Haha