Most everyone is out fishing today. I wish I was too. Not enuf ice here anymore. You are going to get a lot of opinions from Nils to Jiffy and everything in between. I have had 5 power augers to date and I will give you my opinion on each, but remember this is only my opinion based on my experience and not necessarily gospel.
The first one I owned was a 3 hp Jiffy 8". It was and is a good auger. My uncle still has it, but I'm not sure he uses it any more. The only thing I didn't like about it was its weight.
The second one I owned was an Eskimo Shark 2hp 8". I really liked this one for the money, about $200 brand new 5 years ago. It cut good and was not too heavy. I fell down with this one and bent the screw and sold it to someone that had a bad powerhead but a good screw. Note to self. Don't walk around carrying a power auger w/o spikes on your feet...
The third one was a Eskimo Barracuda 2hp 8". Again, this was a good auger and reasonably light to carry. It had rubber handles which were more comfortable and easier to hold on with. It was a little more at $319 if I remember right. I sold this one to one of my dad's friends bc my dad told me that we needed a 10" 3hp instead.
The forth one was a Strikemaster 3hp 10". I litterally hated this one and only owned it for about a month. The engine ran like total sh!t and I had to pull on the starter cord dozens of times to get it started. Not good. Strikemaster even told me they have a lot of problems with the 3hp model and suggested that I get the 2hp instead. It sounded like good advice so I took the 3hp back and traded it for the one I have now which is the Lazer Mag Ultra.
The Mag Ultra is a 9" with 3 blades. IMO the blades are pricey (bout 40 clams) but it seems to cut reasonably well even for a 2hp (assuming the blades are in good cond.). The engine starts on the first or second pull every time and its fairly light to carry. I did have a few problems with this auger. First of all its a little pricey at $420 (or more) clams to buy new. You could get a gas powered Nils for about the same money. The blades ice up pretty bad in extremely cold weather which isn't something I have had problems with before. The other thing is I hit something in the ice once and instantly ruined the blades, but that can happen any time you his something regardless of the brand.
Sorry so windy. I am sure you will get more opinions. The 2hp Tecumseh engines seem to be pretty well built and dependable. The 3's on the other hand I don't think I will ever want again. Hope this helps. Good Luck
