Tweaking your auger? Secrets of the masters

[FishGut]

There have always been special tweaks people do to get the most out of their tools. I remember my grandfather almost religiously honing and waxing his old spoon auger. I've seen people insisting they want to shim blades for faster cutting. Personally, I hope that swapping out to offset handles will allow me to punch two or three times as many holes now that the kids are bringing friends along too.

What's YOUR secret hack to get the most out of your auger?

[BIGCREW]

I use silicon spray on mine it helps to keep the ice build up down,and one other thing I do is hand it to my 19 year old son to do the drilling thats my best tweek

[SLAYERFISH]

Put a motor on it-

[xjma]

Put a motor on it-

^What he said!!  The ULTIMATE tweak! 

A hand auger with sharp blades should cut just fine though.  Some people say have an extra set of sharp blades with you just in case (and a wrench to change them).  Loctite on the bolts is a good idea as well. 

[BlueDevil]

The Eskimo Shark Z71 requires no such tweaking!  Bwahahaha!

[Rebelss]

Touch up your blades with an oil stone after every use, keep a thin film of oil on them, spray your flighting with silicone OR wax so water doesn't freeze on it, and let the AUGER drill the hole....DON'T push down on it!!!! As previuosly stated, I also Loctite all mounting bolts on it, use non-oxy gas with Startron, and the recommended mix ratio with a good 2 cycle oil, topped off with a properly gapped new NGK plug. That about covers it...

[pfscott]

I would hone my 7" Mora blades with a 600 grit stone, they cut awesome!

[Chris338378]

The Eskimo Shark Z71 requires no such tweaking!  Bwahahaha!

X2

[stripernut]

Not a big one, buy I tape the Allen wrench to the shaft of my auger to keep it handy in case I need it and that has saved the day a few times!

[jackpine]

facebook----ice auger sharpening

some auger tips there.

[esox_xtm]

  Some people say have an extra set of sharp blades with you just in case (and a wrench to change them).  Loctite on the bolts is a good idea as well.

Both great ideas. I never travel without a spare set of blades, never know when you'll find bottom on a strange lake.

And Loctite? My buddy lost a blade down the hole from a brand new auger   ......... I always Loctite now.

Oh yeah, good ol' Johnson's Paste Wax on the flights (and sled bottoms too).

/m

[Buckshots]

Not a big one, buy I tape the Allen wrench to the shaft of my auger to keep it handy in case I need it and that has saved the day a few times!

The Strikemaster solos actually have a spot under the throttle handle for an allen wrench.

[hankthecrank]

Why worry about having to retighten, just buy a longer bolt and put a nylock nut on the other side, end of problems.

[icyveins]

Why worry about having to retighten, just buy a longer bolt and put a nylock nut on the other side, end of problems.

x2

[Whytie]

buy blades at the end of the year buy ahead for later years

and you'll save yourself around 10$ on those year end sales. i also wax my auger with car wax to keep ice off.

[Quantrel]

Be sure to use SeaFoam to keep the engine clean and purring

[FRESHBAIT]

def agree on getting the end of the year auger blades.

This year I picked up a couple more augers to add to the fleet.   Another Eskimo which is a 8600 model and a project Ice King auger to hot rod a little bit just for giggles.  The sound of a 2-stroke with a tuned pipe is like music to the ears. 
Some mods I'm gonna try are cutting some grooves in my centerpoint this year, and have them off set from each side so hopefully it'll cut through the ice better.  As well as do some mods to my blades this year with cutting some serations and have the serations offset b/w the two blades, hopefully they'll cut they ice better.  As well as some jetting to the carb and a tuned exhuast pipe.

One thing I started doing years ago was buying 100 L/L from the local airport,  it doesn't have all that crap that the new gas has.  It's pricey, but I may only go through a gallon or two an entire season.     

[SLAYERFISH]

one trick I did on my old 3hp Cobra 10" was to remove the governor.   Gained a couple thousand rpm.  Talk about quick!  Requires total concentration when drilling.   

[ice cracker]

Heat up the blade with a torch so it melts and cut the ice

[SkiSoloII]

1. Smaller holes cut easier.

2. Amsoil Saber

Dave

[d4ng3r3ux]

removed that threaded bolt when its -20 celcius I dont want to fiddle with a allen key and bolt
replaced with one of these and I put a tiewrap with a leader around my auger shaft

[finlessbrown]

Heat up the blade with a torch so it melts and cut the ice

i don't think many people will bring a set of torches on the ice for this purpose

[dfauverii]

  I have a used auger that had shims under the blades.  The shims obviously increased the angle of the blade to the ice.  The blades were also used.  I assumed that the shims were just to get more out of the existing blades.  I did not put the shims back in when i put new blades on and it didn't seem to cut well still.  Now i've replaced the point too but haven't got to see if that makes the difference.  The auger is in great shape and doesn't look like it has bent or anything where the blades attach.  This is a newer eskimo 10" auger and i also bought the Z71 powerhead for it so i am not lacking power by any means. 

[Reel trouble]

My auger tweak If it works i will call it the nilscuda 

[DBK81]

My auger tweak If it works i will call it the nilscuda 



(Image removed from quote.)

Biggest problem I already see, your top hand should be directly over the blade, your top hand is 995 of your pressure, and not being centered over the top will make you tend to drill on an angle and not cut very well.

[Reel trouble]

 well there suppose to be offset making it easier to drill this one has the lazer turbo blade equivalent and doesn't require much if any down pressure.  I see a lot of comments about offset handles on both the nils, fin bore and strike master figured might as well try it on a eskimo as i already had it. 

[bigyam627]

Biggest problem I already see, your top hand should be directly over the blade, your top hand is 995 of your pressure, and not being centered over the top will make you tend to drill on an angle and not cut very well.

your not supposed to use pressure. let the auger do the work.