New SM Lite-Flight owner

[dubob]

I transitioned through several different auger setups over the past 15 years from gas powered to drill powered.  Jiffy, NILS, K-Drill, and now Lite-Flight.  The K-Drill does a decent job, but tends to have issues with drill slowing down all to often.  My drill is a Milwaukee Fuel 2805 with 1,200 in-lbs of torque bought new in Feb 2019.  The Lite-Flight has a center point and replaceable blades and is lite in weight.  Should be a good match up with my drill.  I have 2 5ah batts, so I'm always good for drilling as many holes as I need to.

My questions are mainly about longevity and quality of the Lite-Flight auger itself.  I went with the Lite-Flight over the Eskimo Pistol because of the $50 difference in price (Lite-Flight was less).  Would like to know what y'all think of the Lite-Flight, good or bad.  There are trade offs for all of them.  I hope to gather all my gear together in a week or so as the temps are finally dipping below freezing here in Mormon Mecca.  Some early birds were up around 9000 feet last week walking on water.   

Oh, forgot to mentioned.  Since I target panfish/small trout through the ice, all my augers have been 6".

[hardwater diehard]

All about the blades .1).K-Drill has Chipper style great for dirty ice Slowest and uses more battery ..2)Shaver style blade or Mora type ..Pistol Bit ..HT E-Drill ..Cableas Eze ..pretty fast and can be hand sharpen with some practice ..replacement blades fairly inexpensive . 3) Lazer/curved style blades or  ..Lite flight .. ..fastest but if used on dirty ice game over ..ie paper weight..replacement blades lil pricey.. I am not familar with the Razr ..but believe they have Lazer style blades .. next is weight ..metal heavier ..composite lighter . Having a center point is a great option

Pros for StrikeMaster : composite flighting ..center point and its fast ..

Cons for the StrikeMaster :lazer blades and dirty ice dont mix .. lil pricey to replace.. steel shaft ..

Pro for the Eskimo . Mora blades . easier to find less pricey and can be hand sharpened with a minimal skill set ,,composite flight w/aluminum shaft center point on 8" model

Con s for the Eskimo : no center point for the 6" model

[dubob]

Thank you Sir; good to know.  We don't get a lot of dirty ice in Utah, but they do in Wyoming where I may make a couple of trips each season.  Note to self - let somebody else drill your holes in Wyoming.   

[hardwater diehard]

Thank you Sir; good to know.  We don't get a lot of dirty ice in Utah, but they do in Wyoming where I may make a couple of trips each season.  Note to self - let somebody else drill your holes in Wyoming.   

Or carry an extra set of Lazer blades also note the 8" pistol bit does have a center point .

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Used one last year. Nice augers. A light flight is just a lazer with plastic flights and a center point. With the way the lazer grabs….or at least my 6in….they didn’t really need a center point. Should treat you good.

[Ice_Fly_Guy]

I got myself a 24V 8" model, I'm pumped to get out there and try it!

[kpd145]

Love my lite flite.

Its maybe a pound heavier than a Kdrill.

This is my 3rd season using it and I am still on my original blades, I have not had to deal with dirty ice...yet.

Brand new, the blades rip through ice. End of last season it was still cutting very well to the point that I was planning on new blades this year but may hold off.

I've had mora's, 10 inch Lazer Mag, 6" Nils, 7.5" K drill, 40v 8" Strikemaster, then the 8" lite flite.

I've been very pleased with its performance.

[grubdropper]

Had mine for 2 seasons now.   Might be the best thing I purchased for ice fishing.   Can cut more than 50 holes through 12 inches ice with one 5 amp Milwaukee battery

[hardwater diehard]

I recently purchased a SM 8" Lite Flight my blades required the recall

https://www.strikemasterblades.com/

[markrazzy]

I literally just tried my brand new 6" lite flite this weekend with a Milwaukee 2804.  I was super pumped, but ran into issues when it basically would just drill 2" or so and then spin (not digging anymore) on the very first hole.  I would need to apply pressure at the exact moment I could feel it starting to quit digging and then it would plow through the rest of the ice.  Verified it was on "drill" and "1".  I have a call into customer service.  Anyone else run into this issue?

[Ice_Fly_Guy]

Similar thing has been happening to me with my new 8" on the lithium unit. I can live with it as long as it doesn't get worse.

[hardwater diehard]

Similar thing has been happening to me with my new 8" on the lithium unit. I can live with it as long as it doesn't get worse.

You know about the Blade recall yes ? I believe it only affects the 8" models.

[Ice_Fly_Guy]

Yes, these are the new blades that they sent to replace the defunct ones.

[RStock521]

If it's still having the issue after the fresh blades, something has definitely got to be wrong with it.  I've used my buddies Lite Flite and it cuts like a hot knife through butter.   Cuts just as well as my Nils, but about half the weight.

[fishingeek]

Check the bolts on the auger blade. Your blade pitch could be off.

[Kobey]

I literally just tried my brand new 6" lite flite this weekend with a Milwaukee 2804.  I was super pumped, but ran into issues when it basically would just drill 2" or so and then spin (not digging anymore) on the very first hole.  I would need to apply pressure at the exact moment I could feel it starting to quit digging and then it would plow through the rest of the ice.  Verified it was on "drill" and "1".  I have a call into customer service.  Anyone else run into this issue?

This is just a guess, but could it be that the first 2" are white ice where the blades dig with no pressure?  Then when you break through into harder clear ice it needs a little more pressure to keep drilling?  I noticed it with my Jiffy Torch this weekend.  It would drill a few inches then seem to break through and spin a revolution or two before grabbing the new layer.  I didn't really have to put more pressure on it but maybe with different style blades you might have to.

[jbird68]

Love my lite flite 8". But this past weekend after I drilled a few holes and set the auger back in my sled. The water flash froze on my blades. The next time I drilled a hole the auger just spun in the ice. I had to set the blades above my buddy heater to melt of the ice. After that it cut fine the rest of the day. I just have to spin off the excess water after drilling a hole and quickly put the cover back on.

[markrazzy]

This is just a guess, but could it be that the first 2" are white ice where the blades dig with no pressure?  Then when you break through into harder clear ice it needs a little more pressure to keep drilling?  I noticed it with my Jiffy Torch this weekend.  It would drill a few inches then seem to break through and spin a revolution or two before grabbing the new layer.  I didn't really have to put more pressure on it but maybe with different style blades you might have to.

That's a good observation and you might be right in regards to the ice layers.  However, the lazer blades should continue to dig right threw, and the pressure I needed to use (or even better, if I rotated the auger slightly a certain way and apply pressure) it would go through.  Either way, I don't think it's normal for the lazer and Strikemaster didn't think so either.  They're sending me some new blades.  I already had some backup blades that I installed, but I haven't had a chance to get back out yet. 

[hardwater diehard]

Check the bolts on the auger blade. Your blade pitch could be off.

These things are slammed together in China ..I would venture to guess that they are not evenly torqued. I had some strange things happing with my new ION  10"  COMPOSITE auger this past weekend ..thought it was an under amp battery  I changed up to a 9 ah from a 5 ah ..but it may have been a combination of things ..Upon getting off the ice I did notice the inside bolts closet to the center point were tighter than the outer bolts after I loosened them all and properly snugged/tightened them will have to see if that changed anything for the better.

[SpoonieLuv]

I just got my new Strikemaster lite-flite 24 volt auger today.
I went to put on the 12" extension and it looks like round shaft is off center in the hex shaft of the auger when the bolt is tightened? I have batteries charging so didn't run it yet. I can visibly see that it is going to have wobble it looks like. Anyone have a problem like this?