So i kind of posted a quick sumnary on another thread but wanted to get my full review done.
This is my first electric auger, last year i used a ridgid brushless gen5 with 2.0 ah batts married to a 6inch nils. It cut great. Not a tons of holes with smaller batts but it did the job. I also used a 10inch jiffy and other gas augers.
Fast forward to this year and i found myself gifted a new auger.
I am not sure this auger is available anymore this season and if you do find one, its probably severely marked up. I paid 549 dollars for mine.
Build quality is pretty good. Im not a fan of plastic crap but the weight savings has made it easier for me to accept. Regardless of plastic, the auger feels solid. If i were to guess the weight of power head and bit are pretty equal. Maybe 14 pounds each.
Pros:
Cuts great, no need to feel like i have to put any weight on auger to cut. Just hold it up and let it do the work. Its got swedish mora blades.
Ergonomics are great for me, height is good, when it breaks through, i dont feel like i am so hunched over that i would injure my back, ions seems to have a smaller height drill so its really low to ground once you punch through ice. Its 24 lbs which isnt light by any stretch but blowing hole after hole is no where near as tiring using my old 10inch gas auger.
LED lights are good. I figured they were a gimmick but it turns out they are pretty darn useful.
Reverse: well it works, but i believe there is an inherent problem with any reverse auger. Once you flush hole and pull out auger, water on flights wash out of hole and chips end up back in it. Not alot, but its not perfect.
Batteries: nothing but impressed, first I got a free extra battery which i saw the cheapest online being 161.99 which is why i bought this versus the ion x. They charge very fast, punched over 50 holes yesterday on 12 inches of ice and had 2 bars when i packed up for the day.
Noise: nothing but the drill and motor. Very quiet which is good.
Cons: weight? I really cant find any right now.
Tldr: been ice fishing for close to 20 years and have used a variety of augers and i am absolutely in love with this one.
PS: my buddy has a milwaukee and 8" kdrill setup. Works very well and is lighter. Just have to test it out with more ice. His setup may have more torque on the user, where the auger really puts minimal torque to my hands when drilling. Speed difference in negligible. They both cut fast.
