Eskimo gas augers?

[walley_eye]

I’m curious, for those that are running or have owned Eskimo gas augers whats your opinions of them? Like or dislike and why?
Stingray 33cc, Mako 43 or others from the past.

Not interested in comparisons to electric augers.

[HWeber]

Friend had a mako43. Always seemed to work well. Only real complaint is the over engineered pull start.

[sawblade]

I’ve got the shark z51, compared to the strikemaster this one is a Cadillac. Starts quick, runs a long time on fuel. Down side is parts availability. With the electrics and pistol grips the gas augers are being phased out. If you’re resourceful it shouldn’t be to much of a problem.
Make sure to run a fuel stabilizer all the time and maybe learn how to take a carburetor apart and rebuild.

[missoulafish]

Had the Z51 and loved it. Best day ever when I sold it and went electric.

[Bountyhunter62]

Had the Z51 and loved it. Best day ever when I sold it and went electric.

Same here!!!   Had the Z71 10" Shark, thought it was the cat's arse..... Cutting holes and flying chips of ice everywhere. It's an awesome machine.

But every season it kept getting heavier and heavier dragging around the ice..   Had it for 3 seasons and sold it and bought an 8" G2 ION... Wonderful machine.

Paid a tad bit more for the ION  but I do not regret it.  Yeah, it might take just a bit longer to drill a deep hole but we are only talkin' about seconds.  !!!!! Super light and dependable !!!!!

[Whytie]

Still have the Eskimo 10" Z71 shark from 2007, Still runs. Have replaced 2 recoils, one carb and fuel lines, gas tank (original cracked), and a gas cap. Annual spark plug change and summerizing the the Auger for storage each year helps, and I used aspen fuel (non ethanol). I purchased a ion alpha this spring since I don't drill as many holes as I used to used to run and gun and 70-100 wasn't uncommon now I'm 30-50 holes so electric can handle that.

 Keeping the gas auger for last season pike though, with 3 plus feet of ice I'll need it.

[krispcritter]

I like my mako. Always starts, does not care how much ice is there, and does not care how cold it gets. Have drilled a few holes for others when their battery died or it just wasn't cutting it on thick black ice.

[bigfoot86]

I have an eskimo P1 propane auger that is a great auger.  Never any issues with it.  Starts with 2 pulls the first go of the day and one pull every time after that.  I have since gone with an auger bit and electric drill setup in 6” which has been a blessing but still have my 8” eskimo.

[Reel trouble]

Used a Mako 8" for many years great auger always started only complaint id grommet in fuel tank gets dray and leaks, I have switched to drill but keep it as a backup.

[gofishin]

I have the stingray 33, only issue I have is I have to pump the gas until it drips out the carb  to get it to start the first time but after that starts right up and runs great. Always starts on 1st or 2nd pull. The only issue I've ever heard of was people breaking the recoils but I've never had an issue with that.

[Splattypus]

I'll just say, and backed up by this thread, I don't see too many of the used eskimo gas augers for sale ever. People tend to hold onto them