Best auger for the money?

[valk_tourer]

what is the lightest, cheapest, and best auger they make in about a 9"?

[bushbunny]

Nils Master!!!!!  TrapperDirk will be the first to agree.  He named his digger "Jiffy", because the Tanaka engine worked so well!!!! Right Trapper!!

[trapperdirk]

Nils Master!!!!!  TrapperDirk will be the first to agree.  He named his digger "Jiffy", because the Tanaka engine worked so well!!!! Right Trapper!!

Well Valk Tourer don't let this Bushbunny lead you astray .LOL The Nils Master if anything is likely the most expensive auger out there if not atleast in the top 2 along with the Husquavarnas . The Nils is one of the lightest but also to my latest info, only drills an 8 inch hole . Also they use the shaving style blades which require more care unlike  the Jiffy's you can have a chipper style blade which to my estimation for an all round auger is the way to go as far as ruggedness,longevity,ease to find replacement blades and parts,multiple auger sizes and the pricing is competitive . As a side note,, if you went to other brands such as Strikemaster or Eskimo the motors are all the same using tecumseh engines .
   Jiffy Augers have been on the ice for 50 some years which is longer then anybody can lay claim to I believe so BEWARE of the Bushbunny,Bob D screeching tanaka Nils Master's . LOL

[Chucker]

In 3 words...


cheap <> best.

[FRESHBAIT]

GO FOR AN ESKIMO,  I HAD AN ESKIMO THAT WAS ABOUT 30YRS OLD AND IT FINNALY DIED LAST YR.  I BOUGHT A NEW ESKIMO SHARK LAST YR WITH THE 47CC CHAINSAW STYLE ENGINE.  IT'LL CUT 30" OF ICE IN ABOUT 19SEC (TIMED IT LAST YR)  ITS LIGHT FOR ME, BUT I'M 6'6" AND 320LBS.  ESKIMO IS THE BEST IN MY OPINION,  NEVER USED A NILS, USED A JIFFY AND I DID BETTER USING IT AS A SPUD BAR TO CHIP A WHOLE.

[Bob_D]

Nils Master are the best quality augers on the market. IMO....Jiffys are junk.

[fishslayer37]

Clearly Eskimo, i just got my Eskimo Mako this year its a 1.75 horse with 8000 rpm it takes 17 seconds to get threw 2 in a half feet of ice. And to top it of its one of the lightest augars out there. (or so thats what the guy told me)

[trapperdirk]

Nils Master are the best quality augers on the market. IMO....Jiffys are junk.

Yeh if your a pan fisherman go to the toy of the ice and get a Nils but if your after big fish get the lord of the ice called Jiffy and pass over the wannabe copycat eskimo too .LOL

                      TD

[Bob_D]

It's called the "lord of the ice" because you praying to it that you will actually finish cutting the hole before you die of old age.

[meat sticks]

I will state that while eskimo customer service is second to none, their new model mako's and stingrays are haveing some issues, at least in Canada.  I have returned a stingray with carb problems, and am about to return a mako with the same problems.  They are no longer running tecumseh motors, except in the 3hp line of barracudas, haveing replaced them with a motor/carb combo of their own design.  I WILL NOT knock their customer service however, as it has been nothing short of fantastic.  They do most certainly stand behind their products!!!

[Bob_D]

Slipbob...So you are spoiled now?   I see a new powerhead in your future.  Did you get the 8" or 6" Nils hand auger this year?

[bushbunny]

Slipbob, the wisest and easiest decision to make when it comes to digging holes in ice!!!!!

[fishslayer37]

I will state that while eskimo customer service is second to none, their new model mako's and stingrays are haveing some issues, at least in Canada.  I have returned a stingray with carb problems, and am about to return a mako with the same problems.  They are no longer running tecumseh motors, except in the 3hp line of barracudas, haveing replaced them with a motor/carb combo of their own design.  I WILL NOT knock their customer service however, as it has been nothing short of fantastic.  They do most certainly stand behind their products!!!

I will half to agree with the costomer service part, but luckily i had a cousin who worked there. When i got my new Eskimo Mako i had to take it back, it was getting a bit to much gas. They gave me a new one, but since ive got the second one. its one of a kind. I also love the new motors.

[trapperdirk]

I dunno what you guys carry on about putting pressure on Jiffys to cut . I don't nor have I ever  .It goes down on its own and all I do is hang on to mine . You guys bring those made out of glass Nils when I'm setting traps for beaver and we'll see what's junk at the end of the day .And slipbob you call 13 inches ice . Heck thats not ice,, thats just a skim in the dogs water dish . Nils are expensive,can't put up with any abuse, drill small holes, and even BOB D knows of a thread on another board where the guy took two back to the store, back to back, and finally took another brand .
   And this shaving and chipper blade stuff doesn't fly because if it did I guess we would need to get water techs in to check what kind of ice before we dare use a NILS while Jiffy with its chipper blade just roars and says " where do you want the hole ". I can fish anywhere under any conditions with my Jiffy and would miss out on alot of fishing if I owned one of those china doll Nils that even require a certain type of ice . Argue it all you want but those are the facts and Jiffy will not need any special treatment ever when it comes to ice .

             TD

[Bob_D]

Trapper Dirk....You can keep riding that glorified lawn mower you call an auger. I'll never go back to one of those pigs. When you want to come out of the dark ages, you will be running a Nils like the rest of us. I've cut well over a thousand holes on a set of Nils blades without a problem, so they are not "made of glass".

By the way....The guy on the other site returned the Jiffy and is getting the Nils. Sorry to disappoint you.


Like I said before....While you are still cutting holes, I'll be fishing. 


Oh...have you heard? They have a new invention....It's called a "wheel".

[pike4some]

I like the Eskimo a lot. Ive got an earthquake post hole digger and ended up buying the ice auger with turbo blades for it this year. Cuts very good until i hit the bottom of the lake last weekend now i need a good sharpening or new ones

[Bob_D]

I like the Eskimo a lot. Ive got an earthquake post hole digger and ended up buying the ice auger with turbo blades for it this year. Cuts very good until i hit the bottom of the lake last weekend now i need a good sharpening or new ones

Ummmmmm....You might want to try some deeper water or leave the post hole digger on instead.  Man that sucks when you hit rocks. I don't care what auger you have....rocks and blades are not a good combo. If there is a lot of damage, it may be better to just get a new set.

[Phoenix]

Got the Nils 8" hand auger this year. So far my Jiffy power auger is still hangin on the garage wall. Haven'y seen the need to take it out and haul it around when the Nils is so light and cuts sooooooo well Have yet to convince myself that I need the power head yet, course the ice is still only about two feet thick.

[Knife2sharp]

I bought the 8" Nils hand auger from Cabelas and I love it. If I were to get the power head for it, where would I go to get one?

[Bob_D]

Contact Nils Master. www.website.com . There is a e-mail address and phone number on the site.

[reelucky]

I'm thinking about buying an Eskimo Stingray 8".    Lightweight, clear fuel tank, low cost $$$$, looks nice.

Do you know anyone that owns one

Straight or Curved Blades   
 
 I have had to tear apart my friends new 8" Jiffy's carb. twice.  Calling them for a new carb. soon.

 It can't be adjusted properly . I know 2 strokes.   

[Trout Sen-Sei]

Reel, check out eskimo post under general chit-chat at top of web page. good info. It made up my mind.

[big big rdg]

I have a Jiffy Legend 3HP 10" Cut and it is a Little Heavy but im only 15 and i haul the thing around like its nothing and that thing will cut you a hole quickkkkkk. I like it more than the strikemaster 10" that I already had to take back at the begginging of the year

[Morrocco_Mole]

I now have to say NILS MASTER
Sorry
My $.03 cents
MM!

[bigredonice]

 Nothing cuts like a nils power auger

and oh ya, their lighter than everything else, too!

[Bob_D]

Nothing comes close, nothing.     After that demonstration at the King last weekend how can you not believe and become a member of the "church of the nils".  We meet Sunday mornings on the ice. 

Welcome Brother Slipbob. All who wish to convert are welcome in the house of the Nils. All of your Tecumseh sins will be forgotten. 

[Bob_D]

Trapper Dirk,
I've yet to see you post a pic of you with a fish that could not fit through a 8" hole. The walleye in your avatar would fit up an 8" just fine. Thick ice?.....Well since you are a whopping 40-50 mile north of me, I don't see how your ice could be much thicker. 

[trapperdirk]

I'm a tad more than 50 or 60 miles north of you BOB D and I guess you better look at a few pics that I have posted and rest assured that walleye in my avatar would not come through your 8 inch hole . Also heres my ice on April 25th of last year and I still had 30 inches that day so where was yours northerner .

[Bob_D]

Ok...Let's do some math. The circumference of an 8" holes is a little over 25". Agree? For reference, the new Saskatchewan record walleye has a girth of 22.5 inches (18.30# 36.5" lenght). It might be a little tight getting the head turned, but it should fit. For perspective, a 6" hole has a circumference of just under 19". The "average" 32" walleye has a girth of about 19"...maybe 20". So....pulling a 32" eye out of a 8" hole is like pulling a 6" hole through an 8" hole. That's a fair amoutn of wiggle room, so it seems pretty do-able to me. So you are telling me that you are getting eyes bigger then that?

I live 5 miles from the Canadian broder in VT. I just checked my map, and if your info in your profile is correct you are about 50 mile north (350+ miles east). 36" is the norm on the lake I fish, but other lakes I've fished get 40" in a "normal" season. Joe's Pond (400 acre lake) had 25" April 12th 2005....Does that count? There are some others that had more ice, but I can't confirm the thickness of those at that time last year.

[trapperdirk]

That 8 inch hole is not 8 inches for long Bob and we fish many species here . A 13-14 pound walleye is a great fish even for here but we catch them every winter and if you had seen some of the spawners that come up our river you would see whats actually lurking in the body of water itself thats not even talking about the 30 pound plus pike and lakers that get pulled every year out of some of the lakes here . I've been there and done that often enough with an 8 inch hole over the years and often even drill 2 tens side by side and chisel out the centers just to be able to manouver a big fish better just like the one in my avatar and the other one in the pic with the fox . 8 inch holes just don't cut it around here if we have a choice in the matter . My main point being BOB is you promote these Nils highly to an extreme sometimes and yet they only drill 8 inch holes . They are along ways from the cats meow in my neck of the woods or ever will be because an 8 inch  power auger is a rarity here rather than the norm . We have some truly monster fish lurking in the depths and even a laker netted a couple of years ago that was 69 pounds and another at 72 . I have my doubts even a ten inch hole would matter in that case but an 8 is lacking often for sure,, even with one in the mid 20's and those fish are nothing unusual or even cause much of a stir . It drove us crazy many times when we only had 8 inch hand bombers and seeing a big fish go thud,thud in the small hole and won't come up through . A feeling of true despair it always was and even your circumference figuring could not get that big fish surgically up through the hole .
  Lets see Nils strap on a 10 inch drill or they may aswell just go home . Oh and my nearest border crossing is six hrs drive to the south and 3ft plus of ice is the norm here as are  cold temps.I also have 8 walleye and pike lakes within ten miles of my door or less and likely that many laker lakes so you tell me if you would risk losing a big fish on any given outing due to the fact your using an 8 inch hole . Not me or my friends will because it has happened to us too,too often in the past and every year we hook fish that make even the 10 inch hole seem inadequate especially when you see them go by the hole or get off and just lay there about 3 ft under the ice and look at you then with a whoosh are gone . When their bellies span the holes sideways you know she's a dandy and ones I wanna see above the ice as often as I can especially now since I finally have a camera and try to remember to carry it which is usually not the case .LOL

                          TD