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IceShanty Main => General Ice Fishing Chit Chat => Topic started by: esox slayer on Jan 19, 2018, 10:47 AM
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I received my 120 volt Li Ion auger via UPS just a few minutes ago. (Friday morning)
Guess I'll start from the beginning:
I spoke via phone to Trophy Strike (Nick) Monday afternoon and ordered one of their 120 volt 8 inch augers, did not specify express or priority shipping and it went from their office in Colorado to upstate NY via UPS in approximately 3.5 days time, well within (in my opinion) an expected ship time for standard ground.
Box came through undamaged, well taped shut and heavy cardboard. Opening the box it's obvious they expect whatever service is transporting these units to give them a little rough handling, this auger is packed solidly with no room for jostling around once the form fit styrofoam packaging is in place.
Took off the top half of styrofoam and found all components of the auger protected again, this time with a bubble wrap material and the 120 volt battery was packed inside a material that reminded me of a cardboard egg container. The only item not protected with a second layer was the battery bag and was really unnecessary anyway. The bottom half of the styrofoam packing is a mirror image of the top.
The auger assembly itself appears to be a baked on powder coat finish in the flights and centering ring. The blade guard supplied with the unit covers the entire bottom, and up the sides an inch or so. The guard is held in place with those black rubber "knobbed" bungees.
The blades are razor sharp, well secured (I checked) to the auger itself, and while I did not see any country of origin on these blades, what I did notice what that they did NOT have the all too familiar "Made in China" stamping.
The power head assembly is solidly built, good ergonomic controls (and all nicely marked) , nice foam padding covering the portions of the handles that are not grasped with your hands while drilling. I saw no indications of flaws or scratches on the unit that may have occurred during manufacture. Controls are designed to be manipulated with heavy gloves with ease.
The battery is big, and solidly built, using Samsung cells for the power source. It has a very secure positive placement latch to hold the battery in the unit during use, no rubber strap is required to keep it from falling out. Nice big latch release to remove the battery from the auger, again so it can be manipulated wearing heavy gloves.
Securing the flighting to the power head was easily enough accomplished with the large allen head bolt provided, along with the proper size allen wrench. NOTE: as with all augers that have this type of attachment point, after I snug down the bolt, I take a couple wraps of electrical tape around it in case the bolt loosens up during use, that was a lesson learned the hard way a few years ago. However this may or may not be necessary as the fitting of the bolt to the threads is nice and tight.
The auger extension looks exactly like an auger extension should, not much explanation required there.
Overall, at this point the unit looks great, will be fully charging the battery this afternoon once it warms up and take it to the ice for it's trial run tomorrow, will be following up with ice conditions, holes drilled, ice thickness, battery expenditure, etc. Pretty sure this auger is going to give the other electric units a run for their money once people start seeing these on the ice.
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:thumbsup: Nice write up, hope it works well.
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mine was packed like that 2 I have mine since January 5 well first 1 auger fell off down the hole.they sent me new blades only to use it today the handle with the control knobs broke still waiting for them to call me back....... so excited when I got it right now im not to happy with it mine is the 2017 model hope urs holds up for u
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just heard from trophy strike...had to send pictures of the damage they'll send a complete power head { just the handles cant be fixed}so they will asset the damage n go from there...I will let you know how it goes
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oops my other post......the 1 auger blade fell off which they replaced for free n had them within 4 days. so them made good on that
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Today was the first trip to the ice for the Trophy Strike.
The battery was room temperature when I put it in the tote in the back of the truck, ambient air temp was 35 degrees.
It traveled to the bait shop and then to the ice in that same tote, approximately one hour.
This auger is very quiet.
Started drilling holes, did a total of 33 this morning in good hard black ice between 14 and 16 inches thick.
The blades performed, they require no down pressure at all except the weight of the auger to drill through hard ice quickly, with NO binding or catching as it starts breaking through to water.
Checked the auger over once I got home this afternoon, all bolts are still tight, the nylock nuts do their job.
In total, drilled 33 holes at an average of 15 inches of solid black ice, for a total of 495 inches, or 41.25 feet.
After drilling, the battery was still at a solid 3/4's capacity remaining.
I left this auger and battery sitting in the shade on the ice today just to see what it would read at days end and it was still at 3/4's charge.
Zero issues with this auger today whatsoever.
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that's great news mine is the 2017 model...........is urs the 2018 model?
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that's great news mine is the 2017 model...........is urs the 2018 model?
Yes...
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just heard from trophystrike should have a new power head in 3 to 5 daysgreat to know they treat their customers right.well even better I was just hoping to get it fixed........only the handle broke but their sending a complete powerhead...I take my hat off to them
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Another trip to the ice today.
Drilled 35 holes through 16 inches of solid black ice.
Temp this morning, 11 degrees, battery sat in this temp for about an hour again this morning before drilling.
Temps warmed up to around 34 by afternoon, battery was left (intentionally) on the auger, laying within a foot of the ice.
Before leaving this afternoon, having already drilled 32 holes in morning, picked up auger and drilled 3 holes through the 16 inches of ice in 28 seconds...
560 inches of ice, 46.6 feet, battery at 3/4 charge remaining.
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got the replacement powerhead today took down to my pond to test it.worked great gonna use it tomorrow on beltzville
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mine was packed like that 2 I have mine since January 5 well first 1 auger fell off down the hole.they sent me new blades only to use it today the handle with the control knobs broke still waiting for them to call me back....... so excited when I got it right now im not to happy with it mine is the 2017 model hope urs holds up for u
I heard those horror stories...I still use my lil drill....
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used it today on beltzyville......worke d great no issues at all with this 1 cuts smooth very little ice to scoop out the holes didn't even have to use reverse.....battery still shows full charge left in it.......very pleased with it.... n like esox said no downware pressure needed just let it do its own work
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Started out at minus 12 degrees here this morning when I loaded the truck, battery was left (intentionally) in my tote along with jig poles and chow.
Stayed like this until I got it out to the ice to drill, about 1.5 hours.
Drilled 30 holes to begin with through 14 inches of hard black ice.
This afternoon, a couple guys came along and set up next to us, I volunteered to drill their holes for them, temp had warmed up to around 20 degrees with a 15 mph or so wind, had left battery in auger (again, intentionally) and covered sitting near the ice.
Punched 14 holes for them, again through the same 14 inches of black ice.
Battery was still at 3/4 charge upon completion.
44 holes= 616 inches of ice, or 51.3 feet.
Next two trips out, battery will not be charged in between trips, going to see what this thing will do when it's only got a 3/4 charge to begin with and I punch 30-45 holes or more.
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Sounds great.
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Sounds great.
Forgot to mention the other day on my findings, this auger is punching an 8 inch hole through 16 inches of hard black ice in 8 seconds...my buddy says it'll absolutely smoke his ION...
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Sounds like what the Nero will do. 2" a second. Pretty cool.
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Reviews of this auger does show that it does drill faster than the ION, but the new ION battery does last longer than the Strike Master's battery, but when you get 2 batteries, it is hard to see anything wrong with this. Curious to see long term how it holds up. Believe it should do well with the Strike Master's name on it.
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Not me or my vid, but saw this posted and thought I'd post it here on this thread also...these really are great augers..
https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=357094.0;topicseen
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Reviews of this auger does show that it does drill faster than the ION, but the new ION battery does last longer than the Strike Master's battery, but when you get 2 batteries, it is hard to see anything wrong with this. Curious to see long term how it holds up. Believe it should do well with the Strike Master's name on it.
I absolutely love my strikemaster auger, havent needed the second battery. Drills like a champ. I also am interested how its gonna hold up long term.
So far so good
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So this thread started talking about trophy strike and now people are talking about strikemaster . These are two different augers are they not?
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Maybe I missed it , but what does that outfit weigh ?
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Maybe I missed it , but what does that outfit weigh ?
22 pounds..
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So this thread started talking about trophy strike and now people are talking about strikemaster . These are two different augers are they not?
Yes.
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That's what I thought, thanks
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Another review with video here:
https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?action=post;topic=356906.0;last_msg=3823035
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ok I just weighed mine....powerhead n auger is 22pounds.......battery came in at 3pounds so mine came in at 25 pounds n I don't think my wife set the scale that it shows more then it or her weighs
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ok I just weighed mine....powerhead n auger is 22pounds.......battery came in at 3pounds so mine came in at 25 pounds n I don't think my wife set the scale that it shows more then it or her weighs
Just checked their page, and it's saying 25 pounds for the complete auger with battery...they must have updated, swore it said 22 pounds but I could have been mistaken...will change my original post accordingly..
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even at 25 pounds it seems so much lighter then my gas powered 1.........I will never go back to gas again........... I know I probably will never need it but I thinking maybe for the next ice fishing season maybe buying another battery so far I drilled enough holes for two guys 3 trips n still a lil left in it
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Just checked their page, and it's saying 25 pounds for the complete auger with battery...they must have updated, swore it said 22 pounds but I could have been mistaken...will change my original post accordingly..
Per Trophy Strike(Powerhead, battery, auger) weight is as follow:
2017 (120V) is 25.2lb
2018 (120V) is 23lb
Appreciate all the reviews.... likely be my next purchase!
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I don my 't think u could go wrong getting 1 even so they took care of my issues n that's says a lot that they take care of their customers
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I am planning to purchase the 120 volt Trophy Strike. Does anyone know if the mechanical impact feature on the 2017 model is worth the extra two pounds? Conversely, have there been any problems with it that would make me want to order the 2018 model? It seems like it would help, but they had to remove it in the newer model for a reason.
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I am planning to purchase the 120 volt Trophy Strike. Does anyone know if the mechanical impact feature on the 2017 model is worth the extra two pounds? Conversely, have there been any problems with it that would make me want to order the 2018 model? It seems like it would help, but they had to remove it in the newer model for a reason.
I don't see any reason to think you need more than whats on the 2018 model.
See my post below on todays performance...
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Took the Trophy Strike to the ice today, air temp when I arrived 30, when I left the ice today, 41.
Drilled 71 holes through 18-20 inches of good solid ice.
1278-1420 inches total
106.5-118.3 feet of ice drilled total.
Battery still had between 1/4 and 1/2 of it's charge remaining.
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I was on the ice yesterday and had a buddy coming out so I asked him to fly by my house first and see if the drill was there, it was! He charged it for a little bit and brought it out to me. I was hoping to drill a bunch of holes but we were already on a nice school of walleye so I only drilled about 10 to hole hop. I must say, it used to be a chore drilling holes with the heavy propane auger, now it's a blast. I can't wait to use this more and I know it'll make me more mobile since I don't mind drilling holes now.
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Wanted to give a quick shout out to Trophy Strike's customer service. After reading the reviews on the forum and talking to one of the service techs, I decided to pull the trigger on the 2018 model of the 120V auger. I screwed up though and ordered the 2017 model by mistake. Trophy Strike (Brendan) was quick to work with me on returning the 2017 model and ordering the 2018 model. I'll miss out on using it this weekend but will have it going forward.
The gal processing their orders, Abby, also impressed me. She emailed me to make sure the second order wasn't a mistake before she processed it since they were placed three days apart. She also wanted to confirm the shipping address as I have Monday off and had it shipped to my house instead of the office like the first order. Don't see that level of attention to detail and care many places anymore.
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Pretty slow day for the Trophy Strike today.
Started out just below freezing, got up to 34 today.
37 holes drilled through 18-20 inches of solid ice
660-740 inches, 55-62 feet of ice.
Battery still had 3/4's charge remaining...
Went over the auger when I got home, checked blade tightness, etc..found everything as tight as the first day I checked it.
Finish on the auger flight is holding up extremely well, no signs of chipping found....
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Wanted to give a quick shout out to Trophy Strike's customer service. After reading the reviews on the forum and talking to one of the service techs, I decided to pull the trigger on the 2018 model of the 120V auger. I screwed up though and ordered the 2017 model by mistake. Trophy Strike (Brendan) was quick to work with me on returning the 2017 model and ordering the 2018 model. I'll miss out on using it this weekend but will have it going forward.
The gal processing their orders, Abby, also impressed me. She emailed me to make sure the second order wasn't a mistake before she processed it since they were placed three days apart. She also wanted to confirm the shipping address as I have Monday off and had it shipped to my house instead of the office like the first order. Don't see that level of attention to detail and care many places anymore.
I dealt with Nick, got the same level of service when I spoke to them. Very helpful and they strive to make sure the customer is happy.
Nice to see some companies are still focused on customer service...
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Cold this morning, think around 10 degrees....
Only drilled 30 holes through 18-20 inches of ice.
Battery had 3/4's charge remaining....
I did get the opportunity to "show off" the auger and demonstrate it to a few guys out there on the ice today though....
Didn't charge battery tonight when I got home, when it goes to the ice tomorrow or Monday we'll see if it'll give me a full days drilling on the remaining charge.....4 guys going so should be in the neighborhood of another 60-70 holes...
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Had it out a couple days ago, only drilled 12-14 holes through 14 inches of ice, didn't bother charging, battery still read full...got to once again demonstrate it to a couple guys out fishing beside me..
Took it out today in 66 degree weather, drilled 58 holes through 14-16 inches of solid black ice, temp had dropped to 44 when I came off the ice, battery still had between 1/4 and 1/2 charge remaining.
Looked auger over again this evening, still nothing is coming loose, blades still as sharp as the day I received it....
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Thanks for the updates E S.....Sounds like $$$ well spent !! :thumbsup:
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Thanks for the updates E S.....Sounds like $$$ well spent !! :thumbsup:
Yeah, I think it was a wise choice.
I normally fish with between 2-4 others on a lot of days out, so it gets the opportunity to drill a bunch of holes each trip.
That day I punched over 70 holes through 20 inches and still had battery left was enough to convince me...
If it weren't such a pain in the butt to post vids or pics on this forum I would be....
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If it weren't such a pain in the butt to post vids or pics on this forum I would be....
With the improvements made to the forum this season it's a piece of cake !!
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The past couple trips to the ice with this auger have been pretty uneventful, no conditions to really push it hard.
Went Friday, temps hovering right around freezing, drilled 27 holes through about a foot of ice, battery showed 3/4 charge remaining.
Didn't charge battery after that trip, went yesterday and drilled 38 holes through 9-10 inches of good solid ice, temps in the 40's.
Battery still showed a 3/4 charge remaining.
Was really hoping to get this auger into some 24 inch or thicker ice this year and punch 50 holes or more, best ice I found was in the neighborhood of 20 inches, but did get the opportunity to punch over 70 holes that trip.
Will have the opportunity to get out a few more times this year, but the really thick ice is gonna have to wait until next ice season.
Overall, this auger appears to be everything Trophy Strike claims it is concerning ease of drilling, speed at which it drills, and battery life.
Checked over the auger again last night and can find no indications of any wear on the unit.
The finish on the auger flights has not chipped or worn thin in any location, including on the edges of the flight where I angled the auger after starting a hole to see if the finish (powdercoat?) would wear or chip.
The center point remains solidly in place, the blades are still as sharp as when brand new, nuts and bolts remained tight without having to periodically tighten, and the finish on the "ring" around the auger bottom had held it's finish equally as well as the auger itself.
Encountered NO switch malfunctions/issues (like a thankfully now out of business electric ice auger "company" made excuses for a few years ago)..
Did not need to use handwarmers in the bag supplied to keep the battery warm during non use periods on the ice, (sadly, I did not have this auger in the time period earlier this year we had the minus 25-35 degree temps where it may have been required)...
These folks must be pretty sure their product is gonna last as they have a five year warranty on the auger, minus the battery and blades..(compare that to the other electric augers out there if you're on the fence about which electric brand to buy)..
Frankly, I'm completely satisfied with this auger. My nature makes me a shade pessimistic/cynical on manufacturers claims about their products, so part of me wanted to find "something" to list as a "con" instead of just having a list of things I liked, however thats not the case.
Reports from others besides myself about great customer service (getting to speak with a CSR that speaks English here in America instead of some guy named "Bob" from a third world country is worth something in itself these days)., quick response to an issue if something did go wrong with one of their augers, and a flawless performance on the ice is more than enough to make me happy with my purchase and glad I chose this auger over the others out there....
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Thought you guys might enjoy this....
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Thought you guys might enjoy this....
Nice!
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I purchased the 120 volt trophy strike and like it a lot. My question is would a 1000 watt generator be ok to run the charger? Some times I stay on the ice for 3 days and can drill a lot of holes in that time. thanks