Icegator Attacker Review ........

[jopes]

that Lion pack is pretty pricey.  I would love to see one in person and be able to hold it to see what it weighs compared to a gasser.

[flyfishr]

My new Icegator with the sealed lead acid batteries, adapter shaft and 7" Strikemaster auger weighs 34.2 lbs.  So if I had the li-ion batteries it would weigh 25.2 lbs.

[jopes]

My new Icegator with the sealed lead acid batteries, adapter shaft and 7" Strikemaster auger weighs 34.2 lbs.  So if I had the li-ion batteries it would weigh 25.2 lbs.

you have the one with the 9amp-hr batteries?

[flyfishr]

you have the one with the 9amp-hr batteries?

Yep

[Papawsmith]

I also just got mine a week ago, ordered it just before Christmas but was delayed due to some bad supplier parts. Only used once so far due to a ice crushing warm up but the thing was outstanding. Drilled 30-35 holes in 7"-8" of ice like nothing. I realize that that is not much ice but at 50 with a bad back and my 7" Mora that would have been impossible.
Another great thing that not much is said about, and a big factor why I chose this over gas, is the noise or in this case the lake of noise. The lakes around me are limited and largely populated. I'm an early morning person and I do not want to be that a-hole at 5:30 Sunday morning 75' from someones lakefront home wrapping out a two stroke auger to pound down a dozen holes. This new unit is actually quieter than my hand auger because there is no loud b***hing from me when I'm done drilling. 

[jopes]

I think I am hooked.  I hooked up with a few guys I have fished with before.  On this part of the lake there's 2 feet of ice.  I need some power. 

Anyone wanna buy me a after christmas present? 

[maddog117]

I hate to rain on anyones parade , But. I've had my Ice Gator auger drive for a year now. And it has worked great til 2 wk ago. Drilled two holes , and it stopped working. Contacted Ice gator by e-mail ,had no reply. Called the number on the website, no reply . Ended up getting a call from Greg. I returned his call , and explained what had happened , and he told me to send it to him. That was a week ago. I've called and sent e-mails and still have not heard from them. I had the batteries tested separately and tested good . Has anyone else have problems with their auger drives ? Or with the IceGator company ?

[michianafisherman]

Please explain the not working part! Never had problems with mine. I have an attacker.

[FISHFORPIKE]

I hate to rain on anyones parade , But. I've had my Ice Gator auger drive for a year now. And it has worked great til 2 wk ago. Drilled two holes , and it stopped working. Contacted Ice gator by e-mail ,had no reply. Called the number on the website, no reply . Ended up getting a call from Greg. I returned his call , and explained what had happened , and he told me to send it to him. That was a week ago. I've called and sent e-mails and still have not heard from them. I had the batteries tested separately and tested good . Has anyone else have problems with their auger drives ? Or with the IceGator company ?

No problems with either one here.  If you read the threads on the icegator, you will find a couple of issues with the "push-button" switches on the gators previous to the new version.  Your gator will be taken care of by Greg and Dee, I am sure.
Did you ship it by some method other than standard ground that you expect them to get it in less than a week?
Please let us know how you make out - there are very few complaints on here about the IceGator product or their service.

[maddog117]

To start out , It was shipped UPS. And Dee signed for it the next day. When it stopped working, I drilled two holes and it acted like it needed charging. Althought it was charged up from the weekend before. Then it just wouldn't work. Since I shipped it to them I have not been communicated with . Even thought I have sent numerious e-mails and phone calls to the office number and to Greg's phone as well. I have left voice mails with no responce. However Dee did return one e-mail stating that she has forward all to Greg.  And like I said before, I 'm still waiting to hear from them yet.

[camshaft]

maddog

U may have had the same problem I just experienced.  Mine stopped drilling and it seemed like the batteries died.  Turned out a battery lead wire came undone from the plastic box mounted under the drive unit.  The one that houses the push buttons.

It is held on by 3 screws.  Greg guided me while on the phone and was a big help to get me back running.  Was ultimately a quick 5 minute job.  For anyone else having the problem of either fwd or reverse button not working, unscrew the box and make sure all wires are still scwred down.

[maddog117]

That was the first thing I did. Took the cover off and checked all connections , with a multi- meter. Both batteries were at 13.6 volts. Checked voltage at the bars  27.6 volts . checked for a voltage draw. had none. Tested each ends of the wires, disconnected from the  batteries. And ran an ohm test , Ok  After all other test , the batteries were tested with a microdon tester. Passed. So I assumed that the problem problem lied with the unit.. I did not want to open the unit up for further inspection. I did not have a parts  break down manual for this unit. So this is were we are at. I sent it in .

[maddog117]

Contuation from above. I thought it might have something to do with the switches. But I do not have a wireing map or a parts breakdown manual. So I did what I could do without taken it apart. Greg said to ship it to them. So that's where it at now. However I'm curious as to what caused the problem in the first place. And not getting any return calls is what I didn't expect.

[maddog117]

I called Icegator yesterday. Talked with Dee's mom. She stated the they were out and Greg was very busy. So I left another message.

[akdube]

Just got mine gonna try it out this weekend in 3' of ice up north. Does the output shaft move just a little bit when not turned on? This one moves just a tad either way but this may be normal. Also instead of the allen bolts could I use some quick connect pins as it would be way easier to tote around. Thanks.

[flyfishr]

Just got mine gonna try it out this weekend in 3' of ice up north. Does the output shaft move just a little bit when not turned on? This one moves just a tad either way but this may be normal. Also instead of the allen bolts could I use some quick connect pins as it would be way easier to tote around. Thanks.

Mine moves a little and you can hear the gears in the gear box as you try to turn it.   Unless they are fail safe pins or you have some type of device on the top of the auger shaft to keep from losing your auger if the pins should happen to come out after augering though the ice I would use the allen bolts supplied and keep them tight so as to not egg the holes out as the outputshaft is aluminum.  Also take a wrench and the allen wrenches with you so you can check the tightness after drilling a few holes.  It took me about 3 times out with the Icegator to get to a point where the allen bolts remained tight.

[akdube]

awesome thanks for the tip..

[Mainedog]

akdube -
I had a Gator and a Nils bit.  I drilled a hole through the Nils adapter 90 degrees off the hex bolt holes and used a pin and a clip.  Worked great.  Made it easier to carry, store, transport, etc.  Just make sure the clip is secure in the pin.  You don't want to give Kwik Coupler or Jiffy Quick Disconnect competition (on loosing bits down the hole!).

MD

[michianafisherman]

Also; don't use something that will grab loose clothes.

[wingnutty]

Might want to check out the thread "where is icegator" on the ice gator forum.  Interesting read for some feedback from those of us who have had nothing but problems with our augers.

[Mainehazmt]

3rd winter for my gator    went out yesterday and drilled thru over 2 ft of black solid ice  with 3 yr old batteries !

[maddog117]

I'm glad you've had 3 woderfull years with yours. I finally got mine back on wensday, 3-11-10. So far it works but I don't have any safe ice to try it on. All this time I have been waiting for their returned calls. And you Mainehazmt, seem to get right thru. Like I've said before, I wanted to know what cause my unit's failure.  Is that too much to ask for ? Thanks to Icegator, I do have a repaired unit .

[pete/ny]

I also have had mine for 3 years ( got 1 of the first ones out) and the only problem I had when I got it was a bad charger but after a phone call there was a BN charger on my door 2 days later! Can't ask for any better service than that. I have drilled a whole lot of holes through a lot of ice for myself and other guys and have been thru 2 sets of Strikemaster Lazer blades and my Gator is still running fine. Hopefully whatever the problem is with the communication gets solved for all. I too would think that being a Sponsor here that there would be alittle more communication but if you have a busniess to run and seeing its only a small time one, then you may not have the time to get on the computer.

[pete/ny]

I e mailed Gator 2 days ago and today Dee sent me a reply.Looks like they are still in business and not as hard to contact as some say !! Keep trying they may have finally caught up enough to correspond with all.

[fishingsteve]

I'm new here, but I had to post on this. I also bought a Icegator Attacker II this last year. Ordered and paid for on 12/23/09, received it a month later. First trip out got to drill four holes before it puked. Went home called Dee, of course no response. Took the switching box apart and found a melted plastic button and burned contacts. E-mailed pictures of bad parts to Icegator, they responded that day saying that even though it was my fault they would send replacement parts, I wasn't holding the button down hard enough, even though it was still melted to the contact bar. I repaired the parts as best I could and went fishing again, drilled six holes same thing. Any way to make a long story short, I ended up soldering all my electrical connections, some had came loose some weren't crimped good and securing the positive wire to the switchbar with a small bolt that went all the way through the plastic housing. Changed the plastic buttons underneath the weatherproof seals to 7/16 pieces of dowel stick and one of the most important things was making sure that that my auger was in top shape and not gouging the ice and hanging up. I sharpened the blades and put duct tape between the back of the blade and the auger, to make it take less of a bite in the ice. I believe the downfall of this product was letting people use their own augers with the powerhead.  I can now drill 25 to 30 holes through 2 feet of ice with no problem. One other thing make sure the positive and negative wires from the charger match the ones on the battery pack! Hope this helps. I think Greg and Dee are good people, but they are a little overwhelmed with the success of their product.   Tight lines !

[chilitokid]

I believe the downfall of this product was letting people use their own augers with the powerhead.

Let me start off by saying I don't own a gator but will probably buy one next season. I've read the threads (all of them) concerning Icegator and I believe the comment above is dead on. I feel for Maddog117 because his unit isn't working as expected along with a lack of communication on IceGator's part. My 2 cents: there are basically 3 components involved - ice gator head, auger, blade(s). If one or more are defective the unit won't work to expectation. Here's my suggestion. Maddog117, you stated you put a brand new laser auger (out of the box) on your icegator. I would suggest (if possible) to put a different auger on your gator and go drill some holes. BUT, I will also say make sure its a known good auger that has been drilling holes. I have 2 Strikemasters and 4 different size augers and I understand you may not. If you experience the same issue as you did previously you can be quite certain your gator is the issue. If your gator drills holes to expection your issue is with Strikemaster and not Ice Gator. Right now reading these threads I'm not sure your gator is the problem. I also am certain you are not abusing your gator either.  I read your Icegator had a ripped up gearbox it may have been the auger that was the root cause. It seems from what I've read is the fishermen experiencing the problems are using the same type Strikemaster auger.

As an engineer my suggestions are based only to help out other fisherman. I don't have any affiliation with any manufacturers I've previously mentioned. I know first hand of the frustrations of a customer when they paid very good money for a product and it doesn't live up to expectation. Lastly, myself and some friends fished with YOAdrien on Lake Winni (New Hampshire) in Feb on the coldest day of the year. I was looking forward to seeing his IceGator in action. He drilled one hole with it and it died. It turned out to be the cable (cable connector) to the batteries. I think I read he soldered the connectors to the wiring and tightened down the screws someone previously wrote about. It was up and running his next guide outing.

Good Luck

[maddog117]

Thanks for your expertise on this matter. However the problem was electrical. The brushes in the motor. As some have said , that this was overpowering the motor. I change the blades on my augar after every use. I use only the swedish blades. And I have the used ones sharpened . I do not lean on it when drilling. Don't need to . I 've used this augar for over 10 years before I recieved my icegator.  I really liked mine till I needed it repaired. Maybe it was wishfull thinking, but , I thought it should last longer than 1 season.

[FISHFORPIKE]

How about it - anyone order one of the newest Gators yet?
I got the Attacker II last year and am wondering if the new style switches are available for this unit?
Also interested in getting the specifics on the LIION battery pack.  Like what is the nominal voltage of the cell-pack and the AmpHr rating.  Thinking of buying and building my own LIION pack.  Maybe save a few $$$.

HAZZY - you got any info?

[Mainehazmt]

I believe that the new switch pack is available give Greg a call  I understand there wont be a reverse option though

[DannyBoy09]

Talked to Greg this morning and he said new switches will be sent out in the next two weeks.