News from Strikemaster

[esox slayer]

  My boss has the same problem with his Eskimo auger and they gave him the same answer.
  Now on the blades thing, I thought everyone was exaggerating about the chinese blades til i tried my buddy's 8" lazer, I might as well have melted a hole in the ice with my breathe.  Now I may be wrong but I thought the SM lazers were just FinBors painted black.

It's amazing that Strikemaster will buy hundreds of pairs of those junk Chinese blades and replace them (with Swedish) every time a customer calls in with a complaint, but (what I'm assuming) are a few people who called in with the LM power auger complaint are given NO recourse whatsoever except to buy another entire unit.

I think I might drag my Strikemaster to the ice this winter and hang a sign on it that says "JUNK" in big letters.  Would be happy to explain my reasoning to other fishermen..I'll give Strikemaster the same sort of advertising they gave me with their customer service....P*** Poor.

[Steuben1]

Don't know if everyone is just talking about hand augers here or not.  I have a SM LazerMag with the german Solo engine that cuts a 10" hole and I could not be happier.  I starts on the 2nd pull everytime and cuts faster than any other gas auger I have come up against. 

Hopefully you are not having problems with the gas augers.


Steuben1

[Hard stuff]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG_zo77vAY0&feature=share


I would like to see what would happen if they were both running 8 inch drills......

[fishlessman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG_zo77vAY0&feature=share


I would like to see what would happen if they were both running 8 inch drills......

the flutes on an 8 inch nils are small, maybe 6 to 6.5 inches in diameter, the cutting head and hole size is still 8 inch

[dkfry]

the flutes on an 8 inch nils are small, maybe 6 to 6.5 inches in diameter, the cutting head and hole size is still 8 inch

That wasn't an 8" Nils in that video. The OD of the flighting on the 8" Nils I had was well over 6.5" for sure.

[fishlessman]

That wasn't an 8" Nils in that video. The OD of the flighting on the 8" Nils I had was well over 6.5" for sure.

havent looked at mine since last season ill have to measure it tonight. my only complaint with the nils is that the flutes are too small which doubles the slush to remove after cutting the hole and that slush is real fine, harder to pick up

[turbo5oh]

i almost think there is more to the story then what we are getting, over the years i have dealt with strikemaster several times, from customer service to the guys is the shop. i can honestly say that i havent even had a meadeocore experience with them.

now not trying to start any arguments is there any service centers available for nil's?

the reason i ask is because i love how easy to get parts for my augers. i order it and have it to my rural home front door the next day. if i have a problem they get me to one of the guys that service them for a living to try and help me over the phone to make sure that all the easy stuff is checked before i have to send it in. (never have had to send in)

also on the power point thing i feel that it is a upgrade that they offer on the newer augers. im not sure why u would feel that they owe u a new auger becuase youre auger is 10 years old. in fact i was in ur same position with the old style flighting. and having a mechanical and welding back round i examined the newer augers and modified my old style to have the notch and nut to accomidate the power point.

not saying i wont ever own a nils or other brands. just cant say i have any reason to change. ive only had 2 lazer hand augers and the shaver style power augers. and have been eyeing the "new" strike-lights

[flyfishr]

hmmmm...that explains alot. we got an 8" strikemaster hand auger and the blades on that thing sucked also...i guess i should google their phone # and get my swedish blades also huh...where do i find the serial number?
 

If you take the blades off of the auger the serial # is on the top side of the blades or at least thats where they were on my 6" Lazer hand auger. It was getting to be a pain to drill holes and I bought a Icegator for it last Dec so I didn't have to drill by hand anymore and that took care of the cutting problem or so I thought.  I found that the pitch on my made in china Lazer auger was more flat, allowing the blades to take more of a bite further out on the blades and not as much of a bite near the center of the blades than that of my brothers 6" Lazer hand auger that was made in sweden and came with swedish blades.   I took some measurements off of his auger and reworked the pitch on my auger and it made a world of difference in ease of cutting by hand compared to what it was before I changed the pitch.  Then I put it on the Icegator, slick setup.  I then put the new swedish blades on that Strikemaster sent me after I called them complaining about difficulty in drilling holes.  MAN!!!!  Talk about a hot knife though butter.  I can cut 10 holes, one right after the other in 12-18" of ice in about 35-40 seconds.  

[fishville]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG_zo77vAY0&feature=share


I would like to see what would happen if they were both running 8 inch drills......

I've seen a video of a Nils vs Jiffy. The Nils won 2.5 to 1.

[fishlessman]

That wasn't an 8" Nils in that video. The OD of the flighting on the 8" Nils I had was well over 6.5" for sure.

8 inch nils



fluting on an 8 inch nils is 6.5 inches

[Hard stuff]

I've seen a video of a Nils vs Jiffy. The Nils won 2.5 to 1.

Can you copy and paste a link sir???

[bri]

I just recently sold a Strike-lite that gave me 3 great seasons.  Throughout my adventures I managed to break the auger a couple times.  First time was late, heavy ice and lodged the auger in a hole.  My fault, didn't clear it enough while drilling.  When I finally got the auger free, I had managed to rip the top of the "synthetic" flighting away from the shaft.

Second oops was also my fault.  I was going a bit too fast on the wheeler, auger mounted on the front in some less-than-optimal "gear grips".  Well, I hit an invisible snow drift, caught a little air, and the gear grips shattered on the landing, sending the auger flying across the ice.  I had busted off the air cleaner and bent some linkage.

Both times I took the hour drive from my place to Strikemaster HQ in Big Lake.  Both times they had me in and out in less than 30 minutes, all fixed up, free of charge.  Customer service like that, so close to my home is worth my patronage, IMO.

I'll be picking up a new Solo Pro today and I expect the same great performance, back up by excellent customer service.

On the flip side, one of my buddies has a 6" Nils with the Tanaka powerhead.  The Nils rips some serious ice and makes popping a bunch of holes just plain fun.

A bit lengthy for a first post I guess...   

[dkfry]

8 inch nils

I stand corrected. I got rid of mine years ago.

Listen to the end of the video though and they say there is 2" difference in auger size.

[dkfry]

Can you copy and paste a link sir???

I'm interested in seeing that vid also. I think there is more to the story.

The Nils and the SM Lazer are close speed wise. Differences in powerhead output rpm can play a very noticable role in drilling speed also on a shaver.

Here is a video I have that somewhat shows how close the SM Lazer Mag is with the Nils/Tanaka combo. This is the older versions of both augers.

[esox slayer]

also on the power point thing i feel that it is a upgrade that they offer on the newer augers. im not sure why u would feel that they owe u a new auger becuase youre auger is 10 years old. in fact i was in ur same position with the old style flighting. and having a mechanical and welding back round i examined the newer augers and modified my old style to have the notch and nut to accomidate the power point.

Not trying to start an arguement, and I don't take your question as trying to start one either, let me clarify:

The auger is now about 13 years old.

I bought it, had the problems with it and then, 2 years after I purchased it, SM had come out with the center point on the auger itself, not 10 years as I may have mistakenly eluded to.

I contacted them when the auger was practically brand new and got the answer I posted.

It seems obvious to me that SM saw the flaw in their original design and modded it to include a center point.  That's great for anybody purchasing one from that point on, but for those of us that bought them with the P*** poor design, we either had the choice to "deal with the problem" or dole out 150 bucks for the new designed auger flighting with the center point.

To me, it reeks of bad business (especially when we spent 400 bucks plus for the "new" augers way back in the 90's to get told "sorry, buy this or nothing we can do for ya".)

Frankly, I wouldn't care what SM came up with concerning new ways to cut ice, I wouldn't give them ANY consideration whatsoever, and will not speak of them in a good way to anybody I deal with due to this situation.

Wrong on my part?  Maybe.  Wrong on their part to not correct a situation that would have cost them (probably at best) 75 bucks?  Absolutely.  Remember, it's not like I was asking for them to fix an auger that was decades old, it barely had paint chipped from the auger flighting.

[turbo5oh]

i can deff see how it would make u feel, but you have to look at it from their side of it as a business. they upgraded their product line and are not really responsible for upgrading previously sold units. not on the same scale but its like buying a new truck and then asking them to replace it after they come out with a new body style 2 years later

[esox slayer]

i can deff see how it would make u feel, but you have to look at it from their side of it as a business. they upgraded their product line and are not really responsible for upgrading previously sold units. not on the same scale but its like buying a new truck and then asking them to replace it after they come out with a new body style 2 years later

I guess another way to look at it would be from Jiffys standpoint.

DECADES after they produced the one armed bandit, they offered a FREE (at what I'm sure was a far greater cost than SM would have to deal with) upgrade to the one arm bandit by offering the modification kit to put gull wing handles/throttle assemblies on the augers in question.

How long did they offer this FREE upgrade for?  I know it was years and approaching a decade IIRC.

Strikemaster will NEVER get another penny of my money.

[eyestroker]

This is a real shame.  I bought a 5 inch lazer two years ago and it never was quite right,  so I did the exchage for swedish blades.  Still not up to par so they tell me the whole auger is made in china.  If I want, I cn send it back for inspection under warranty.  Not in the middle of the season.  So after much persistence on my part they sent me a whole new auger made in sweden and a shipping label to send the old one back.  They made me basically purchase the auger and when the original was returned they credited back to my CC.  Well after having these two supposedly same augers sitting next to each other,  I can tell you they are not the same.  I am so glad I stuck to my guns and got what I paid for while I still could.  He even had the audacity to pull out the Everything is Chinese made card.  I told him i didn't spend $40 on a walley world special I paid premium money money for a premium product and i demand that's what i get.   Hold on to your swedish mades with all your might boys....... 
Oh as far as the service it's good.  He even let me keep the extra set of swedish blades for my trouble.........  I should be good for years thank god......

[dkfry]

I have one of those Swdish SM Lazers also and they are a nice little auger. I have to say though my dads 6" Chinesse Mora tears through the ice very well also, it just turns harder and the blades need touched up every season.(Slightly rolled edge)

[fishville]

Can you copy and paste a link sir???

It's Blaine's  from Ct Outfitters video. I've seen it once on another site and a few times at his seminars.

[turbo5oh]

I guess another way to look at it would be from Jiffys standpoint.

DECADES after they produced the one armed bandit, they offered a FREE (at what I'm sure was a far greater cost than SM would have to deal with) upgrade to the one arm bandit by offering the modification kit to put gull wing handles/throttle assemblies on the augers in question.

How long did they offer this FREE upgrade for?  I know it was years and approaching a decade IIRC.

Strikemaster will NEVER get another penny of my money.

a national consumer saftey recall is a little different then a product upgrade. jiffy was recalling the products due to hundreds of forearm/wrist injuries

[esox slayer]

a national consumer saftey recall is a little different then a product upgrade. jiffy was recalling the products due to hundreds of forearm/wrist injuries

If they were subject to a national recall, I stand corrected.

However, my basic contention still applies...

[fishville]

This isn't the clip but a lil nils actionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm1Fnii16Qk

[fishville]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm1Fnii16Qk

[Perfect Hook Set]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/StrikeMaster-Mora-Swedish-Ice-Drill/1089566.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dmora%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&Ntt=mora

 A "Swedish" Mora, is this really a Chinese Mora?

[dkfry]

A "Swedish" Mora, is this really a Chinese Mora?

I saw that the other day on Cabela's site, made me chuckle.

[mbart]

Want to see a Swedish Mora? Do a search, Mora Nova System-More Fun On Ice. Check out the videos, one slick auger.

[esox slayer]

I see an awful lot of stuff that *might* eventually wear the SM logo on this page:

http://www.alibaba.com/promotion/promotion_ice-auger-blade-promotion-list.html

Make sure you guys check out both pages of this crap, cause I'd bet my last paycheck much of this Chinese crap is labeled as something with the initials "SM" once it arrives here stateside...

My initial comment stands.  SM will NEVER get another penny of my money.

[eyestroker]

I hate China!

[Five Trap Limit]

Just checked out my lazer mag. It has Mora Sweeden on both the auger and blades.

So I guess I lucked out. I do like this auger.