8" Icegator First Use Review

[billditrite]

     I received my Icegator on monday afternoon. I was so excited you"d think Santa Claus himself delivered it 

     

   Out of the box the unit was very user friendly with a little assembly required and easy to follow instructions. Install the batteries upside down, put the icegator plate over them and put on the 4 screws provided. I was able to tighten them enough by hand to hold the batteries firmly in place.



  Next I charged the unit which was as easy as connecting the charger to the unit with 1 wire. I'ts a 3 prong plug that only goes in one way. Finger tighten the threaded ring thats on the plug, and then plug the charger in. When the light turns from red to green your unit is ready. The batteries were fairly charged when I got the unit and initial charging was actually less than an hour.



  Installing the bit was even easier . Icegator supplied me with an adapter which slides over the shaft and gets a bolt and locknut. i used 2 wrenches to tighten this part.next slide the auger shaft into the same adapter . this also gets a bolt and locknut (provided). tighten with wrenches and its done.



  On the ice!! This is the part I'm still giggling about    This thing rips!! I was very excited to feel its power and speed. I've been using gas powered augers for 30 yrs and have never had such an easy time cutting a hole. No choke ,no throttle, no pulling the rope , no gas on my hands or clothes, and no hot muffler to burn my jacket. Just 2 buttons . FWD and REV. pretty simple. FWD to cut, REV to clean slush out of hole.Still had to take a few swipes with my scoop but it did a pretty nice job cleaning the hole without splashing water all over my boots.



  Battery life on the first day out was excellent for what I asked of it. I left the unit in my garage overnight with the rest of my gear which stays around 40-45 degrees. I cut 5 holes through 12" of ice, half of which was good clear ice,to get started and set my tipups. I didn't plan on moving my tipups but wanted to give the unit at least a little workout for its first day so I proceeded to cut 5 holes per hour for the next 5 hours, for a total of 30 holes. The last hole was the same as the first. There was literally no difference that I or anyone else in my party could notice. However ,the weather took a turn for the worst and my day was cut short. I put the unit on the charger and as I suspected was back to full in less than 45 minutes.

[pike4some]

Glad to hear you enjoy the new unit. I was wondering how well it was going to work and hold up to the need to cut many holes on one charge.

[4cator]

Interesting, thanks for the info, been following them a little. I am curious though to see how they do when it gets cold. Only down to 8-10 below out here at night. Lessee what happens with -20.

[Kyle_]

Hi,
looks like a good product, however I am wondering if it could hold up drilling 20+ holes in -30 thru 25-30+ inches of ice with one charge?

[Stickjiggler]

Thanks for the info. What size did you get? The one big enough for the 8"?  OOPS looked closer at the subject line.  MY bad

[Pasquatch]

Thanks for the review Scott, I appreciate it. Its always good to hear about quality new products, and it sounds like this is one!

I was just wondering....didn't see you list the temperature. I was kind of curious, maybe I missed it.

Thanks

-Wes

[billditrite]

Thanks for the review Scott, I appreciate it. Its always good to hear about quality new products, and it sounds like this is one!

I was just wondering....didn't see you list the temperature. I was kind of curious, maybe I missed it.

Thanks

-Wes

wes..it was 10 degrees to satrt the morning and about 20 to end the day

[felix]

must have been built rite

[bucketmouth]

Been waiting for that review Scott.  That thing RIPS!!  I'm gonna seriously contemplate on of those for next year... that a NILS you got on 'er?

Don

[mrlongbeard1]

  I'm going to save my pennies now. Looks like a great product and you don't have to drag gas along.

[hunters08]

looks awesome so far! looking forward for more reviews,cant wait to get rid of the gas auger!!!!

[rgfixit]

What does it Weigh Scott? How long are the batteries good for (total life expectancy)

RG

[GrnDay33]

Hi, Watched the video on the Ice gator and it looks awesome, Seems a lot of price for the unit though. I fish central PA lakes and on a usual winter we don't get a lot more than 12 -15" of ice. I use a Strikemaster mora, works great with the newer design,{ the lean on top handle } My dad has always had a gas auger, which has been 99% reliable over the past 20 years. So i don't know if i want an electric or gas auger in the future. Now after the long introduction, My Questions: Does anyone think the the EPA regulations are going to eventually ban our 2 stroke engine gas augers, and are we going to have to switch to electric or other forms of augers? Just a question to put out there and see what everyone else thinks. Or if they ever thought about a emissions ban on some of our basic power equipment. Lets hope that doesn't happen any time soon.

[InSearchOfPerch]

I would think those libs would have to ban all power boat traffic on all lakes during open water before they would be concerned about your little auger.  It runs for 5 to 15 minutes a day total...a boat with a 25 horse outboard two stroke runs all day long in many cases and it alone would put out more emissions than 1000 augers running at 15 minutes each.  With that said...I wouldnt put it past them to try.

[billditrite]

What does it Weigh Scott? How long are the batteries good for (total life expectancy)

RG

RG the weight is about 35 lbs with the nils bit and the 12 ah batteries. certainly not any lighter than a gas auger, just a lot cleaner.

I really dont know the life expectancy of the batteries but its literally the same kind of batteries we use in our flashers, just a little bigger .

As was said i really dont see the government trying to place any kind of ban on gas augers, unless they ban the 2 stroke outboards and snowmobiles first

[princecraft]

Billditrite,.........It looks like the 8" uses 4 12ah batteries.  wow that is alot.  The way you handle it in the video, you must of been a weight lifter of something.   I am wondering, the nils that you adapted to it, is that a shortened auger or is it the standard height.

[TGF]

Yeah I've heard rumours his real name is Arnold.
Scott Arnold Pumpsalot joking

[icebucketjohn]

Very nice review.  The pics were an added bonus and really helped  in understanding the unit.  THANKS!

[billditrite]

Billditrite,.........It looks like the 8" uses 4 12ah batteries.  wow that is alot.  The way you handle it in the video, you must of been a weight lifter of something.   I am wondering, the nils that you adapted to it, is that a shortened auger or is it the standard height.

PC the unit only uses two 12ah batteries...heavy but not THAT heavy    

[CHICKENFOOT]

Wow looks like a great product I have been useing the Strikemaster electric for three years and love it,but the Icegator cuts a lot faster. good luck

[kerosenecounty17]

Please keep up the reviews (this goes for anyone else who's bought one too).  Sounds like it works well.  I've decided to hold off buying an auger this year and keep up with reviews and improvements that Icegator makes and probably buying one next year unless I hear some bad reviews.  I've got an 8" Lazer hand auger laying around that I never use that should work well with it.  Does anyone know exactly what the difference is between the two 8" models?  One's slightly lighter and cuts fewer holes on a charge, so I assume it's just equiped with smaller batteries, right?  I'd think it would be a little cheaper too, but it's not (oh well).  I'd rather have the lighter unit given that I seldom drill more than 30 holes per day, and never through 30" of ice.  Again, thanks for the info.  First hand experience/use is always the best way to judge a new product.

kc17

[POk3s]

Sweet! My dad's got an auger that's older than dirt and I've been pushing him to look at one of these. He just like's the 10" blade.

[fishingonly2002]

I bought an electric auger, will never ever consider a gas auger for a second. no gas, oil, smell, troubles starting. I drilled 6 holes anchoring my ice shack last year in -10 without a sputter. but seriously, 20+ holes when its -20. do you happen to have little red circles painted on your foot? is there any ice left when you leave the lake? haha. that does sound like worst case scenario
 
~Neal

[mmb]

That looks awesome!  I think I've found my first purchase for the 08-09 season.  I'm already maxed out on hardware for this year... missus would kill me. 

[Smeltecca]

Excellent review - I've had doubts about and electric auger - but that thing works pretty well - thanx for the info

[Kyle_]

but seriously, 20+ holes when its -20. do you happen to have little red circles painted on your foot? is there any ice left when you leave the lake? haha. that does sound like worst case scenario
 
~Neal

....that is a typical day on the ice for me, sometimes i drill alot more than 20 holes however. no red circles painted on my feet 

[Vt Piker]

Great review!! I've been in contact with the fine folks at Icegator and they are very helpful. They've done some serious testing in a variety of conditions, both this season and last season.
  Again, great review. I've seen and heard enough..just ordered an 8" drive and will be putting a Nils on the business end.
                           

[billditrite]

yore gonna love it...taking mine crappie fishing tonight!  BTW nice wolfie!!

[Kyle_]

I really love the idea of no gas on hands , and that hassle but due to the fact that nobody can answer my question I guess I will have to wait till they come out with something more powerful 

[masterangler70]

Kyle
 The amount of holes per charge varies some depending on what auger bit your running on it. Worst case scenerio The 8 inch unit will cut 60 holes through 30 inches of ice A nils auger bit will cut more than some of the others just because its a shaver blade. The 8 inch unit will cut through 18 inches of ice close to 1oo holes per charge. But to answer your question it will cut more than the 20 holes you asked about at least three fold.