icegator and cold batteries

[tommy-n]

I'm sorry, I guess I would just need to see it with my own eyes

[Mainehazmt]

I'm sorry, I guess I would just need to see it with my own eyes

spend the bucks like the ones that gave the reports are   we dont get a commision or anything like that   just are reporting our results

[ICE DOG 69]

Ok here is your answer.

I leave my gator hanging in my garage all year long.

After every use I bring it in the house for a few hours, let it warm up THEN, charge it.  Make sure you warm it up first.  I think it's better to charge room temp batteries over cold batteries (maybe no difference but I always do it this way) .  Once charged I take it back in the garage and hang it up in a stand I built for it.  I have NEVER had a problem, my garage is not heated.
One time last year I wore the batteries down.  There was all of 25" of Ice and I drilled about 40 holes with an 8" auger chasing perch.  It was bitter cold, however that is a lot of holes when we re talking a 8" blade and 25+" of ice.

There is an  honest answer.  One thing I can tell you I can drill 5 holes in 5" of ice before you can start you gas auger................. ......

[stumper]

Yeah, whatever, theres no way in hell your even gonna get 150 thru 15'' ice on one set batteries

Say what you want, I know the truth. A 6 inch Nils takes NO effort to turn by hand,that means less draw to the batteries.This set of 12ah batteries has about 500 holes on it total and has only been on the charger a 1/2 dozen times, maybe the fact that its new gives it a bit more life? But hey if it makes you feel better to call me a liar, go for it.

[Mainehazmt]

We gator owners knows what they can do   and Im happy with it!

[tommy-n]

Naw, I'm not going to spend the bucks on something that costs that much and does not even come with a auger bit, not to mention weighs more. They would have to give me one for free in order for myself to have it plastered all over my signature like some kinda weekend warrior wanna-be.

[Mainehazmt]

Naw, I'm not going to spend the bucks on something that costs that much and does not even come with a auger bit, not to mention weighs more. They would have to give me one for free in order for myself to have it plastered all over my signature like some kinda weekend warrior wanna-be.

your loss   enjoy that the gas is gonna wreck havoc with it and have to buy additives and that if you get a jiffy   techumisic has or is going out of business   Im proud to have bought  a truely USA made auger!

[Mainehazmt]

Naw, I'm not going to spend the bucks on something that costs that much and does not even come with a auger bit, not to mention weighs more. They would have to give me one for free in order for myself to have it plastered all over my signature like some kinda weekend warrior wanna-be.

by the way  weekend warior   hmmm  sounds like your against the 1/3 of the military  ie the guard  hmmm    personally Im retired full time military

[Mainedog]

I think that's perfectly reasonable for the Seeker and a 6" Nils.  I think the number of holes will be reduced a bit when you go to a larger bit.  Even if it was reduced by half, that would still be a lot of holes through 15" ice!
The temps these tests are being made with are reasonable for my needs.  Think I might have to get a gator.
Think I might already have!

MD

I didn't mean to make is sound like I doubted the previous post.  I was agreeing with it!  There is a lot less work involved in drilling a 6" hole vs an 8", and so I think the claims are perfectly reasonable!  Having witnessed the Gators last year, and now owning one, for my needs/temps/etc it is more than adequate.  For others, it might not be.  Fine.  I was trying to point out that if you use a larger bit, you will get fewer holes on a set of batteries.  Drilling through 15" of ice is about half of what I normally drill through, so obviously that needs to be taken into consideration.  The sharpness of the bit, the type of the bit, the density of the ice are all factors.

Judging by the tone of many of the posts, I think there are people who have made up their minds regardless of the number of holes, thickness of the ice, how the batteries are charged, how the Gator is stored overnight, etc.



MD

[tommy-n]

Feel the need to play that card? where do you people come from, somebody beat you down and brain wash ya

I thought we were talking augers and your auger logo

[Mainehazmt]

Feel the need to play that card? where do you people come from, somebody beat you down and brain wash ya

I thought we were talking augers and your auger logo

Ill play the card   I looked at all the info last year   talked to the sales guy    talked to the owner of the company   heck I even talked to his wife    this is before the big push.....    Now  I consider Greg  and his wife Dee friends   they call to see how it is going   I called today to ask a question    never had a problem getting thru to the office     I took the chance on basically an un tested product  at least here in northern Maine What did I get  A superior product    has not let me down   Ive drilled all the holes I wanted  trust me lots of power left!   if you know how to take care of batteries you are golden  abuse them   you loose!    Now with the gas change over to e 10 and beyond it has made my choice even better  I wont have to worry about smoking my auger   no worries about phase separation   burning pure ethanol or water mix    Stick to those gas burners if you wish   granted you can get a 10" hole   but when ice gator intros a 10" I want to be first in line to have one that is enviormentally clean no gas or oil to worry about   no e10 gas problems   ect....   

[tommy-n]

Thats not the card I was talking about, I never said nothing about the military, you did. I don't have anything against the electric auger, just find it hard to believe it could drill as many holes as some have claimed. I may even want one some day At this time though just looking at the available info

for your information I think I may even know one of the owners, If he was from michigan and now lives in indiana and his first name is Matt

[Mainehazmt]

Thats not the card I was talking about, I never said nothing about the military, you did. I don't have anything against the electric auger, just find it hard to believe it could drill as many holes as some have claimed. I may even want one some day At this time though just looking at the available info

for your information I think I may even know one of the owners, If he was from michigan and now lives in indiana and his first name is Matt

there is a Matt there call him 
Matt Mazzola/owner
Vice President/CFO
Ph: 260-302-6409
Fax: 419-542-5749
Email:[email protected]

[legerski82]

  I have a eight inch ice gator and it does not drill half as many holes as they said it would.   With ten inches of ice and a eskimo eight inch auger and new blades it will not drill more than 25 holes at best.   They really do not perform if the temp is below zero. 

[tommy-n]

Yepper, I used to live next door to his uncle, have fished with him and worked with him. Been a long time

Maybe I'll get one for free

[ryanlookingforperch]

my gator shipped today.

hope i get good results.

25 holes, and mine would be going back.

good luck!!

[stumper]

Maybe you dont realize it only takes about 6 seconds to drill through 15 inches of ice? That dont take much juice to do that.

[i c]

i dont own a ice gator but i do have a vexilar and i couldnt answer if someone asked the same question as i take care of my stuff,so basically a pretty stupid question,not owning one id think that batteries are batteries and you would have to bring them inside warm them up and charge them from time to time.if you look on this forum you can see that people with gas augers have to take care of their augers also.like putting gas in it,tuning the carb,draining the gas in the spring,etc,etc.oh and did you notice that some of them have problems starting theirs in colder weather.and i also love how someone can come on here and post saying someone is lying when they have never tried it,thats like me from montana saying that someone from minnesota or wherever is lying if they catch 100 perch in a day,just doesnt make mutch sense to knock it till youve tried it.just my 2 cents

[CMMahy]

When I decided to go for a power auger, I was considering an Icegator, but there were two factors that prevented me from going that route. One was the fact that I wanted a 10" hole ( and there isn't a 10" Icegator currently available) and the unknown cold weather performance. Before everyone thinks I'm trash talking as well, just hear me out. I think it's 100% reasonable to expect that an electric unit will loose performance in the extreme cold ( below -30C), hell my quad with an oversized 120 CCA garden tractor battery looses up to 75% of its cranking time at some of the temps that I've fished in.
A fishing trip for me consists of loading my gear in the back of my truck ( inside a truck topper, but un-heated) and anywhere from 30min to 1.5 hrs by the time I get to the next town, get my quad hooked up and out to the lake. Then it would get strapped to the back of the bike and ride across the lake. By this time even my freshly charged Vexilar (which gets charged after every use and lives inside until game time) is reading down below around 75% and I haven't even turned it on yet. Once the holes are drilled, there isn't usually enough room in the tent for the Icegator powerhead to come in and warm up. If i was to move locations after a few hours on the ice, or decide to move holes to different depths, would the Icegator still have enough juice to drill through 39" of ice? I'm not talking 200 holes, but more like 4-10 on a re-locate. My smelly, messy gas auger isn't the perfect solution, but I felt confident that with my mechanical knowledge and a few simple tools, I would be able to get it started, regardless of temperature. If and when they make a 10" model I would be extremely interested in buying one, as long as I can put in a full day of fishing. I realize that I might be able to come up with some jumper cables and boost the unit with my quad, but if I'm going through the trouble of starting that cranky beast and moving it with the 'Gator, in my mind, I might as well start a gas auger. In my opinion, the benefits of electric speak for themselves and I am totally sold on that front, I just still have some reservations. If anyone has used one in similar conditions, I'd be very interested in hearing how it worked for you!

[ryanlookingforperch]

should be....here in a week.

I'll let you know how it functions...

good luck!!

[Mainehazmt]

all I can say is it drilled 42" of ice at way below zero   dont remember the exact temp right now  but it was bitter   I only drilled 5 holes that day  and it was all I needed  I could prob look it up  as I posted it here last year

[i c]

CMMahy  sounds like they are working on a ten inch maybe next year.they have a unit that doesnt come with batteries i believe weighs 15 pounds and would hook right to your 4-wheeler,and if you move you will probably start it up anyway so that might be an option for you.

[oleike]

Dont know if this will help you understand power drain or not. But..i built my own auger...it is made from a Subaru car starter.Here is a photo. I have yet to use it with a portable battery..but...I hook it up to my truck battery and drill. While drilling a hole, my voltmeter on my dash of the truck goes down to 9v. Almost right away, my voltmeter goes right back up to 13v. This is with the truck running while drilling. Like Stumper stated in the previous post, a hole only takes a mere seconds to drill. My next trial will be to purchase a portable booster or quad/motorcycle battery and see just how many holes she will do. Up here in Saskatchewan we have 3ft of ice on many lks. by mid January.

[wingnutty]

had my gator for about a month.  New 8" lazer auger and it has been in the 30s.  Been fishing with a friend this week.  Day one: gator drilled ~20 holes through ~30" of ice and died .  Today, we got maybe 25 holes and then dead

Not sure what I'm supposed to do here?  I just spent over $450 putting this unit together and we couldn't even drill enough holes for us to jig and set tip ups!

I guess I'll call the company and hope that they help me out.  sure sucks to be on the ice with a dead auger though; especially when you haven't even come close to the advertised abilities.

[Phoenix]

I use the smaller batteries, charge them before a trip, and usually cut somewhere between 30 and 40 holes per trip. Haven't had to use it yet, but I always carry the handle to my Nils auger just in case Not as much fun as powering through the ice, but better than trying to gnaw through it should something happen to the 'Gator

[stumper]

Its supposed to be 8 degrees this weekend, Im gonna try and kill the batteries in one day. Im prefishing a lake that hates me, I will report back how it does.

[wingnutty]

Mine must be a battery issue hopefully.  Yesterday I was only able to drill 15 holes before it quit.  I was measured at 22".  Hopefully the company will stand behind the product, I'll post an update. 

Other than the lack of power, the gator is increadible.  Have had a half dozen folks come up and ask me about it and it sure cuts fast.  I'm through the 22" in less than 10 seconds without any effort.  No pushing down on the auger, ect.  If this power issue gets solved I'll be a happy camper.

[fishunter]

I fished this past Saturday (1/17/09) on Lake Morey in Central Vermont.  At first light it was -23F on my GMC Sierra Vehicle thermometer.  I was looking for a school of perch, which I did not find that day.  The ice was about 12" thick.  I cut an honest 50-60 holes and there was more holes left in the unit.  I have the "Seeker" with  the 9amphr batteries and a 6" fin-bore III auger bit.  I will say it does cut slower at those cold temps, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it performed in these extreme conditions.  I am glad I bought this unit!

[Buck762]

Maybe you dont realize it only takes about 6 seconds to drill through 15 inches of ice? That dont take much juice to do that.

But it takes alot of torque and pwer, which takes alotta juice

[stumper]

But it takes alot of torque and pwer, which takes alotta juice

Sorry but the words "takes alot of torque and pwer" dont fit with a Nils bit. The auger turns the same speed spinning in the air as it does drilling. Takes no power at all to turn a Nils.