? about power ice augers

[CN in IL]

My brother in law is trying to decide between these two augers the strikemaster lazer http://www.strikemaster.com/xpress.html
and the eskimo barracuda http://www.ardisam.com/Eskimo/barracuda.htm

I have been trying to find reviews of ice fishing equpment with no luck. There is a $100 difference in the two. Any help would be great thanks.

[sawbill]

The only Eskimo I ever saw had the muffler on the wrong side of the machine and burnt a hole in my chums snowmobile suit. That was a few years ago and maybe they've smartened up their design by now. Around here, its the Jiffy thats most popular. I used to trap baitfish commercially for a few years and I used my Jiffy, putting more than 100 holes a day in up to and over 3 ft of ice. It still works like a charm.

[jlb66]

don't even mess with anything else get a jiffy.

[young_gun]

alls ive ever heard of is jiffy so i cant help ya there

[Osprey]

DEFINATLY go with the strikemaster...while I agree jiffy makes a decent auger, it just doesn't compare to the strikemaster...and comparisons between performance as far as how well it runs is not an issue, they have the SAME EXACT MOTOR...there are two differences, the blades, the way the tip of the actual auger is designed...and the jiffy has an extra set of gears on it, I'm not entirely sure why...but the jiffy's turn the opposite direction of all the other augers...its just something else that could go bad in my opinion....and the cutting part of the drill is far superior on the strikemaster lazer units...it will cut ice much faster than any jiffy could...but like I said nothing wrong with jiffy...but their units run approx. the in the same price ranges as the strikemasters, and the strikemaster lazer units are faster cutting, there's no two ways about it...

[CN in IL]

Thanks everyone.

I did some more research and I think he is leading towards the Jiffy. The one big negative of the strikemaster is the composite handle, as he can be tough on equipment. And I have seen a couple reports on other forums of the handles breaking on the strikemaster.

[Osprey]

CN, its true they were having some problems with that last year, however from what I saw they were all in the same place, and on the same model units, it was mostly the mag2000s I dont ever remember seeing it on any other units, so I think it was just a manufacturing flaw in some specific mold or something...anyway I haven't seen any break from this years batch yet..I think they have fixed the problem since then...and the composite handle does make the unit lighter as well...so if thats your only reservation, I'd still go with the strikemaster..I don't think you really need to worry about that anymore...and I really think the other benefits of the strikemaster far outweigh the risk of the handle possibly breaking..which like I said I havent seen happen yet on any of this years models...just so you know I do have a fair amount of experience and knowledge with most fishing related products, these arent just random opinions, I currently work at a sporting goods store, and I sell all this kinda stuff...

[25mskeet]

I have a Jiffy - it always runs well and cuts fast. As far as cutting faster - who cares - in 2 feet of ice - it still takes very little time. Only trick I have found - in any brand you buy - dont use your weed - wacker gas - you really need to mix at least 32:1 - if not the 24:1 like it says on the motor. Since I ride quads - I just use my 32:1 quad gas.

[sawbill]

EHHHH? What ATV burns mixed gas? I gotta confess, thats a new one on me.