well this could be a touchy subject with a few strongly opinionated people between the strike masters and other brands on the market.
but i have a strike master so do all my relatives that ice fish. i dont like jiffy's myself i've used them. i have a lazer with two blades they seem to cut alot faster than single blades, however it is a pain to redrill holes with mine. it almost seems easier to me to drill them with my uncles mag2000 with one blade.
my lazer is on its 3rd season i still have the original blades on it i couldnt begin to guess on how many holes ive drilled with it. they've never been sharpened. they could probably use a sharpening now but they still cut pretty good.i would guess ive drilled over 400-500 holes with it but thats a total guess could be more could be less. compaired to the older strike masters the new ones dont smoke as much and are super quiet. ive really done little to no maintnance on mine i start it about once a month in the summer to keep it from getting gummed up. if u have an other questions give me a shout. hope this helps bob the walleye warrior!
I have 2 StrikeMaster augers, one 2hp x 8" gas and one 8" electric. The electric is new this year. I bought a permanent Ice shack and didn't want the exaust fumes from my 2 cycle auger. So far the electric has performed very well, however, I haven't drilled more the 12-15 holes at any given day. The advantage of the electric is that is is quiet. The disadvantage is that very cold weather will effect the battery strength. I have had my gas auger for 4 years. The Blades are still sharp but I did have a problem with the carb gumming up a coupe of years ago. The auger would idle but bogged down when cutting. I had the carb rebuild and have had no further problems. In talking with a Strikemaster Rep at the St. Paul Ice Fishing Show, He told me he never drains the gas and starts the auger every 4-6 weeks during the summer. I just got my gas auger back from StrikeMaster, they did a tuneup on it. I dont' have the need for 2 augers so if you are interested let me know. I think I am going to Hunter's this Saturday.
I am using my Dads Strikemaster and this yr, it will idle but boggs down when drilling. I expect the carb is gummed up. Is there a carb cleaner to spray in it rather then getting a tune up. ? I revc'd a new StrikeMaster for X-Mas its the 2 hp x10" and wow its quite.
The Auger runs better with new gas in it but still doggy. Who does the tune ups for the Strike Masters?
I think D-Rock is the name of the place on Old Hwy 8 in New Brighton.
I've got a single blade Jiffy 3 hp 10". My friend has the dual blade strikemaster. His does cut faster, but the thing I like about the Jiffy auger is it has a center point drill bit. The other auger (especially drilling in a house), wanders around at first banging against the floor of the house. Other than that, I think they are a toss up.
I have a 8" 3 HP Jiffy it is about 15 years old still starts and runs great and cuts about as fast as my friends strike master 9" 3 blade. I think they are all good. I don't think you really need a 3 HP I would look at the weight of the units it can make a differance when you are running around all day and cutting a lot of holes.
A single (chipper) blade is better for opening up old holes but is slower than a 2 or 3 blade. I had an old magnum 2000 with the single chipper that was stolen and I bought a 2 blade lazer-mag. I don't like the decompression button that has to be pushed in EVERY time you pull the rope. The choke switch is pretty flimsy too. Other than that it cuts fine. I know that strikemaster had some problems with some of the 3 blade units and were replacing then for free. My brother had one and brought it to Big Lake and they put it on a fixture to check the angles and handed him a new one.
I have a nine inch Eskimo Shark, twin blade it runs super starts first pull and cuts fast, I've never used a strike master but my son has one and he likes my Eskimo better. I did have a 10 inch Jiffy, and it was a cold blooded SOB. I love my Eskimo.
The Auger runs better with new gas in it but still doggy. Who does the tune ups for the Strike Masters?
If your plug is good it most likely needs the carb cleaned.Pretty typical with anything that sits around for a few months like augers and snowmobiles etc.Sometimes you can get by by removing the jets and give it a shot of carb cleaner with the straw.Just make sure you turn in the jets first and take note on how many turns till they stop.Usually 1/2 to 1 turn and dont over tighten.Just turn them in till they stop.Then remove them.When you put them back in screw them in till they stop then back them out to the proper setting.
Also if you arent using synthetic oil check out my other post.
i went out and bought a new eskimo 9 in maco for 259.00 at sportsman warehouse i got the last 1 im very happy i dont have to get my old jiffy auger going now,it would leak gas and wouldnt start have the time,lol. along with my new marcum vx1, theres no reason why i cant put a few fish in my pale.
Another tip on augers.If it has been out in the freezing cold and doesnt want to start for the first time bring it in and let it warm up for a few hours.You would be surprised at how many times this works.A little frost or moisture will make a big difference.Once you get them running the first time and dried out they are usually good for the season.I usually fire mine up in the fall before it gets cold and then it is good to go when the ice gets here.
I also picked up a Eskimo Mako, 9". I love it. Only issue in 2 years so far, the throttle cable came out of the brass fitting, so it hung at 1/8 throttle when I wold stop. Once I got it back in place, good to go. My brother has a Jiffy, which is probably 10-15 years old, and it works great too. It really depends on how much money you want to spend, I know Strikemaster, is pretty proud of theirs, with what they ask for them.... when shopping last year, the Eskimo was an easy choice, which I am happy with so far.
The Auger runs better with new gas in it but still doggy. Who does the tune ups for the Strike Masters?
i wouldnt spend all your hard earned money on getting a tune up done somwhere..... u can do it yourself with little to no tools! replace the spark plug first and see how it runs before u spend a bunch of money and have major downtime. small engine shops are busy right now. the way this winter is who knows we might only get a few more weeks. make sure u gap the spark plug before u install it. if that dont help any maybe we can get together this weekend and i will help u look it over. im not a big fan of ams oil myself its a waste of money to put in cars or trucks they say u can run it 15-20000 miles or whatever they claim but i have seen what that does to motors numerous times.i bet in the last 5 years ive replaced close to 15 motors that i know people where running ams oil in the end when they had to buy a new diesel engine or gas engine was it really worth it? i wouldnt buy into all the hype for that over priced crap. my auger starts EVERY time no matter how cold it is.i use the strike master smokless oil in my auger. another thing u can do to help keep your auger from getting all gummed up and having starting issues it to start it up once a month even if its the middle of the summer.
