Hotspotoutdoors

K well I'm set on getting one of the new StrikeMaster augers.
Question is which one. Magnum or Lazer Pro (10") I do about a 50/50 split of drilling new holes and re drilling holes out in the wheel house. Any thoughts on which one will do the best or which one is designed to re drill holes.

If your redrilling you only have one option. 2,3,4 blade augers can get you stuck real easy re-drilling a hole and they dull the blades quick. They make them quick disconnect things for sm and jiffy could always get a diff bit for re drilling.

I called SM today because I wanted to make sure I would be happy with the Magnum I just bought. Normally I like to by the top dog of what I get so I don't regret it later. I was starting to think maybe I should have got the Lazer Pro but I wanted the chipper blade for reopening holes and I picked up the 10" Magnum for $309.00 on sale and the Pro and Lazer Mag weren't on sale.

What I got from SM is the 3hp pro turns 1500 engine rpm's under load faster then the 2 hp Magnum and thats 40 rpm's more on the auger drill. So I thought about it, 40 more turns on the auger drill in 1 minute, how long does the average hole take to drill in the first place? 15-20 seconds? (Lazer Mag 26.5" of Ice 8" drill 8.5 seconds!) At 20 seconds it would turn 10 more times. Now of coarse if you had the twin blades it would cut faster, but I would have sold the twin blades and bought a chipper for the Pro anyhow. To make a long story short I think I will be happy with the Magnum and if not I don't think I will have to look far to find someone to take it off my hand next season.

Thats kind of the same boat I'm in. If I'm going to buy a new auger I kind of wanted to go all out and get the top of the line and not have to think twice about it later. I would like to here some more thoughts about what other people think. I'm sure there are lot off people out there that have to redrill holes. Are all of you using Chipper Blades to redill holes out or are you guys using 2/3 blade setups and what is your thoughts about those. Do they really get stuck allot/ do the blade brake when trying to redrill holes?

I'm new to this forum - but, my experience with the lazer auger is that it reopens with ease. & this was a new auger bit on an old power head.

I have a Strike 224. It open up the holes in my perm nicely. Never had an issue with getting stuck. If you are a run and gun kind of guy, I would almost stick to the chipper blade. After a day of drilling my auger blades are a solid block of ice and I must bring into my portable to thaw out. I also need to bring into my apartment to thaw for the next day.

Ya know what really empresses me with the new Solo engines.....they will run vertical, horizontal...and even upside down.

No-@@%t EH!

Bro Brosdhl and I were showing them and I can tilt them at a horizontal angle left and right, and no flooding or choking out...and just for fun...I said Bro...Watch this...turned it upside down and opened up the throttle....still ran at full power.

As a nearly 25 year Jiffy fan..(GULP) ....I'm going to say it....So here we go...Yup..I'm very impressed with the new StrikeMaster's!

had an old jiffy model 30 but i sold it and bought a new lazer mag. the new solo engines are sweet plus its a little more power with 2.5

There are varying degress when you are talking about drilling holes and reopening holes. In my opinion they are:

-a fresh, 1st time drilled hole
-a skimmed-over existing hole
-a smaller diameter, frozen halfway down existing hole
-a completely refrozen existing hole, that is basically just fresh ice

I have a SM Lazer shaver auger and Mag chipper auger for my 2 hp power head, and the only time I use my Mag chipper auger is in the 3rd scenario due to it not getting hung up on the sides of the hole. Otherwise, I only use either the Lazer shaver or an ice scoop with a chisel end on it.

The Jiffy chippers are probably the best for redrilling. I have one and it works great. With that said it really only works when they are froze solid. A partially frozen where the hole is like 6 inches instead of 8 is pretty much impossible to drill with any auger, including the jiffy. If you have a wheel house all you really have to do is pull it ahead 2 feet and you would have new holes to drill. With that said. I think the Lazer mag and Pro mag are by far a much better had than any of the chipper blades. If I can sell my Jiffy Model 30 I will be buying a Pro mag!

Ed, this is Great news. If you ever break through the ice, with the New SM auger. You can drill yourself out from the bottom on the lake! Sweet! J/K I have two SM augers, but don't plan on doing any sideways drilling with them!