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Last year I bought an Eskimo 10" Mako. After using it a couple of times I realized how slow it was at drilling holes compared to others on the lake. I took it back to sportsmans and they traded me for another one. I thought maybe the blade angles were a little off. The new one worked a little better but not much.
Last week I was out again and someone I knew was drilling 2+ holes to my one without putting much down pressure. I was leaning on mine. I really need to do something this thing is driving me nuts. It makes lots of noise and spins like a mother but drills SLOW! Anyone suffer the same trouble?
I tried sharpening the blades and then put new ones on. I just put .015 shims under the front side of the blades but haven't had a chance to try them out yet. Hope that will help.
Any Ideas? Thanks....
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Oh yea, I forgot to mention I'll be heading to Twin Lakes in the morning and I'll report back on the fishing and the auger performance.
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I believe your auger has the same cutter heads mine has. Most 10" Mako augers will go through the ice like butter when new. Something must be way wrong. You should never have to lean on an auger. Hand sharpening the blades can be very counter productive. Most of the guys that try have very mixed results and the old pros will tell you that sharpening the flat bottom can be more productive then trying to work the bevel.
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After thinking about it, I believe they have some augers with a bad run of cutter heads or blades. Go back to Sportsmans and request a new package of blades. Do not shim the old ones. If they don't have a replacement package, they did the other day in I.F., let them keep the auger. This has to be a cutter blade problem!
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i bought a 8" eskimo from sportmans last year and i have had the same problem with mine. i have been very disappointed with the way it cuts through the ice. i am so tired after acouple of holes i sart looking for old holes to drill through from othere fisherman. any ideas on how to make it a better auger would be great for me as well.
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I have found that StrikeMasters are the only way to go when purchasing an auger. My is many years old and still cuts like a champ. This year I sharpened my blade and it cuts even beter. I used a hand file and it took just a few minutes.
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I have the 10 inch also, had it a couple of years now. when I first bought it I had the same problem, but new set of blades has fixed mine. got mine at Sportsman's in I F.
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What H.P is your auger? My old man has an old 3 H.P eskimo that just cutts ice like butter. I also have an eskimo auger but mine is only a 1.8 H.P so it is much slower but still effective. Alot of people just might have more H.P than you do. Hope you are slaying the fish anyway.
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Sounds like a bad batch of blades. It would only take a few degrees to be off on the cutting edge and it won't cut worth a dam. You can either buy new blades or try sharpening yours from the bad side. By sharpening yours from the back side, you should be able to change the angle a bit and that may help. Even if it does not work, you are still not out anything. It really sounds like it is just shaving a very thin bit of ice instead of cutting the ice.
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I'm telling you, Nils. Time and hassles spent it would have paid for itself.
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Well I just got back a couple of hours ago and the auger cut great! .015 shim seemed perfect. Just angled the blades down ever so slightly. It out performed my buddies 8" strike master almost two to one.
I already tried new blades and that didn't work so shims it is. If it was still under warranty I would send it back but oh well!
Drilled about 30-40 holes and no ill effects.
Fishing was pretty slow. Four of us punched holes all over the North lake and only one nice bow, one small perch and a few real soft bites.
Thanks for the responses.
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I started ice fishing with a 6" eskimo hand auger, you couldn't cut a hole with that thing to save your life. It would take almost 20 minutes of hard drilling to get through ten inches of ice. And by the time you got a hole drilled you were ready to pass out. So I only ever drilled a few holes with it, and just made sure I went with someone with a better auger than mine. 2 years ago I bought a 8" Mako works great, drilled hundreds of holes with no problems, I can tell its starting to slow down now might be time for new blades. I hope I don't get a bad batch.
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the strikemasters..laser augers our that much better and not that much more..ive never seen an eskimo that cut all that well...maybee somebody out there has a way to make them cut faster..or just by the laser..good luck
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I have an Eskimo Barracuda 8" and it cuts fine. 12" in less than a min.
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i beleive...just never had any luck myself...always used the laser...
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I fish with a bunch of guys that run Eskimo's in the 8" as well as the 10" like I have. The cut smooth as silk. You do want to have a ring on the bottom of the auger. I wouldn't own a gas auger without a truing ring.
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I figured out today a gas auger is nice, but when it is dull, they suck. I could out drill a 10" gas today with my 8" hand. By then end of the day we were doubling up on the 8" hand and punching holes in less than 30 sec through 8" of ice. It still is tough tho. Can't wait for the IceGator power head to show up.
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Like I said in my previous post those shims did the trick. I just went again yesterday with another friend and his 8" strike master. Don't get me wrong it's a nice machine but the Eskimo 10" cut the holes faster. Now I can hear the engine working hard. It might dull the blades faster I don't know but it's worth it.
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[quote dixokai]Like I said in my previous post those shims did the trick. I just went again yesterday with another friend and his 8" strike master. Don't get me wrong it's a nice machine but the Eskimo 10" cut the holes faster. Now I can hear the engine working hard. It might dull the blades faster I don't know but it's worth it.[/quote]
dixokai,
You learn something new all the time on fishing boards! I'll be adding the shim trick to my library. Glad it worked so well and I'll certainly remember it for future reference!
Don
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What is a good hand auger? I have some Swedish thing that is 15 or more years old, I got it free from a guy. It does not cut worth beans, and the blades are sharp. I noticed the blades are at a flatter angle, one blade compared to another, then newer ones I have seen. Newer hand drills seem to have the blades in more of a "V" shape. One thing I noticed is the head on this thing dances all over the place, and will not cut straight down.
Any hope of tuning this thing up with shims or something to get it to cut better?
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