sticking ice auger

[Zee]

Does anyone know what I have to do to get my auger to finish the whole? It goes very well until I am just about to bottom out the whole when the auger sticks and I have to raise and lower the auger several times to finish the whole. I have replaced the blades and the same thing happens.

[Burr]

I've heard spraying some PAM on the blades helps with ice buildup. I'm going to try that out next trip out. Other than that, after I raise the auger to clean the ice chips, sometimes I have to vary the position of the auger to make good contact and continue cutting.

[Wall@y@]

Originally Posted by Zee

Does anyone know what I have to do to get my auger to finish the whole? It goes very well until I am just about to bottom out the whole when the auger sticks and I have to raise and lower the auger several times to finish the whole. I have replaced the blades and the same thing happens.

It appears that your auger has an agressive cutting edge and if you are putting lots of pressure on the auger as you are drilling the hole the cutter is dropping down underneath the ice and trying to take too big of a bit and it stalls the cutting action. Try easing up on the down pressure and just let the auger do the cutting for the lat couple od inches of ice and I believe you won't have any more trouble. My auger was doint that too and when I started easing up on the pressure my problem stopped. Hope this helps.

[Zee]

Thanks I'll try that.

[REW]

Zee,
With todays augers, you really need to let the auger do the cutting with virtually no down pressure.
If you have to put down pressure on the auger, the design of the auger flights is bad, or the blades are not sharp.

Also, when cutting a hole, lift the auger about every 5 or 6 inches and clean the hole of chips. By keeping the bulk of the chips out of the hole, you will end up with less jamming and you will have very few chips to clean out of the hole after the hole is complete.

Especially, just before breaking through the bottom of the hole, lift and clean the hole with the spinning auger blades several times to have a nearly ice free hole - before the hole ever fills with water.

Then, when you finally break through the hole you will have almost no ice chips to clean from the hole.

As the other posts suggest, as you near punch through on the bottom of the ice, let the ice auger barely touch the ice. Then, the blades won't grab the hole and stall as you go through the bottom of the ice.

Good luck
REW

[Thunderbucket]

+1 on what REW posted but I also kick a channel in the chips to divert most of the water away from my boots

Those iceHogger shrouds look nice too

[Robert M]

Clearing the shavings out of the hole really help esspecially if it is wet and sticky.

[1MoreLastCast]

Here's a few things to check if you haven't done so.

Is it a Jiffy? When you changed the blades, did you make sure you installed them on the correct side of the mounting bracket? With a Jiffy, if you're not paying attention during the blade reassembly process, you can install them on the wrong side of the mounting bracket, and this will make your auger bind up every time.

Have you ever banged the blades hard on the ice, or dropped the auger? This can throw off the blade pitch and will cause it to bind at the bottom of the hole. You can try adjusting the pitch by shimming the blade with shim stock or a plastic playing card. It doesn't take much shimming to adjust the angle for a better cut.

Has your auger done this for a while or just recently? As the ice gets softer, the auger will cut more agressively and can bind up easier.

After you clear the hole of ice chips, take a look to see if you are cutting straight. In thick ice, it's easy to start out straight, but as the auger gets deeper into the ice, you can start to go crooked and not realize it. Once the hole is crooked, the flighting binds. It's also easy to get crooked holes with dull blades.

[zooks]

Originally Posted by 1MoreLastCast

Here's a few things to check if you Have you ever banged the blades hard on the ice, or dropped the auger? This can throw off the blade pitch and will cause it to bind at the bottom of the hole.

If clearing the slush/chips out of the hole doesn't do it, this would be my guess, especially if it's a Strikemaster with Lazer blades. I've had the same issue with mine and it was the pitch. Living in MN, I went to the factory and they fixed it no charge. Good luck.

[Suzuki]

I had the chipper blade on wrong once and this was the symptom. Jiffy model 30.