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I made a trip up to Willard over the weekend to check out the ice conditions up there. While there I ran into these three fellas testing their ice augers:
[url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-ksR7ahVf4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-ksR7ahVf4[/url]
The ice had about 6 inches of sopping wet slush on top except in the shade. The ice was still about a foot thick. There was about one or two yards of open water all around the edges.
As for the auger test, I appologize for the poor sound. I am just learning this video stuff.
My theroy was that the guy with the 5" auger would have beaten the 8" and even the power auger. My theroy was completely blown! But I am pretty sure that if the guy with the 5" would have shortened the handle length, he would have been much faster. But even that theroy might be wrong because when the 8" was traded with the 5", Curly (the man with the 5") beat again! I think that maybe it's the man ... not the machine.
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thanks for this, its very helpful [  ]
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I thought you weren't concerned about "speed", rather than "effort" needed to drill the hole. I have an 8" manual Mora and as long as its sharp it cuts great. I guess if you think about it, if you have an 8" and a 5" and you are rotating them at the same speed and they are the same degree of sharpness, then they should "tie" in a since they are cutting through the same thickness of ice. One is just cutting a larger hole. If you have the muscle to use an 8" then go for it. If I was to go with a power auger, why not go the largest possible? You're not going to save any significant weight with a smaller power auger.
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Loved the video! That was great fun!
I do believe that with a little work we can get Ice Augering approved as an official event before the next Olympics. It has to be as exciting as Curling! Surely someone from Utah can bring home the Olympic Gold in Augering!
I agree with BearLakeFishGuy that the two augers should drill equal depths with equal rotations and preassure. It seemed that both Drillers were turning at about the same speed, but the results were different. That leads to observations concerning technique!
The two drillers had very different techniques. The driller in the white jersey put his right hand on the top handle of the auger and his left hand on the bottom. Conversely the driller in the black jersey had his left hand on the top handle and his right hand on the bottom. The two styles use very different muscles in turning the auger. I think a clockwise turn favors the left hand on the bottom handle.
Another point I observed is that the driller in the white jersey holding the top handle with his right hand was able to keep the top handle relatively stationary. Assuming he is right handed, it would make sense that the dominate arm could keep the top handle stationary, which would keep the blades in better, more constant and even contact with the ice. It took the driller with the white jersey about 14-15 turns to get through the ice reguardless of auger size. The driller in the black jersey 18-19 turns to get through the ice.
Auger length would make a difference in drilling also...but the 8" auger actually looks longer than the 5". Tough to make any conclusions from that. I do like to keep my auger as short as possible so I can get more weight on it.
It's probably all preference, but right hand on bottom uses a backhand outside arc which seems awkward and more difficult to me. I much prefer the hook motion on outside arc that using left hand on bottom provides.
Change it up and see which you like, and of course trade hands then the ice gets deep. Happy augering.
We can start training at the Kerns ice oval as soon as I get some permission to drill! So who's game to tryout for the first Olympic Auger team?
I must be crazy for writing all of that....but you just read it...and you even did some drilling with your ghost auger...admit it! [  ]
It must be a slow day...
IceAndFly
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Cool Video Coot, Maybe the ice was more dence where you were,
Shawn
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Hey Larry, if that was my augar you where using i would have taken it away from you and beat you to death with it. Ive had 2 sets of blades ruinned from peple thinking they needed to stab the ice with the blades instead of just setting it on the ice and start turning. you kept stabbing the ice over and over.
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Those are some pretty interesting observations you point out. I may have to try them some time.
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Your absolutely right BLFG. I am concerned much more about effort than I am speed. I just had no way to demonstrate or measure effort but I could easily deono speed. And since speed is probably in direct proportion to effort (less effort = drill hole faster), we went with speed.
And yes, I agree that if both augers are turning at the same rpm, they should tie. But when you add the human factor, I would think that the bigger auger would slow the human down a little bit compared to the smaller auger. And it did infact slow me down when we traded.
So I guess that a better comparison would be the same guy (rather than 2 guys) testing/timing the two different augers.
I know this was all pretty un-scientific, but I did learn a thing or too.
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I find its how hard you push down on the auger while you crank is as important as anything. I like to buddy up on the hand auger one guy pushes down while the other cranks with 2 hands.
As for auger size I use an 8in. I never caught a fish to big to come through a 8in hole. And my boot doesn't fit all the way down a 8in hole like it does a 12in.[:p][crazy]
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[quote petty4life]Hey Larry, if that was my augar you where using i would have taken it away from you and beat you to death with it. Ive had 2 sets of blades ruinned from peple thinking they needed to stab the ice with the blades instead of just setting it on the ice and start turning. you kept stabbing the ice over and over.[/quote]
Tough crowd! ![[Image: happy.gif]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/images/gforum/happy.gif)
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at 30 a set for blades, you would be to.
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I have all your blades now! MWAHAHAHA!
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With a good auger and good blades, very little downward pressure is needed. A shape auger will and should practically pull itself downward through the ice as it cuts..
To much downwards pressure puts extra stress at the cutting edge of the blades and adds drag between the blades and the ice creating a lot of wasted effort.. ..
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[quote petty4life]at 30 a set for blades, you would be to.[/quote]
I use a 10" power auger. No chopping needed! ![[Image: bobwink.gif]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/images/gforum/bobwink.gif)
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Interesting test. Most thorough one I've seen posted so far. However the one thing I've noticed from my 2 different augers that I've owned, plus 2 others that I've borrowed, the make of auger can and will make all the difference in the world! I would love to see this test again but all the same manufacturer and model of auger, just in different sizes and if possible one powered. As it is my current auger has gone through ice more than twice as fast as other highly recommended hand augers that are sharp. I've also punched about 8 holes in the time that a power auger took to do one (unknown type, but figure the blade was dull). And I have never put more than minimal pressure on the blades.
Set up a test w/ all the same auger, but different sizes I'd really love to see that!
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I've always used the 8" Mora, its the only auger I've ever owned. I've seen the smaller holes from folks fishing next to me, never thought they were as comfortable to fish for trout, but they got the job done.
The more pressure I put down on the drill, the faster it cuts through the ice. Better to take it easy and go with the flow on some sharp blades (blade sharpeness is critical).
You may have found it different in thick, hard ice - like the typical 24"-36" ice I used to drill through in the Uintah Basin when I lived there (some used to drive their trucks out on the lake rather than walk). Here is a clip from the Bass Pro Shops how to buy that talks about this:
"[size 2]For manual augers, it can become a bit more complicated. As I've already stated, the larger the hole you are drilling with a manual, the more effort you will need to exert while drilling. When dealing with thin ice, there really isn't a difference between drilling a six-inch hole and an eight-inch hole. Take those same augers' and attempt to drill through two-feet of ice, and the difference will be astounding. (You may get through the ice with an eight-inch auger, but your body will certainly pay the price!)"[/size]
An old friend used to drill the smaller hole with a razer sharp spoon-style hand auger. He really had a knack for drilling with it, it looked like he was cutting through ice like butter.
I guess if I'm just going to drill a few holes, my old hand auger is still fine. But, if I wanted to drill a hole or two, move, redrill, move again, redrill, move... the power one might start to look good.
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It was evident in the video. Curly had the largest "counter weight." Enabling him to cut faster. RPM's seemed to be close enough to equal. Larry had a considerable "counter weight" but no match for Curly's.[angelic][:p]
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