Ice auger 6” or 8”

[73hunter]

Gonna buy one this year, either a hand auger or just a cheaper one to use with a cordless drill.

just wondering if the bigger hole is worth the extra cranking or if you go with a 6” and it’s fine

[fishermccann]

8 is better if you put anything but a fishing line down the hole, ie. fish-finder, camera, or drill 2 holes, 1 for the electronics.

[fishfood]

If your going with the hand auger I would recommend the 6 . Its alot easier to punch a bunch of holes with the 6 . Depending on the amount of ice you chew through a season,the 8 inch I always had the replace twice a year. The 6 inch cut better and I went through a set of blades in about a season and half.

Last season I upgraded to the clam plate and Milwaukee fuel 18v . Wow what a game changer that was ,easily drills through 40 feet of ice per battery. That's with the 6 inch witch I think most are using on the clams. The 8s seem alot harder on the drills but I may try the 8 this year. The kdrill is a good option for bigger hole ,but then again the 8 is only 7.5 .


Also you then have to consider what kind of fish you are after . If your only after big simcoe trout then a 8 would be nice.

I fish simcoe and never have a problem with the 6 .now when the day come I hook a trout over 20 pound then I may have a problem I will deal with. Hopefully that day my buddy drilled it with his 10 lol. But seriously I have take trout 18 pounds out of the 6 ,the whitties come up the hole every time without an issue. I drill alot of holes on most trips twice a week about 10 to 20 holes in the morning. That's why I choose the 6 if you not going to drilling alot of holes the 8 may work for ya.

The clam plate is the cats a s s
On sale your looking about 450 all new if you dont already have a good drill.

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[Rockfinder]

I've used a 8 inch manual swede bore for years. I rotate 3 sets of blades on it. I primarily fish Simcoe. Early season isn't bad but as the ice thickens, I really wish I had a 6 inch auger. It tires you cranking holes with the 8. This year I'm also upgrading to a cordless set up, and from everything I've read, most 18-20V brushless drills with high ah battery ratings and the Clam Plate is the way to go. I'll buy a new auger blade to go with it, and keep the manual for early season ice use only.

Having the option of both is nice, but if I had to do it all again, and could only buy a manual auger, I would get a 6 inch.

[canadaman30]

OP check out Normark Finbore3. No downward pressure needed, just have to turn the auger, the blades do the digging on their own. Even the 8inch unit cuts holes fast.

[sawbill]

I pulled a 22 lb laker with a girth of 22 inches from a 6 inch hole when fishing for specks off a beaver house. How often are you going to have to do that? Other than being able to start a fishes head easier into an 8 inch hole the only other reason I'd say an 8 inch hole is better than a 6 inch hole is that it takes a bit longer for the sides to freeze in on those super cold days. And that problem can be beaten by chipping away the top of your 6 inch hole with an axe till it that area fills with water.

[Mosher]

I’d say go 8 inch I have a 10 inch And wouldnt wanna go any smaller

[73hunter]

OP check out Normark Finbore3. No downward pressure needed, just have to turn the auger, the blades do the digging on their own. Even the 8inch unit cuts holes fast.

Yeah, that’s the one I was looking at. Pretty impressive watching it work in the video.

[jiggin]

Six inch swede bore does the trick. Keep the blades protected

[73hunter]

I lucked out and grabbed a 6” Finn-bore off Kijiji for 40 bucks, blades look quite new

Sometimes Kijiji is great...other times not so much