Eskimo HC40Q8 High Compression 40cc Propane with 8" Quantum Ice Auger

if your in the market for a ice auger look no further this is the one for you .....ive used it to drill 50 or 60 holes in 14"of ice no issues at all and the one pound propane bottle still feels full and it starts the first pull every time .i couldnt be happier the Amazon shipping was fast and i took it out the day it was delivered only adjustment needed was the idle screw adj .took 5 sec and off to the lake i love this unit .cant believe i waited so long to buy a power auger . i love the idea when the end of season hits all i need to do is chance the 3.75 oz of oil and done. No gas to go bad or have any issues with fuel in the system over the summer months . also no smell of gas in my car my hands are clean . its about time someone made a true propane powered auger Im so glad Eskimo did . and they did it right you wont be sorry if you decide to buy this unit .cant say enough about it .almost forgot there was a rumor that this unit was under powered im here to tell you it got plenty of power it cuts thru ice with no issuer what so ever it doesnt bog or even act like its running out of power at all ..keep up the good work Eskimo and Amazon

My husband took this on a fishing trip at Lac Vieux Desert, which is the headwaters of the Wisconsin river. He said that it started right up, and easily drilled through the extremely thick ice. The other guys with him have put theirs away, and they are all using this one.

Arrived in a week. Free shipped at a price $60 less than anywhere else. 2016 model. Excellent auger. Easy set up. Cuts great. Have cut 200+holes and not a blip. Starts 1-2 pull. No need to push down when drilling, cuts 24-30" ice with ease. Had a part broke in shipping. Stellar customer service sent me replacement part overnight. Monday 1pm call and received part Tuesday afternoon. That is customer service. Had run jiffy propane last 4 years and still run a strike master gas auger, but this one walks all over both of them. No smoke, gas smell, and not as touchy as the jiffy. First Eskimo auger and am looking forward to many years of reliable service. Change oil and change propane tank. Good to go. Thanks for making a great product! Nick NE South Dakota

I was very excited to get the auger. Took it out of the box, everything looked to be in great shape. Noticed a few oil spots on the box and some oil on the auger head but didn't think much about it. With all the great reviews I just assumed it would work so I didn't give it a try until the night before I was going to head out. That was a mistake. It wouldn't start. Read the instructions again, didn't seem to be missing anything. Watched a YouTube video just to be sure. Yup, pretty simple. Put in the oil, screw on the propane tank, flip the switch to on, press on the throttle a bit and pull the handle. Still nothing. Read the troubleshooting guide, said if it doesn't start to check the sparkplug. Hmmm... Where oh where is that spark plug? Have to take off the cover to get to it. Sort of a pain, especially if you're on the ice, but no biggie (Hint - You'll need a Phillips screwdriver and a plug socket for that). Pulled out the spark plug, and the gap is covered in oil. I was really careful to keep the unit in the right position (as marked on the cover), but probably it was flipped the wrong way during shipping (and Eskimo does warn in their instructions about a hard start if that happens) . Wiped off the plug, carefully put paper towel in the hole to wipe up any extra oil, replaced the plug and tried it again. Still nothing. Put a plug tester between the wire and the plug, definitely spark between the two. Then I thought maybe the issue was that the plug was fouled beyond repair, so get a new plug. Not so easy. The model of plug they use wasn't stocked locally anywhere I could find (CMR6A). So I ordered some off Amazon, once they arrived I put one in. Still wouldn't fire up. Called Eskimo, heard great things about their customer service so I expected them to help me out. Talked to a customer service rep, she sent me to the warranty department. Immediately from there it went to voicemail. Left a message with my number, name, and the issue. but they never called me back (I gave them two days). At that point I just decided to return the unit to Amazon. That was the only part of this purchase that went well. Credited for my full purchase price literally hours after I dropped it off at the UPS store. If the unit would have worked I'd probably be very happy with my purchase. Auger is balanced very well and not very heavy, the drill has a nice point on the bottom and looked like it would go through the ice with no problem. My concern is that if the unit is ever set the wrong way it seems very difficult to fix it doing the standard things like replacing a plug. And if you do need to remove the cover to get to that plug, putting the cover back on is not so easy either because it's tricky to get the 3 screws to all line up. Don't even bother with that if you're on the ice, that's a job for home. I love the idea of a propane auger, but at least for me this one didn't work out. I'm still on the ropes. Might try buying another and see if I just had bad luck with the first one. But I'm not thrilled with the support from Eskimo. Two year warranty on the auger, but Tommy Boy quotes about warranties are ringing in my head right now... UPDATE : I'm still keeping my review at 2 stars for now. Bought the same model from a local retailer, this time there was no container of oil in the box (it was included when I bought it from Amazon). So had to wait until I could get some 0W-40 to try the auger out. Fired up after 8 pulls, so I'm happy about that. Also got a call from Eskimo's warranty department that went to voicemail. I'll give them a call back tomorrow and find out what happened. Hopefully there's a good reason why it took them 3 or 4 business days to return my call. UPDATE 2 : Took the auger out this weekend, started up no problem. Cut about 20 holes, went through the 16" ice like a hot knife through butter. Also was a lot quieter than the gas augers out on the lake, my friend has a nice gas auger but wants this one instead. Changing the review to 4 stars, can't give it 5 due to the issues with the first one and the customer service problems but if you get a working one you'll love it.

This auger is outstanding. I’ve had it for 8yrs and it still has the original blades. It cuts through the ice like a hot knife through butter.!!! I did a lot of research before making the purchase and a big selling point was amount of torque this auger has compared to other propane augers. The HC 40 is a step above the rest.!!!