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You got a good deal Tuck!

Right now the SM 40V and the ION Gen 1 are both selling for 549.

I used the K drill that belongs to a friend for one hole last year & was impressed. Previously used an Eskimo propane 8". Now have bought the K drill setup in 9.5". Added an extension on advice of another old guy that said without it I would not like the bending over. I will try to remember to report back after using it.

Any Jiffy E6 guys? I have a newer style Model 30 w/ 10" drill. Just called Jiffy and they will sell an E6 demo powerhead for $350.99 with 1yr warranty. Seems like a cheaper way to get into an electric if you have the drill already?

So many guys with Strikemaster 40V's but curious what happens if you want to reopen holes with the lazer blades? I hear you can't sharpen them either...

Any Razr guys? Seems like the best deal out there and you can choose chipper blade drill. 7ah battery is best out there too. Why are they not so popular? I watched a vid that they claim they made Strikemaster for 15yrs before they took their MFG in house.

I'm sure Ion is nice but why pay extra? Almost $800 for an auger is INSANE!

One nice thing about the K drill is they offer free blade sharpening. Figure I will send them in at end of season & be ready for the next.

i've used both,imo SM has more torq hands down,weight isn't a factor for me but the SM weighs more than my 1995 gas lazer mag at 23lbs,lazer mag 22lbs...

ion wilst drilling had to shop drilling once down 15"s or so to scoop ice shaving's out as ion started to bog down SM kept pluggin away.

No Black Friday deals on the SM 40V that I could see.
Dick's had a 25% off of you cart sale. SM was not on the excluded list, but would not apply the 25% off.

So now I wait for Cyber Monday I guess.

After reading the opinions here, and the reviews out there, I decided that the better unit for me is the Strikemaster 40V.

Keith

I was able to get Dicks to give 25% off on the strikemaster 24v. I had to pay $400 but they are going to refund me $100 on Monday when customer service calls me back. I have an email stating they will give me the 25% discount in the form of a refund.

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Nice!!

I filled out their customer service form about the 40V, and they never responded.

Of course with Black Friday I could have gotten lost in the mix.

Keith

Just purchased the 10" 40v myself on Friday. I was sceptical about them until few friends had them last year. Biggest thing I liked was by the time I got mine warmed up to start drilling they were done

So I have been planning this purchase for a couple of years. Finally got to try an Ion X last winter. 10" bit through 40" of ice on LOW. It was able to cut all 6 holes in my house without issue. You can tell that it is doing work with that 10" bit. I have a 10" Eskimo propane and after using that for a few years I have decided to drop to an 8" when I go electric.

So, half the people I talked to said, get the Ion. The other half said, get the Strikemaster. After doing a ton of research, watching videos, etc, I went with the new Ion R1. I believe this replaced the X as it's considered a Gen 1 machine. Here's why.

Strikemaster: Laser blades are pretty much as good as they get when it comes to cutting fresh clean ice. One thing I noticed in every video was that when the auger started to break through the bottom of the ice, it jerks the whole thing down as it pulls through. Dealbreaker, no. But I could see it jerking into the floor of the wheelhouse, possibly cracking one of the hole inserts. Maybe I'm over analyzing.
Honestly this was about the only real downfall I could find. The power switch is instant vs the Ion with a slight delay, so hopefully I don't regret that.

At the end of the day:
Strikemaster-2 year warranty
Ion R1-3 year warranty

Both were the same price. Both came with a spare battery, but the Ion also came with a spare set of blades. Between the warranty and the extra goodies, my indecisive ass went with the Ion R1. Also, with it being a new model, I felt better about it not being old stock that had been on the shelf for a few years. I still have it in my head that those batteries are only going to last so long. Even if its new on the shelf, but been sitting for lets say 5 years, i don't feel like you will get full life out of it, but maybe I'm wrong.