History of the Auger Buddy

My name is Craig Bouchard, and I'd like to tell you why I invented the Auger Buddy™ power ice auger carrier.

As any avid ice angler out there might agree, it's not so much the drilling of the holes that bothers us...it's the lugging, and I do mean lugging, of our power ice augers.

You carry your bait bucket and traps with little or no effort from hole to hole. But, we lug our power ice auger. After lugging ice augers for quite a few seasons, I thought there had to be a better way.

How many times had I been on the ice in about a foot of snow, on top of five inches of slush, lugging my ice auger from spot to spot. So, one day, this out of shape, gasping for breath, 51-year-old man looked for a buddy to lug it for me. The response that I got from my friends was, "Hey Craig, seeing how you got your ice auger all warmed up, can you pop a few holes in over there for me" (ring any bells?).

I started thinking then and there of making my own buddy, and that's how I came up with the Auger Buddy™. I built and tested my Auger Buddy™ prototype in out of the way places until I got my patent pending on it at the start of 2004.

During 2004, I worked at developing and fine tuning the Auger Buddy™ to make it as user friendly as possible. I knew there were a lot of ice anglers like me that were tired of lugging their ice augers.

I wanted the Auger Buddy™ to be light weight (less than 20 lbs), strong (welded steel tubing), and having fast assembly (under 3 minutes). I designed it to collapse and fit into the trunk of a small car (since not everyone owns a truck, SUV, or van). I wanted it to be extremely stable, even in strong winds. On Lake Winnipesaukee last year, I used the Auger Buddy™ during steady winds blowing at 30 mph and gusting to over 50, with no problems.

I made the Auger Buddy™ snow and ice glides (the skis) out of a strong, but light weight, plastic. They need no waxing and they glide effortlessly across snow and ice. I gave the Auger Buddy™ a wide and long footprint for stability and to allow the Auger Buddy™ to glide over the snow effortlessly without sinking in.

I wanted manufacturers from the good old USA to build my product (even though a lot of people said I could save money on assembly if I had it made overseas). Parts are made by manufacturers in MA, ME, NH, and OH.

Now for the best part of the Auger Buddy™.....NO TOOLS NEEDED FOR ASSEMBLY!

So my fellow ice anglers, you now know why I invented and built the Auger Buddy™ the way I did. I was simply tired of lugging my auger.

It doesn't matter how we get our equipment to our favorite fishing spots. Whether its by snowmobile, ATV (when ice is safe for them), pulling a sled, or in some cases hoisting it on our shoulders to save space in sleds...after we get out there, we grab the ice auger and start lugging. With the Auger Buddy™, the days of lugging are over for me, and they could be for you. Why lug it all day, when your Auger Buddy ™ will lug it for you?

If any ice-fishermen out there has questions or would like more information on the new Auger Buddy™, please feel free to e-mail me at cbouchard@augerbuddy.com.

Your fellow New England Ice Fisherman,

Craig Bouchard