I have been doing some research and am looking for some opinions on my future ice auger build. I currently own the Ryobi One+ line so I intend to use the new brushless Ryobi 18v hammer drill (p251) with 4ah battery. This drill has over 700 in/lb of torque. I want to use an 8 inch Eskimo silvertip hand auger. I am also thinking about adding the clam plate to this auger build. What are your thoughts.
Any 18 volt drill with 700 inch pounds will work. If I were planning to use a 8 inch auger I would really think 1200 Millwakee fuel or something close. It all depends on the thickness of the ice and how many holes you plan on drilling in a day.
Thank you @Crappy Fisherman I appreciate the advice. I feel the Ryobi will work fine. Well I hope at least. I am still wondering if anyone has ever used either the Ryobi brushless hammer drill or the Eskimo silvertip with a cordless drill.
I have the Ryobi brushless hammer drill and just picked up a used 8” Silvertip for $30. Got the stainless steel adapter on Amazon, cut out a 5gal bucket lid to 9.5” dia. as a stop. Only tried it once on an impromptu trip, and it didn’t work well at all. It would stall out after marginal pressure, but would keep going. It managed 1.5 holes in about 12” of ice. Thankfully I brought the hand crank part JIC.
My blades could use a sharpen, and I used the small 1.4Ah battery I thought was at a decent charge level, but wasn’t fully charged. Not sure if the blades, the battery, or the drill itself was the problem. It’ll end up being a dirt cheap auger…if I can get it to work.
I’ve seen others say the Ryobis work and it does claim to have the 750 in-lbs recommended for the K-Drill and Pistol bit…so I’m going to troubleshoot when I’m back in God’s Country from visiting family in the lower 48. Ryobi is also selling those Lithium+HP batteries that claim to improve performance…that may be another rabbit hole. Anyway, I’ll report back around New Years.
The 1.4ah battery wont cut it as Joel found out.
But I bet with your 4ah battery on the ryobi it should work fine. The Bucket cut out is smart , I like that idea. In thick ice with a 8 inch bit I bet it will be a work out on that drill though. The 8 inch kdrill on a milwakee is a work out in thicker ice then a foot.
Drill should be fine, not sure about the auger you chose. I didn’t DIY but I have a Nils with an adapter I bought online (they seem to sell out fast). I use a Craftsman 19.2 drill. I have no problems. I bring extra batteries with me as mine are older, plus I have a portable power inverter that I can use to plug my battery charger in either my atv or truck.
Ryobi will not work through mid to late season. I bought one last year and returned it. I tried it with my K-drill and it would stall out in a foot of ice.
I use a 6in lazr auger with the adapter and have had no issues. I don’t own a Ryobi but based on the torque and battery size it should be just fine. I recently was able to try out the Eskimo pistol bit of a friend’s and I have to say I was impressed. It weighs next to nothing and cut very smoothly. It’s still “early” ice here in central wi so we only had 6-7 inches of ice but it cut with ease. Again this was the 6in bit though.
In my opinion 6in will do most anything you could need unless your a serious tip-up guy who targets big Pike and walleye on a regular basis. The 6in will also put less wear on the drill.
I also think your drill choice is just fine. As for the auger I have been using an 8-inch Lazer hand auger $40 used. I coupled it with a Dewalt brushless 996 with a 5ah battery.
I was expecting it to be ok but it blew my expectations away. I drilled over 50 holes in 13″ of ice last weekend and it still had plenty of power and it is fast!
I’m working on getting a 5″ auger from Bearcat on this site if we can ever connect to so I can get it! That thing will drill twice as fast.
I’m working on getting a 5″ auger from Bearcat on this site if we can ever connect to so I can get it! That thing will drill twice as fast.
We will meet up
I have that same Ryobi brushless drill. Drilled a crap ton of holes last year and it was fine using a 6” mora, 8” mora, and 7” Lazer. The drill had power to spare. With an 8” Silvertip bit (angled blades like a Lazer) make dang sure you have good blades on it. Angled blades like that are more aggressive and require more out of the drill than a shaver mora type blade does.
….and yeah….at minimum use a 4ah Lithium plus HP battery. Even with the other Ryobi tools I have there is a noticeable performance difference between the HP battery and a standard Lithium Ion battery of the same size. You want the HP battery.
I can tell you that the RYOBI will not work. Had the brushless with 750lbs of torque and returned it spent the extra 100 for the milwaukee with 2 5ah batts. I have the 8” eskimo pistol bit and the ryobi would stall out every inch. The milwaukee rips ice! I was up on red with it in 12” and it competes no problem with my buddies strikemaster lazer pro. Get a drill with 1200 torque and you will never worry!
Tom thanks for the info! You’ve validated my suspicions. What kind of depths did it do well to?
The way the Ryobi ads are worded I couldn’t tell if it was just slick marketing or if those HP batteries really let the brushless tools do harder work.
I’m just a recreational fisherman trying not to spend too much on my habit :). So if I can improve all my other tools and not have to hand drill – I’m happy getting an HP battery or two.
Never heard of extreme weather batteries…you got pics and/or a model number? Thanks for the heads up.
Here’s what I just bought the brushless Ridgid 9.0 Octane battery & charger on sale for 169.00 + tax from Home Depot online by buying the 9.0 Octane battery & charger
I was able to get the Ridgid 1300 in”lb drill with an extension handle model # R8611506B Free!! I’ll combine this with my 8″ Mora Strikemaster auger I added a 16″ extension and a 9″ disc to prevent the auger from deep sixing in case it gets disconnected from the drill. With this set up I’ll never have to worry about the drill having enough power or battery life for the day. They have this sale going til 1/22/19.
Here’s what I just bought the brushless Ridgid 9.0 Octane battery & charger on sale for 169.00 + tax from Home Depot online by buying the 9.0 Octane battery & charger
I was able to get the Ridgid 1300 in”lb drill with an extension handle model # R8611506B Free!! I’ll combine this with my 8″ Mora Strikemaster auger I added a 16″ extension and a 9″ disc to prevent the auger from deep sixing in case it gets disconnected from the drill. With this set up I’ll never have to worry about the drill having enough power or battery life for the day. They have this sale going til 1/22/19.
I just picked up this setup as well with a 6” k-drill. Interested to see how it does on deeper ice. Love how lite weight it is.
Stage 1 is complete today the Fed Ex truck delivered 1/2 of my order the Hyper Octane 9Ah lithium ion battery & charger arrived I brought the battery up to full charge so its ready for use. I should be getting my free 1300inch lbs Ridgid drill model R8611506B by Jan 2nd just for buying the battery & charger, now I can’t wait to get on the ice and drill some holes!!
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Thanks for the awesome tip on the Ridgid drill, just ordered it. Have you used it yet?
I’ve used my Ryobi brushless with a 6″ Mora – I wanted to test a cheap setup and it worked great. I probably drilled 25 holes through 8″ ice and it was still cranking just fine. I’ll use the gas one for mid-late season and really thick ice most likely.
I wish I would’ve read this thread before I started, though. Lake Calhoun now owns my auger….it’s in about 20′ of water on the west side. I like that bucket idea as a stopper…..
Here waiting for the drill they told me it will be delivered today, battery is all charged so when the drill gets here I’ll be able to give my set up a try.
That’s a sweet deal on the Rigid, Don. I’ve been looking at Rigids, too. Looking forward to hearing how it works for you.
I have the Milwaukee M18 works great with my K-Drill. I got a special pack that gave me 3 batteries but have never needed to use more than 1 and half in a day. I was just out when it was 3℉ drilled over 50 holes and had to switch the battery once.
Brandon UPS dropped of the drill just after I last posted so I’ll be using it this weekend, Charlie W. I looked at the Milwaukee M18 but the deal on the RIDGID was to good to pass on. 1300 in lbs of torque and lifetime warranty means its all covered even the 9Ah battery & charger. So for buying both drill, battery and charger for 169.00 + tax I think I’ll be drilling many holes with it for years
Brandon UPS dropped of the drill just after I last posted so I’ll be using it this weekend, Charlie W. I looked at the Milwaukee M18 but the deal on the RIDGID was to good to pass on. 1300 in lbs of torque and lifetime warranty means its all covered even the 9Ah battery & charger. So for buying both drill, battery and charger for 169.00 + tax I think I’ll be drilling many holes with it for years
That is a killer deal.
So is it best to use a hammer drill/driver (Ridgid drill model R8611506B) versus just a drill driver or drill?
I’m no expert but every one that owns that drill says its one of the best and at the price I got for the drill 9Ah battery and charger for 169.00 + tax its one of the best bargains for one of the most powerful drills on the market. I was gonna spend almost twice that for a Milwaukee with almost as much torque as the RIDGID.
Leineman the hammer feature doesn’t matter, in fact the auger manufacturers warn against it, saying it will cause blade damage. But the hammer drills usually deliver/handle the most torque. It’s recommended to use them on the drill setting. If you have a drill/driver with at least 750 lb-in of torque, you’re probably fine.
When using a drill I recommend a clam plate. I went without it last year and I’m so glad I picked it up this year. That late ice it makes a difference.
Ok, follow up on the Ryobi brushless + 8” Silvertip combo. I’ve drilled about 15 holes with it over 3 outings, and here are my findings:
1) A sharp blade makes a big difference.
2) There are 3 levels/classes Ryobi 18v lithium batteries: Lithium, Lithium+, and Lithium+HP. I have all 3 now.
3)After getting my blades sharpened I was able to drill a hole with the original 1.4Ah Lithium battery I tried earlier. I had to baby it though.
4)My 4Ah Lithium+ Battery did just fine, but slowed down a little when I went heavy on the downward pressure.
5)I just bought a 3 Ah Lithium+HP battery, and that thing never bogs down. However, it may be too much power. In 36* weather, the drill started to smell hot after drilling 2 holes in 12” of ice in quick succession. I drilled about 6 more holes over the next hour, giving the drill time to cool down in between. In 15* weather though, I drilled 3 holes quickly in 12” ice with no smell twice (I switched spots after about 4 hours.) Battery and drill held up better in the cold. Didn’t see that coming.
6) I have to use a lot of pressure to get it to cut. I think that’s characteristic of this 8” Silvertip, bc it’s that way when I hand crank too. My buddy’s 6” Silvertip requires much less pressure. Almost none actually.
My early take on this setup is it’s fine, it does what I wanted it to (Let me fish on the cheap), but for this drill I’d probably recommend staying under 8”. Go smaller, or less aggressive blades, or Pistol/K-Drill. This auger pushes the Ryobi to its limit. I don’t know how deep I’ll be able to drill with it. But the results are great while it lasts!
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Brandon UPS dropped of the drill just after I last posted so I’ll be using it this weekend, Charlie W. I looked at the Milwaukee M18 but the deal on the RIDGID was to good to pass on. 1300 in lbs of torque and lifetime warranty means its all covered even the 9Ah battery & charger. So for buying both drill, battery and charger for 169.00 + tax I think I’ll be drilling many holes with it for years
You are going to love it. I have been running the same drill with the Clam plate,Clam extension with the Eskimo 8inch hand auger for about a month now and it cuts very well. It doesn’t use any battery on that 9amp and is crazy fast. Have $300 in the set up! Plus have a drill for the rest of the year.
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