Fleet Farm is running a sale this week on their Dewalt brushless drills. I’m tempted to pull the trigger on buying the DCD996 20v brushless. Pairing that drill with the Clam plate and an 8in Lazer auger I feel like I’d have a pretty good setup for about 50% of the season. My only worry is what happens when we get late in the season and the ice gets thick.
Has any one used the Clam plate with an 8in clear through the season or do most guys go to different power auger once it gets to thick?
How much is it at fleet?
The problem with Dewalt as they are the only drill that doesn’t list the lb ft torque of their drills? How do you tell if the Dewalts have over 700 lb feet of torque?
20% off all Dewalt if I remember right. So bare tool is running $119. I need to double check but I swear I saw the drill with batteries for that same price in store.
I hadn’t looked into the torque question. I’ll dig into that some.
I used that drill with a 7″ lazer last year and it worked great. I bought an 8″ K-drill a couple weeks ago but we don’t have ice down here yet so I haven’t had a chance to try it out. I would assume it will work fine though, at the Sioux Falls Ice Institute they had Dewalts on theirs at the Clam booth and if you watch any videos with Dave Genz he usually has a Dewalt on his.
The problem with Dewalt as they are the only drill that doesn’t list the lb ft torque of their drills? How do you tell if the Dewalts have over 700 lb feet of torque?
I was just researching the dewalt vs Milwaukee fuel for a kdrill and I found the dewalt had 1050in lbs vs the 1200in lbs of the Milwaukee so when mills had them on sale plus free battery I bought the Milwaukee.
I have a Dewalt 796 Compact hammer drill and have used it all season last year with a 6″ and 8″ Nils and never has it felt like it was low on power and never failed me. I agree that Milwaukee is probably the better drill to use, but I had it already. I have no doubt in my mind that a 995 or 996 would work fine, but the Milwaukee will work better overall.
Honestly, if you haven’t tried to use a hand auger in the last 10 years I would seriously entertain the idea. They never run out of battery, they are low cost, they are super light, and a reasonably sharp one will fly through the ice with minimal effort.(like any auger, the pitch and sharpness of the blades is critical)
People probably avoid them because they tried to cut a hole once with an old crappy dull auger and it put a bad taste in their mouth, but they really cut quite well.
Honestly, if you haven’t tried to use a hand auger in the last 10 years I would seriously entertain the idea. They never run out of battery
Mine runs out of battery halfway through the first hole…mine must be defective…
Hahah, better get new Wheaties power pack.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>songpool5 wrote:</div>
Honestly, if you haven’t tried to use a hand auger in the last 10 years I would seriously entertain the idea. They never run out of batteryMine runs out of battery halfway through the first hole…mine must be defective…
The first hole is easy it’s deciding if you want to attempt that second hole
I have a clam drill plate and honestly think they are a waste of money. Only reason I got one was because I thought I would be able to mount it more securely when fishing tournaments.
The cheaper adapters along with the side handle on the drill work great. I run a nils 6″ all year.
My dads gas auger hasn’t been on the ice in a few years since we both started running nils and Milwaukee fuels. Can’t comment on the 8″, but I bet a 8″ nils would still cut great even on thick ice.
Red89- I saw you were not impressed with the clam plate you had. If it is the style that you do not have to remove the chuck, I would buy it from you as I am looking to try a drill adaptor of some type this year.
Not knocking Dewalt as a drill but there’s no Lifetime warranty on the battery, charger, or drill.
I use a 18V Rigid w/7″lazer and when the battery goes bad I call them up, send the bad bat back, and they send me a NEW battery free of charge and free shipping. Now to get the lifetime warranty you have to buy the kit(drill, bat, and charger). There is now lifetime warranty if you just buy pieces.
Mine is 5-6 yrs old and Rigid has replaced 3 batteries for free. One time they mistakingly sent me a new charger, I contacted them and they said keep it don’t return it.
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