Drill augers

Hey Guys,

Just wanted some of your thoughts on bits. Last year I ran a dewalt brushless drill driver with 5ah battery’s on a clam plate with a 6 inch lazer hand bit. Worked perfect lots of power and drilled great. I’m picking up the dcd 996 brushless hammerdrill ( the one that everyone recommends). My question is I’m curious on buying a bit. I’m Between the lite flight 8 inch and the k drill 7.5 inch. It would normally be used for drilling in new Ice but every few weeks would be used to drill a spear hole. I don’t use a saw but overlap holes to make my 5×4 hole (5 holes by 4 holes in a square then pull the Block). I’m sure both of these bits would do but would the drill be able to handle the added stress of drilling in water and slush? The bit would be on my clam plate if it matters. Not looking to start a brand war but thoughts on both bits would be great! Thanks!

Any of the reputable proven brands is going to work for you, just be sure you have a centering point. Personally I have had very poor luck with lazer blade durability but many love them, I’m very happy with my pistol bit. Lightweight plastic has proven itself too, stay light.

It’s really as simple as this. The KDrill with chippper blades will be slower and take more battery power (less holes per battery). The blades will however last a bit longer between replacement/sharpening.

You will get more holes and be faster with a shaver blade on the Lite Flite or Pistol Bit.

I’ve overlapped holes with both the Lite Flite and Pistol Bit, and didn’t have any issues.

If you really want to be happy with your results, no matter the auger bit, I’d bump up to the 9ah battery.

AlwaysFishing, if you are already buying a new drill, I would look at the DCD999. I have the 996 and I loved it last year, but the 999 is something like 40% more powerful when you have it paired with the FlexVolt batteries.

Off topic a bit but HD has the 999 on sale. Seems like a good deal if you need the kit.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-20-Volt-MAX-Cordless-Brushless-1-2-in-Hammer-Drill-Driver-with-FLEXVOLT-ADVANTAGE-and-1-FLEXVOLT-6-0Ah-Battery-Kit-DCD999BW606C/314645263?irgwc=1&cm_mmc=afl-ir-10451-483420-&clickid=SRZzMyxHjxyLW-5wUx0Mo3b3UkEx-lT922oO2c0

3Rivers wrote:

It’s really as simple as this. The KDrill with chippper blades will be slower and take more battery power (less holes per battery). The blades will however last a bit longer between replacement/sharpening.

You will get more holes and be faster with a shaver blade on the Lite Flite or Pistol Bit.

I’ve overlapped holes with both the Lite Flite and Pistol Bit, and didn’t have any issues.

If you really want to be happy with your results, no matter the auger bit, I’d bump up to the 9ah battery.

it really is. as a river fisherman i was having my lazer and pistol sharpened mid year, my kdrill lasted 3 before the blades needed to be sent in. the pistol was faster for a while until it dulled.

I still have my kdrill and sold the lazer and pistol. but i really liked all of them.

I really like the centerpoint on the Kdrill. On glare ice the Lazer blades were “faster” however my hole was drilled first because my cousin’s strikemaster was busy dancing around to get started.

I was using the M18 drill with the 8″ (I guess 7.5 in reality) Kdrill. Been using this setup for 3 years now love it. I’m sure I’d take any electric setup over gas though at this point simply due to weight, noise, and stink.

I won’t use anything but the Light flight 8″ after using the others, i also run a 20v dewalt with a 6ah, and have no problem drilling all the holes i need bouncing around in a day on 1 battery.

I dont think you could go wrong with either the KDrill or Lite Flight personally. I have the 6in KDrill for panfish and love it, got a good deal on the 8in Lite Flight otherwise I would have gotten the 7.5in KDrill for walleye fishing.

I did have the issue of the drill adapter loosening up on the Lite Flight, fell off and lost the bolt in the snow driving the ATV across the lake (found the adapter and plastic disc). They did send the replacement adapter and new bolts (I added loctite and tape to ensure it doesnt happen again).

Have never had any issue with the KDrill

hnd wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>3Rivers wrote:</div>
It’s really as simple as this. The KDrill with chippper blades will be slower and take more battery power (less holes per battery). The blades will however last a bit longer between replacement/sharpening.

You will get more holes and be faster with a shaver blade on the Lite Flite or Pistol Bit.

I’ve overlapped holes with both the Lite Flite and Pistol Bit, and didn’t have any issues.

If you really want to be happy with your results, no matter the auger bit, I’d bump up to the 9ah battery.

it really is. as a river fisherman i was having my lazer and pistol sharpened mid year, my kdrill lasted 3 before the blades needed to be sent in. the pistol was faster for a while until it dulled.

I still have my kdrill and sold the lazer and pistol. but i really liked all of them.

X3. This is actually a really good explanation.

I fish on lakes with relatively clean ice. I would never recommend a k drill for this situation. The laser will drill faster and thicker ice much easier. I replace my Lazer blades about once every three years.

On relatively thinner/dirty ice I could see where a Kdrill would have some benefit.

Thanks for all the great info guys!!! Hopefully gonna make a final decision and pull the trigger in the upcoming weeks with Black Friday adds popping up.

hottoddytipup wrote:

Off topic a bit but HD has the 999 on sale. Seems like a good deal if you need the kit.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-20-Volt-MAX-Cordless-Brushless-1-2-in-Hammer-Drill-Driver-with-FLEXVOLT-ADVANTAGE-and-1-FLEXVOLT-6-0Ah-Battery-Kit-DCD999BW606C/314645263?irgwc=1&cm_mmc=afl-ir-10451-483420-&clickid=SRZzMyxHjxyLW-5wUx0Mo3b3UkEx-lT922oO2c0

Thanks for posting this. I found the 996 in store and wanted to do it that way but for like $40-$50 more if I can get a better drill I’ll do it. Only question is does that unit ONLY use the flex volt batteries or can I use my 4ah and 5ah with it as well?

I have the 7.5in k drill on a millwakee with a 5ah battery and it drills holes at 1″per second it seems. This will be my 3rd season with it and sofar i love it. I haven’t had a chance to try any other drill auger combos or bits so thats all iv got. Let us know what you end up getting and how it works.

AlwaysFishing23 wrote:

Thanks for posting this. I found the 996 in store and wanted to do it that way but for like $40-$50 more if I can get a better drill I’ll do it. Only question is does that unit ONLY use the flex volt batteries or can I use my 4ah and 5ah with it as well?

It works with all 20v and flexvolt batteries. It’ll be similar to the 996 with regular batteries but get a power boost from batteries with 21700 cells.

Pulled the trigger on a 7.5” k drill after talking to many different people about both units. Came across a stellar deal on the k drill and count pass it up. Put the 996 on it and seems like it should work well! I did order an adapter for the k drill to work with my clam plate. What’s everyone’s option on running the drill on the plate vs with the handle? Obviously the plate with add a little weight but will also had a better grip when drilling. I wanna try both but wanted to get opinions first.

I’ve used a Lazer 6 in. on a drill and on a clam plate. I like the plate. Also when you set it down it won’t be in snow or water with it on the plate.
I’m going to run an 8 inch Liteflite on a 996 with a clam plate this year.

I was going to get the plate but I tried it with the handle and it worked good. Then one day I forgot the handle and I haven’t brought it with since. It seems less awkward without it. Although I think the plate would feel more natural i just drill the same way I would as if I was drilling in metal. And I use the drill for screw in anchors if needed and the plate get in the way of making less work of things for me.

6″ nils all day

There is a Youtube video comparing the 996 and the 999 for power. The 999 did have a bit more power and both drills were paired with the 6AH Flex volt battery. I will keep using my 996 and resist upgrading mostly due to the price of the Flex volt batteries. I can buy 2 5AH batteries for the price of one 9AH Flex volt. That gives you 10AH worth of power and if you happen to drop a battery and wreck it you won’t ruin your day because you have a backup battery.

Ok so are your drill set-ups lighter than 24v electric auger? And is the drilling speed about the same?

My Milwaukee drill with a 5ah battery and a 7.5″ k drill weights a hair under 10 lbs and drills about 1″ per second. It’s lighter and faster than my jiffy model 30 but thats all I have to compare it to.

I was curious when I first started using this setup last fall. So here’s some numbers of configurations I can come up with to show how light these rigs can be:

– Strikemaster chipper lite, 8 1/4” chipper bit- 24lbs

-Clam plate with 6” lazer hand auger bit, 16” extension, dewalt dcd 791 and 5ah battery 11.5 lbs

– Same set up as above only with an 8” lazer hand auger 16lbs.

-7.5” k drill and dcd 996, 5ah battery 10.5 lbs

7.5” k drill, clam plate, k drill to plate adapter, dcd 996 and 5ah battery 15.5 lbs.

Alwaysfishing and catnip.I ran my lazer and drill setup for several years and thought it was great.I broke down and made my cheap ass buy the clam plate.It was the best thing i’ve done in years.