Electric augers

Anyone have good luck on 30”+ on ice or really cold weather with an electric auger? If so, what make/model?

FlyBoys99 wrote:

Anyone have good luck on 30”+ on ice or really cold weather with an electric auger? If so, what make/model?

If I was needing to drill ice in the 30″+ range consistently, I would get a strikemaster 40V. Any quality brushless drill would work with consistent technique and hole clearing, but the 40V would do it easier.

FlyBoys99 wrote:

Anyone have good luck on 30”+ on ice or really cold weather with an electric auger? If so, what make/model?

Kdrill
Milwaukee fuel

Drilled holes last weekend that just broke through before reaching the drill.

Had to pull out a few times to clear ice shavings but worked great.

Side note, if you don’t clear out ice shavings, it darn near will get stuck good. I’m affraid to use reverse cause my chuck came loose one time and almost lost the kdrill.

ClownColor wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FlyBoys99 wrote:</div>
Anyone have good luck on 30”+ on ice or really cold weather with an electric auger? If so, what make/model?

Kdrill
Milwaukee fuel

Drilled holes last weekend that just broke through before reaching the drill.

Had to pull out a few times to clear ice shavings but worked great.

Side note, if you don’t clear out ice shavings, it darn near will get stuck good. I’m affraid to use reverse cause my chuck came loose one time and almost lost the kdrill.

You need to invest in Joe’s drill adapter.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bob clowncolor wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FlyBoys99 wrote:</div>
Anyone have good luck on 30”+ on ice or really cold weather with an electric auger? If so, what make/model?

Kdrill
Milwaukee fuel

Drilled holes last weekend that just broke through before reaching the drill.

Had to pull out a few times to clear ice shavings but worked great.

Side note, if you don’t clear out ice shavings, it darn near will get stuck good. I’m affraid to use reverse cause my chuck came loose one time and almost lost the kdrill.

You need to invest in Joe’s drill adapter.

I’ll be googling that!

Strikemaster 40v is the way to go for electrics. As fast as they come and with the design its a lot easier to handle in thick ice than using a drill set up. Used it in 30″+, but wouldn’t say it was cold out given I was drilling in my house. I can’t say enough about how good it is and I’m using the 10″ model.

I have an ION 40v. It gets it done.

I have quite a bit of experience with both the 40V and the Strikemaster Drill combo. Both are very fast and handle 30+ inches of ice easily. As BigWalleye30 stated the 40V will handle the 10″ bit much better. I’d recommend the drill combo for 8″ Strikemaster bits and under.

Sold my ION too slow I couldn’t stand it. It did get through eventually though.

Whatever happened to the strikemaster 50 volt…

pete the catfisherman wrote:

Whatever happened to the strikemaster 50 volt…

It was so awesome that it’s been discontinued…..

I hope the 40v is here to stay, I’d hate to see Strikemaster bail on it too and leave customers high and dry for spare parts (batteries).

Have the original ion never had a problem buried it down to the head!

pete the catfisherman wrote:

Whatever happened to the strikemaster 50 volt…

Strikemaster lithium 50 Volt no longer supported

I was blasting through 38″ of ice with the Strikemaster 50v last season. This season I upgraded to the 40v and it’s even more powerful. It must be geared differently, because it spins the same speed at the top of the hole as it does at the bottom of the hole, something that the 50v couldn’t do. It bogged down a little bit on deep holes. I haven’t measured the ice thickness in a while, but I’m sure it’ll get through 30″ just fine. We have to be close to that right now.

If you’re auger shopping, get your hands on a Strikemaster 40v with an extra battery promo. I paid $50 for my extra battery. I think it’s painful to watch people drilling through 3 feet of ice with a drill auger stacked with extensions. I owned a Ion X for a short while for comparison, and that’s a nice rig but the Strikemaster 40v is far better, in my opinion. I returned to Ion X due to an ice-up issue that turned out to be a manufacturing flaw that led to a recall being issued.

We have been doing a test runs on the new Trophy Strike 120V Lithium battery power heads paired with 6″ and 8″ Nils bits this season and it is a match made in heaven. It is the fastest 8″ electric auger I have ever used. Check out the video test runs on the Nils Facebook page. The vids speak for themselves. I used this electric auger to run and gun all day a few times on Mille lacs this year and it didn’t even use up the whole battery.

As far as a Brushless drill setup, the 6″ Nils Trekker with black blades is the way to go. I have attached it onto the extension of my drill plate w/ Milwaukee lithium brushless hammer drill and
9 amp battery. I used 2″ hex bolts with nylon threaded locking nuts instead of the included “wing nuts”. This set up has been a tournament work horse this year going on 4 tournaments so far and well over 1,000 holes with the same blades. The true awesomeness of this Nils auger drill bit is shinning right now with this late season thick ice 3ft+. With the “self taping screw” design of the shaft it punches right threw in ONE clean swipe. No clearing ice shavings half way down the hole and jerking your back out of alignment. Just one clean punch straight through. You wont see that with other brands of auger shafts on this late season ice.

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Matt Brookman wrote:

the 6″ Nils Trekker with black blades is the way to go.

Why black blade? What’s the difference between the black and red ones?

I’ve compared both the Black blade and the Red blade for the Nils this year. The red blade is more aggressive “grabs the ice more” (steeper pitch). The black blade seems to be just as fast but smoother with a shallower pitch.

I’m really looking forward to seeing this new Strikemaster drill auger bit in person. I’ve very curious to see how it compares to the Nils and K-Drill, which ar e both great in their own right. I already have a nice drill and was thinking about getting a 6″ bit to reopen 8″ holes. For instance, I pounded about 50 8″ holes on Osakis yesterday afternoon and I’m headed back up there shortly. It would be great to be able to re-open those suckers back up, something I cannot do with my 8″ Lazer bit.

Bass Thumb wrote:

I’m really looking forward to seeing this new Strikemaster drill auger bit in person. I’ve very curious to see how it compares to the Nils and K-Drill, which ar e both great in their own right. I already have a nice drill and was thinking about getting a 6″ bit to reopen 8″ holes. For instance, I pounded about 50 8″ holes on Osakis yesterday afternoon and I’m headed back up there shortly. It would be great to be able to re-open those suckers back up, something I cannot do with my 8″ Lazer bit.

New Strikemaster drill auger bit? I haven’t heard anything. Is strikemaster coming out with something specifically for electric drills?

I have my original ION since they were introduced (or within a year), it will go through anything with ease. Never had an issue with to much ice. I have two extensions for it, almost needed the second extension on Lake of the Woods the other weekend, flawless. My original battery is still kicking as well. I always keep it at full charge after use.

I have experience with the Kdrill as well, eventually something will go wrong.

curleytail wrote:

New Strikemaster drill auger bit? I haven’t heard anything. Is strikemaster coming out with something specifically for electric drills?

Yeah, there have been rumors of it. I just saw a Facebook video yesterday on one of the ice fishing pages. It looks like a black metal 8″ K-Drill with a set of Lazer blades on it. The guy was saying “New for 2019” and called it a prototype, I believe.

Wait till you see the new electric power head….

Bass Thumb wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>curleytail wrote:</div>
New Strikemaster drill auger bit? I haven’t heard anything. Is strikemaster coming out with something specifically for electric drills?

Yeah, there have been rumors of it. I just saw a Facebook video yesterday on one of the ice fishing pages. It looks like a black metal 8″ K-Drill with a set of Lazer blades on it. The guy was saying “New for 2019” and called it a prototype, I believe.

That could be nice. Hopefully the price is relatively reasonable and it offers features a fisherman would want!

Why not just grab a 6inch lazer bit. To do that exact same thing?

Bearcat89 wrote:

Why not just grab a 6inch lazer bit. To do that exact same thing?

Some people do that, too. I have a 7″ Lazer hand auger bit that I haven’t got around to using on a drill. Those work also, with an adapter.

I’d like an 8 inch auger for my drill without necessarily having to pay for a nils. It would also be nice to not have to also buy an adapter and extension for the Lazer hand auger. But if the new lazer doesn’t look good or is too expensive I’ll be looking at an 8 inch nils, or an 8 inch lazer with adapter with extension, or maybe one of Joe’s adapters if he makes them next year.

curleytail wrote:

I’d like an 8 inch auger for my drill without necessarily having to pay for a nils. It would also be nice to not have to also buy an adapter and extension for the Lazer hand auger. But if the new lazer doesn’t look good or is too expensive I’ll be looking at an 8 inch nils, or an 8 inch lazer with adapter with extension, or maybe one of Joe’s adapters if he makes them next year.

I’d send him a message. My adapter was shipped out to me. And I run it on a 5 6 and 7 inch lazer. I dont push a 8. It could with out problems. But then my gas auger would have no use

Bigwalleye30 wrote:

Strikemaster 40v is the way to go for electrics. As fast as they come and with the design its a lot easier to handle in thick ice than using a drill set up. Used it in 30″+, but wouldn’t say it was cold out given I was drilling in my house. I can’t say enough about how good it is and I’m using the 10″ model.

The thing I found really strange about the strikemaster 40V was that it is not available in 6″. To me a 6″ make more sense on a electric auger than a 10″ does. Personally I love my Krill setup. Not sure why anyone would want to haul around the weight of the 40V with either the 8″ or 10″ auger. That thing is as heavy or heavier than most Gas augers. The whole purpose of the K-drill setup for me is the extreme light weight.