Electric ice augers

Jeremy, what kind of auger bit?

DO NOT replace individual cells within a complete Li-ion battery pack as mentioned above. You will simply be wasting your money. You will end up with a voltage balance problem within the battery pack in a very short period. I could list more reasons but no need to. Just don’t do it.
Many years of battery and charger design experience, all chemistries.

K-drill. I believe its 7 3/4″.

One more question Jeremy, what model Milwaukee? I’m going to buy one.

Its the brushless drill with a 2.3 ah battery. New charge on the battery but only drills for 15 seconds and shuts off.

Dave Doty wrote:

Its the brushless drill with a 2.3 ah battery. New charge on the battery but only drills for 15 seconds and shuts off.

You need a bigger battery. 5ah at least probably

Thats in river ice. Sure it would drill better and longer without the sand and whatnot in the ice dulling it.

How about the original Ion for $350?

I learned this year that the plastic flights on the bits designed for drill use are important for more than just weight. I used a 5 inch Lazer bit for years, and in the spring when we drill a lot of slushy, layered ice, I almost could not hang on to the drill. I ended up spraining my wrist, which hurt until June. This year I got a 6 inch pistol bit, and there is no grabbing whatsoever- the ring on the bottom prevents the grab at breakthrough, and the flights just don’t grab the sides like the metal ones did. I believe they flex out of the way instead. I still have my Lazer, but I don’t see it getting much use, even if it is faster.
My current setup is a Ridgid Octane I got for $69 from Direct Tools, a 9 AH battery, a Pistol Bit 6 inch I got for $139 on sale, and a direct connect adapter I got from EBAY for $25. I don’t plan to put the chuck back on this summer, I have 2 other Ridgid drills, so I guess this is the same as a dedicated auger setup. Since the battery is from my tool collection, I would cost my entire auger rig at $233- not free, but not in the range of some of the dedicated setups

JoeMX1825 wrote:

is it brushless? You’ll fry the cheaper drills…

Just my opinion, but hand drills are not meant to spin 8″ auger bits through thick ice…Get a legit electric auger from Ion or Strikemaster and never look back…

I just finished my second season with my DeWalt 996 20V Max Brushless Drill and I drill circles around my buddies Ion. Even if you have near the same amount of money into the drill set up as you do a traditional electric auger the drill is nicer to have for anchoring in shacks as well as drilling. Plus takes up less space when going out on ice and not to mention the biggest advantage is that you use the drills all year long.

I can not rave enough about the drill set ups and I don’t know why I have not sold my gas auger yet other than it is paid for and works really well the one time i take it out a year to make sure it is running.

lrott2003 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
is it brushless? You’ll fry the cheaper drills…

Just my opinion, but hand drills are not meant to spin 8″ auger bits through thick ice…Get a legit electric auger from Ion or Strikemaster and never look back…

I just finished my second season with my DeWalt 996 20V Max Brushless Drill and I drill circles around my buddies Ion. Even if you have near the same amount of money into the drill set up as you do a traditional electric auger the drill is nicer to have for anchoring in shacks as well as drilling. Plus takes up less space when going out on ice and not to mention the biggest advantage is that you use the drills all year long.

I can not rave enough about the drill set ups and I don’t know why I have not sold my gas auger yet other than it is paid for and works really well the one time i take it out a year to make sure it is running.

Please post again after 4-6 years of use, it always cracks me up how people seem to focus on drill speed times when the difference is literally a second or two…

I had an Ion 40v for about 5 years but it just broke this winter due to all 5 of the dowels in the transmission snapping so I’m hand auger bound for a while. I think their newer ones are better quality but my next electric will be a strikemaster.

Ahren Wagner wrote:

I had an Ion 40v for about 5 years but it just broke this winter due to all 5 of the dowels in the transmission snapping so I’m hand auger bound for a while. I think their newer ones are better quality but my next electric will be a strikemaster.

Did you call/email Artisam about it? They have impeccable customer service…

“Please post again after 4-6 years of use, it always cracks me up how people seem to focus on drill speed times when the difference is literally a second or two…”

I bet you’ve never worked with cement and hammer drills. I was a hard core Ion guy, had 2 and loved them. Last spring I bought a Pistol Bit so the Ion has been in the garage all year. Yesterday I took it with just to be sure it still worked ok. I’m telling you this, it would be hard to go back to the Ion after owning a Pistol Bit and a Milwaukee Fuel drill. It’s not only about 2 times faster, it’s 2 times smoother too. It sure seems the torque on that Ion is every bit as much as the Pistol/drill setup.

Ahren Wagner wrote:

I had an Ion 40v for about 5 years but it just broke this winter due to all 5 of the dowels in the transmission snapping so I’m hand auger bound for a while. I think their newer ones are better quality but my next electric will be a strikemaster.

My bro got a 40v Strikemaster this year and loves it.

I can say with authority or at least lots of experience buying the new 5 amp battery for the original Ion turns it into an animal. I never had an issue all winter and I used it a lot. Thin ice to thick. Every weekend. Probably this weekend again.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>lrott2003 wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
is it brushless? You’ll fry the cheaper drills…

Just my opinion, but hand drills are not meant to spin 8″ auger bits through thick ice…Get a legit electric auger from Ion or Strikemaster and never look back…

I just finished my second season with my DeWalt 996 20V Max Brushless Drill and I drill circles around my buddies Ion. Even if you have near the same amount of money into the drill set up as you do a traditional electric auger the drill is nicer to have for anchoring in shacks as well as drilling. Plus takes up less space when going out on ice and not to mention the biggest advantage is that you use the drills all year long.

I can not rave enough about the drill set ups and I don’t know why I have not sold my gas auger yet other than it is paid for and works really well the one time i take it out a year to make sure it is running.

Please post again after 4-6 years of use, it always cracks me up how people seem to focus on drill speed times when the difference is literally a second or two…

5 years on my hilti drill. Fish 4 to 6 times a week. Ran a lazer bit the first 4 years and now a lite flight. Drills better then the old man’s ion.
Does that prove to you they are worth a damn. The drill is built for abuse

The suggestion of replacing individual cells inside a Multi-cell Li-ion battery pack should never be done. Been involved in battery pack and charger design for over 25 years for many large OEM customers in many fields.
Well designed Multi cell Li-ion battery packs that are used on ice augers have Battery Management Systems (BMS) that help with many functions within the battery pack. If you change out an individual cell or multiple cells you will run into problems with imbalanced cells and this can easily lead to voltage reversal thus causing issues with the battery pack.
The voltage profile and internal impedance of the battery pack change over time which BMS can handle if programmed and designed correctly, but not if you swap cells and cell manufacturers.
Rather than write a book on battery and charger design, just do not do what was suggested. Many safety issues as well.

Bearcat89 wrote:

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5 years on my hilti drill. Fish 4 to 6 times a week. Ran a lazer bit the first 4 years and now a lite flight. Drills better then the old man’s ion.
Does that prove to you they are worth a damn. The drill is built for abuse

How much difference between the lazer and the lite flight? I’ve got a 8 inch lazer/milwaukee combo I put together a month ago, but haven’t used it yet. Was debating on various bit options, but ended up with a new lazer for $40 so couldn’t pass it up.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Please post again after 4-6 years of use, it always cracks me up how people seem to focus on drill speed times when the difference is literally a second or two…

Joe you usually post really quality stuff on here. So please don’t take offense when I say you just need to try a drill set up before you can sit on here and say that it’s only a second or two different. It’s much much more than that.

It’s lighter and it’s extremely durable. I probably have an average person’s 10 years of use into my Dewalt 996 drill right now and it’s still going perfectly. Take it for what it’s worth buddy.

Being I do what I do. I can afford to buy any type of auger I want and it’s definitely not and Ion. Sold mine years ago.

grizzlyhackle wrote:

How much difference between the lazer and the lite flight?

I’ve used both. We’ve challenged them side-by-side. Same drills just different augers. They were nearly identical. Couldn’t tell a difference.

By the way I challenge anybody to come up with a half dozen pictures of a DeWalt breaking. Because that’s how many Milwaukee I’ve seen break.

They both work fine till the Milwaukee’s break that’s pretty much the long and short of it.

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My buddy had his Milwaukee get stuck in hammer mode. Wasnt worth fixing for the price of parts so he went and bought a new one.

I personally have ridgid tools and my drill is a beast

Joe Scegura wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Please post again after 4-6 years of use, it always cracks me up how people seem to focus on drill speed times when the difference is literally a second or two…

Joe you usually post really quality stuff on here. So please don’t take offense when I say you just need to try a drill set up before you can sit on here and say that it’s only a second or two different. It’s much much more than that.

It’s lighter and it’s extremely durable. I probably have an average person’s 10 years of use into my Dewalt 996 drill right now and it’s still going perfectly. Take it for what it’s worth buddy.

Being I do what I do. I can afford to buy any type of auger I want and it’s definitely not and Ion. Sold mine years ago.

We can all be happy with what we have, I still think the few seconds faster drilling argument is laughable…if you drill a ton of holes and add it all up are you saving what 1-2 minutes of your fishing day? but if I choose to run to my next hole and you walk are we then even?

Full disclosure i’m probably a bit biased as I fried a Dewalt XRP drill setup with the original Clam drill plate many years ago and purchased an Ion the next weekend and have never looked back…