Hey there! I was thinking about buying one of the hand drill ice auger converters for my hand auger… I was wondering how they fair with the 8 inch blade? I’m strapped for cash and all of my ice fishing gear is back in MN! Basically starting from scratch here in Montana! Any insight on their experience would be great!
They work fine on early ice that is less than 10 inches thick, but once the ice gets thicker they become a drag to use. If you only plan to drill one or two holes no problem, but most of us with power augers like to cut more than that during a day. Today I fished a lake that varied between 3 and 6 inches of ice but still used my power auger because I drilled 20+ holes. In this scenario the power auger wins out for me, but I’m getting old and have a bad back, so a hand auger is no longer a good option for me.
Hand augers are cheaper, lighter and less prone to breaking down though!
Well, everyone has different views of the Drill/Auger set up, personally its all my grandpa and dad run and I steal it too when I’m home. We use an 18volt Bosch drill and a 6in lazer auger, and we will hit the ice with both batteries charged, and get 20 holes no problem the extra battery is mostly a precaution and we really don’t use it often, having a sharp lazer or other high quality auger really helps though…..it ran good last year as well with the ridiculous amounts of ice we had with over a foot common, in northern IL. ( have not personally used it with an 8in blade.
Now my grandpa fishes almost exclusively on one lake for crappies, and its small enough we have them patterned well that we can find fish without making the ice look like swiss cheese. My dad fishes mostly the Mississippi river backwaters so its smaller sloughs. I personally am looking into finding a good drill to put on top of my lazer auger.
(If you do go this route and buy just the adapter shaft, and not the premade one from clam, make sure it has a metal shield that will stop your auger from going through hole if the chuck comes loose. We have a 8in circle of plywood over the shaft of ours and held in place with a hose clamp and a pin. e haven’t ever had it come loose, but we really don’t want it to either.)
I LOVE mine. I run a 6″ auger and use until the ice gets to 12″+ unless by then I’m only drilling half a dozen holes or so. I keep my batteries in a sock with a hand warmer to keep them warm. I drilled 30 holes yesterday through 6″ of hard clear ice…for an average of 1 fish per 5 holes! 
Anyway, I tried this out for early ice a couple years ago and I’m completely addicted-the light weight is a huge advantage for me since I’m foot travel only.
Google “icemasteradapter” and call that guy, he’ll talk to you about your best uses, etc.
Tip: Running an 8″ auger vs. 6″ cuts my number of holes by about 1/3. Typically, I can get 30 holes or so with 6″ auger on 6″ of ice. 20 maybe when I get closer to 10″. Anyway, depending on your situation and ice conditions, I highly recommend it for a cheap way to get on the ice! Good luck!
I have the Clamp adapter with a 6 inch laser auger and I really like this setup but I’m still thinking about getting a power auger for thicker ice. I don’t think I would go any bigger than a 6 inch auger though.
Awesome thanks for the help! Fortunately my brother in law is now GIVING me his gas powered auger since my nephews are so young he doesn’t have time to fish! Thank you for the info..I still might get one just for back up!
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