Picked up ann 8 inch lite flight at the Duluth Ice expo, no just trying to figure out which powerhead to use. Should I go with a Hammer drill or Milwaukee M18. Anybody make this same choice or care to shed some light.
It doesn’t really matter because you use the “drill” setting for an auger so either will work the same. The “hammer” would only be used in other applications.
I was in the same boat as you. Bought an 8 inch Lite Flite at the Dakota Angler Show in Sioux Falls a couple months ago. Did a lot of research and asking around on what drill to get. I went with the Milwaukee M18 Fuel 2804-22 Hammer Drill. Used it on Saturday and it rips. So happy with the purchase so far. of course 8 inches of ice now compared to 24 inches later in the year will really tell me how good this set up is.
Technically you don’t need the Hammer drill. I just figured for $20 more I might need that feature for a project some day. You run the drill on Speed 1 and the Drill Setting.
Yea, know the hammer doesn’t really apply for ice fishing but I’m thinking I will want it for non ice fishing related applications….just kind of nice to have.
If you’re willing to go away from Milwaukee, I got the dewalt with the flexvolt battery and it lasts in the cold much longer than the Milwaukee batteries.
If you’re willing to go away from Milwaukee, I got the dewalt with the flexvolt battery and it lasts in the cold much longer than the Milwaukee batteries.
What size did you get?
6Ah 20V I believe. It’s honestly shocking how many holes I’ve drilled without having to charge it.
Would you say it’s substantially better than a 5ah non-flex?
That’s what I’m running now and I’m pretty happy with it, but if one of them ever craps out I was going to look into the bigger flex volts for more capacity.
If you’re willing to go away from Milwaukee, I got the dewalt with the flexvolt battery and it lasts in the cold much longer than the Milwaukee batteries.
Your experience is an outlier from the bulk of the info I’ve read and the first hand experience of myself and many others. This is the first negative I recall about cold issues with M18?
i get 1000″ of ice with a 5.0ah milwaukee battery. ive switched over to a 12ah for this season. very interested to see.
but you ideally want m18/fuel/hammer. 280x or 270x.
I just purchased the Milwaukee M18 Hammer Drill 2804-20. I paired it with a strike master hand lazer auger and a clam plate with extension. It cuts really good! Question I have is what others experience when stopping the drill. I dry fired the setup a couple times, not under load, and when you stop the drill it literally slams on the brakes. I was not doing this that fast even. I realized the auger has a lot of momentum and inertia, and the drill must not allow anything to rotate once the trigger is stopped. I just thought it might be a bit smoother than what I have experienced. Maybe its just a learning curve to feather the throttle down when slowing auger down.
Dash
I would be interested to see how the Lite-Flight does with a drill up to 9″-12″ of ice. I have a 40V and was thinking about buying a Lite-Flight for it, if I could use a drill early season on the 8″ Lite-Flight that would be great!
I was in the market for a new drill so I went with a Dewalt hammer drill/impactor combo with the 5 AMP batteries. Found it for $299 plus I got a 3rd battery free. I can’t see a scenario where I can possible go through three batteries in a weekend let alone a day but the test will come with thicker ice I guess. I am hanging onto my gas for now but I anticipate it being on the market or handed down by next year. I have to agree with the other reviews. This thing cuts so quickly it kind of freaked me out at first time. I bet it runs really nice when paired with the 40V. The drill combo I picked up just made more economical sense to me right now.
Thanks for all the feedback. Will always have my hand auger as well.
I just purchased the Milwaukee M18 Hammer Drill 2804-20. I paired it with a strike master hand lazer auger and a clam plate with extension. It cuts really good! Question I have is what others experience when stopping the drill. I dry fired the setup a couple times, not under load, and when you stop the drill it literally slams on the brakes. I was not doing this that fast even. I realized the auger has a lot of momentum and inertia, and the drill must not allow anything to rotate once the trigger is stopped. I just thought it might be a bit smoother than what I have experienced. Maybe its just a learning curve to feather the throttle down when slowing auger down.
standard fair for the milwuakee. its the break system. been using mine for 4 years with no issue. it is alarming initially. BUT all is good.
I went a little different route. Got the Milwaukee Fuel mud mixer. It’s got a heavy duty motor and adjustable side handle, no Clam Plate needed. With a 9.0 battery and 6 inch Lite Flite it weighs 12.7 pounds.
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Dash
I would be interested to see how the Lite-Flight does with a drill up to 9″-12″ of ice. I have a 40V and was thinking about buying a Lite-Flight for it, if I could use a drill early season on the 8″ Lite-Flight that would be great!
8 inches was a breeze. 9 – 12 should be a piece of cake. Honestly with the new light flite 8 inch and the 3rd Gen Milwaukee Fuel 2804-22 I plan on using mine year round. I’m not a a drill 60 holes a day kind of guy – I think it will fit my year round needs and ice over 20 inches thick no problem.
What’s the torque spec on that mud mixer? I couldn’t find it online… It looks like it might just turn a 10″ auger.
What’s the torque spec on that mud mixer? I couldn’t find it online… It looks like it might just turn a 10″ auger.
Don’t know,it said it will mix 15 5 gal. Buckets of mud on a 5 amp hour battery. That’s a lot of mud. Used it all last winter with a K- Drill and never ran out of juice on 1 9 amp. Battery.
Would you say it’s substantially better than a 5ah non-flex?
That’s what I’m running now and I’m pretty happy with it, but if one of them ever craps out I was going to look into the bigger flex volts for more capacity.
I have the 6 AH Flex and the 5 AH non flex. You get more holes out of the 6 but it isn’t a huge difference like I thought it would be.
Last spring while pan fishing northern MN lakes I put these battery’s to the test drilling through around 30” of ice. I would typically go through 2-5AH battery’s and 2-6 AH battery’s. I’d get around 100 holes per day.
There has been threads before on the Mud Mixer. Plenty of guys say it works great, but either Milwaukee or K-drill have said they don’t recommend it. They say the normal drill is better suited for use with an auger.
I have the Ridgid Octane 1300 in lb and love it. Its a beast. Used it all last season with my Nils 8″, got 136 holes, through 115ft of ice on one 9ah charge. Just used it on my Strikemaster 10″ gas auger bit last weekend, and it mauled 8″ of ice like it was nothing. Lifetime Warranty as well.
There has been threads before on the Mud Mixer. Plenty of guys say it works great, but either Milwaukee or K-drill have said they don’t recommend it. They say the normal drill is better suited for use with an auger.
I’m one of the rare ones that is disappointed in the Mud-Mixer. Bought it last year and it constantly cuts out using a 8″ Kdrill. ready to move on to a standard drill.
I’ve gone as far as putting a dot level on it to make sure I was drilling straight, because my early holes I though could have been binding up near the bottom because I wasn’t straight. Still have the problem when straight.
I read somewhere that it’s a problem in the thermal control circuitry and cuts the drill off. Not sure I believe it because there is no way your mixing mud all day in the summer and not running into a thermal issue.
Less than 20″ of ice and I’m sure it’s fine.
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