Ridgid Octane my experience, any others?

New to posting here but bear with another drill/auger post.

Picked up an Eskimo pistol 8in bit from the ice show when they first came out and used it extensively last season. Bought the bit first thinking the 1/2″ drill at home could handle it. Not even close to recommended torque. Shopping for a stronger tool I stumbled across the RIDGID Octane bare hammer drill from home depot and got lucky enough to catch it on sale with dirt cheap battery. 4-5 Home Depots later and I got the last one in the store, also any in the SE Metro.

TL:DR
No more than the $129 retail for bare drill for an advertised “1300 in/lb” torque drill with a 9.0Ah Octane battery & charger (discounted as well). Great deal IMO.
Battery is too big honestly. 2 4.0Ah may be more portable. It nearly falls off of the drill at times but what a unit. Tested it out a few times w 8″ Pistol bit and at full charge blew through 40 holes in 26″ ice like butter. Gave up trying to see total holes with full to near zero charge to 1) not cycle a new battery through full discharge, especially in the cold 2) estimated a long time standing drilling holes

Overall I can’t say it’s cheaper than other options as the drill, battery, and show price auger bit all cost less than retail, but it has been a wonderful setup so far. It’s not the lightest drill and honestly I think it may still be beat by the Milwaukee options. However the lifetime parts warranty is a solid perk, and I have never run the battery below 25% according to the Bluetooth app (shows temp too) even having drilled well into 70 holes in 1.5-2 ft during a near full day trip.

Long post, forgive me. Surprised with how the purchase has performed. Welcome comments, any other successful drill combos, etc. I’ll have to dig deep but I should have some pictures of a couple random test runs.

Have the same drill and love it no issues. The lifetime warranty is great.No issue with battery coming off stays on solid.

I would question if their split with Milwaukee whether the new company will honor all the lifetime warranty and batter issues into the future.

I have same drill on a clam plate and it is a beast! I run 2 9.0 octane batteries and they never let me down. I will be picking up another bare tool just incase.

The only issues I know of are centered around the batteries. The drill itself seems to be durable. I personally run Milwaukee everything, but think the Ridgid Octane is definitely in a similar class.

A couple years back I did some work with a contractor on the side who got burnt by the bluetooth Ridgid batteries not connecting. He sent probably a dozen batteries in and he eventually got replacements. However, almost half of the batteries he sent in had the same issue after replacement.

The other issue involved specifically 6.0ah batteries. They would overheat and shut down easily…boring small holes, driving relatively small lags, etc. Those too were swapped out but he had to wait a few weeks for replacements.

I have a couple Octane tools including the hammer drill. I’ve liked the line up so far, the drill ripped through ice the last two winters! Going forward I have some concerns with the drill. The octane line was discontinued this summer? The batteries are cross compatible with the new line they say, but I haven’t seen a hammer drill replacement in the new line yet. That worries me, especially since I was just about to bring the drill in to check out a potential issue. Real bad timing with ice almost here

Nils 6” and Makita last year. I got 89 holes in 13” of ice (Can’t remember exactly how much ice). Anyhow the battery was cold and I’ve used the drill for 3 years.

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If they come out with a hammer drill replacement it won’t be an issue for me, I think. I’m just an average homeowner, far from a contractor, so I don’t need top of the line for home projects. The new stuff is suppose to be a little more compact in size- battery’s and tools so some homeowners will appreciate that. The only top to the line item I need/want is the hammer drill for ice and then home stuff.

3rdtryguy wrote:

I would question if their split with Milwaukee whether the new company will honor all the lifetime warranty and batter issues into the future.

From what I heard, if you have warranty issues Ridgid will give you the equivalent or better replacement.

With the 9ah battery, the drill is a straight up beast. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. The fall off is pretty dramatic with a 4ah battery. Use a 6 or a 9.
2. It will cut off if it overheats and you will have to wait for it to cool down before continuing. Even if the battery has a charge.
3. Ridgid has discontinued the Octane line of batteries and tools. The new “compact” hammerdrill only has 800 in/lbs of torque and is inferior for sure.
4. The new line of batteries are better, but you can only get them in 6ah for now.

This video I did pretty much takes the octane/drill battery to the limit using a 10″ auger and moderate ice thickness. It works really well, but because I use a 10″ quite a bit I found the ION G2 to be the BEST current option available.

Yikes. Unfortunately can’t budget one of the purpose designed ice augers plus as far as I know I’m just as set to go out this year as I was went I packed up last year. Crossing my fingers.
Also I’ve never checked out the electric “true” augers, are they pretty close to drill and bit configurations? I personally like being able to separate the drill and put it in a thicker lined bag to protect from water and insulate the battery partially from the elements. If I hole hop I sometimes keep it assembled and lay it so there isn’t any radial force on the drill chuck. Curious how drill chuck wobble would be if used w/o clam plate for more than a few seasons?

I run the the ridgid octane drill with a 9ah battery on a clam plate with a lite flite auger. It rips through the ice. I also have one of the newer style ridgid hammer drills that I will be using for raising my shack up. I have a lot of ridgid tools and have been very happy with them. Home Depot has good sales through out the year.

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TheCrappieFisherman wrote:

I have a couple Octane tools including the hammer drill. I’ve liked the line up so far, the drill ripped through ice the last two winters! Going forward I have some concerns with the drill. The octane line was discontinued this summer? The batteries are cross compatible with the new line they say, but I haven’t seen a hammer drill replacement in the new line yet. That worries me, especially since I was just about to bring the drill in to check out a potential issue. Real bad timing with ice almost here

They have a newer style hammer drill out now. I just bought one on sale for $149 with a new style 4ah battery included

Coletrain27 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ben D wrote:</div>
I have a couple Octane tools including the hammer drill. I’ve liked the line up so far, the drill ripped through ice the last two winters! Going forward I have some concerns with the drill. The octane line was discontinued this summer? The batteries are cross compatible with the new line they say, but I haven’t seen a hammer drill replacement in the new line yet. That worries me, especially since I was just about to bring the drill in to check out a potential issue. Real bad timing with ice almost here

They have a newer style hammer drill out now. I just bought one on sale for $149 with a new style 4ah battery included

Didn’t realize that one was a hammer drill. But 800 in/lbs vs the 1,300 in/lb Octane. Better than nothing, but a downgrade none the less if someone brings their octane in for warranty and it needs replacing.

I wouldn’t put alot of faith in those rated numbers. I believe the biggest dewalt drill is only rated for around 800 in/lb also and a lot of people use them on augers with no issue. Check out tourque test channel on YouTube. A lot of manufactures under rate there numbers as well as over rate. I think there all right in line with each other.

Agreed. Milwaukee claims 1200in/lb torque on the M18 hammer drill which is marketed to both “homeowner” customers as well as contractors while ridgid doesn’t seem to be fighting for that title. Both being licensed by TTI it would be odd for the more consumer of the two to advertise better performance than an industry staple. Long story short I believe both are rated theoretically at best, for marketing “most power” claims at worst.