What drills are compatible for an ice auger

I’m looking at buying a drill to use in an auger blade I already have. I was just wondering what drills you guys would recommend? I saw this one on sale, would this have enough power or what? Thanks

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-1-2-in-Compact-Drill-Driver-with-1-2-0-Ah-Battery-Charger-and-Tool-Bag-2801-21P/305529238

I would get a bigger one than that. That one is only 500 in. lbs. I would looks for something closer to 1000 in. Lbs and bigger batteries

I believe they recommend drills capable of producing 700 in lbs of torque as the minimum.
I have one of the M18 500 in lb drills and I’m pretty sure it would do okay if it were not used excessively. I have used it for mixing a few batches of concrete, and it would get so hot that I couldn’t hold on anywhere but the pistol grip, I had to finish the concrete so I put a glove on my left hand and it just kept going. I knew that both the drill and the battery have protections built in so they can’t be over-heated to the point where damage could occur. I was impressed. That drill is still going strong.
But if you’re buying new, I recommend buying the correct tool for the job.
The Milwaukee 2705 (less compact with bluetooth) the 2803 (compact no bluetooth) and the 2805 (compact and bluetooth) all use the same motor with 1200 in lb of torque.

I have been using the dewalt drill that you can get for 90-100 bucks anywhere.I’m not sure of the model number.I have had this one for 3-4 years and no issues.I use a 6in.lazer and last year i added a
7in.lazer bit.
I probabaly average 25-40 holes per trip.I use 4 and 5 amp hour batteries.I very seldom need more than 1 battery.I have used more than 1 late winter and the ice is 2ft thick and i used the hell out of it.
I would say get what you can afford but get a couple of bigger batteries than what it comes with.

https://kdrillauger.com/info/cordless-drill-minimum-requirements.html

Here’s a good starting point.

I’m using a Milwaukee with a 5 amp and it’s been plenty. I have 3 batteries for it but I’m not even sure if I’ve used 2 while out.

Any modern name brand brushless lithium drill should work just as well as any other (rigid, Milwaukee, dewalt, etc.). What matters is torque. A good rule of thumb for torque is 100ft/lbs per inch diameter of the hole you’re drilling. Meaning: for an 8” hole you’d want something with at least 800ft/lbs of torque. A 6” hole would need at least 600ft/lbs etc.,

In today’s market, you’re going to see most drills offering either ~500ft/lbs of torque or ~1200ft/lbs of torque. The lesser being more for remedial household tasks (basically an automatic screwdriver) and the latter being contractor grade equipment used more to construct homes and buildings by career builders (a “real” drill). The lesser drill may very well drill a hole through the ice but it really really isn’t meant for such a demanding task. Using a drill as an ice-auger is hell on the drill, hence, why using contractor grade drills (again, from any reputable manufacturer) is a good idea. You can get a bare (tool-only no battery) M18 Brushless Fuel drill (1200ft/lbs) for $150 from HomeDepot. Go on ebay and buy a genuine M18 battery (at least a 5ah) for around $50 and a charger for around $20-$30 you have a nice setup. Definitely worth it if your use to only hand-drilling. Actually, considering it’s “Black Friday week”, you might be able to find some good combo deals on drills/batteries right now from the big-box stores.

I use a Milwaukee M18 Fuel (1200ft/lbs) with a 12ah battery and I can’t really ask for a better power source. It’s spinning an 8” Lazer on a Clam Plate. Holes all day.

I run K-Drill’s alleged 8″ bit on a clam plate with a Milwaukee Fuel M-18. I have two 5AH batteries and I can get around 50-60 Holes as long as the ice is less than 16″. That being said I have little kids and rarely spend more than half a day fishing. which does matter, batteries sitting in the cold all day do take holes off of them. My take is that if you talk to guys who pay their bills using power tools the majority use Milwaukee or DeWalt. I think the Fuel or the DeWalt XR are the two to choose from. I went with the Fuel because it was the cheaper option when I put my unit together.

That being said, If I hadn’t already made the investment, I would pull the trigger on Strikemasters new lithium 24 volt setup. This unit only weighs 14 lbs which isn’t much more than a drill setup. The cost is close as well at $399.00. If this option was available at the time I set my unit up I wouldn’t have went the drill route.

Bottom line on the subject, I am a hole hopper who is on foot almost all the time. The drill augers main advantage is they save weight. The lithium Augers will crush any drill setup hands down….most also weighs more than a gas auger. Pay no attention to the people who say that they can get a hundred holes out of any drill setup, its nonsense.

The OP never said what auger but they were using, which makes a big difference. A clam plate has a gear box which lowers speed and increases torque, which is also a factor.
The 500 in- lb might be OK with a small, efficient auger- I am sure it would spin mu 4.5 in Nils fine, but not a cheap, dull 8 inch Eskimo.
I used the 650- in-lb compact hammer drill from Ridgid for years, and it ran my 5 inch Lazer OK. It has issues with smaller batteries at cold temps, and ran much better with the 9AH battery, which has more banks of cells in parallel, and has more current capacity. I just received the 1300in-lb Ridgid Octane hammer drill from Direct tools, which should turn anything I can hang on to. Today it is on sale for $80, but you need batteries and a charger. If you have cordless tools, you might find a hammer drill alone on EBAY that uses them, and save money that way.
Most people also feel like the hammer drills have a stronger gearbox, which allows them to last longer. The drill you noted is just a compact drill with a 1/2 inch chuck.
Finally, if you are not wanting to use a Clam plate, you will probably want a substantial side handle on the drill. 1 handing 1000 in-lb is very difficult.

I started back up last year using the cordless drill… I opted for the 18v Milwaukee Fuel Brushless Drill and the 5a battery.. The drill has a low speed and high speed (1-2) I run mine on the low (1) speed ..I matched it up with the 6″ Lite Flite bit..

Being on the Mississippi River I rarely get over 16-18″ of ice.. so I can easily 50-75 (never really counted) holes out of one battery… and most times I bring the second battery and do not use it…

Lots of great info above…torque is your friend !!!

Gilgetter wrote:

Bottom line on the subject, I am a hole hopper who is on foot almost all the time. The drill augers main advantage is they save weight. The lithium Augers will crush any drill setup hands down….most also weighs more than a gas auger. Pay no attention to the people who say that they can get a hundred holes out of any drill setup, its nonsense.

What makes you say the lithium augers will “crush” a drill setup? Aside from ergonomics and looking like a traditional ice auger, I’m not sure I see an advantage. From what I’ve seen first hand they drill about the same speed and a 12ah Milwaukee battery has more reserve capacity than a Strikemaster 5ah. Of course there are other factors at play but the amount of holes each can drill on 1 charge will be similar at worst.

Strikemaster 36v*5ah = 180 watt hours
ION G2 36v*6ah = 216 watt hours
Milwaukee 18v*12ah = 216 watt hours

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Gilgetter wrote:</div>
Bottom line on the subject, I am a hole hopper who is on foot almost all the time. The drill augers main advantage is they save weight. The lithium Augers will crush any drill setup hands down….most also weighs more than a gas auger. Pay no attention to the people who say that they can get a hundred holes out of any drill setup, its nonsense.

What makes you say the lithium augers will “crush” a drill setup? Aside from ergonomics and looking like a traditional ice auger, I’m not sure I see an advantage. From what I’ve seen first hand they drill about the same speed and a 12ah Milwaukee battery has more reserve capacity than a Strikemaster 5ah. Of course there are other factors at play but the amount of holes each can drill on 1 charge will be similar at worst.

Strikemaster 36v*5ah = 180 watt hours
ION G2 36v*6ah = 216 watt hours
Milwaukee 18v*12ah = 216 watt hours

There are more factors to consider when making a decision aside from drilling speed and reserve capacity of batteries on paper.

And you are comparing a 12ah battery to a 5ah battery? Seems like a good way to start off a fair comparison.

My argument is that a lot of folks have gone a little overboard trying to make an argument for an item simply because that what they decided to purchase.

Many people don’t have 12ah batteries for their drill.. if they do it ads considerable weight and cost to the equation which would further diminish any advantage the drill setup offered in the first place.

I also know the longevity of a drill running augers isn’t great. I’ve smoked a drill already on my unit and I’m using a clam plate which offers some level of gearing advantage.

Lithium Augers have gearing and are engineered for the specific purpose of being augers. Cordless drills were never designed for this purpose and they are under significant stress. I think most of these augers will be around for many many years.

I am not putting down drill augers in the least. They do have their place but I’m saying that with lighter lithium auger options coming out I think the main advantage of the drill setups which was weight savings is no longer such an advantage.

A Strikemaster lithium will legit drill 100 holes on a single battery. I’ve never gotten more than 30 out of a battery on my drill setup which also runs a 5ah battery.

If I didn’t already own my drill setup I think I buy the new SM 24v

The advantage of the cordless drill besides weight is that I can take the bit off and drill a few holes in wall if i need to. a buddy has run a 2604 for almost 7-8 years on the same 4AH batteries with a 6″ lazer and has drilled thousands of holes with it with no issue.

This is the first year however, that i’ll likely need my drill for a project over the winter. I sold my old xrp 18v drill and am now sitting here thinking of pullign the trigger on a tool only deal for another 27/2804. The though has crossed my head on selling the kdrill and looking at the strikemaster instead.

Gilgetter wrote:

And you are comparing a 12ah battery to a 5ah battery? Seems like a good way to start off a fair comparison.

An 18v 12 ah battery and a 40v 5ah battery likely have the same number of cells, so yeah it’s a direct comparison. Comparing a Milwaukee 5ah battery on a kdrill to the SM 40V certainly is not. You said lithium augers will “crush” drill augers but not all drill augers are the same.

Try a Milwaukee 12ah battery on the 8″ lite flite and then let me know what exactly the 40v does better. Yes they are similar in price, another direct comparison.
Milwaukee is built for contractors using it daily so I’m not sure where the perceived durability problem comes from.

Also I don’t own a Milwaukee drill or a lite flite… So I’m not trying to tell you what I bought is best. I’ve just seen and used both side by side and don’t see what the dedicated electric ice auger does better. So I’m still confused about how it “crushes” drill augers.

I managed to seize up a DeWalt 20V (not brushless) last spring, probably had about 35 holes drilled when it went. Had plenty of power though!

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Gilgetter wrote:</div>
And you are comparing a 12ah battery to a 5ah battery? Seems like a good way to start off a fair comparison.

An 18v 12 ah battery and a 40v 5ah battery likely have the same number of cells, so yeah it’s a direct comparison. Comparing a Milwaukee 5ah battery on a kdrill to the SM 40V certainly is not. You said lithium augers will “crush” drill augers but not all drill augers are the same.

Try a Milwaukee 12ah battery on the 8″ lite flite and then let me know what exactly the 40v does better. Yes they are similar in price, another direct comparison.
Milwaukee is built for contractors using it daily so I’m not sure where the perceived durability problem comes from.

Also I don’t own a Milwaukee drill or a lite flite… So I’m not trying to tell you what I bought is best. I’ve just seen and used both side by side and don’t see what the dedicated electric ice auger does better. So I’m still confused about how it “crushes” drill augers.

I run the Milwaukee Fuel on a K drill with 5amp batteries. I have x3 5 amp batteries and x1 8 amp battery. To be 100% honest, the 8amp has never been on the drill as I haven’t needed it. The K Drill is less efficient (but more durable with redrilling holes and dirty ice) than some bits, but still allows probably ~30 holes through 14″ of ice on a 5 amp battery. This setup with a drill (and any lightweight auger) is still the way to go for me and most people who aren’t drilling through 3′ of ice.

Gilgetter wrote:

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

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Gilgetter wrote:</div>
Bottom line on the subject, I am a hole hopper who is on foot almost all the time. The drill augers main advantage is they save weight. The lithium Augers will crush any drill setup hands down….most also weighs more than a gas auger. Pay no attention to the people who say that they can get a hundred holes out of any drill setup, its nonsense.

What makes you say the lithium augers will “crush” a drill setup? Aside from ergonomics and looking like a traditional ice auger, I’m not sure I see an advantage. From what I’ve seen first hand they drill about the same speed and a 12ah Milwaukee battery has more reserve capacity than a Strikemaster 5ah. Of course there are other factors at play but the amount of holes each can drill on 1 charge will be similar at worst.

Strikemaster 36v*5ah = 180 watt hours
ION G2 36v*6ah = 216 watt hours
Milwaukee 18v*12ah = 216 watt hours

There are more factors to consider when making a decision aside from drilling speed and reserve capacity of batteries on paper.

And you are comparing a 12ah battery to a 5ah battery? Seems like a good way to start off a fair comparison.

My argument is that a lot of folks have gone a little overboard trying to make an argument for an item simply because that what they decided to purchase.

Many people don’t have 12ah batteries for their drill.. if they do it ads considerable weight and cost to the equation which would further diminish any advantage the drill setup offered in the first place.

I also know the longevity of a drill running augers isn’t great. I’ve smoked a drill already on my unit and I’m using a clam plate which offers some level of gearing advantage.

Lithium Augers have gearing and are engineered for the specific purpose of being augers. Cordless drills were never designed for this purpose and they are under significant stress. I think most of these augers will be around for many many years.

I am not putting down drill augers in the least. They do have their place but I’m saying that with lighter lithium auger options coming out I think the main advantage of the drill setups which was weight savings is no longer such an advantage.

A Strikemaster lithium will legit drill 100 holes on a single battery. I’ve never gotten more than 30 out of a battery on my drill setup which also runs a 5ah battery.

If I didn’t already own my drill setup I think I buy the new SM 24v

^I completely disagree. The huge advantage to drills is having a durable tool and batteries that you can use year round on countless things. The Strikemaster is great at 2 things. Drilling holes in the ice, and collecting dust the other 8 months of the year.

thats the rub for me. the proprietary battery that i can do nothing else with. i’ve been burned twice by strikemaster not being able to get parts for something because they’ve moved past the product i bought. there will be new milwaukee tech but the batteries will still be available. Heck i can still buy XRP dewalt batteries if i want.

hnd wrote:

thats the rub for me. the proprietary battery that i can do nothing else with. i’ve been burned twice by strikemaster not being able to get parts for something because they’ve moved past the product i bought. there will be new milwaukee tech but the batteries will still be available. Heck i can still buy XRP dewalt batteries if i want.

that would be my worry as well especially since SM came out with ANOTHER electric auger…I bet one goes away shortly leaving some stuck. Great Augers no doubt but I’d guess SM will change augers every few years. If the past has shown us anything about SM electric augers….what number are they on??? LOL

20v Dewalt on an 8” nils is hard to beat. I can cut plenty of holes all day with it. And if the drill craps the bed, I have the best hand auger on the market to keep me fishing. The Ion and SM augers are definitely sweet set-ups, but useless for the off season. I can always find a project around the house for the drill.

ClownColor wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>hnd wrote:</div>
thats the rub for me. the proprietary battery that i can do nothing else with. i’ve been burned twice by strikemaster not being able to get parts for something because they’ve moved past the product i bought. there will be new milwaukee tech but the batteries will still be available. Heck i can still buy XRP dewalt batteries if i want.

that would be my worry as well especially since SM came out with ANOTHER electric auger…I bet one goes away shortly leaving some stuck. Great Augers no doubt but I’d guess SM will change augers every few years. If the past has shown us anything about SM electric augers….what number are they on??? LOL

Ooops

This one

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skunked wrote:

I managed to seize up a DeWalt 20V (not brushless) last spring, probably had about 35 holes drilled when it went. Had plenty of power though!

Because it wasn’t the right type of drill.

This is will be year 8 on my Milwaukee Fuel hammer drill. Used both winter and summer. No clam plate. Same drill use some of the same batteries but also have upgraded to some larger size batteries over the years as I have bought other tools and yard equipment. I have drilled 1000’s of holes through ice and wood. Just sayin.

1200 ft lbs of torque will tow a semi truck and trailer…LOL. very easy.

I use the Ryobi brushless hammer drill. I think it’s 750 in # of torque and it works fine. We drilled some 30″ ice on LOTW with it last January. I wouldn’t ncessarily recommend it but the drill handled it fine.

The Milwaukee is probably the best option but I like the Ryobi because they don’t change battery design. You can also get a 9AH battery now. If you have Ryobi 1+ tools at home it’s a good option, especially for early ice.

I use an 8″ k drill with it.

Bearcat89 wrote:

hat would be my worry as well especially since SM came out with ANOTHER electric auger…I bet one goes away shortly leaving some stuck. Great Augers no doubt but I’d guess SM will change augers every few years.

Here’s some info I can share based on recent conversation with the good folks at Strikemaster. Both the 24V and the 40V are here to stay. Neither will be phased out. When new batteries are released Strikemaster is committed to reverse compatibility with existing powerheads.

Carry on…

slipperybob wrote:

1200 ft lbs of torque will tow a semi truck and trailer…LOL. very easy.

Lol…too bad drills are inch pounds and not foot pounds

My head is spinning faster than your drill-I’m about to switch to electric mostly because I like the idea of a light drill because I hike in to lakes and then do a lot of hole hopping. The strikemaster has a switch that will quickly reverse to shoot out the slush-does that work? And is that easily done with a drill too?
WEIGHT-do I gain a lot of weight going from the 5ah to the 12? Would I be better off w/2 5ah, givin that for probably half the season one 5ah is sufficient, do you have to worry about keeping your back up warm? BTW I will probably get the SM lite flight 6”
Thanks

tim hurley wrote:

WEIGHT-do I gain a lot of weight going from the 5ah to the 12? Would I be better off w/2 5ah, givin that for probably half the season one 5ah is sufficient, do you have to worry about keeping your back up warm? BTW I will probably get the SM lite flight 6”
Thanks

5ah 1.8 lb vs 12ah 3.4 lb so basically twice the weight. I think it comes down to how often you think you’ll need more than the one 5ah battery. A backup battery would need to be relatively warm when you want to use it so you would need to be cognizant of how you store it. 5ah is probably more useful off the ice unless you have some large tools.
Another option is the newer 8ah battery that is closer in size and weight to the 5sh battery but with more capacity.

Thanks, got me thinking about the 8!