Al, I have an 8” auger, so I just cut a 5 gal bucket lid down to 9.5 in dia (so it takes up less space). I drilled I think a 1 1/8 hole so it’d barely slip over the auger. I also drilled holes in it so I could see through it. It’d have been way easier if I’d have just gone and bought a 2 gal bucket lid, but I used what I had on hand. Pic below.
3FB1CE2D-F4AF-4CA7-B8B8-1B88374BB4EE.jpeg
Someone on YouTube recently tested the 1300in-lb Ridgid and compared it to his Dewalt. Looks like he had probably the tool kicking into thermal protection mode after about 20 holes and would have to let it cool down. His older, supposedly less powerful Dewalt did not have that issue in his comparison test. Link below.
Ok, follow up on the Ryobi brushless + 8” Silvertip combo. I’ve drilled about 15 holes with it over 3 outings, and here are my findings:
1) A sharp blade makes a big difference.
2) There are 3 levels/classes Ryobi 18v lithium batteries: Lithium, Lithium+, and Lithium+HP. I have all 3 now.
3)After getting my blades sharpened I was able to drill a hole with the original 1.4Ah Lithium battery I tried earlier. I had to baby it though.
4)My 4Ah Lithium+ Battery did just fine, but slowed down a little when I went heavy on the downward pressure.
5)I just bought a 3 Ah Lithium+HP battery, and that thing never bogs down. However, it may be too much power. In 36* weather, the drill started to smell hot after drilling 2 holes in 12” of ice in quick succession. I drilled about 6 more holes over the next hour, giving the drill time to cool down in between. In 15* weather though, I drilled 3 holes quickly in 12” ice with no smell twice (I switched spots after about 4 hours.) Battery and drill held up better in the cold. Didn’t see that coming.
6) I have to use a lot of pressure to get it to cut. I think that’s characteristic of this 8” Silvertip, bc it’s that way when I hand crank too. My buddy’s 6” Silvertip requires much less pressure. Almost none actually.
My early take on this setup is it’s fine, it does what I wanted it to (Let me fish on the cheap), but for this drill I’d probably recommend staying under 8”. Go smaller, or less aggressive blades, or Pistol/K-Drill. This auger pushes the Ryobi to its limit. I don’t know how deep I’ll be able to drill with it. But the results are great while it lasts!
ED00D210-829B-4556-861C-48EA8D241DFA.jpeg
Leineman the hammer feature doesn’t matter, in fact the auger manufacturers warn against it, saying it will cause blade damage. But the hammer drills usually deliver/handle the most torque. It’s recommended to use them on the drill setting. If you have a drill/driver with at least 750 lb-in of torque, you’re probably fine.
Never heard of extreme weather batteries…you got pics and/or a model number? Thanks for the heads up.
Tom thanks for the info! You’ve validated my suspicions. What kind of depths did it do well to?
The way the Ryobi ads are worded I couldn’t tell if it was just slick marketing or if those HP batteries really let the brushless tools do harder work.
I’m just a recreational fisherman trying not to spend too much on my habit :). So if I can improve all my other tools and not have to hand drill – I’m happy getting an HP battery or two.
I have the Ryobi brushless hammer drill and just picked up a used 8” Silvertip for $30. Got the stainless steel adapter on Amazon, cut out a 5gal bucket lid to 9.5” dia. as a stop. Only tried it once on an impromptu trip, and it didn’t work well at all. It would stall out after marginal pressure, but would keep going. It managed 1.5 holes in about 12” of ice. Thankfully I brought the hand crank part JIC.
My blades could use a sharpen, and I used the small 1.4Ah battery I thought was at a decent charge level, but wasn’t fully charged. Not sure if the blades, the battery, or the drill itself was the problem. It’ll end up being a dirt cheap auger…if I can get it to work.
I’ve seen others say the Ryobis work and it does claim to have the 750 in-lbs recommended for the K-Drill and Pistol bit…so I’m going to troubleshoot when I’m back in God’s Country from visiting family in the lower 48. Ryobi is also selling those Lithium+HP batteries that claim to improve performance…that may be another rabbit hole. Anyway, I’ll report back around New Years.
