Cordless drill on a hand auger?

[leakywaders]

Okay, I talked to a guy who was using an 18 volt Makita on a 6" Lazer hand auger and he said it worked great. Right there he drilled a couple holes in no time flat through about 18 inches of ice. Looked sweet.

So, is anyone out there using a cordless electric drill on a hand-auger bit? If so, how does in perform, i.e., how many holes can you drill with it through thick ice, etc...?

NOT interested in getting a gas auger or an electric auger such as the IceGator.

Brian

[Chnginthhofl]

The big auction site has them.

[hamms-scooter]

They sell a 36volt and an adapter with a "T" bar on it so if the auger comes out of the chuck it will hit the top of the ice and you won't have to cry from losing your auger. vexs tv program online has it on there extra footage!

[leakywaders]

Thanks, but I was just wondering if anyone uses a cordless drill attached to a hand auger, and how it works for them.

I've found some reports on a couple other message boards. This setup sounds mediocre at best, but I'm still interested in hearing comments from anyone who uses it.

Wish I could just pick up a Nils 6" hand auger somewhere around the metro!

Brian

[TSchultz]

The C store normally has 6" Nils hand augers.

[Neighbor_guy]

Realisticly the auger bit on the cordless is realy limmitied to a 6" bit. 8" or above and you begin to loose some of the benifit of it.

That being said I use a 6" mora hand auger bit with the adaptor for my 18volt dewalt for panfish. I love it. It will out drill my 8" jiffy. I get 25 holes out of one battery threw 8" of ice. I dont realy use it if "hole hopping" is the plan of the day, but 6,8,10 holes yea toss it in.

Shallow water panfishing..... cant be beat.

Just be carefull, You need to run it in Low gear with the clutch turned to "drill", and be prepared to break your arms if the bit catches, it hurts like a bugger.

Laser and Nils are better choices than the mora, but with good sharp blades the mora works too.

[leakywaders]

Thanks for the info, guys.

Right now I have a 5" Mora and drilling holes by hand in ice up to 12 inches doesn't really bother me. In fact, it's pretty easy.

I was kind of hoping that somebody was having good success in thicker ice with the cordless drill. I guess if it was that great, everybody would have one.

The "big C" online is out of the Nils augers. I'll call the MN stores and see if they have any in stock.

Thanks again.

Brian

[Zoob]

I would imagine you could get it to work fine, but you also run the risk of snapping your wrists off when the auger blades bite. =)

[Dozer]

I made an adaptor and tried it with a 19.6v Craftsman and a 18v Ryobi on a 8" Mora and it didnt work very well at all! Maybe with 6" of ice it would be fine but any more than that it was a waist of time.

[heat checker]

Good lithium batteries are a must. To avoid the "wrist snap",hold drill against your left leg once you get a good start on the hole.

[CJH]

I used a Ryobi 18v drill/nicad batteries/6in lazer drill and could about a dozen holes w/12 in ice. The nicad's don't like the cold, so I would think that with the new Lithium batteries out now, you should be able to get at least double the amount of holes. I like the weight and ease of use of the setup, just didn't quite fit my needs as I like to drill alot of holes. (bought a lazer mag express)

I would consider it a good early/late ice setup, or even if you were just drilling a few holes for the perm or were just going to sit on one or two spots. Definitely would get a good auger (Nils/Lazer) and Lithium batteries. As the batteries capacity keeps expanding the performance of this setup should go up substantially (as the battery is really the limitation of the rig).

[Mike89]

I have a 6 inch and use my 19.2 volt drill, love it!!!