My Clam plate install

[ready2fish]

Ended up buying a Black Friday Dewalt 20V drill to use this year, while playing around I decided it might be easier on the drill if I added a rubber tube to help protect the drill.

I have smaller hands and thought it might help keep my thumb warmer and easier to reach so i added a rubber tube to the throttle bar

Overall everything went smooth, now I need to test it on some ice

[hamms-scooter]

Good simple add ons. They should come like that.

[cwalls]

Did you have any trouble installing the drill.I tried a Dwalt 18v and can't get the chuck screw to go threw the clam shaft to attach it to the drill.

[ready2fish]

Well I had it out today , had a few fisherman near by come over and couldn't believe how good this thing works and i still cant believe it

Good job Clam

Came up with another cool idea, just need to it get in the shop and get it done

[outkast7222]

I just ordered one of these up yesterday, hopefully it will with with my Craftsman. It not I guess it's a good excuse to pick up a new Dewalt!

[jmg]

Hi Ready2fish!

Just wondering how the Clam Drill/auger is working? Was the DeWalt drill the one that H Depot was advertising? Came with 2 1.3ahr. batteries. After reading about all the woes of those who have tried various drills, the DeWalt looks like an option. Getting tired of thinking about which drill to get. Thanks for any input.

[Brad B]

I just ordered one of these up yesterday, hopefully it will with with my Craftsman. It not I guess it's a good excuse to pick up a new Dewalt!

just a heads up you might not get this to work with your Craftman. I originally bought a 19.2 volt craftman to put on the conversion plate and the problem I had was I could not get the chuck off the drill. I ended up buying the dewalt from home depot on black friday.

[IcerRon2010]

Jmg

I have a Milwaukee 18v fuel. 2 reasons. Advanced cold weather tech on battery. Can with stand colder temps.

Brushless motor.

As of last year Milwaukee was the only brand that had these things going for it.

[Brad B]

Hi Ready2fish!

Just wondering how the Clam Drill/auger is working? Was the DeWalt drill the one that H Depot was advertising? Came with 2 1.3ahr. batteries. After reading about all the woes of those who have tried various drills, the DeWalt looks like an option. Getting tired of thinking about which drill to get. Thanks for any input.

I got that dewalt from Home depot and put it on my conversion plate. the plate is great and is probably one of the best things that has hit the market in a long time. for the price of the dewalt it is the best bet for the money. the one thing I did was to get the 2 pack of the 3 AH batteries right away. the 1.3 AH will work but you won't get many holes with them. the other drill I would of got is the Makita. the thing about the Makita is that the drill ends up not sitting close to the plate like the dewalt does. this is okay but something to think about. the Makita was one of the drills tested when Clam was designning this. they also tested with the Milwaukee M18 fuel drill, a panasonic, & a rigid brand drill. there might of been a few more but these are the ones I seen on the plates in person during the Clam pro day.

[outkast7222]

just a heads up you might not get this to work with your Craftman. I originally bought a 19.2 volt craftman to put on the conversion plate and the problem I had was I could not get the chuck off the drill. I ended up buying the dewalt from home depot on black friday.

Had no problems getting the chuck off of mine, did take a few whacks with a mallet though. I think the problem I will run into with it though is the length of the drill. Should find out tomorrow when it gets here.

[amateurfishing]

the extension bar is basically a must have for this, another $15 cha-ching!

[ready2fish]

Hi Ready2fish!

Just wondering how the Clam Drill/auger is working? Was the DeWalt drill the one that H Depot was advertising? Came with 2 1.3ahr. batteries. After reading about all the woes of those who have tried various drills, the DeWalt looks like an option. Getting tired of thinking about which drill to get. Thanks for any input.

Mine is a Lowe's drill this was there black Friday Dewalt drill probbly the same drill as H D, make sure you use a #20 torx wrench, the threads are Left Hand

Removing the chuck after the screw was removed was easy and the drill fit really nice on the auger plate

[jmg]

IcerRon.

That Milwaukee drill sounds like a good one, BUT, do you have it mounted on one of these conversion plates? If so-and it was an easy install, it sounds like a real good route to go. Thanks for your input-and that of everyone else. Hope Clam didn't put these out too soon, before some of the glitches were taken care of. Would be nice if they had a list of drills that they know make for an easy install.

[IcerRon2010]

Jmg

I have the clam conversion downstairs next to my drill. I am trying to plug in a nils 4.5 inch drill bit.

Talked with the people at clam yesterday, and they have and nobody else has a adapter for a nils drill. Can't tell you how the Milwaukee fits, because of my bit situation. I did see vexilars rtk? Bit plugged up to a clam conversion and a Milwaukee fuel. I tried it, it looked alright.

I am getting ready to return everything (clam conversion plate) because of no nils adapter. Total bummer, looks like a great idea, I hope they get one real soon.

[slammer]

Those 20 volt dewalt lithium batteries are not too reliable in the cold. Battery life is cut in half if they are not warmed before use and charging.

[Brad B]

Those 20 volt dewalt lithium batteries are not too reliable in the cold. Battery life is cut in half if they are not warmed before use and charging.

this shouldn't be a issue if you keep the battery warm by putting in your pocket when not being used. the big thing is to let them fully warm up before you charge them. if you charge them when they are cold or frozen you will wreck the battery. the 20 volt dewalt was one of the drills tested by Clam and they had no issues with it.

[JoeMX1825]

I installed a Dewalt 18v XRP hammer drill on my conversion plate, had to add a few washers to get the drill handle plate higher to lineup correctly to allow the U bracket to fit, will test it out soon...