My new toy.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Yep a clam drill plate.

[Brad B]

I think you will really like it. I like mine except I made the mistake of getting the light duty drill for it. I plan to upgrade to a heavy duty drill this year and use it all season instead of the gas auger unless I am chasing pike then I will use the gas auger for the larger holes.

[hamms-scooter]

Looks nice

[SlavetodaBox]

I purchased the Nil's Masters version of that last year and I'm quit happy. Is it a 6 or 8 inch blade? Mine is the 6" and it seems to be all I need for most any type of fishing.

[AndRo]

Wish I could trade mine in for the newer model

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I got the heavier dewalt 18volt xrp hammer drill, and an after market 4amp lithium ion battery comming. I had an 8in ht shaver bit I'm going to try and see how it works. I heard that 7in shavers work fine, so if the 8in seems like its to much I might try a 7in. Either that or I'll upgrade to a brushless drill like the milwakee 18volt. I've seen a couple clips on utube of it running 8in augers with no problem.

[Jarrid Houston]

Youll love it!, especially for early season...

[mallardnwalleye]

Sweeeet! I am making the switch from gas to electric this year as well. Can't wait to compare notes on the best combos.

[Queenswake]

I'm going to be a late adopter on this. I am just not a big believer on battery anything. I've been burned too many times with batteries that konk out just when you need them the most. Heck, at home I still use a corded drill most of the time.

Yes, gas augers are a pain to lug around. Yes, the gas they need is also a pain to lug around. But they work all day every day.

However, definitely post a report this season to let us know how you like it. One of the most fun things about ice fishing is all the gear so I know how pumped up you must be.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I'm going to be a late adopter on this. I am just not a big believer on battery anything. I've been burned too many times with batteries that konk out just when you need them the most. Heck, at home I still use a corded drill most of the time.

Yes, gas augers are a pain to lug around. Yes, the gas they need is also a pain to lug around. But they work all day every day.

However, definitely post a report this season to let us know how you like it. One of the most fun things about ice fishing is all the gear so I know how pumped up you must be.

You still use corded drills? I havent used a corded drill in 15years.I didnt think anyone used them anymore.

[Esox_Magnum]

As a guy who uses cordless tools at work. I won't trust one to drill 100 holes a day. What do you have money wise tied up in the whole unit? How much are batteries when you need to replace in a year or 2. What happens when you forget the drill is laying out by the shack in 6" of water?.... I'll stick with my 21 pound gas auger....

[AndRo]

I used mine all season last year... not just early and late ice. Worked great! Worst part of the whole deal was removing the chuck off of my drill.

[Lawrence Luoma]

As a guy who uses cordless tools at work. I won't trust one to drill 100 holes a day. What do you have money wise tied up in the whole unit? How much are batteries when you need to replace in a year or 2. What happens when you forget the drill is laying out by the shack in 6" of water?.... I'll stick with my 21 pound gas auger....

From a guy who has 5000 plus holes last season on my DeWalt XR 20V Hammerdrill. You can assume all you want!! There were many days last season that I was well over 300 holes a day scouting for tournaments. I am interested though on what the difference will be between he'll see in his 18v vs my 20v.

[Lawrence Luoma]

Andro, you need to invest in the extension.

[AndRo]

Andro, you need to invest in the extension.

I got it a few days after that video.

[Esox_Magnum]

But that $300 drill won't last 30 years. Sooner or later a battery will need replaced as well as the drill. We are lucky to get 3 years out of a tool. Both personal and company owned.

[UPOW]

Buy a Rigid from Home Depot everything is covered for life.

[clayton08]

I used the rigid last year after 30 holes it started smoking a lil bit so brought it back and got the 20v DeWalt hammerdrill. Pretty sure me and lawrence have the same drill. I bought mine after watching lawrence all year run around and out drill me and looked a heck of a lot easier. I bought it with about 3 feet of ice left and had no problem drilling 20 holes on a 3.0 amp battery. This year I see they got 5.0 which makes it the best drill ever. I plan on using it all season I run a 6'' lazer on mine I would recommend this thing to anyone the easiest auger ever to use had my 10 year old nephew drilling grids for me! plus if you get stuck put it in reverse! Good luck.

[ClownColor]

I imagine for most that this auger is paired with a gas auger in the garage? Not saying it's good or bad but from what I've seen / read, this really only works good with small augers and early/late season ice. By no means should this be someones only/primary auger...unless you only target pan fish or want to try 20 or less holes in the deep of winter.

[JoeMX1825]

The whole battery vs gas auger debate always goes back & forth because gas guys forget what the battery augers are meant for (40 holes or less) If you're a guy who typically drills 100 holes a day then YES, the gas auger is best. For those who either have a perm shack or know the spots they will be fishing and drill less than 40 holes, you can't come up with any argument that says gas is better than battery...

For those thinking about the Adapter Plate, my real world experience with the setup was nowhere near what the Clam sponsored guys are talking about. If trying to use it for anything besides early ice (less than 6") you're gonna burn up your drill very quickly...I'm not hating on Clam (I loved the concept and was one of the first to buy one) but they need to do a better job of informing users on it's capabilities and limitations.

and for those who will reply back with the whole keeping the battery warm argument, this can be easily solved by either keeping the battery in a coat pocket (free) or buying a soft sided lunch box and a few reusable hand warmers ($10)

[icehole10]

From a guy who has 5000 plus holes last season on my DeWalt XR 20V Hammerdrill. You can assume all you want!! There were many days last season that I was well over 300 holes a day scouting for tournaments. I am interested though on what the difference will be between he'll see in his 18v vs my 20v.

300 holes a day? How many batteries do you carry with you, and what was the ice thickness? I only ask because I have never used or even seen one in action, but I would have a very hard time believing this was done with one, or even six fully charged batteries. I have a 18v dewalt heavy duty hammer drill that I absolutely love, but when drilling in concrete to set a couple of anchors, i'm lucky to get two holes out of a fully charged battery. Not trying to start anything, just curious. Thanks

[Lawrence Luoma]

icehole, come out to any UPL this season and check it out for yourself. I was running 4 batteries last season. I am planning on carrying six just because when it got real thick in March I finally ran through all 4 on tourney day. This season I'm running the new brushless and the 5Ah batteries so it should be even better. Believe me your now going to be seeing more of these at the UPL, NAIFC and Team Extreme tournaments because the of the performance I had with it. My setup last season was the DeWalt XR 20v 4Ah batteries.

[Lawrence Luoma]

The whole battery vs gas auger debate always goes back & forth because gas guys forget what the battery augers are meant for (40 holes or less) If you're a guy who typically drills 100 holes a day then YES, the gas auger is best. For those who either have a perm shack or know the spots they will be fishing and drill less than 40 holes, you can't come up with any argument that says gas is better than battery...

For those thinking about the Adapter Plate, my real world experience with the setup was nowhere near what the Clam sponsored guys are talking about. If trying to use it for anything besides early ice (less than 6") you're gonna burn up your drill very quickly...I'm not hating on Clam (I loved the concept and was one of the first to buy one) but they need to do a better job of informing users on it's capabilities and limitations.

and for those who will reply back with the whole keeping the battery warm argument, this can be easily solved by either keeping the battery in a coat pocket (free) or buying a soft sided lunch box and a few reusable hand warmers ($10)

Joe, check out the comments above. I'm well over 5000 holes on my setup (DeWalt XR 20v Hammerdrill) last season and that's tournament proven. As Clayton said in his post he watched me all day long drill holes and went out to get one himself after it. He's not a Clam guy. If you burned up a drill then you got what you paid for because any good drill the would have been under warranty.

[fiskyknut]

He's not a Clam guy ?? The hat bibs and shirt he's wearing in his avatar would lead me to believe and tink otherwise LOL! Perhaps he's not one of their compensated endorsers though.

This auger type thing mentioned by the OP with a top shelf drill will probably work okay and maybe even great for the cat being he's down there in Iowa where the ice don't get real thick real often. He probaly does his share of Panfishing where a 5 or 6 inch hole can get you by. Here on the LOTW I don't think it'd cut the mustard, the 2 I saw in action last year anyways were epic fails.

For the money ones gonna have to lay out for the auger deally-bob, a top shelf drill and 2-3-4-5 extra batteries iffin I was wanting an electric auger that Ion unit with a Clam adjustable extention would probably be what I'd be looking at.. Even if as Northlander said some time back they kinda look like a 'training auger' !!

[outdoors247]

Just out of curiosity what kind of money do you have to outlay for a good hammer drill and 6 batteries? My quick research shows just south of a grand for the drill, 6 batteries, and the plate. I was debating on buying one this year but at that kind of price I'll hold off a couple more years to see if the price comes down on the components. Good idea but the cost for all the batteries seems like it will discourage a few people.