Milwaukee Fuel vs Dewalt drill for your Clam drill plate auger?

[fisherman-andy]

Before I drop the ball on a Milwaukee M18 fuel hammer drill 2604 (refurbished) or DeWalt 20V Max XR DCD995M2 & Clam drill plate im looking for some feedback from guys who have had some time with similar or same setups on the Clam drill plate.

How many holes can you drill with your Clam drill plate auger on a single charged battery?

Please mention the brand of hand drill, battery size and brand/size of auger used; thank you!

6" drill bit - how many holes?

7" drill bit - how many holes?

8" drill bit - how many holes?

[Brad B]

I don't have hard numbers yet but I did just switch to the Dewalt 995 this year. I tried to run the Dewalt 771 on the plate last year and it was too light duty of drill for the plate. I only punched 10 holes with the 995 Wednesday when I went out to test thickness on some area lakes but know I could get atleast 40 to 60 holes on that battery. haven't had a chance to get out fishing with it yet do to having surgery on my wrist yesterday but I plan to use the 995 and plate as my main auger this year. I will have hard numbers at the end of the season. the one thing I will say about the 995 is that the chuck does come off hard. I had to really beat on it and ended up needing help to finally get it off. the other thing to remember to do regardless of which drill you end up getting is to put anti seize on the threads before you screw the adapter on. if you don't the adapter will seize on to the drill and you will not be able to remove it if you ever want to put the chuck back on in the off season or switch out drills in the future.

as for the auger part of the setup I run a 6 inch Clam hand auger (same as a lazer). I do have a 8 inch lazer but I don't think I am going to try it as it takes an additional 25% more torque then the 6 inch. this could lead to premature wear on the drill. the plate was designed around a 6 inch auger.

as for batteries I have 2 of the 3 ah batteries but plan to buy 2 of the 5 ah battery sometime soon. with the 3ah battery through ice that is 1 to 1 1/2 feet thick I am guessing 40 to 60 holes are possible. like I said before I will get actual number from my set up once my wrist heals and I get out there.

[fisherman-andy]

Thanks Brad, I look forward to some of those numbers. I wasnt able to find any refurbish models for Dewalt 995m2, I may be going with Milwaukee fuel M18 hammer as the extra $100 saving could be used for an extra battery in the next week or two unless something changes my mind.

Im seeing good reviews for both drills; but the Milwaukee sounds like its a little more better at taking a beating on the long run. My goal is to use 6" on it; but be able to at least use a 7" for walleyes. Ive seen a few videos of the 8" Nils, 8" Finbore and 7" Lazer. I think a 8" Nils would be much of a issue for this type of setup due to that the blades on the Nils cut almost effortlessly. If I can get at least hundred 8" holes a day on 3 high capacity batteries I will sell the Gas Auger lol. The only problem I would see is on 2-3 trips and having to recharge the batteries.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Thanks Brad, I look forward to some of those numbers. I wasnt able to find any refurbish models for Dewalt 995m2, I may be going with Milwaukee fuel M18 hammer as the extra $100 saving could be used for an extra battery in the next week or two unless something changes my mind.

Im getting seeing good reviews for both drills; but the Milwaukee sounds like its a little more better at taking a beating on the long run. My goal is to use 6" on it; but be able to at least use a 7" for walleyes. Ive seen a few videos of the 8" Nils, 8" Finbore and 7" Lazer. I think a 8" Nils would be much of a issue for this type of setup due to that the blades on the Nils cut almost effortlessly. If I can get at least hundred 8" holes a day on 3 high capacity batteries I will sell the Gas Auger lol. The only problem I would see is on 2-3 trips and having to recharge the batteries.

Should be able to do what you want with little to no problem. I'm keeping the gas auger this year and if my clam plate does what I want, the gas is gonna get sold. I havent done it, but some guys have a battery charger in the pickup for the milwaukee drill. I'm gonna see if the inverter will run my milwaukee charger. I put a 7in on the clam plate.......more holes and can't really tell the difference unless I'm right next to an 8in hole.

[Crappyfisherman]

I have the Milwaukee Fuel (2604) 4 amh batteries and Clam Plate. Last year I used it almost all winter with a 6 inch Mora. Got up to 35 holes in 36 inches of ice on 1 battery and still had juice left. Yesterday I put a 7 inch Mora on it and got 80 holes in 4 inches of ice and had 3 bars left on the battery. It was 40 degrees out but that's still pretty good. The Milwaukee Fuel model 2604 has 725 inch pounds of torque and turns at 550 rpm on the low speed setting which puts it in the same class as a gas auger. My buddy wasn't ready for it when I let him try it yesterday, good thing he was wearing cleats. I wouldn't use this drill without the Clam Plate. Makita just came out with a drill that puts out 1090 inch pounds.

[amateurfishing]

Have dewalt 995 & 20v battery, died after 3rd outing yesterday. Dont have actual count (50/day) with 6 inch auger and 4-5 inches of ice. It is absolutely perfect for these conditions.

[dust_stl]

Hi

Dumb question. Im planning on converting from gas auger to a drill/plate. Does that clam plate adapter work on any size of auger? I see you guys talking about 6" and 7" just wanted to make sure the clam plate will work for my 5" lazer

thanks

[PierBridge]

Yes the 5" will work.

Dewalt has really gone down hill in their drill products.

The name recognition is what keeps them rolling.

I'm going Milwaukee for sure this year.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Hi

Dumb question. Im planning on converting from gas auger to a drill/plate. Does that clam plate adapter work on any size of auger? I see you guys talking about 6" and 7" just wanted to make sure the clam plate will work for my 5" lazer

thanks

Yes it should work, and the milwaukee can run up to an 8in auger. The Setup with smaller augers is common for people wanting to get more holes. Your 5in would get a crazy amount of holes.

[Brad B]

Hi

Dumb question. Im planning on converting from gas auger to a drill/plate. Does that clam plate adapter work on any size of auger? I see you guys talking about 6" and 7" just wanted to make sure the clam plate will work for my 5" lazer

thanks

as long as your 5 inch lazer is the hand auger it will work. augers from gas power heads will not fit on the plate. I run a 6 inch on mine now and I am thinking of going to a 5 inch myself. the advantage of a 5 inch hole when fishing gills and crappie is that one you get them started up the hole they have little room to come undone and turn around and go back down the hole. they have no choice but to swim to the top of the hole first before they flip themselves and go back down the hole.

[Crappyfisherman]

I think he wanted to know if a power auger shaft will fit on a Clam Plate. I think the shaft on the power auger is to big for the Clam Plate adapter shaft.

[dust_stl]

thanks for all your replies. I have 5" lazer hand auger and want to get the converter. It really doesn't mention in the product description what sizes of augers it works with. I assumed all but just wanted to double check before I purchased. almost all the time I just use my 5" since Im a pan fisherman, I have pulled some pretty big walleye and pike thru a 5" hole as well. If it works as good as good as Im reading I see myself selling my Nils next year. I ice fish northern IL/ southern WI rarely ever pop more than 20-25 holes in a day and are ice normally is not as thick so I think this drill deal is going to be my new go to.

thanks again for your guys help and quick replies.

[aanderud]

One thing that's keeping me on the fence a bit is the all-weather nature of a gas auger compared to one of these electric drills. What do y'all do with your auger while you're fishing if it's drizzling or snowing out? I normally will just throw my auger back onto my snowmobile auger bracket and leave it there any time it's not in use, and even if it's snowing out I don't worry a single bit about it, but with electric I might. Do you bring it into the house with you? Or do you have some kind of cover for the drill? I guess a plastic bag of some kind would work. Maybe something like a kayaking dry bag.

[uglystick007]

Hey, Can you clarify if you broke your drill or you need to recharge your battery after drilling 150 holes.

[amateurfishing]

I have no problem leaving the drill out and keep 2 spare batteries in my giant strikemaster coat pockets. But when ice goes over 12" I go to my 8" gas magnum lll 49 cc cause of old reliable gas durability and bigger hole for bigger fish.

[aanderud]

Hey, Can you clarify if you broke your drill or you need to recharge your battery after drilling 150 holes.

I think it's pretty much implied that he had to recharge the battery. If he broke his drill, he wouldn't have followed it up with "it's perfect for these conditions".

[MuskieJunkie]

Before I drop the ball on a Milwaukee M18 fuel hammer drill 2604 (refurbished) or DeWalt 20V Max XR DCD995M2 & Clam drill plate im looking for some feedback from guys who have had some time with similar or same setups on the Clam drill plate.

How many holes can you drill with your Clam drill plate auger on a single charged battery?

Please mention the brand of hand drill, battery size and brand/size of auger used; thank you!

6" drill bit - how many holes?

7" drill bit - how many holes?

8" drill bit - how many holes?

If you get any straight answers on this I think they will be all over the board. There are a lot of variables. Battery size, ice depth, blade sharpness etc...

I can tell you an 8" bit will get you about half the holes of a 6", a similar question came up last season and this is what I posted about it:

The bigger bits have to cut more ice so they will lose speed and use more battery. In theory the area of each hole should tell us how much more power they will need:

6" hole = 113 sq inches of area

7" = 154

8" = 201

So an 8" bit will get 56% of the performance of a 6". (113/201)

A 7" will get 73%. (154/201)

So if you get 40 holes on one battery with a 6" bit you should get about 22 with an 8".

[Iceboy]

Just an FYI for those looking to run Dewalt setups - you can pick up nice, brushless 995 Dewalt drill bodies for around $75 on the electronic bay if you don't want to commit your regular drill to auger duty all winter (since it sounds like the chucks are a pain to remove/reattach?).

Just search for New DeWalt DCD995 20V Max XR Brushless - looks like people pull them out of kits and just sell them standalone.

[Brad B]

Just an FYI for those looking to run Dewalt setups - you can pick up nice, brushless 995 Dewalt drill bodies for around $75 on the electronic bay if you don't want to commit your regular drill to auger duty all winter (since it sounds like the chucks are a pain to remove/reattach?).

Just search for New DeWalt DCD995 20V Max XR Brushless - looks like people pull them out of kits and just sell them standalone.

the only thing that makes it worth it is if you already have the batteries and charger. if you do then there are deals to be had out there on the 995. if you don't have the batteries and chargers then it will be more of course but if you shop around online you can still find deals on the batteries and chargers. the thing that I need to pick up yet is a couple of the 5ah batteries, I run the 3ah ones now but want to upgrade to the higher capacity batteries.

[dougger222]

I upgraded this year from Dewalt 18v to Milwaukee fuel 18v.

After burning up 2 drills and busting a reciprocating saw in half decided it was time.

I gave the dewalt drill to my wife for hanging pictures.

[hydro]

An option nobody has mentioned is to simply use the drill attached directly to the auger with the drill chuck, on an adaptor like the Ice Master. It's a simple option, extremely light weight, drills the same number of holes and will cost you about $30.00 excluding the drill. I have been using this setup for several years now.

[MNice]

The bigger bits have to cut more ice so they will lose speed and use more battery. In theory the area of each hole should tell us how much more power they will need:

6" hole = 113 sq inches of area

7" = 154

8" = 201

So an 8" bit will get 56% of the performance of a 6". (113/201)

A 7" will get 73%. (154/201)

May want to double check the math. A square 10" x 10" hole is only 100 square inches.

radius squared * pi = area

6" hole: 3*3*3.14=28.26 square inches

7" hole: 3.5*3.5*3.14 = 38.47 square inches

8" hole: 4*4*3.14 = 50.24 square inches

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Umm.....the math on your 7in is off a bit. I think you mean 38.47

[MNice]

Umm.....the math on your 7in is off a bit. I think you mean 38.47

Math right....typing is wrong.

Thanks!!

[MuskieJunkie]

You're right, I screwed up the areas (was using centimeters instead of inches) but because we're talking about percentages the end result is still the same.