Kdrill or Nils

[Snowbound]

For those that have tried both which do you prefer and why?

Looking at the 8" augers to use with cordless drill

Edited January 15, 2017 by Snowbound

[Snowbound]

http://nilsmaster.com/website2016_010.htm

http://kdrillauger.com/8-inch-k-drill-ice-auger.html

 

Watching YouTube videos the Nils auger sure looks smoother and doesn't seem to throw the shavings as much as the Kdrill does which is a plus

 

[Snowbound]

 

[Snowbound]

Hmm, nobody has tried these augers?

[mrklean]

I have heard nothing but amazing things about the Kdrill

[Getanet]

I own a 6" Nils (the orange one) and love it. I'd recommend it to anyone.

 

However, I've never used the 8" Nils so I don't know how much more taxing that would be on a drill. I've never used the Clam Plate or the K-drill, either.

 

They K-drill looks pretty slick and I have read on HSO that many people say it works well for reopening holes. 

 

All of these models are pretty slick and I don't miss the gas auger at all.  As long as you have a good drill I think you'll be happy.

Edited January 16, 2017 by Getanet

[Workstoomuch]

I have the Nils in the 6". Amazing!!!!  Drilled 12-15 holes Saturday through 16" of ice with no obvious slowing down. I would guess about 15 seconds per hole. I'm using a Dewalt 20vMax drill.

[Jim Almquist]

I bought the Ice Master for my 8"Nils. I tried it out with my 18v Dewalt and it worked pretty good. I have 20v batteries and that is what I used but decided to get the 20v brushless model just because I know it has more power. Will report back on just how much of a upgrade it is. I have given thought to moving down to a 6" just for pannies.

[DTro]

Are you in it to win it?   If so get the Nils.  A sharp Nils is going to be faster than anything else out there of the same diameter.  Where the KDrill shines is that it’s super lightweight and the way it cuts is pretty consistent across any kind of ice conditions.   You will get more holes per battery with the Nils but keeping it sharp will be very important.    The KDrill will probably dull much slower and has a free sharpening for the life of the blades.    The Nils will probably have a hand attachment so if the drill dies you have a backup, but if the blade dulls then it doesn’t matter what attachment you have.   You have tradeoffs with both.   I don’t think there is a clear winner.

[vtx1029]

I've had the nils 8" (orange) auger for 2&1/2 seasons now. I love it. Its light & the fastest cutting auger on the ice. Down side is you can't find cutting blades at most stores and its going to cost you $100. That said I have no regrets. I had surface tension re-sharpen my blade this year just because.

 

If you have a wheel house I would say get the Blue nils because you can add an extension. The orange Nils you can't add an extension. I've never tried to re-open holes so I can't comment there.

You'll want a good hammer drill with at least 750 in lbs of torque & a 4AH battery

[th64]

Love my nils-but gas for me. Gas has 10x the power per weight as the best battery available. If  you drill a lot of holes, you want gas. Anyway they do make great blades.

[Surface Tension]

  Nils extensions go on the bottom of the auger and have the helical.  You remove the blade and put the extension on.  They are made for all models of Nils.

 

Yes of coarse I've used a Milwaukee Fuel with an 8" Nils and posted video. 

Less torque, faster,  but most importantly better battery life using the Nils.

 

.

Yes they weigh a pound or two more then the KDrill because they aren't made from plastic.

 

 If this comes down to blades well let's go there then.

Kdrill has free sharpening but takes 3 weeks.   Did you know the material taken off that type blade and mount means less bite and therefore can never cut like new.  That is also why it is up to thier discretion if your blade can be sharpened.

 

A Nils head is blade and mount and can be adjusted after sharpening to cut as new.   So a nick that would ruin the KDrill blades can be removed from the Nils and still cut like it was intended to.

I recently repaired a Nils blade that was used to dig post holes. My point is a Nils should serve its owner for a very long time. In 10 years I've dulled one Nils blade and that was from drilling into some buried trash left on the ice.

 

 

 

[Jim Uran]

The resharpening doesn't kill my vibe towards the K-drill over the Nils. Babying things aren't part of the average consumers mindset. Durability is what they want. 

 

I'm still on the hunt for an electric version that will suit my newly adapted way of fishing. If I can drill 20 holes in a day I'll be as happy as a fat kid at a cake eating contest. 

[vtx1029]

I

9 hours ago, Jim Uran said:

The resharpening doesn't kill my vibe towards the K-drill over the Nils. Babying things aren't part of the average consumers mindset. Durability is what they want. 

 

I'm still on the hunt for an electric version that will suit my newly adapted way of fishing. If I can drill 20 holes in a day I'll be as happy as a fat kid at a cake eating contest. 

No problem with that either will do that I can get around 400" of ice per 4ah battery. Eat your cake!

Edited January 18, 2017 by vtx1029

[Jim Almquist]

I purchased a 20v 986 Dewalt brushless and used it with my Nils 8" and could not believe how fast it cut. Very close to my Tanaka motor as far as speed. My plan is to use it with my 6" Nils but wanted to give it a good test and it passed with flying colors. 

[eyeguy 54]

hope to have my nills by next weekend to do some testing. 6 incher. putting it with a ryobi 600 pound torque drill with 4 amp batteries. sold the clam plate and auger. friend also use it with the milwaukee drill and same hang up issue. used an 8 inch k drill on bowstring last week with the milwaukee fuel.  opened holes nice and drilled nice. 

[Eiger0304]

Have the 8" k-drill. Bought it at the fishing show. Had it out about 8 different times and love it. No complaints.

Very light weight, drill about 20-25 holes out each time. Only on Monday did I have to use a second battery, had about 21 inches of ice. I have two 5ah batteries for it.

[MidCoast]

I've owned both the Nils 6 inch Trekker and the Kdrill 6 inch.   In my "opinion", I like the Nils over the Kdrill.   Nils has less torque when drilling, you get more holes per battery, it is faster then Kdrill,  the NIl's material is better to handle thick ice,  you could use it as a hand drill if you run out of battery, and if you get the Trekker model you can make it different lengths.   Kdrill's advantage is it is lighter and you can reopen holes since it is a chipper style blade. I don't open old holes so I sold my Kdrill. 

[Jim Almquist]

This weekend I got a chance to use the 6" Nils with my Dewalt. That was crazy fast and had both of my brothers asking more questions about the whole setup. I believe the 6" cuts faster then my 8" Nils with the Tanaka motor and I thought that was fast.

[dougger222]

I would go with the K drill. Nils don't stand behind their product.

Case in point. My cousin bought a 8in Nils Tanaka auger 3-4 years ago from Frankies. He didn't have the auger more than a couple months before the auger would no longer cut holes. It was brought in for service and they said it was not new that year but a 10 year old drill.

The Nils shaft now sits under a mailbox near Mora. The Tanaka is still going strong and it now turns a Strikemaster drill. 3 years later and not one issue with the Tanaka motor or the Strikemaster drill.

[delcecchi]

19 minutes ago, dougger222 said:

I would go with the K drill. Nils don't stand behind their product.

Case in point. My cousin bought a 8in Nils Tanaka auger 3-4 years ago from Frankies. He didn't have the auger more than a couple months before the auger would no longer cut holes. It was brought in for service and they said it was not new that year but a 10 year old drill.

The Nils shaft now sits under a mailbox near Mora. The Tanaka is still going strong and it now turns a Strikemaster drill. 3 years later and not one issue with the Tanaka motor or the Strikemaster drill.

What did Frankies have to say about it?   Something in that story just doesn't sound right.

[dougger222]

Frankies said send it in for service. Apparently they are not an authorized Nils repair facility?

[vtx1029]

So was it sent in and fixed? I would be surprised if most any bait shop sharpened blades. sounds like someone bounced the blades on the ice or cut in a road. Bet I had at least 500 holes on my blade before I sent it in for sharpening.

 

 

[Jim Almquist]

51 minutes ago, dougger222 said:

I would go with the K drill. Nils don't stand behind their product.

Case in point. My cousin bought a 8in Nils Tanaka auger 3-4 years ago from Frankies. He didn't have the auger more than a couple months before the auger would no longer cut holes. It was brought in for service and they said it was not new that year but a 10 year old drill.

The Nils shaft now sits under a mailbox near Mora. The Tanaka is still going strong and it now turns a Strikemaster drill. 3 years later and not one issue with the Tanaka motor or the Strikemaster drill.

 

 

My guess is the cutting edge is no longer sharp and thus the reason it no longer was cutting holes. All it takes is sand in the ice to dull it up real quick. All he would have had to do is send it to Surface Tension and it would have been sharpened as good or better then new. There is no manufacture that is going to guarantee that the cutting edge will be sharp forever and with the Nils all it takes is one good ding and it will not cut without a lot of effort. 

[swamptiger]

On 1/17/2017 at 7:35 AM, DTro said:

Are you in it to win it?

 

 

Might be able to get some free beer by making bets with guys with gas augers....

 

 

Not sure 15 seconds per hole versus 35 seconds per hole is going to make much difference as far as catching fish goes...

 

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2017 by swamptiger