Drills for the Clam Drill Plate

[Matt Johnson]

There has been some great discussions about the new Clam Drill Plate (ice auger conversion kit) and a common question is "what drill works with the new Drill Plate" or else people also want to know how to trouble shoot the use of their drill with the new Drill Plate. So that being said, I wanted to start a topic specifically about this topic.

So... let's list out the drills you are using and how they work with the new Clam Drill Plate. Do they fit? Did you need to make any adjustments/tweaks in order to make it fit? How was the performance? This will help everyone make better decisions on which drill to buy and this will also provide some excellent feedback that I can give to the team at Clam to make potential improvements on the product...

Fire away!!

[ilovehardwater]

Great idea and great timing! I just purchased one of these combos a few weeks ago and will be buying a cordless drill this weekend to power it.

[Brad B]

I went with the Dewalt model DCD771C2. it fit the plate with out any modifications. the chuck on this is really easy to get off. the hardest part was getting the lock tight to break free on the screw in the chuck.the screw on this model has a T20 torx head. the one down side to this drill is that it comes with 2 1.3 Ah batteries so you do need to get the 3.0 AH if you want to be able to drill more holes on one charge of the battery. the 1.3's work but you naturally get less holes. I have not yet tested the total number of holes I can get on one of the 3.0 Ah batteries. the first time using this I was using the 6" Clam hand auger bit on it. I drilled 10 holes and could of drilled even more but I didn't feel I needed too that time since I was able to get on fish in those first ten holes. the second time out I tried a 8 inch on it and it cut fine but was slower which was to be expected. it's nice that it will work with a 8" bit but I think it the best performance comes from a 6" bit.

[Savage Brewer]

Makita 6347D

Its about 6 years old

18V 2.6AH Ni-MH

Had to drill custom holes for the u-bolt to go around the handle, other than that works great.

[S. Thompson]

I also went with the Dewalt DCD771C2,($99 Xmas special) however the first one burned up the second day on the ice. The drill didn't seem right out of the box. My son even commented..."Dad, are they supposed to smell like that?" We drilled about 15 holes the first day (3.0Ah battery) with no issues, other that a little smell. The second day we were on the eighth hole when the drill must have caught on fire on the inside and went up in a puff of smoke.

We took that one back and now have a replacement. It works and sounds different than the firs one. I'm going to chalk it up to bad winding's from the factory as I've never had an issue with a Dewalt drill.

Earlier I tried a 3/8" Craftsman 18v Pro, however the motor shaft is to small and does not fit the Clam adapter. I'm going to assume at this point that only 1/2" drills work and not 3/8". Maybe someone else can shed some light on 3/8" versus 1/2".

[AndRo]

Dewalt DCD985 Premium Hammer Drill 20V 3AH

Worked perfect with zero modification to the plate. The reverse thread chuck screw came out with minimal torque and the chuck came off of the drill pretty easy with a crescent wrench and a framing hammer. Performance has been great and I can't wait to get out to use it more in future weeks.

Only thing I would recommend so far would be some sort of industrial strength foam padding for your hands on the handles and throttle... in future design.

[Jim Kusuda]

DCD980

I know from the experience of having used cordless drill auger adapters that high torque cordless drills with big motors are better.

[CamozKool]

I too went with the Dewalt model DCD771C2. I switched to the SM Lazer 7" bit and found a two-pack of 4ah batteries online for 129.00...

It seems to work well... and lightens the load... Thanks Clam...

[Rod Woten]

Milwaukee M18 Fuel went on with no issues whatsoever. Fit like it was built for it.

-Rod

[Bob Hicks]

Thanks Matt for starting this thread.

I'll be looking to see if anybody is using the Ryobi 18v I have.

[cwalls]

Dewalt dcd970k 18v

Had to file plate shaft some to get the chuck screw to fit.

Works well so far !

[amateurfishing]

[Nick Avery]

Milwaukee M18 Fuel Drill with XC 4.0 batteries.

Model # 2604-20

Phillips bit for the chuck screw and everything went as planned.

Everything fit perfect. Punched 50+ holes today with an 8" bit in 5 inches of ice with zero issues. Still two bars on the battery and I left the battery on the drill the entire time I fished, about 4 hours in 10-15 deg temps. Looking forward to a lot more holes this weekend!

[Racer5039]

I picked up a 20V. Porter Cable from Lowes. ( $99.00) I should have a plate by Wed. I'll try and post a report then.

[axelman]

I just finished hooking up my Rigid Fuego 18V drill to the plate after finally getting the chuck off. Everything mounted up just right without any problems and it looks great. I will post pics and results after I test it tomorrow afternoon.

[mtheis]

Can I ask, What did you do to finally get the chuck off?

[axelman]

Same method with the Allen wrench. Let's just say the bigger the hammer the better!

[Racer5039]

I got my plate today. The Porter Cable 20V from Lowes fits great. Now I just need some ice time.

[Coryy]

Well, I hate to say this, but I am disappointed.

Now don't get me wrong it is not the fault of Clam at all. I have three Dewalt 18vdc drills that vary in age. These are the NICad style and when I went to install a drill onto my adapter I ran into several problems. The oldest one which is a first generation unit the handle sits back just a little too far to get the u-bracket on to hold the drill in place. Also the trigger cannot be depressed by the adapter because of the way it sits.

The second drill has the same issue, but it is actually a way different handle style and I didn't even attempt it.

Will the third unit which is relatively new and the one I had planned on using does not have a screw on chuck that can be easily removed. you actually have to get a special tool to remove it and even then it will not adapt properly.

I guess I am going to have to go out and buy a new drill for this application.

This is not a complaint as these are older drills and not the Lithium Ion units that are more compact. I should have checked out before I started the instal as i was working on doing a video on the installation of the drill and the assembly of the entire unit. I guess that will have to wait a bit.

Again no complaints here as the unit is solid and will work great with the right drill. I just wanted to give people a heads up to make sure that their chucks are removable and that not all the older drills will work with the system.

Keep an eye out for the video when I am finished.

[Lusid]

slight derail but HD has: DeWalt DCD771C2 20-Volt Max Lithium-Ion Cordless Drill/Driver Kit

$94.00 Free Shipping (5.00 off code is HDFIVE)

[amateurfishing]

I thought I'd add I am getting 30-40holes per battery with todays ice conditions (around 15 plus inches), im a hole hopper so ive learned each time im done drilling I take battery off & store in my SM jacket pocket, I do believe this is prolonging battery charge as well.

[BartmanMN]

Hydro on the forum sewed a little boot that fits over his battery. I'd think he could sell these things like gang busters if he wanted to.

[Coryy]

Quote:

Hydro on the forum sewed a little boot that fits over his battery. I'd think he could sell these things like gang busters if he wanted to.

Or you can use one of the purple Crown Royal bags with a chemical handwarmer in it to keep the battery warm on the drill. Of course that would mean you have to have a cocktail or two to get the bag.

[Tim Moore]

I used a Dewalt DCD771C2 and I am pretty sure I am going to burn the drill out. If I took my time it would be fine, but I can't seem to, especially when I'm guiding. I am switching it out for a DCD980 which has a bigger motot, metal transmission, and higher RPMs.

[Jmorfish]

I read a lot of these reports and looked at a lot of drills before choosing the DeWalt DCD980M2..not a compact, it came with 2, 4.0 Ah batteries. A little pricier at around $260 - 280, but I got a nice Military disc. from Lowe's..this unit fit nicely in the conversion plate, has drilled over 45 holes (so far) from the first charge like a hot knife through soft butter...drilling holes has never been so much fun! I couldn't get the chuck off, however, and the 'pro's' at our DeWalt service center had a hard time also, but did after about 10-15 mins of banging away..in doing so, the chuck was banged up pretty bad, so they gave me a new chuck, for free, along with the removal service, also for free! You can't beat that...and because of that service, and how well this DeWalt model works...well, I'd just say you can't go wrong with it.