Clam Drill plate auger

[Sikaman]

I just ordered mine, should be here any day .
Is there any tips anyone who used one of these last year can share?
I'm using a 18v ryobi lithium .
And hope to get 20+ holes per battery?
Thanks

[Tmuskie]

Mines rigged with a 20 lithium Dewalt . NO probs last season. I'm drilling with the 6" though.

[Shack man Shoney]

Place a dab of anti-seize on the chuck threads when you re-assemble the clam adapter. You will need good 3ah batteries (minimum). I kinda doubt the Ryobi is going to perform very well for this (IMO)..... Milwaukee's Fuel 18v seems to work best all around performance for the job and Ridgid has a good warranty/service agreement. Dewalt has seemed to work well too.

[wirenut45]

my mora has a stub bolt on the auger piece, and a female thread on the crank piece. anyone know the dia. and tpi of this? i,ll need to buy a nut ,n, have it welded to a piece of pipe sized for the plate piece ,n, counter drilled for the adaptor hole. thanks

[Gills-only]

Might be a 5mm which is on the clam auger

[SkiSoloII]

Rigid 18V hammer drill here. 4Ah battery delivered up to 60 holes last season with over 2' of ice in each with a 5" Lazer. I carried a backup 3Ah battery, only needed it twice all year, once at the Midwest open tourney. For about 1/2 they year I was REALLY close to bolting on the extension (but I refrained).

Dave

[Crappyfishrman]

Sure dont take long for a thread to die and another to pop up.  .:stirring the lot:. Haha

[VTWoodchuck]

I just ordered mine, should be here any day .
Is there any tips anyone who used one of these last year can share?
I'm using a 18v ryobi lithium .
And hope to get 20+ holes per battery?
Thanks

The most important spec relevant to how your drill will perform isn't the voltage or whether you have ni-cad or li-ion, though li-ion does stand up to the cold a bit better.  Your drill needs to have at least 400 lbs of torque.  I'm using my well used 18v Porter Cable ni-cad with a 6" strikemaster auger on my Clam drill plate and it works great.  We had 2' to 3'+ of ice for most of the winter last year and I was getting 20-30 holes on a battery. on skinny ice 8" to 2' I get up to 40 holes per battery which is a lot more than I usually drill.  I bring an extra battery with me and keep my batteries in my insulated lunch box with my coffee thermos and they hold up fine.  You don't need to spend a ton of money on your drill as long as it has enough torque.  I've drilled a winter's worth of holes with mine and not had any issues.

[Sikaman]

I'm right on the southern edge of good hard water.
Most years we won't get more than 8-10"
But I will look into a drill with good torque
And a 4ah bat.
Anti seize will be applied.
I like the idea of keeping the extra battery in the insulated cooler.
Thanks guys
Can't wait for some nights in the teens

[VTWoodchuck]

Your Ryobi might have enough grunt, the torque specs should be listed in you owners guide or you can find it on google? I'd try it before I spent anymore money.  If is doesn't, almost any hammer drill has more torque than a standard drill.  (just don't switch the hammer setting on ; - )  Lowes carries the Porter Cable line of drills and I've had good luck with all of Porter's tools.  I've noticed that a lot of companies aren't listing their torque ratings anymore, listing the UWO rating instead that is useless for our purposes.

[Shack man Shoney]

You should absolutely try the Ryobi that you have and being on the southern end of ice will help greatly. The smaller augers 4-5 inch will work better also if you feel comfortable with that hole size. It comes down to what a guy wants. I ran mine last season with a 18v brushed drill and 7"mora, it worked OK. The one thing that I didn't like is it would heat up and smell of burning brushes, and then shut down the battery pack. It was an annoyance more than anything else. I was looking for "gas auger" type speed and performance without the gas. I did my on-line research, talked to a tool rep buddy of mine, and ordered a brushless Milwaukee fuel drill based on its 725in/lbs of torque and increased RPM in low gear. I have not had 1 shut down yet and the battery packs don't need to be heated/insulated down to zero. It drills holes just as fast or faster as any gas auger on the market. Try the Ryobi and give us a review of how it works.