Drill Motor Powered Auger

[uncleshorty]

I've got a Ryobi 18 [V] P201 drill/driver speced @ 330 [inlbs] of torque.  I'll need to drive a 7 inch auger.

Will that drill motor be sufficient?

Let me know your thoughts.  Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Uncle Shorty

[mr.clean]

 Uncleshorty if you look in the Ice fishing Equipment community/board under electronics you should find a thread or two on using drill/driver to power your auger. I believe many people use the Milwaukee Fuel 18 (v) with 700 or more inch pounds of torque. They run the drill/driver using 4 amp hour or higher batteries. If you get the Clam drill plate also buy the auger extension or you may not get through the ice depending on average thickness in your area. I got to use an Ion auger last year around 12 inches of ice had to bend my knees to get hole finished and I'm only 5'9" .
Steve

[JiggerDan]

Sounds a bit under-powered. I've got an 18V Lowes Task Force drill with approximately the same specs and I wouldn't try it. Like mr.clean said, do a search and you should find tons of info.

[Spider1]

the 18v ryobi ain't gonna do it for you. It might handle a 6" or smaller auger through ice that is under a ft thick, I wouldn't want to rely on it for even early ice. I have an 18v ridgid and it is fine but you need the larger batteries to drill more than a few holes in ice over 12" thick. You want one of the more powerful drills and the biggest battery you can get. The clam plate helps keep it all together but you need to remove the  chuck to use it. Sometimes they come off easy and other times, not so much. The problem I am starting to have with the whole hand drill/auger thing is, some of these drills these days cost as much as a new power auger!

[ran7ger]

 but then you also have a boss drill   .  i got the 18v milwaukee fuel drill, impact, 3 4ah batteries and case shipped to canada for under $400.  with an 8" finbore and sharp blades it'll cut 8-10 holes in 3 feet of ice.  would like the clam plate but also use the drill at work so i've just got an adapter and 12" of floaty foam on my auger in case the bit comes loose.

[Spider1]

true, but if you use a clam plate you need to take the chuck off and goin back and forth takin it off and putting it back on would be a hassle. I made an adapter that lets me use my drill and the clamp plate without removing the chuck. But I have the smaller drill, it doesn't work with larger drills. I need to get bigger batteries cuz my drill came with the smallest one they had ( the drill and clam plate were Christmas gifts from the Mrs ). From my experience so far, once you have enough torque, it's all about the battery.

[ranger373v]

Where do I find more info on using a cordless drill. I have a 36 volt hilti hammer drill. It will put a 1" hole in about any type of block or cement in no time. Thx JimC

[BlackDogAlpha]

Look on the Maine section on drills for details. I dont know if a Hilti has been tested.

@ Spider1 (or others who have tried the Milwaukee 18v with the Clam Plate, did you try the drill without the Clam plate? Im a big guy and think I can outmuscle the torque, am i sadly mistaken?

The new Clam plates this year are supposed to allow NOT to have to remove the chuck also, vids on youtube.

Also make sure the auger will fit the Clam, Im told it wont fit a Nils without making an adapter.

[Raquettedacker]

    http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?board=73.0

[boss j]

i have the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Hammer Drill on my Clam Drill Plate. i use a 6 inch Laser Auger bit. with this drill it cuts like a dream. towards the ends of last years season i took a fresh battery and tested it to see how many holes i could get off of one battery. the ise was 20-22 inches thick but it was warming so it was softening a little bit. i got 56 holes on the one fresh battery. i also know someone that has the Dewalt 20v and they told me they get about the same.

[ranger373v]

Just got done perusing Amazon and found what I needed. The 36 v hilti may be more than I need. Looks like the 20v dealt lith ion will work fine. JimC

[tentwiststhick]

I started using the Clam Driver/Drill attachment last season with a Ryobi P270 18V lion tool and a 6" Clam auger. I never had a problem last season with hole drilling. Even as the ice got thicker as the season wore on, I always drilled 23+ holes per battery. As long as your batteries are good, and fully charged, your auger blades are at optimum sharpness; you should have no problems hole drilling, using a setup like mine above. A 7" or larger auger is obviously a different story. Battery freeze up was also a non issue. I did take some minor steps to keep the batteries out of the weather. In as far as lithium battery freeze up goes, I was always under the impression that lithium batteries were more reliable in colder temps to begin with. Maybe someone else can answer that question objectively. It's hard to tell when someone with a profit motive, ie., Dewalt and now Milwaukee, is telling you otherwise. As far as Milwaukee goes. I had rotten luck with their batteries in a NiCad tool and will never go back to their brand.