8" vs. 9" drill

[pontiac787]

I have a 2 h.p. Jiffy model 76 with a 9" blade.  I bought it back when I thought a 9" hole had to be superior to anything smaller.  Now I wonder if I should have opted for the 8" drill.  Would the smaller bit have any noticeable increase in drilling performance or the life span of the powerhead.

[dkfry]

The clutch and gearbox gets most of the abuse from the larger drill. The 8" will be a little easier. I have the 9" and 6" drills for mine, the 6" is obviously faster and easier to pop a hole with. Depends what time of fishing you do. When the ice gets thick and there are larger fish around the 9" is nice. One thing I do like about the 9" is I can open or even drill out 8"holes cleanly with it.

[Tbone9]

I miss my 9" auger. It just seemed a little easier to turn a fish to come up the hole. And it was no big deal if the edges of the hole froze, still had plenty of room.

[Chris338378]

I would go with the 8" because it's very common and getting replacement blades would be a lot easier especially at the local Mom and Pop shops.  Beyond that I don't see any major advantage to having a hole one inch bigger.