Milwaukee Fuel Questions...

[ejdelvo28]

I've got a new Milwaukee drill currently in transit.  Got a great deal on the 2704-22 hammer drill with a free third battery. So, questions for those that run these drills as augers:

-Has anyone ever actually lost their auger down the hole?  If so, do you know what exactly happened?
-Does the handle stay on securely even when pushing down, or does it slip off on occasion?
-Does the drill itself need to stay warm just as the batteries do, or can I bring the batteries in the house and leave the drill outside attached to the auger?

[mealworm]

The chucks get warn out eventually and the bit will actually slide out of drill/chuck and sink to bottom of lake

[perch_stalker]

I have the Milwaukee Fuel paired up with a 8" Kdrill. The float would stop the auger from sinking to the bottom. Other augers, if they don't already have a plate to prevent them from dropping, I would weld one on.
I have never had a problem with the auger coming loose from the drill. I don't use reverse, because I think that will give it a better chance of coming loose if anything, but I flush out the holes in forward, and it does just as good of a job at cleaning out the holes. No need for an ice scooper. I have never had my handle slide off the drill. Every now and then it does wiggle loose a bit, but then I just give it a good crank to tighten it up again.
I recommend keeping both the batteries and drill semi warm. They claim that the batteries aren't supposed to lose power in the cold, but I have noticed a few less holes on average when the batteries are cold vs warm. I also think it helps to keep the drill warm, but I have used the drill after it was stored in the cold, and it seems like the first hole or two, the drill seems lazy, but after it warms up, it works great!

[Ice Scratcher]

Most commercially made drill adapters have a means of saving the bit, should it fall out..

Drills don't care how cold it is, it's the batteries...

<°)))>{

[BlackDogAlpha]

If you use a Nils orange, it has a wider than the hole plate at the top. Some of the others have a retention strap or plate as well. Keep the batteries in a coat pocket if its crazy cold. I never remember, I leave them on the auger in my truck in all weather, never had a problem.

[FishinDJ]

I'm running the orange Nils with my Milwaukee and the auger has a larger diameter disk on top than the bit so it wont go down the hole. That being said, once or twice this season I had the auger drop out of the chuck because I put it on in a hurry and didn't line up things and tighten it fully

The handle on the Milwaukee itself stayed solid from the day I put it on, but I would check it from time to time when getting on the ice just to be sure it was tight.

As for the batteries I was really amazed at how well they handled the cold. I keep a spare on me but always recharge them at night. Never burned through 2 fresh batteries on the ice...yet.

[52isntbigenough]

I've got a new Milwaukee drill currently in transit.  Got a great deal on the 2704-22 hammer drill with a free third battery. So, questions for those that run these drills as augers:

-Has anyone ever actually lost their auger down the hole?  If so, do you know what exactly happened?
-Does the handle stay on securely even when pushing down, or does it slip off on occasion?
-Does the drill itself need to stay warm just as the batteries do, or can I bring the batteries in the house and leave the drill outside attached to the auger?

1) No, but I only have about 100 or so holes with my KD8 and Fuel 18.
2) I noticed that the handle does come loose fairly easy, I can feel when it does. My solution to this and possibly #1 is the Clam plate next season.
3) Drill is fine outside. Not sure how weatherproof it is, but I've brought mine in if it was raining or snowing.

[3300]

use the ice master auger adapter to save your bit from the drink (normally). it doesn't matter what drill you bought.
the battery specs for cold tolerance should be on milwaukee's site. my ridgid batteries are the same and do well. if it's below zero i am in some heat any way and make my holes first. you can bring one in your shack so you know you can make more holes if you stay in it for a long time and then decide to move. my older ni-cad batteries did have to stay warm. new versions have to really cold to drain them like below zero for some time.

use blue loc-tight on any part you don't want to come loose.

i keep my ridgid drill in menards bags that are doubled up and twist the holes smaller to go over the chuck then pull it over the drill and then twist the last handle/loop to take up some slack and make the loop smaller then slip it over the aux. handle. then take the bungee cord from the adapter and pull it over it all and you set except for the chuck.

i have lost a bit once recently because one time my auger slipped down into the hole ( keep it standing up in a hole if the ice is too thin to keep it standing in a partial hole) and got the chuck wet. the lack of ice this year has been the pits! the next hole i made the fiber washer that holds the bungee snapped on top of my hand
i didn't think much of it and the i left the drill in the vehicle. next day i went fishing and went to add the bit and the chuck had water freeze inside and i heard a crunching sound tightening it up, still not thinking much about what had happened the day before. went to drill a hole and made it and tried to pull the bit back out of the hole and the bit kept twisting down and i had the drill up and away from it. i tried to grab the bit but it was not possible, too much of it was in the hole.
bought some harbor freight lifting magnets and rope and got it back the next day.

so there was ice inside the chuck and the bungee snapped from the chuck being in the water the day before so the slip washer wasn't turning when i made more holes that night.

moral of that story is check your gear and replace it if it's broken or damaged in any way.
i added bungee the following day.

i did grind the three flats of the adapter so they had more facing on them when it was new.

[ejdelvo28]

Thank you all for your advice.  Cabelas has the Kovacs adapter with the rubber strap on sale for under $20 so I might pull the trigger on that.  You guys can stick with your fancy k-drills and nils bits, I'll stay cheap with my 7" Mora   

[fishinpo1e1]

The chucks get warn out eventually and the bit will actually slide out of drill/chuck and sink to bottom of lake

I put mine on a CLAM adaptor-old style- where you remove the chuck and the whole thing screws together. Works great. But a word of caution, Milwaukee uses a strong locktite mix and the chuck is hard to remove. Take it to a Milwaukee dealer to remove the chuck if you choose the older direct method. That way if the unit strips like mine did the dealer can warranty the damaged unit.

[bowski76]

My initial set up was a straight drill adapter from HT, Milwaukee drill and an 8" Fin Bore auger.  I put a 12" long piece of 5/16" diameter threaded rod through the spare hole (in the adapter) and tightened a nut on either side of the adapter, no way the auger can fall through if the chuck loosens up (it never did). The Milwaukee drill has a great chuck that you can really tighten down, I never had an issue until SOMEBODY used too much downward pressure and snapped the bit.

I bit the bullet and bought a new Clam Plate and the optional extension, what a great investment, no need to remove the chuck. Really comfortable to use, light and just as fast as a gas auger. I've drilled over 50 holes on one battery through 12" of ice and still had 3 bars showing on the battery fuel gauge. I don't keep the batteries warm and they do not lose any juice when not in use. When I get home I always put the spare battery in the charger and see that's it's fully charged.

[Gills-only]

Never lost mine in 4 years running, and the Milwaukee batteries are not like the other brand whimpy batteries are immune to the cold weather, no need to keep warm. Too many guys been reading on here "keep the batteries warm" well I don't carry my wife's purse around to keep them warm. If u buy a good one to start(Milwaukee) u have no worries !!

[Duke M]

I use the Ice Master adapter with no problems, it has an elastic retention strap. I don't worry about the battery and the cold. I usually set the drill on the ice. I worry more about bending my auger or misaligning my Nils blades by standing it up in a partially drilled hole.
I don't fish when it is much below zero and usually milder.

Duke

[MochaMay]

I've got a new Milwaukee drill currently in transit.  Got a great deal on the 2704-22 hammer drill with a free third battery. So, questions for those that run these drills as augers:

-Has anyone ever actually lost their auger down the hole?  If so, do you know what exactly happened?
-Does the handle stay on securely even when pushing down, or does it slip off on occasion?
-Does the drill itself need to stay warm just as the batteries do, or can I bring the batteries in the house and leave the drill outside attached to the auger?

1) YES! My 4th season K-Drill came off my Milwaukee on the first hole this year when back flushing the hole. My fault because I did not double check the tightness of the chuck. Sank like the Titanic. Put down the camera and there it was standing up proud and tall. Put down a weighted hook and hooked the foam flotation on the first try. Since then K-Drill sent me an additional float that keeps it from sinking.
2) The handle has never come off and works very well.
3) Drill cold batteries warm is just fine.

[MT_mulies]

When I was using a drill with an auger I just went and bought a 1/4(I think) socket and attached it to the drill. I then put the socket into the auger where the handle would go. Then I got out my other drill and drill bit and drilled a hole through the socket where the handle screw attaches to the auger. Then I got the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and cut it off and put it below the place where the handle and auger attach incase it ever came loose. I purposely loosened the bit and let the auger fall. The 5 gallon plastic bottom stopped right at the fishing hole like it was suppose to. I never had any worries after that and it worked like a charm and cost me a whole $3 for the socket. I already had the 5 gallon bucket. If it doesn't make sense I can post pictures. Not of mine since my brother stole it after I got a different auger haha. But the drill and auger idea is great and quiet. That's what I used for awhile and my brother still uses. No complaints about it. He has a dewalt 20v and I used a ridged 18v.

[Duck-Hunter]

I've ran a m18 fuel paired with a nils convertible(orange) for two seasons now. The combo is awesome! I sold my gas auger and have not looked back. To answer your question I have had the auger come off the drill but the auger has a plate that keeps it from going down to the bottom. If you go with an auger that does not have a plate I suggested making one. I've seen guys use paint can lids and ever Frisbees. I used to run the  "master" bit attachment before I got my nils. It was pretty cool, it has a delrin disk that has a bungee that goes over your drill handle. So if the chuck comes loose it stops the auger from going to the bottom.

The plus side with going Milwaukee is that the red lithium batteries do not drop charge in the cold.

[NateD]

I've got a new Milwaukee drill currently in transit.  Got a great deal on the 2704-22 hammer drill with a free third battery. So, questions for those that run these drills as augers:

-Has anyone ever actually lost their auger down the hole?  If so, do you know what exactly happened?
-Does the handle stay on securely even when pushing down, or does it slip off on occasion?
-Does the drill itself need to stay warm just as the batteries do, or can I bring the batteries in the house and leave the drill outside attached to the auger?

I also have a kdrill on mine, drilled maybe 300 or so holes with it this year and love it.
 - Never had mine come loose from the chuck, but have worried about it.  Read about how to lock the chuck.
 - my handle never comes loose, crank that thing on there.
 - I don't worry about keeping the batteries warm in my neck of the woods, negative temps might be different.  I only used a full battery        once when I was in Maine with 20 inches of ice.