Mora vs K-Drill, Nils Eskimo

[sleddog1]

The cost of a Mora hand auger is about 1/4- 1/3 of what the K, Nils or Eskimo augers are. All can be used with cordless drills. Why go with the more expensive options?

[hardwater diehard]

Different speeds ...some can open old holes..some can not be sharpened at home.. blade availability ..brand loyalty

[Mrpike1973]

You will get many responses I have owned almost all of them. The K-Drill is good slow and harder on the drill and spendy, The Eskimo Pistol bit needs a centering point it walks and can be dangerous. Also spendy, The Nils are nice and cut fast but if you cut into sandy rough ice it will dull fast. The mora sucks as a hand auger but works great on a drill not as aggressive a cut and smooth breakthrough 6 inch that is, the 7 inch a little harsher, The lazer hand auger on a drill is becoming my favorite so far the 6 inch that is the 7 and 8 have bars on the bottom and can jar you bad, They seem to center faster but the blades need to be babied more than a Mora style. If I could do it all over again I would have listened to these guys and gals on here got a cheap Mora or Eskimo Hand auger same thing. shaver style or lazer style saved a lot of money. There is a you tube video of someone drilling 30 holes with a K-drill verse 50 holes with a Mora this was 8 inch auger size. The weight on the spender ones is the biggest thing but 2-4 pounds is nothing coming from the days of heavy 30# Jiffys Eskimo hand augers are on sale a lot I just got a 6 inch for 30 and a 7 inch Mora style for 35 bucks. Get a Clam plate no matter how strong you are at some point you will get hurt or rip  the handle of your drill if it's a Milwaukee good drills except for that. The Nero is another good auger but I'm finding harder to find and not sure who will carry them Cabelas just up and quit them.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

The cost of a Mora hand auger is about 1/4- 1/3 of what the K, Nils or Eskimo augers are. All can be used with cordless drills. Why go with the more expensive options?

Boils down to a few different things for guys. chipper blades and a centering point for dirty ice and overlapping holes. Center points to redrilling old olds.....ect...

At the end of the day a $40 mora (flat blade shaver) hand auger on a drill does a fine job and really is the basic get the job done auger.

Really the only issue with a mora hand auger on a drill is the lack of a centering point on them. They can skate/walk on the ice. I found sharp blades and a decent amount of down pressure to start the hole and a guy tends to be fine.

[sleddog1]

Thanks for the reply’s
I’m getting back on the ice after several years off. My, how things have changed with equipment!
I picked up a Clam Plate & adapted the Mora to it. I went out & tested...sure enough it skated all over. I installed a center point. Made a huge difference. Seems to work well, I guess I’ll know for sure by the end of the season.

[SirCranksalot]

How did you install a centerpoint---I'd like to do the same Thx---

[Mrpike1973]

Just curious how you put a centering point in?

[sleddog1]

I was able to drill & tap the end of the auger, between the blades. I welded an old spade bit to a 3/8” bolt. I drilled the bolt for the shank of the bit to slide through.

[jchunter]

Very cool Sleddog

[Ramp 23]

I have used the 6" K drill last two seasons with recommended Milwaukee drill, and 5 AH batteries. It is worth every penny. It's an incredible tool. The family history of the inventor really sheds a lot of light on it. I fish with others who use strikemaster gas , ions, mora's & nils. They all have switched or are thinking about it. We walk in to a lot of places & the weight savings is really nice too.

[paguy15545]

You will get many responses I have owned almost all of them. The K-Drill is good slow and harder on the drill and spendy, The Eskimo Pistol bit needs a centering point it walks and can be dangerous. Also spendy, The Nils are nice and cut fast but if you cut into sandy rough ice it will dull fast. The mora sucks as a hand auger but works great on a drill not as aggressive a cut and smooth breakthrough 6 inch that is, the 7 inch a little harsher, The lazer hand auger on a drill is becoming my favorite so far the 6 inch that is the 7 and 8 have bars on the bottom and can jar you bad, They seem to center faster but the blades need to be babied more than a Mora style. If I could do it all over again I would have listened to these guys and gals on here got a cheap Mora or Eskimo Hand auger same thing. shaver style or lazer style saved a lot of money. There is a you tube video of someone drilling 30 holes with a K-drill verse 50 holes with a Mora this was 8 inch auger size. The weight on the spender ones is the biggest thing but 2-4 pounds is nothing coming from the days of heavy 30# Jiffys Eskimo hand augers are on sale a lot I just got a 6 inch for 30 and a 7 inch Mora style for 35 bucks. Get a Clam plate no matter how strong you are at some point you will get hurt or rip  the handle of your drill if it's a Milwaukee good drills except for that. The Nero is another good auger but I'm finding harder to find and not sure who will carry them Cabelas just up and quit them.

You wont rip your hand with a drill if you use the torq ring 

[PazzoCorso]

Would a Clam Plate be recommend for my Mud Mixer and 8" Mora?

[Mrpike1973]

What is a torque ring? should be speed 1 and drill mode

[Ice Scratcher]

Would a Clam Plate be recommend for my Mud Mixer and 8" Mora?

No, the mud mixer comes equipped with an ample integrated side handle. Matter of fact, the mud mixer will not work with the Clam plate..

<°)))>{

[twinlakesfisher]

My buddy has the 6" nils and it cuts nice and smooth, but it uses a ton of torque, you can really feel it in your wrists. Great little auger tho. I decided, after using the nils for a full day, to purchase the 6" Kdrill. Only reason would be due to being able to replace all the parts on the auger. Also, the blades are cheaper and have a availability for free sharpening. Only down fall I see to the Kdrill would be not being able to use it as a hand auger if the drill takes a dump. And also the plastic wings, but after using it for a couple sessions it really doesnt seem to be an issue, cuts great and I get a ton of holes out of a 4ah battery with 10" of ice. My wife even cuts all the holes now and she loves it! Both are great options and both have their pros and cons.

[Reginald Bonz III]

20v MAX Dewalt with 3ah batteries.

6 in K - drill, No problems yet.  Drilled 20 holes through 14 inches of ice.

Never slowed down

Lifetime blade sharpening.

[SirCranksalot]

I was able to drill & tap the end of the auger, between the blades. I welded an old spade bit to a 3/8” bolt. I drilled the bolt for the shank of the bit to slide through.

For mine I tried a 'hanger screw"---the kind that are used to attach legs to sofas. It worked quite well on my 8" but not on my 6". It slowed the drilling down quite a bit. I guess the screw tip is not as sharp as the 1 on the 8". I did buy another one that felt sharper but the results were about the same. Then I got a local handyman to weld a regular spiral steel bit to a regular 1/4" bolt. i tried that but it broke right away. I know that welding to hi carbon steel such as a tool steel can be problematic, so I can't fault the guy who did it.


I was out with a guy last week and he made overlapping holes with his Mora. He had brand new blades though and only overlapped about 2".

I have found that 'walking' is not much an issue unless I am on glare ice.

[Ice Scratcher]

Lifetime blade sharpening.

Lifetime sharpening= they'll sharpen them three times..

My Mora blades get sharpened for free, as long as I'm alive..

<°)))>{

[VTMatt]

Lifetime sharpening= they'll sharpen them three times..

My Mora blades get sharpened for free, as long as I'm alive..

<°)))>{

The K drill are easy to slide over a stone as well.chipper style but all the same angle on the same plane..doubt I will ever send mine for sharpening. 

[Ice Scratcher]

The K drill are easy to slide over a stone as well.chipper style but all the same angle on the same plane..doubt I will ever send mine for sharpening.

Very true, chipper blades have got to be the easiest of any blades to sharpen.. If you sharpen them yourself, you'll get 100x the life off them.. Send em in and it's like baseball, three strikes and your out..

<°)))>{

[Reginald Bonz III]

I do touch the blades up on my own...usually throw some WD on there for good measure as well.

[Royalwapiti]

Is there any truth to the story I heard about guys in North Dakota drilling a ton of holes in -30 degree weather and the composite flighting on the K-Drill shattering?

It must be true if I read it on Facebook! but have any of you experienced or heard about this?

[esox_xtm]

I've been out in the mid -20F a few times this year. Flighting on my 8" K was unaffected. Now I didn't drill a "ton" of holes, maybe a hundred and a half all told. In 20+ inches of ice I'd clear the fights 2 or 3 times.

I would expect plastic to have it's limits in extreme cold but what that might be for the KD I couldn't say. Be interesting to see some destructive testing. Even though there's not a published number torque on my MMM is impressive. I could see, @ -30F, if the auger bound in the hole full of shavings that it could tear itself up.

Understanding the limits of your equipment goes a long way toward keeping it intact. After all, you wouldn't be fishing 3# line and horsing in an incidental big fish. But you could do it with a little skill, common sense and good fortune. Maybe not the best analogy but you get the idea.

[SirCranksalot]

Now I didn't drill a "ton" of holes, maybe a hundred and a half all told. In 20+ inches of ice I'd clear the fights 2 or 3 times.

define "ton"!!!

[esox_xtm]

define "ton"!!!

Don't ask me.  Ask this cat...

Is there any truth to the story I heard about guys in North Dakota drilling a ton of holes in -30 degree weather and the composite flighting on the K-Drill shattering?

It must be true if I read it on Facebook! but have any of you experienced or heard about this?

[Northern_MN Outdoorsan]

Never had a problem with my KDrill and extreme cold. Sounds more like operator error or equipment abuse.

[NateD]

Very true, chipper blades have got to be the easiest of any blades to sharpen.. If you sharpen them yourself, you'll get 100x the life off them.. Send em in and it's like baseball, three strikes and your out..

<°)))>{

So they will only sharpen them 3 times? Or you are saying they take off so much material they are junk after the third time?

[Ice Scratcher]

So they will only sharpen them 3 times? Or you are saying they take off so much material they are junk after the third time?

Kdrill says they can only be sharpened three times.. They want to sell more blades I guess??

<°)))>{

[NateD]

Kdrill says they can only be sharpened three times.. They want to sell more blades I guess??

<°)))>{

Ya that is pretty stupid, mine have last 3 seasons without a sharpen but they could use a touch up probably, I'll just do it myself if that's the case.

[UFCreel]

A couple of years on my 6 inch K-drill i received as a gift. Blades still sharp. It digs through the ice no problem. Several of my friends have tried it and now have bought one of their own. I like it. I do not use the handle that came with it. I do not use the clam plate. Has only caught hold of the ice a couple of times. I just let go. Pull it up and start drilling again.