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Author Topic: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review  (Read 5379 times)

Offline FishDoktor

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My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« on: Dec 17, 2019, 04:11 PM »
The topic has been WELL discussed of course and I read through quite a few other threads trying to determine if what I had would work before I tried it for the first time. Well I finally got to try it out this weekend and thought I would share my experience for anyone else who might be looking at a similar set up. 

I run a 6" lazer with blades that still have an excellent edge on them (I have a new set ready to go when the time comes; got a pretty good cut on my finger while inspecting the current blades before the season....). I purchased the Clam Plate this year because I liked the idea behind it a little bit more than attaching the drill directly. When it came to the drill is where I had some doubts. I already owned a brushed Ryobi hammer drill. It claimed 600 in/lb torque on the specs. The conventional wisdom seemed to be 100 in/lb per inch of auger diameter so I was hopeful but still concerned I might be under torqued. All of my tools were Ryobi and I had many batteries to choose from so I wasn't to keen on spending more money on another drill kit. I figured best case, my 600 in/lb would be fine or I would have to go out and get the brushless 750 in/lb (which I may still do if I see a good deal as I am aware that the brushless should have a longer life). I did luck out and got a 9 Ah battery before ice season for a good price so I wasn't to worried on battery power (and I keep another 4 AH battery in the truck just in case). 

I tried my combo on 6-7" of ice this weekend. Not a lot but a good first test. Went through very nicely. Didn't try to walk on me and never really got hung up. I drilled 15-20 holes total. I did have it stop once, but I lifted it up a bit, started again and it went through fine. I did get the bit of a jolt that I know can be common when breaking through with the Lazer on some holes but it wasn't to bad really. Given that it wasn't a ton of ice, only 6" holes, and the relatively low number I drilled, the 9 ah battery still had all 4 bars of power lit up of course at the end of the day.

All-in-all I was pleased. I'm sure the drill will slow a little bit when confronted with thicker ice. But I think with good blades, the smaller diameter, and a high AH battery, I should still be able to drill plenty of holes in a day.

Offline Kevin23

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #1 on: Dec 17, 2019, 07:41 PM »
I have the 750 brushless with a clam plate and 6" lazer, put NEW blades on it last year. Worked fine for me until we got over a foot of wet sloppy ice, then i believe i broke/weakened the clutch in it because every once n a while it would make the loud click noise while drilling like it was slipping on driver mode (in drill mode, low speed). Still get 40-50 holes on a 4ah battery in 10" of ice.

Before that I had the brushed version which was 370in/lb i believe, worked with 5" mora but not well with the 6" lazer.
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Offline FishDoktor

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #2 on: Dec 18, 2019, 09:57 AM »
I have the 750 brushless with a clam plate and 6" lazer, put NEW blades on it last year. Worked fine for me until we got over a foot of wet sloppy ice, then i believe i broke/weakened the clutch in it because every once n a while it would make the loud click noise while drilling like it was slipping on driver mode (in drill mode, low speed). Still get 40-50 holes on a 4ah battery in 10" of ice.

Before that I had the brushed version which was 370in/lb i believe, worked with 5" mora but not well with the 6" lazer.

Yeah I totally expect it to eventually encounter a situation where a higher torque Rigid or Fuel would be better. I didn't run into to much ice the last few years that was like that though. And even if it still doesn't cut as fast as higher power stuff, it will certainly be better than drilling through 20" by hand (which I did last year and that was the final straw that made me go the drill route).  I do think I will be getting a brushless before next season if not sooner though. Just for that extra bit of oomph and the increase in battery life associated with.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I don't see a ton of Ryobi use out there so its nice to hear what others have experienced.

Offline Kevin23

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #3 on: Dec 18, 2019, 05:15 PM »
You'll be fine, just be careful late season.. thats when it happened to me, when the ice was sloppy and wet. I haven't even taken that drill off my plate yet, I'll run it this year again.

I am going to buy a 6" mora for it though I think. I'm tired of the lazer grabbing at the bottom of the hole, and with the torque of the brushless it isn't a fun ride. These dont have the speed like the FUEL drills do, so mine hangs up a lot. I put my bit on my buddy's fuel (with plate) and it went right through at the end. Ryobi is just too slow I think. Mora is a little slower cutting, but requires less torque and doesn't bind as bad. My 5" more doesn't even slow down with the ryobi, but its too small of a hole for me.
EYECONICFISHING

Offline Kevin23

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #4 on: Dec 18, 2019, 05:16 PM »
If you want to try the brushless, amazon has them all the time (refurbished) without battery for around $50. Beats paying retail for a drill that will get went and knocked around on the ice. P251 is the model number.
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Offline latremorej

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #5 on: Dec 19, 2019, 01:40 AM »
I run the brushless Ryobi hammer drill on a clam plate with a 7" lazer.  Cuts all day on a 9AH  battery.  (Drill mode, low speed)

As long as I don't press down (let the bit cut at it's own pace) and maybe even try to hold it back a little at the bottom, it doesn't grab the bottom of the ice.  Be sure to lift the shavings out periodically
   At least the kick is not noticable while using a clam plate anyways

I have also used the regular brushed drill (the cheap one they put in the starter kits) but after 2 or three holes (7") it started to smell like the smoke was being let out.  The standard drill turned my 6" Lazer fine though.  (Not the compact drill)

Jason

Offline FishDoktor

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #6 on: Dec 19, 2019, 12:52 PM »
If you want to try the brushless, amazon has them all the time (refurbished) without battery for around $50. Beats paying retail for a drill that will get went and knocked around on the ice. P251 is the model number.

I looked that one up before the season started and found them around in a few places. Its high on my list of possibilities.

Offline 32footsteps

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #7 on: Dec 20, 2019, 09:40 PM »
I’ve been using the Ryobi P251 (brushless) hammer drill for a couple of years. I fell into the brand because that drill met he basic specs for drilling through ice I was looking for and the other tools using the same battery were better options of stuff I’d use than Dewalt, Milwaukee, or Rigid. The day I bought it I walked into Home Depot with cash in hand and was going to flip a coin between an orange drill and a red drill.  The P251 caught my eye and I spent a bunch of time looking over other stuff each brand offered and it was a no brainer for me. There was just so much more in the Ryobi One+ line that I’d find useful than any other brand and the drill met the basic specs I was looking for.

This drill has been very good for cutting holes in the ice. I don’t overburden it and it’s my “walking out, trying to reduce weight” rig. I’ll still use my gas auger a fair amount. Anyway...here are my thoughts/observations of the P251.

1) If using it with a clam plate watch closely how everything lines up. The clam plate trigger can “pull” the drill trigger and stress it to a point where the drill trigger breaks. After all, it is plastic and becomes brittle in cold temps.

2) After using it for a year on the clam plate i dumped the plate and went to a Kovacs Ice Master. I prefer this adapter to the clam plate by a mile. Why? The trigger issues mentioned above were a headache simply because I wanted to us the drill to run my ice anchors in. This meant popping it off of the clam plate and then if I wanted to drill more holes I’d have to put it back on the plate and getting it lined up....just....right... so the drill trigger was seated in a way where it wouldn’t snap off was a royal pain and waste of time. With the Kovacs you just unchuck it and chuck it back up. Quick, simple, no trigger breakage possibilities at all.  Plus, ditching the plate saved room in my sled.

3) I tested battery (4ah HP) and drill capabilities out with a handful of different bits. It handles a 7” Lazer pretty well but will handle an 8” mora better. I was able to cut through approximately 750 inches of ice using a 6” mora (actually an Eskimo shaver) bit. Using a 6” Lazer the amount of inches dropped by about 125 inches of ice on one 4ah HP battery.

4)  With the HP (silver) batteries I never experienced an issue with cold temps. With the standard 4ah (Black) batteries cold temps did have an impact.

Overall the P251 is a solid drill and will serve you well provided that you don’t overburden the thing. Be smart about what bit you pair up with it and you’ll be happy with it. It’s affordable and the number of other tool options you can run on those batteries is pretty diverse. Added to this, the battery design has never changed and won’t. My brother in law has a dang nice set of higher end cordless tools but they have become obsolete because the battery design for those have changed. Now he’s rebuilding the stuff he has and needs for his business because he got hosed on a battery design change.

Offline FishDoktor

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #8 on: Jan 20, 2020, 01:39 PM »
A little update.

I've gotten to take it out now a few more times. Mostly on good ice but this weekend I did have to go through a few inches of frozen slush and then 6-7 inches of good ice after. Most I have had to drill has been about 10-12". It has handled well even for the brushed model. And with the 9 ah battery I don't even use a single "bar" of charge and its ran well in the cold.  I haven't had the need to drill tons and tons of hole and only did 15-20 holes at most in a day. Continues to work well. So if you are running a 6-inch auger and have a Ryobi, you probably dont need to spend the money on a Fuel or Octane.

Offline Kevin23

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #9 on: Feb 10, 2020, 10:15 AM »
I put an 8" mora bit in my p251 and it is doing much better than the 6" lazer. 6" lazer catches in the bottom of the hole and clicks the clutch, really sounds bad. The 8" mora is smooth drilling the whole way, only had the drill stop once and that was because I was watching a tipup and drilled at an angle. I got 25 holes through 10" of hard ice with the 3ah hp+ (black) batteries. I have not tried my 4ah yet.  Seems about right, I was getting roughly 40 holes with the regular lithium+ 4ah (grey) and the 6" lazer.
EYECONICFISHING

Offline RickWakeman

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #10 on: Mar 05, 2021, 03:14 AM »
I have the 750 brushless with a clam plate and 6" lazer, put NEW blades on it last year. Worked fine for me until we got over a foot of wet sloppy ice, then i believe i broke/weakened the clutch in it because every once n a while it would make the loud click noise while drilling like it was slipping on driver mode (in drill mode, low speed). Still get 40-50 holes on a 4ah battery in 10" of ice.

Before that I had the brushed version which was 370in/lb i believe, worked with 5" mora but not well with the 6" lazer.

I ran into to this the last time I went out. It was like I had the clutch set even though I had it set to drill. Is yours still going strong?

Offline conococheague

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #11 on: Mar 05, 2021, 05:40 AM »
I have the P251 (750 in-lbs, brushless, hammer) and was hesitant to put it on my ice auger.  However, since I bought the 3.6:1 gear head for the clam plate I was confident that with the reduction it was up to the task.  I have an 8" Mora and 8" Lazer and decided to put the Mora on the drill and keep the Lazer as a back-up hand auger (I love that Lazer for hand drilling).  Anyway, I've been very pleased with the performance of my drill outfit.  Some said that the Ryobi would be slow and the gear reduction would make it worse.  I think the speed is just right.  I usually don't drill more than 20 holes on an outing and this year the ice has been over a foot with at least 8" of good, hard, clear ice.  I've  yet to see less than 3 (out of 4) bars on my 4aH battery.  My setup does grab at the bottom of the hole but knowing it's coming and trying to keep the auger plumb helps.  I lucked out when I first assembled the clam plate with the alignment of everything and didn't want to dismount the drill so I bought another one for a little more than $100 (bare tool) for household use. 

Conococheague

Offline Kevin23

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #12 on: Mar 05, 2021, 10:08 AM »
I ran into to this the last time I went out. It was like I had the clutch set even though I had it set to drill. Is yours still going strong?

Nope, she was done. Tried first time out this season and it wouldn't drill through 5" without issues. Saw the price of a replacement and decided to just upgrade to milwaukee fuel and not look back. Best decision I've made.
EYECONICFISHING

Offline PikeKing23

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #13 on: Mar 05, 2021, 10:38 AM »
The Ryobi may have the torque, but not on the same build level as the big 3.  750 lbs is on the lower end for acceptable specs to begin with.

Octane $130 bare tool with lifetime service......just sayin

Offline RickWakeman

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #14 on: Mar 05, 2021, 01:32 PM »
Nope, she was done. Tried first time out this season and it wouldn't drill through 5" without issues. Saw the price of a replacement and decided to just upgrade to milwaukee fuel and not look back. Best decision I've made.
Thanks for the reply. I'm going to try to ride out the season and wait for a deal on something more powerful.

Offline hardwater diehard

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Re: My Drill/Auger Set Up (Lazer/Ryobi) - A Review
« Reply #15 on: Mar 05, 2021, 01:38 PM »
Thanks for the reply. I'm going to try to ride out the season and wait for a deal on something more powerful.

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