Ridgid vs Ryobi

[piersm2]

I know this one has probably been beat to death, but I am unable to find anything that matches this exact thing.  I am buying a 8" Eskimo hand auger and going to mount it to a clam plate.  Wanting to purchase either a Ridgid or Ryobi drill for it.  Don't want to drop a ton of cash on a drill when these two are just as good (in my opinion).  Does anyone has experience with one over the other?  I have never used either of these drills and would very much appreciate input!

[Scupbaron]

i'd check your local craigslist for a litium milwaukee, even a makita drill before buying one of those 2.  get what pay for with drills i've found and in long run dont save much on lesser ones as lifespan not as good

[3300]

ridgid, ryobi and milwaukee have the same parent company.

ridgid has a lifetime warranty called lsa that you sign up for, otherwise it carries the 5 year tool and 3 year battery warranty like the other two brands carry. that gets the warranty out of the way. i like spending one time on my tools and not keep feeding the machine dollars as the batteries need replacing. been there, done that. ridgid batteries sold outside of a kit are limited warranty of 3 years like most everyone else. they can only be charge so many times is the key factor so the more you use it the faster they need replacing. i alos enjoy customer satisfaction when i need batteries or repairs. you can take it to small authorized service centers and they do it up and for free. they change parts that aren't broken and upgrade batteries because ridgid improves on them so they give new improved batteries as they are released and your in need of them.

next is power. the milwaukee is the only drill i'd use on that brand and size bit by itself. make sure it's this years version if you go milwaukee because the aux handle has been breaking their gear cases and they supposedly made improvements to that issue. you won't be using the plate off ice for work or projects and people have been getting injured with prior models.

a clam plate is not a gear box conversion, ice kicker 2 is. so if your going plate, then look for them on ebay and then you can use about any drill and bit you'd like.

more current talk of drills
https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=359847.0

[3300]

I just ran a search and found a great deal on the ridgid kit you want for sure if your going to use ridgid brand. They are giving extra two 4amp batteries in this deal for a total of four 4amp batteries at sale price of 250$ normally 280$ with only two of the batteries.
each battery normally sells for 100$ each,  buying the batteries in this kit assures the lsa compliant offer made from ridgid.

Note: Registration will claim the extra 2 batteries are not covered for LSA. You may need to message the Ridgid team from within the system. It seems they haven't automated it.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-18-Volt-Brushless-2-Tool-Hammer-Drill-and-Impact-Driver-Combo-Kit-with-Free-2-Pack-of-4-0Ah-Batteries-R9205-AC840087P/305250777

[3300]

another option. same tools, but two small batteries for free and two 4amp batters. is 100$, plus the free batteries. all offer the lsa.

180$
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-Brushless-Drill-Driver-and-Impact-Driver-2-Tool-Combo-Kit-with-Free-2-Pack-of-Batteries-R9603-AC840087P/305250770

[32footsteps]

I run a Ryobi brushless and it’ll handle an 8” bit just fine as long as the bit has shaver blades. I’ve run a 7” lazer on the thing which has more aggressive blades and that was fine as well. I didn’t do 8” or 7” tests on it but I could get around 80-85 six inch (shaver) holes on one charge of a 4ah battery.

There are a lot of decent drills on the market right now that would work. Everyone is going to talk up the brand that they have because no one will admit that they made a bad choice and should’ve gotten something else. My advice is to look beyond the drill and examine what other tools can be run on the same battery. Drills are cheap, batteries are not. If Milwaukee has stuff you will use later that uses their batteries by all means get a Milwaukee. If it’s ridgid then get a ridgid. Don’t make a drill purchase focusing only on using that thing and the battery a few months of the year. I was set on getting a Milwaukee or a Rigid. Then I saw the Ryobi and as it turns out the Ryobi One+ system had more options in it that I would use than the other two brands. That’s what sold me on going that direction.

Regarding the Ryobi on a plate....the only drawback is that you really have to be careful setting it on a Clam Plate. There’s a sweet spot that if you miss it the mechanism on the trigger could pull the drill trigger in such a way that it creates stress on the drill trigger. If that makes sense. My first one broke so I returned it. You can’t just clamp the drill on the plate and be set. You gotta make sure everything lines up in that sweet spot so to speak.