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I think he is using 5amp battery and lighter auger. Most of difference is in the auger. You want the Cadillac or Prius?
You might want to get a smaller battery for around the house. I have the older Drill with 4 ah batteries and it is good for both.
My Rigid octane drill and battery showed up Saturday but the adapter didn't until today so first chance to try. I convinced myself I needed this only because the lifetime warranty I would use for household use and it would replace my 20 year riobyi and 6 batteries that no longer hold a charge for beans. Thoughts on drill with battery - very heavy for household use, you would be hard pressed to use this all day above your head on a project. Adapter - initially I looked for the ht enterprises adapter as a choice to pair with my very lightly used 8" fin bore but all on back order and some poor reviews about 3/8" bit snapping. Ended up with the Kovac adapter. Put it on today, tremendous amount of slop at connection, enough so that I will look to shim somehow, even if only with a few wraps of electrical tape.Assembled - took it on the pond and drilled 5 holes to try through 6-7"of good hard ice. Lowest speed setting, on drill, highest torque. Jumps around pretty good until you get it started as this style of bit has no center point and I believe what you guys all call shaver blades, not rippers. Once started, it eats ice but binds pretty severely as you get ready to break through. You definitely want it propped against your leg and have the extension handle attached in my opinion. It even cracked the plastic part of the wingnut that goes through kovac adapter and bit. I have a 14 year old son and feel more comfortable with him using the 10" jiffy with ripper blade than this accordingly. Other style bits like the nils may not experience as much of a grab, not sure.Overall weight - about 15 pounds, certainly lighter than a 10" jiffy but not a "lightweight" option if that makes sense.Final - Initially, I can only give it a "C", it might grow on me or I might send it back. Going to give it a fair test this weekend. I'll update.That's just my honest, out of the gate assessment. Good luck in your decisions on this product and application. If you are only looking at this product as dedicated to ice fishing paired with the right bit, you might enjoy. Piker's result on battery life thus far seems outstanding also.
Great review of your set up. I could definitely see where shaver blades could be problematic. I see Octane drill excelling with the Nils and K-drill. I had zero grab at the bottom of the hole using my 8” Nils. Thanks for sharing your findings.
Thanks!
Well done. I have 2 8" nils flights sitting collecting dust and one more connected to the Tanaka still. Guess I know what to do next!
Hey stinky I run a new ridged-kovac-clam extension-Nero auger and there is little to no wobble. That is only true on my first hole and then I feel a little bit of looseness. It is the wing nut connecting my clam extension to the kovac. It loosens by just the slightest bit from bung hole tight and creates a little wobble. I intend to replace the wing nut with an Allen bolt that should have my system rock solid.
Anecdotes aside, give me the math. It'd be a hoot if one of the hundreds of engineers out there would map the optimal torque/rpm ranges for each hand auger. That info alone might change the way folks look at what equipment to buy.
UPDATE! Drilled another 30 holes through 12” of ice. Totaling +/- 100-110 holes without charging. Battery still on 1/2 charge. Still no complaints!
That's awesome! Going to try and get out here soon and give things a go. Ice is finally coming back after the warm up we had.
Wow!!! how many holes have you drilled though 12" of ice on half a battery total now???
First day: +\- 50 holes in 7-8” of ice. Second day: +\- 30 holes through 10” of ice. Third day/today: +\-30 holes in 12” of ice. Still at 50%
Well done!!! I am curious when you will need to change/recharge your first battery..... the way its going could be some time in February... tight lines!!!
If you have a smart phone you can download the ridged battery app and find out the exact percentage of your battery pike fisherman!
I'll post what I've done with my fuel setup as a comparison.1200 fuel 5AH batt /clamplate/Mora. I have both 6" and 8" flytes.Been using the 8" a couple times. First time thru 10" of clear hard ice at -11F got 30 holes.Next time was 14" of clear hard ice at 20F got like 25 holes. Drilled easily 100 holes with the 6" thru 5" of soft ice with only 1 bar used on the batt.
Interesting. I’ll have to figure that out
I don’t know if this is big news, but here is a link for special purchase price at Home Depot. You buy the 9.0 Ah battery and your choice of bare tool. You can get the Octane drill and 9 Ah batterytogether, and it comes out to $181 with tax and shipping. I was at the store and there are no deals li’e this one. https://slickdeals.net/f/12004847-ridgid-9-0ah-hyper-octane-starter-kit-with-free-bare-tool-of-choice