Mini Nero auger first impressions

[stinkyfingers]

This last Tuesday I took my new 7" Mini Nero auger out for a run on first ice. I had hooked it to a Clam plate with a Milwaukee M18 Fuel 5.0 Ah as the power unit. That Milwaukee/

Clam combo has spun an 8" blue Nils and an 8" LazerMag with little strain. But in an effort to get away from those heavy flight units I decided to try a 7" Nero which I had seen

on YouTube. The videos are in Russian but my wife is English/Russian bilingual so she provided translation. It's certainly a no frills unit as you'd expect. Granted, I was only

drilling through 5 inches of hard ice but the Nero went through it like Sherman through Georgia. I can only describe the bite on the ice as harsh, very different from the silky

smoothness of the Nils. It's an aggressive cut and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it could cut at 2" per second with the right rotational speed. They're made in Russia by

Volzhanka , a leading maker of European ice fishing gear and it was that high spec Russian blade steel that got me interested since they say it can hold up against dirty ice,

something the Nils can't do. Only time will tell how it drills in thick ice and how durable the blades really are but first impressions are favorable.

[Ice Scratcher]

Sounds like a winner..

One thing worth mentioning though, if ice is dirty because of sand, there isn't any blades that'll hold up, sand is simply harder than any type of steel..

Chipper blades get by the longest just because of the way they cut with higher RPMs and such..

But the Nils are the first type to go dull.. Also with shaver (Nero) blades, you'll at least get some warning, unlike a Nils..

Good luck!!

<°)))>{

[lefty2053]

I truly believe the Nero cuts at 2" Plus per second. And it takes out chucks of ice and not shavings.

[tater140]

I took my new nero out last ice last year.  After years of using a lazer auger i was truly impressed by the nero 7”.  Maybe its just the offset handles but i went around cutting holes effortlessly by hand and smiling the whole way.  Enough so that it made me wander why i would ever hook it up to my drill.... but i am in indiana so take that for what its worth. I was prolly drilling 8-10” of ice.  All in all i was very pleasantly surprised how easy it cut for an 80-100 dollar drill, well worth it in my opinion.   By the way i am sure i will be hooking up to a drill at some point.

[Aqualift]

 This is my second season with the 7" Nero and I already have hit the ice twice this week.  I have ditched the drill and clam plate for early ice under 12".  No need to lug around the extra gear and weight, when it cuts so fast and effortlessly. 

[MinnesotaPike]

How are you guys attaching it to the Clam Plate? I just took mine out of the box and the piece to connect the bit to the drill plate seems to have holes too close together to fit it on properly.

Thinking I could chop like an eighth of an inch off the shaft on the Clam plate but I'd really like to avoid doing that.

[esox_xtm]

Q: What is the actual hole diameter of a 7" Nero?

A: ?

Thanks!

[MinnesotaPike]

In another thread lefty said 7 3/8" if I'm remembering correctly.

I see now that I could just put the flighting section directly on to the Clam plate, but when you include the extension is when it does not fit. Are you guys using the extensions or just drilling hunched over? This could make it useless for me if I can't use the extension.

[lefty2053]

In another thread lefty said 7 3/8" if I'm remembering correctly.

I see now that I could just put the flighting section directly on to the Clam plate, but when you include the extension is when it does not fit. Are you guys using the extensions or just drilling hunched over? This could make it useless for me if I can't use the extension.

I have said 7 3/8" more than once but I am now thinking I measured a hole while I had some wobble. The bit is exactly 7" from blade to blade.
 SO it must have had wobble and I just measured the widest part somehow.

[stinkyfingers]

I see now that I could just put the flighting section directly on to the Clam plate, but when you include the extension is when it does not fit. Are you guys using the extensions or just drilling hunched over? This could make it useless for me if I can't use the extension.

… and that's where the cheese becomes binding. If you bought the hand auger model rather than the convertible drill model, your directly connected auger is only going to be 24" long, a little stubby for mid-season ice. I'm going to go back to hand drilling until the ice thickens up and I hope that by that time you will have figured out an extension section that will tie it together and can let me know.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Can’t you just use the $15 clam plate extention?

[Sandcountrylivin]

The clam extension will work for a Nero auger to clam plate 100%. The clam extension will not work to replace the stock Nero extension if connecting to the stock Nero drill adapter. Ask me how I know!?

[MinnesotaPike]

The clam extension will work for a Nero auger to clam plate 100%. The clam extension will not work to replace the stock Nero extension if connecting to the stock Nero drill adapter. Ask me how I know!?

Awesome, thanks for the info!

[yuranB]

Nero is awesome. I have 6". Cuts with zero effort. I want to get backup blades for it but no one has the 6" in stock. I really hope they don't discontinue it

[lefty2053]

Nero is awesome. I have 6". Cuts with zero effort. I want to get backup blades for it but no one has the 6" in stock. I really hope they don't discontinue it

Well there was one set on Ebay but I grabbed it up because no one has them.

[JonPerry]

Nero is awesome. I have 6". Cuts with zero effort. I want to get backup blades for it but no one has the 6" in stock. I really hope they don't discontinue it

Reeds carries them
https://www.reedssports.com/ht-enterprises/ht-enterprises-nero-hand-auger-replacement-bl-289525

[Aqualift]

MarineGeneral does too. https://www.marinegeneral.com/product/ht-nero-auger-replacement-blades/

[stinkyfingers]

Reeds carries them
https://www.reedssports.com/ht-enterprises/ht-enterprises-nero-hand-auger-replacement-bl-289525

Take a look at that screen shot from the Reed's catalog (thanks Jon). You'll see that the blades themselves are very short, maybe even 10% shorter than the blades from my

Lazer or Nils even accounting for a 7" Nero cut vs an 8" Lazer cut. If you have 10% less steel doing the work of ice shaving it would allow the designers to use a more aggressive

bevel. In thinking about that relatively large center section between the blades, I wonder if that ice is just breaking free rather than being sliced off. I lack the means to

precisely measure the edge angle but I put a spare Lazer blade on top of the Nero blade  and the Nero was dramatically more acute than the Lazer by as much as 10-12 degrees.

Maybe the touted hardness of their steel allows for that aggressive edge geometry.

[Philip]

Nero is awesome. I have 6". Cuts with zero effort. I want to get backup blades for it but no one has the 6" in stock. I really hope they don't discontinue it

I ordered 2 sets of 7"  blades just for this purpose. After seeing lefty praise the Nero so much I bought one in the off season and stocked up on blades.

Some ice fishing gear seems to start getting popular just to fall off the face of the earth or move to China

[mistertwister]

I ordered a 7” with an extra set of blades, really looking forward to trying it. It’s on backorder for another week or so I think. Hoping that date doesn’t get extended

[Aqualift]

 They have an 8 inch version that wasn't available last year. So, it looks like the Nero will be around for the foreseeable future.  But just in case, I also stocked up on some spare sets of 7" blades.

[lefty2053]

They have an 8 inch version that wasn't available last year. So, it looks like the Nero will be around for the foreseeable future.  But just in case, I also stocked up on some spare sets of 7" blades.

I still haven't seen an 8" version. Where did you see it at?

[stinkyfingers]

I understand that ice fishing is an extremely popular sport in Russia. Millions of their guys get out there onto the ice over their long and bitter winters. With a domestic market

that size, they naturally have developed an internal production of ice gear. Some time ago one of our IceShanty brothers posted a video grab from YouTube in which a Russian

guy does a features and benefits comparison of 5 different hand augers in their market. One was Mora which was just too expensive. one cut just okay, another was total junk

and there was basically a tie between the Nero and Tonar brands.  I understand that Tonar has now shifted they're production to China with the expected drop in quality. So the

one that HT Enterprises imports for our market is the Nero.

They don't appear to use shelters or electronics over there. In order to fully appreciate how it's done in Russia, you're going to have to learn how to drink an astonishing amount

of vodka.

[Aqualift]

I still haven't seen an 8" version. Where did you see it at?

In Reed's paper catalog. It shows the 8" kit as MNAK-8 $109.99 and replacement 8" blades as MNAB-8 $19.99.  Strange how their online site doesn't have it.

[lefty2053]

I don't get their catalog other than the online one.

[esox_xtm]

In order to fully appreciate how it's done in Russia, you're going to have to learn how to drink an astonishing amount of vodka.

Thanks stinky, I was wondering why appreciated their viewpoint so much... 

[mistertwister]

What is your thoughts on the blade covers for these? I haven't gotten mine yet but looking at pictures, its just two small individual covers, I can see a cut finger coming...I'm also worried about the blades icing up and not being able to get the covers on?

[Damn Yankee]

What is your thoughts on the blade covers for these? I haven't gotten mine yet but looking at pictures, its just two small individual covers, I can see a cut finger coming...I'm also worried about the blades icing up and not being able to get the covers on?

If you're a Coumadin user best you have lots of bandages in you pocket.

[Aqualift]

What is your thoughts on the blade covers for these? I haven't gotten mine yet but looking at pictures, its just two small individual covers, I can see a cut finger coming...I'm also worried about the blades icing up and not being able to get the covers on?

 I never had an issue getting the two covers to interlock on the blades. Ice hasn't been a problem for me either.  Larger cover goes on the blade with the flighting and the smaller one goes on the opposite. (they interlock to make one solid cover with the rubber bungee attached) When I'm drilling a hole, it's a pretty compact cover to stick in a pocket as the smaller cover will slide almost completely into the larger one. I too was skeptical of the setup, but I like it.

[ifc202]

I'd advise putting the cover back on as soon as possible once you've drilled your holes. I learned the hard way. I put the Nero into my sled without the cover on (in the dark). I later reached for something else and gashed my hand open on the uncovered blade. I was actually impressed by the cut. About 1.5" long and paper-cut thin but bled like a stuck pig! Of course I didn't have any band-aides with me so I had to "McGyver" it. Scissors, electrical tape, and neoprene did the trick. Please don't waist your time telling me I'm an idiot as my wife reminds me of this almost daily