Kdrill poor performance on hard ice & dull blades

[Fisherman-Andy]

Anyone notice that the Kdrill struggles when drilling on very hard ice.  The blades have a problem cutting or gripping and you have to keep constant down pressure to cut.  While on normal, soft or wet ice it seems to cut well.  On very cold or windy days its also prone to ice freezing onto the large power point and blades making it impossible to cut.

While drilling on hard ice it is taking longer to drill a hole, so you have to add more down pressure you end with less battery life and less holes cut.  Barely able to squeeze out 12- 16 holes on 24" of ice on a 5ah battery.  The blades itself appears to also be prone to dulling quicker even though it will still cut if you add slight down pressure.  Most guys I know that have a kdrill have had to swap or resharpen their blades half way through the ice season.

Anyone experiencing similar issues and care to share?  At this point kdrill is definitely not battery friendly on hard ice as the lazer and nils will give you more holes, in some case almost a one third or twice as many.  But if you arent drilling alot holes on your outing this may not matter.

[lunkerslayer]

Oh oh the novelty is wearing off good thing you guys get free lifetime sharpened blades

[Northern_MN Outdoorsan]

Anyone notice that the Kdrill struggles when drilling on very hard ice.  The blades have a problem cutting or gripping and you have to add more downpressure to cut.  While on normal, soft or wet ice it seems to cut well.  On very cold or windy days its also prone to ice freezing onto the large power point and baldes making it impossible to cut.

While drilling on hard ice its taking longer to drill a hole, your adding more down pressure you end with less battery life and less holes cut.  Barely able to squeeze out 12- 16 holes on 24" of ice on a 5ah battery.  The blades itself appears to also be prone to dulling quicker even though it will still cut if you add more down pressure.  Most guys I know that have a kdrill have had to swap or resharpen their blades half way through the ice season.

Anyone experiencing similar issues and care to share?  At this point kdrill is definitely not battery friendly on hard ice as the lazer and nils will give you more holes, in some case almost a one third or twice as many.  But if you arent drilling alot holes on your outing this may not matter.

I have been running the 8" K Drill all season and I haven't run into any of the issues you mentioned. I don't have to use any downward pressure at all when drilling any holes.

I have only had the blades freeze up only once all season but not to the point I couldn't drill holes. It was on a day it was -30 below and I was holding the drill on my lap driving a snowmobile.

15-20 holes through 24+ inches of ice is all I have been getting using a 5.0ah battery so that seems normal to me. I have been getting many more holes out of my 9.0ah battery vs. the 5.0ah batteries.

I have not noticed even a slight difference in the sharpness of the blades from the first hole to the last hole I drilled last Saturday night and I have drilled 200+ holes with it so far this year with many more to go until ice out.

I have not had to resharpen the blades yet. I can drill around 65 holes with two 5.0ah batteries and one 9.0ah battery through 30" of ice before I run out of power.

[Fisherman-Andy]

I have been running the 8" K Drill all season and I haven't run into any of the issues you mentioned. I don't have to use any downward pressure at all when drilling any holes.

I have only had the blades freeze up only once all season but not to the point I couldn't drill holes. It was on a day it was -30 below and I was holding the drill on my lap driving a snowmobile.

15-20 holes through 24+ inches of ice is all I have been getting using a 5.0ah battery so that seems normal to me. I have been getting many more holes out of my 9.0ah battery vs. the 5.0ah batteries.

I have not noticed even a slight difference in the sharpness of the blades from the first hole to the last hole I drilled last Saturday night and I have drilled 200+ holes with it so far this year with many more to go until ice out.

I have not had to resharpen the blades yet. I can drill around 65 holes with two 5.0ah batteries and one 9.0ah battery through 30" of ice before I run out of power.

My 8" kdrill has well close to 500 holes cut this season and my Lazer has 1000+.  If your not noticing it now you will sooner or later from my experience as I have had several kdrills over the past 2 years.  They all cut without any pressure or slight minimal down pressure to get it going when brand new.   But during use through many different weather conditions and ice you will start notice different performance and issues with the kdrill.  As the blades start to dull you will realize you have to keep more constant pressure on it to cut.

The nice part of it is the kdrill is very light, and even though the blades have free sharpening service they have a lifespan and can only be re-sharpen 3-4 times per the manufacturer.

[Northern_MN Outdoorsan]

My 8" kdrill has well close to 500 holes cut this season and my Lazer has 1000+.  If your not noticing it now you will sooner or later from my experience as I have had several kdrills over the past 2 years.  They all cut without any pressure or slight minimal down pressure to get it going when brand new.   But during use through many different weather conditions and ice you will start notice different performance and issues with the kdrill.  As the blades start to dull you will realize you have to keep more constant pressure on it to cut.

The nice part of it is the kdrill is very light, and even though the blades have free sharpening service they have a lifespan and can only be re-sharpen 3-4 times per the manufacturer.

You are probably right. Every drill gets dull over time. Good thing they have free sharpening. A guy could always buy a new set of blades to have on hand while the dull ones are sent in for sharpening during the ice fishing season so there is not fishing down time, or just have them sharpened after the end of ice season every year. I am certainly very happy with the K Drill. I definitely don't miss lugging around a heavy stinky gas auger.