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I just went through the same decision tree after I got a drill and decided to upgrade my 6" Nils to an 8" something. Here's the research I put together. I ended up with the 8" pistol bit, because it was on sale. The decision I was reall agonizing over was for some reason I had convinced myself that I absolutely needed a manual option in case the drill stopped working for some reason. Eventually I decided with a backup battery and proper battery management it really wasn't going to be that critical.
Razr is the newest ..fills some niches ..lazer/curved blades...centerpoint ..has an auger handle ..safety plate ..draw backs its metal ..price point could be better .https://www.razrpowr.com/razrscout
Since those kind of blades can be impacted by dirty ice, I'd suggest adding a spare set of blades (or 2) in with your backup battery. I've smoked more sets of Ion blades than I'd like to admit. Luckily they are relatively inexpensive to replace.
Maybe some. I've sent my 8" nils through sand, and some wood and made out fine. Worth noting thats 8" with a Centerpoint.
Not fully sure about the concept of "dirty ice." I know drilling at the immediate shoreline is risky, due to the chance of hitting bottom and jacking my blades. But offshore, can the ice be so dirty that it will ruin the blades?
What is the purpose of the outer ring like on the pistol bit? Is it a safety feature? For years I have been using an HT AE-7 with my IceGator. Does not have a center point, or a ring. I never had an issue with it walking on me. The AE-7 has Lazer style blades. I am leaning towards the Lite-Flite because it has the Lazer style blades. My AE-7 still cuts great but as I get older lugging the whole set-up around to pop holes gets hard on my back. But last year I dropped a bunch of weight by getting 2 Amped Outdoors 12V 10AH Lithium batteries to replace the behemoth 12V 10AH SLA batteries that came with my IceGator. I'm not sure how much my AE-7 weighs. But I think I figured I was lugging around close to 40 pounds before the new batteries. I did get a StrikeMaster 4 1/2" Lazer Synthetic last year and wow is it easy to drill holes by hand. I have not attached it to my IceGator.
The idea is that without that ring, some augers will break through incompletely and corkscrew down, not leaving a clean round hole at the bottom. With my manual Nils, I'd just screw it down a few turns and use the metal flights to break out the rest. Can't do that with plastic flights, so the ring at the bottom will keep the blades from breaking through until the blades fully clear the hole.
Wind blown debris ..from beaches roadway parking lots ..not alot of snow pack covering my area the last few seasons...leaving wide open areas for wind to grab it ..also the sand/mud/etc draged out onto the ice by sleds/shelters/atvs snowmobiles . Also brackish waters have a slew of silt .
Great comment on the plastic flights not being able to break through like the metal flights on the Nils!I had never really considered that difference.Every auger I have has metal flights, even my titanium ones.
Totally forgot you were all about the auger tech. Where'd you get the TI augers?
Just got the Cabellas ez drill in today, came with a real nice carry bag with a porket inside for drill and 2 batteries, nice blade cover, adapter wit nice large side handle and is under 5 lbs. Cant wait to give this a try. Also the blades are shaver and less than $20 and it has a center point!
If your running it on a Clam Plate and the extension ..you may require some tape to take up some slack ..a dab of Loctite is also a good idea .
Thatks , no clam plate here. If I had to add that it would be to bulky and heavy, I would just stick to my Ion. Looking to way reduce footprint, It would take up the same space as a Ion.
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Topic: HT Enterprises E Drill vs Eskimo Pistol Bit vs Strikemaster Lite Flite vs K Dril (Read 5653 times)
