Ridgid Octane Drill for Kdrill

Migrator Man

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Is anyone using a Ridgid Octane drill for their kdrill or some other ice drill set up? Some of the other forums have talked about the Ridgid having issues quitting from some safety feature. Has anyone seen this problem? I like this drill because you can mount the handle on the top of the drill for more ergonomic drilling.

Home Depot has the 9ah and charger on sale for 99. So I can get the set up for $240 unless I wait on another deal for the drill itself. The other option is just to go with the tried and true Milwaukee drill but I like the idea of big batteries except the Milwaukee ones are so spendy!
 


RRmaniac

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Don't have any experience with the Ridgid drill but I was able to get a deal last fall at Acme in GF on a Dewalt DCD 996 Drill and Impact Combo. It came with two 5 ah and a 6 ah battery. All of this was for $250+tax. Runs my hand auger rig well and can get at least 600 inches on a battery.
 

luvcatchingbass

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I'm running a Dewalt with no issues and have ran my buddies kdrill with a Milwaukee. Side by side I think the Milwaukee is a little better and faster due ty o a higher torque spec. You can either buy the Rigid and let us know how it works or go with one of the bigger brands that is proved itself. Milwaukee has a better warranty than Dewalt.
 

LBrandt

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Anything named after a beer has got to be good. Here hold my Milwaukee
 


BRK

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I just burned my dewalt drill out using it on the ice with my clam plate/k drill combo; it took three years and it only cost me $99 for the drill. In my eyes that's a fair investment given the amount of ice I drilled through. Problem is i have two 5amp batteries for it so i'll have to get the same drill again.

I had a buddy buy the milwaukee drill last year and had some serious issues with the safety switch. He couldn't even drill 1 hole! Sent it in, they said it was fine, but sent him a new one anyways, same issue.
 

Kickemup

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Kdrill says a minimum of 700inch pounds torque. I run the Milwaukee that's has 1200inch pounds and I works great. If that drill is brushless with over 700 give it a shot. Both Milwaukee and dewalt drills work great. Milwaukee's warranty is 5times better that dewalts. 5 years on the tools and 3 years on batteries is tough to beat. I have dropped my tools off a roof accidentally snapped the handle in half and they fixed it no questions asked.
 

Migrator Man

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The Milwaukee drill set is $200 at fleet farm with purchase of a bit set $20-35, and $20 shipping. Might just go with the Milwaukee for that price.
 

Muzzytipped

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I have the Rigid. It works but will shut off for (3-5) seconds when bogged down. Usually at the bottom of the hole. I would just buy Milwaukee if had to do it again.
 

Bfishn

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I was looking at the Rigid last year until i found a good deal on the outgoing Milwaukee 2703. I read a few things about the new Milwaukee 2803 doing the shutdown thing, but i have no first hand experience with the new model. My 2703 runs flawlessly with clam plate and 7" eskimo hand auger.

When i bought it, I assumed I would use it early season and then go to my gas once the ice got over a foot or so. Well here we are in 2' of ice and i still see no reason to use my gas. I have yet to come close to draining a 5ah battery, i don't even carry my second battery most the time anymore.
 


guywhofishes

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Kdrill says a minimum of 700inch pounds torque. I run the Milwaukee that's has 1200inch pounds and I works great. If that drill is brushless with over 700 give it a shot. Both Milwaukee and dewalt drills work great. Milwaukee's warranty is 5times better that dewalts. 5 years on the tools and 3 years on batteries is tough to beat. I have dropped my tools off a roof accidentally snapped the handle in half and they fixed it no questions asked.

same

that 1200 in/lb will give your wrist a nice tweak if you're not ready
 

4Buck

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I have been running the Octane the last two years, it has been a beast. I have been using the 8in. Eskimo hand auger no problems at all. I do use the Clam Plate.
 

Kentucky Windage

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I had my Milwaukee 1200 ft lb drill shut down on me a couple times last weekend with an 8” K-drill. I was punching multiple holes at a time. The battery was blinking and without looking up the code, I think it was getting a little warm.

I still think there is a place for gas in thicker ice when punching many holes throughout the day.
 

Migrator Man

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I had my Milwaukee 1200 ft lb drill shut down on me a couple times last weekend with an 8” K-drill. I was punching multiple holes at a time. The battery was blinking and without looking up the code, I think it was getting a little warm.

I still think there is a place for gas in thicker ice when punching many holes throughout the day.
I have heard of shutdowns with the gen3 model of the Milwaukee drills. Some kind of new feature that the previous models didn’t have. This could get annoying for us ice drillers.

Either way I ended up buying the Milwaukee 2804-22 kit from Fleet Farm this morning for $199 and free shipping. Best price I have seen so I just pulled the trigger on the deal.
 


RPNLPS

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I am and have been running a k-drill with the Milwaukee fuel with a 9 amp battery clam plate and a trophy angler extension for 3 yrs now ! It helps a lot to keep sharp blades on the k-drill I have two sets and send them in for free sharpening when they get dull . I put new ones on and send the others to be sharpened right away so there back and ready to go when needed!
Most of the time when drill shuts down I find myself trying to drill to fast , there isn’t much down force needed on the k-drill after it first punches into the ice when it has sharp blades on !
 

Weekender

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Not to hijack the thread.... But does anyone run into issues drilling through thicker ice when getting to the bottom of it? I run a 8" K-Drill with a Milwaukee Fuel. On 20+ inches of ice it rips through the first 18 or so inches and the last two seem to take forever. I run it back up and down to clear out all the ice shavings in the hole and it still doesn't seem to help much. Even stops the drill sometimes. Blades seem to be sharp.
 

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