Review on the K-drill

[Rick G]

Being Jim put up his rewiew on the Ion, I figured I would chime in on how the K-drill worked.

Well, I have one whole winter worth of use with Vexilars  6inch K-drill. I figure that I must have drilled right around 4000-5000 holes this winter. This auger preforms flawless, through hard or soft ice, any thickness AND can re-drill old holes.

 

As far as speed goes, it beats the Clam and finishes right behind the Nils.... But unlike the Nils, it dosen't leave a TON of slush in the hole. This was one of the big reasons I chose the K-drill over the Nils.

 

Another big selling point was weight, the K-drill  comes in quite a bit less than the rest of the field, this makes a big difference at the end of the day. This is because the K-drill is made of a light weight composite with a t6 aluminum shaft,  while the rest use steel for the shaft and flighting. 

 

At right around $500 for the K-drill and a good brushless drill, it's not the cheepest rout by any means. It's right there in price with an Ion and a tad more than the clam or nils, but worth every penny, IMHO.

 

Overall,  the K-drill has been a game changer for me. I have always been the run and gun, drill as many holes as it takes type.  Now, I can drill all day, 1-2 hundred holes if need be, and not wire out from draging a heavy gas auger with all over the lake. 

If you are on the fence as to the electric  auger to buy, I highly recomend the K-drill paired with the Milwaukee m18 brushless.

[eyeguy 54]

you are the drillin king !

[river rat316]

What amoerage batteries do you have? I finally got my gearbox back from clam this week..... a little to late... I am so glad they used us for product testing and ended up screwing me out of going electric this year, I am selling it early next season and going with the k-drill

[AlwaysFishing23]

Great review Rick G! I've always been all for Gas augers but it seems seems electric is better than I think it is. I could defiantly see myself making the move in the near future.

[monstermoose78]

I am getting me some of the 9 amp hour ones

[mrpike1973]

I love my 6 inch K Drill however the blades seem to dull faster to me once I figured it out. Happy as a clam. I do regret selling my power auger. I bought a 8 Eskimo power auger for when I go to Mille lacs. the K drill will work just fine but I liked having the 8 inch hole for eyes up there harder to turn there head in a six inch hole. I know you can drill 2 holes together but for me it just worked. Short story Rick G is right on I love my K drill. Would recommend to any one and it's so much lighter when runnin and gunnin.

[Hawg]

There are still the guys that argue up and down about electrics but they are getting fewer and fewer. They are all very strong people though,I wouldn't want get into a fight with anyone that drills 200 holes a day and carries around a 35# + auger 

Edited March 30, 2017 by Hawg

[Wanderer]

I like the electrics too but it will be a necessity for me to finally give up my gasser for good.  One tank on it can cut many, many holes.  Batteries are expensive so I don't plan on buying extras for those days I plan to explore.

 

I think it was mentioned on the forums before: With the mapping apps and gps we have available now, we probably all drill fewer holes over the season than we used to.  The problem I have though is I don't repeat locations many times over the winter. Heck, not even lakes that often.  I've been carrying the gas, electric and hand auger pretty much all winter.

[AlwaysFishing23]

I would say gas augers are still getting better. For example my solo engine always starts never leaks and emissions are very very low. I don't think I burned a half gallon of gas the whole winter and I drilled maybe 500 holes max still not a lot but pretty good for only using a cup or so of fuel an outing. Not saying electrics are bad but for me I just can't pull my self away from the convince of gas. Every winter I think I do give more and more respect to cordless drill or electric set ups. Well then also with this last winter we had a goo full 24 inches of ice for maybe 3 weeks this it starting melting fast

[BriGuy88]

I also decided to take the plunge this year and get a K-drill towards the end of the season.  I went with the 8" model paired with a Milwaukee M18 Fuel with 5ah batteries.  I had the opportunity to try an Ion on the ice this year before deciding and for me, the K-drill setup offers more because of the ability to use the powerhead for other things throughout the year.  I was a little skeptical that the 8" model could be effectively run with the drill, but after this season, those doubts are gone. 

 

The true test was 3 weeks ago up by Cross Lake with 2 feet of good solid clear ice.  All I can say is WOW!  Fast, clean holes will be in my future for quite some time!  The 8" model will likely run the batteries down faster than a 6" model would, but for as many holes as I drill in an outing, I'll take the slight loss in number of holes for the trade off of a larger hole.  Plus, I have the option of getting a 9ah battery if I want to drill more. 

 

I used to be a die hard Strikemaster guy, but I'm now sold on Milwaukee red and K-drill orange!

[Jim Panfish Uran]

Great review, and it IS a dang game changer, that thing is so light and it drills with ease. Rick let me use his up on Cass Lake ice and it ripped! 

[grab the net]

Can't say it any better than Rick did.  Light weight, ease of cutting, re-drilling old holes, it does it all.  18V brushless fuel, two 5ah batteries go a long ways for the average guy.  Highly recommended, plus you have the drill for the rest of your jobs around the house.  I went with the 6"

[Northlander]

I sold my K drill and went back to my Nils. The slush in the hole doesn't matter because I just reverse the drill and push it back down the hole. K drill is lighter but much shorter than my Nils. The Nils is faster by a bit and for me it being taller is the big draw. Both are great. I like them better than the Ions.