Mantua/Milwaukee/Kdrill Test Run

[BURLEY]

Got a new 6"Kdrill auger and Milwaukee M18 fuel drill for Xmas along with some cheap off brand 6.0 Ah batteries. First outing was a disappointing performance from the batteries while fishing PV Friday with kentofnsl. One of the off brand(VANON) only drilled 7 holes in 8" of ice before dying. The second battery drilled about 15 holes. I was glad Kent brought some backup batteries.
I went home and ordered 2 Milwaukee brand 5.0 xc batteries like Kent had.
My Milwaukee Redline 5.0Ah XC batteries arrived yesterday and after charging them last night, I went up to Mantua today to test them out. I didn't take any fishing gear. The ice was 11" thick about 50 yards from the ramp. I started drilling holes three feet apart as fast as I could. After 17 holes a couple guys stopped to talk. I was showing them how well it was doing when the drilling stopped. As I was changing to my second battery, I noticed that I had moved the speed selector from drill to #14 drive setting. I changed it back to drill, inserted the first battery and continued to drill holes.
After 30 holes on the first battery, I had to stop. I had forgotten the auxiliary handle and my wrist was getting sore. Checking the charge indicator on the battery, it still had 2 of the 4 LEDs lite. Very impressed with the Milwaukee brand battery.
BTW there were only about 8 groups scattered about the pond. None within 1/2 mile of me. With my new confidence in my drill/auger setup, I am looking forward to the rest of the hard water season. Just goes to prove that you get what you pay for.

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[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks for the information, I had wondered about the off brand batteries myself, now I'm very glad I got the ones I did... Guess I need to drill more holes with mine, I've never run a battery out yet and I usually run it for several trips before I recharge... But the ice has been around 4-6" with most of my trips and now things are a changing with more depth of ice cap... Thank you I'll be prepared with the back up battery next trip... Great post, thanks J
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[FatBiker]

I've got the same combo. Couldn't be happier!
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[PACMEN]

Glad to hear about the cheap-o batteries. I have got the same drill with only one battery. No backup and was thinking of getting cheap-o as the backup. I'll go with the real thing.

THANKS
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[Kent]

I'm glad that your Milwaukee batteries treated you well. Yesterday, I lost track of how many holes I drilled (it was a lot) and when I got home I still had 2 of the 4 LEDs lit. I sure enjoy no longer having to mess with my heavy and sometimes fuel-leaking and sometimes hard-to-start gas auger.
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[RonPaulFan]

My Nils Auger never runs out of power. I fuel with steak and eggs and chili and pineapple and some vegetables. []
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