nils damage

[PACMEN]

Drilling what turned out to be my last hole of the day (wish it wasn't) at otter creek today I hit some gravel and dirt imbedded in the ice. Really messed up the nils. Had it on 1/2 drill motor.

Looks as though I get to send it off. Can't even get 1" drill depth now.

Did not measure ice thickness but would guess it to be purdy close to 18".
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[brookieguy1]

Sorry about the auger. Hopefully the ice starts to melt off soon. Love that early March ice-off action there and Minersville!
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[dubob]

[quote PACMEN]Drilling what turned out to be my last hole of the day (wish it wasn't) at otter creek today I hit some gravel and dirt imbedded in the ice. Really messed up the nils. Had it on 1/2 drill motor.

Looks as though I get to send it off. Can't even get 1" drill depth now.

Did not measure ice thickness but would guess it to be purdy close to 18".[/quote][#800000][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Bummer! Send it off, get it repaired, then sell it when you get it back and replace it with a K-Drill. That's what I did 2 years ago and haven't looked back. I loved my NILS, but love the K-Drill much more. [] []
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[6x7]

X2 with dubob. Love my kdrill. Overlapping holes, no need to send off blades, cheaper replacement blades, and free lifetime sharpening. Can’t beat it.

[Kent]

On Wednesday, my Nils hit a sunken hump (at least 150 yards from shore) at Lost Creek Reservoir and it has been sent off for sharpening. It was my 8" and fortunately I have a 6" spare. It was a struggle, but David was able to sharpen it enough, with his hook sharpener, that we were able to drill a few holes (it was our first hole that we drilled).
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[PACMEN]

I agree ice off at both lakes is awesome.
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[PACMEN]

What's so great about the K-Drill?

Our nils drills like crazy. Never used one faster, or with the same ease.
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[PACMEN]

That sucks.
We have got a strike master that I built an adapter for so we can use the drill with it also.
I am going to throw it into the truck for a back up from now on.
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[PACMEN]

Can see the benifit of overlapping holes at the gorge for sure.
What do you do have a spare set of blades and then send others off for sharpening?
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[k2muskie]

Bob. I’m not really convinced on the K-Drill. My Nils works great. So convince me ‘why’ on a K-Drill. I’ve seen you and others use the K-Drill they appear much slower in drilling a hole nor that speed is important. So not sure what if any benefit would be for me to purchase one.
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[Kent]

The few times that I need to overlap holes for fishing for macks I can make quick work of cutting out the bridges between three holes with my ice saw.
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[MACMAN]

It’s kind of a Ford/Chevy thing. I would agree the nils in perfect shape is faster. The kdrill has a chipper blade which handles dirty ice better, I’ve encountered that 3 times times year. You also don’t need to send your cutting head off if you damage a blade. Spare set on hand and send your dull ones in for free sharpening. I have a nils hand auger, but I really like my kdrill.
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[PACMEN]

I pack along a 3' long ice chisel I made to knock out these bridges at the Gorge.
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[k2muskie]

Thanks we haven’t encountered ‘dirty ice’ are you fishing shallow or in potentially run off areas? We fish anywhere from 25-50FOW. Educate me on dirty ice??
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[Kent]

IMNSHO using an ice saw is quicker and easier, but alas they cost more than a chisel.
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[dubob]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]I'm in Georgia chasing quail. Be back on Friday to answer your questions.
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[MACMAN]

I guess my description of “dirty ice” would be anything embedded within the ice, just as Pacman described in the original post in this thread. At millsite this year, the ice where I drilled was filled with a coarse sand. Viva Naughton in 13 fow there appeared to be shells or husks of some kind in the bottom third of the ice and this last weekend at Fish Lake there were weeds frozen into the last 12”- in 16.5 fow. The experience I had at flaming gorge 10 years ago sold me on chipper style blades over shavers. Fishing off a wind swept point I dulled my shavers on sand in the ice in one hole, rendering the bit useless (not a nils). I’ve had chippers with a chisel point ever sense. They aren’t as smooth or fast- but never let me down. This is just my opinion, developed from personal experience. Believe me, it was hard not to get the orange nils when I set this auger up, but I couldn’t be happier with the Milwaukee/kdrill. 3 people who have drilled with this auger now own that same setup. I’ve never drilled overlapping holes, but I have reopened old holes, and that was as advertised.
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[k2muskie]

Thank you.
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[dubob]

[quote k2muskie]Bob. I’m not really convinced on the K-Drill. My Nils works great. So convince me ‘why’ on a K-Drill. I’ve seen you and others use the K-Drill they appear much slower in drilling a hole nor that speed is important. So not sure what if any benefit would be for me to purchase one.[/quote][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Kim,[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]I started out with the traditional gas motor auger (actually owned 2 of them). Used them for about 4 or 5 years and was happy with the performance overall. Then I started to see the electric drill operated augers become more and more popular. The NILS was very fast at getting through the ice and at the time was the clear winner for me, so I bought one. At the time, the K-Drill wasn't yet out.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]What I found with the NILS was that it was very easy to damage/bend the cutting blade and render the NILS all but useless. I did it once and had to send it off for repair which took about 10 days. There were no replacement heads available locally and ordering one on-line would have taken a week to get as well.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Then I saw the adds for the K-Drill. I watched several comparison videos on the K-Drill and very much liked what I saw. It does things that any of my previous auger would not do efficiently - like re-drilling a hole, overlapping a hole for a larger size hole, and not side skipping on uneven ice. The blades are easy to change and come with a life-time free sharpening warranty. Actually, you have to pay for the shipping both ways so it isn't REALLY free. []
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Yes, the K-Drill isn't the fastest auger on the ice. But I don't look at getting through the ice first as a worthy goal. It gets me through the ice every time its tried and the weight of the auger itself is lighter than any other auger I have held. That's a good thing on those rare occasions when I hand pull my gear out on the ice as in early season.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]I don't recall ever drilling through 'dirty ice' with any of my augers so I can't comment on that aspect. I'm very happy with my K-Drill and would recommend it to anybody that asked my advice on which one to get.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]I was also mostly happy with my NILS and would never suggest that it isn't a first class product. But overall, I do like my K-Drill better even though I will never win any speed contests with it. [][/size][/#800000][/font]
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