Motorized drills for winter fishing: which one to choose, types, differences

Types of motorized drills

Motor drills can be universal and specialized. Universal ones are suitable for drilling wells in soil and ice, specialized ones will cope with only one of the tasks.

The design of petrol ice drills allows for operation at low temperatures: the body and parts of the equipment are made of frost-resistant materials, the engine is designed to start in cold conditions and has suitable power for drilling through ice.

Augers are also divided according to purpose: for soil and ice. Specialized augers have steel blades designed to drill through all types of ice. The surface of the auger can be coated with Teflon, which softens sliding on snow and reduces the applied force. Some manufacturers have augers equipped with replaceable knives that you can sharpen yourself.

Motorized drills drill holes with a depth of 0.8–1.5 m and a diameter of 100–500 mm. The size of the auger is selected according to the required diameter of the hole and the thickness of the ice layer. For small fish, holes are made with a diameter of 100, for perch - 150, bream and other large fish - from 200 mm. The standard drilling depth can be increased using an auger extension, but the gas auger engine must be powerful enough to cope with this task.

Choosing a benzene ice drill

When choosing a motor drill for winter fishing, you need to take many parameters into account. The following requirements apply to a good tool:

The device must be made of materials that can withstand significant physical stress even at a temperature of -40°C.
The motorized ice ax must withstand vibration and shock loads, bending and fracture.
A good tool is equipped with a motor capable of operating in extreme conditions. A regular two-stroke engine simply won’t start in extreme cold.
Engine power is not less than 1.2 kW. This is the minimum figure. It is most comfortable to work with a device equipped with a 2.5 kW power unit.
It is advisable that the device be equipped with an electronic speed controller.
The noise level during drill operation should be minimal. In good devices, this problem is solved by installing shock-absorbing elements.
Anti-slip handles for gripping controls.
Water-repellent coating to prevent icing of device elements. It does not completely protect against ice, but it can significantly reduce its thickness.
Knives must be made of high-strength stainless alloy.
It is advisable to have a Teflon coating on the screw. It makes it easier to slide in the snow and prevents the formation of an ice crust on its surface.
The blades must be sharpened at a certain angle to easily cut dry, wet and loose ice.

A properly chosen drill will easily cope with ice up to 1.5 m thick. This is if you use an auger with a diameter of 300 mm.

Types of knives

When choosing an ice drill, you need to pay special attention to the shape of the knives. To select the correct auger blades, you need to know the characteristics of the ice on the pond. Along with the tool, it is advisable to immediately buy several types of knives.

Straight blades are considered the most popular. They cut dry ice of any density well, but do not cope well with wet ice. For sticky spring ice, serrated knives are great. The teeth reduce the contact area of the blades with the ice layer, which makes drilling holes much easier.

Two-stage blades are needed for drilling holes in very dry ice. The cutting edges in such knives are at different levels, so they do not cut, but crumble it. Spherical knives are good in any conditions, but they have a significant drawback - they quickly become dull, and it is very difficult to sharpen them yourself.

Advantages and disadvantages

The main advantage of motorized drills for winter fishing is the reduction in time for drilling one hole. A hole with a depth of 70 cm and a diameter of 150 mm can be drilled manually in 5–10 minutes, and with a gas drill it will take no more than 30 seconds.

Let's look at the advantages and disadvantages of motorized drills.

Advantages:

you drill less and fish more;
you don't need to waste effort on manual drilling;
In the summer, you can drill wells in the ground on your property or earn extra money by helping your neighbors.

Flaws:

you will have to pay more for a gas auger than for a manual ice auger;
due to its weight (about 10 kg), the motor drill is inconvenient to transport;
for work you need to prepare a fuel mixture (gasoline + oil);
Periodically you need to clean the air filter, change spark plugs, and lubricate the gearbox.

Buying a motor drill is justified if you often need to drill through ice more than a meter thick, and also have something to transport equipment (cars, sleds). Also, to save money, you can buy one gas drill for a group of fishermen.

Pros and cons of motorcycle ice drills

Let's look at the pros and cons of motorized drills, comparing them, of course, with hand drills.

The main advantage of its “moto” counterpart over a hand drill is the speed of hole drilling. Especially with a larger diameter auger. If you use a manual ice drill with a 150 or 200 mm auger, then while you are drilling one hole, the owner of the motorized drill will drill five of them.

This is where the advantages of the ice drill end, and the disadvantages begin.

Trusted manufacturers

The Carver brand is owned by a Russian company with its head office in Perm. The company is a dealer of large power tool factories (Interskol, Fiolent, etc.), and since 2009 it began producing its own products under the Carver brand. Now the range of equipment for home and garden plots includes more than 100 items. The brand is one of the leaders in the Russian market due to its high quality, reliability and competitive price.

The Elitech brand has been on the market since 2008 and is the Russian company’s own production. Over the years, the brand’s line has been expanded to include a wide range of garden equipment and power tools. The products are manufactured in China and are aimed, among other things, at the Russian market. The company takes care of its customers and has organized a large network of service centers in different cities of Russia.

Popular models

The following models of gas drills are popular in our store.

CARVER AG-43/000

The universal CARVER AG-43/000 without an auger included is suitable for drilling soil and ice. Designed for operation in the cold season, it has a fuel pump to facilitate starting.

Equipped with a 1.7 hp two-stroke engine. air cooled. The Quick Start system reduces the effort required to start the engine.

The gas drill controls are located on the handle. Optionally available are augers for drilling with a diameter of 150–300 mm, for soil (100–500 mm), replaceable knives (150–300 mm) and auger extensions (300, 500, 1000 mm).

ADA GroundDrill-2

The ADA GroundDrill-2 gas drill is sold complete with a Drill 150 A00418 auger (for soil). Suitable for those who are looking for a universal motor drill for drilling wells on soil and ice.

Has a power of 2.45 hp. and an engine capacity of 52 cm3 - will cope with dense soils. Equipped with a durable reinforced frame. The maximum screw diameter is 200 mm. A reliable motor drill model with low fuel consumption and a long service life.

Elitech BM 52V

Elitech BM 52V motor drill with a 2.5 hp two-stroke engine. supplied without auger. The engine with a starting force reduced by 50% has a volume of 52 cm3.

Optionally available are augers for ice, soil and frozen ground, which differ in the cutting head. Available drilling diameters are from 40 to 200 mm, maximum depth is 1.8 m.

The motor drill controls are located on the handle. Fuel consumption declared by the manufacturer is 0.7 l/h. The gas drill is equipped with a funnel, a canister for preparing the fuel mixture and a set of tools.

Let's look at the anatomy of an ice auger

A manual ice auger consists of a handle with two handles, a telescopic (usually) rod, an auger, a head and knives. In a two-handed ice auger, both handles are placed outside the axis, while in a one-handed ice auger, one of the linings is strictly on the same axis with the auger. Drilling a hole is done with both hands. The pads are made of hard rubber or plastic. The auger is a rod with a metal strip welded in a spiral. It is made of either titanium or steel. The head of the ice auger is a holder on which the knives are bolted. Knives for ice augers are round, straight and spherical. Spherical knives are distinguished by maintaining their sharpness for a long time, however, they require special sharpening, which cannot be done at home. The price for professional sharpening is very high, which can be considered a disadvantage. Straight knives are more aggressive, crush ice more strongly, and with them the drilling process is faster, but also more labor-intensive. Rounded knives cut more accurately, but drilling will take longer and you will use less effort. There is also a division into knives for wet or dry ice. They differ from each other in that for dry ice the angle of attack of the knives must be aggressive so that the knife crushes the ice; for heavier and viscous wet ice, the angle of inclination is needed to be flatter so that the auger copes with the task of throwing sludge out. Ice drill ICEBERG-SIBERIA 160 mm, right rotation, steel head, telescopic 1600, v3.0 Tonar 7,560 for 1 piece. Ice drill Titan 3 knives Tonar 10,465 for 1 piece. Ice drill TORNADO-M2 180 mm, right rotation Tonar 4,225 for 1 pc. Ice drill TORNADO-M2 150 mm, right rotation, without cover Tonar 4,090 for 1 pc. Ice drill TORNADO-M2 180 mm, left rotation, without cover Tonar 4,290 for 1 pc. Ice drill TORNADO-M2 180 mm, right rotation, without cover Tonar 4,290 for 1 pc. Ice drill LR-180D, left rotation, seamless auger, 180 mm Tonar 3,500 for 1 piece. Ice drill BURAN 180L left rotation, solid-drawn auger Tonar 5,790 for 1 pc. Ice drill Helios HS-180 mm, solid-drawn auger, auger height 40 cm Tonar 3,100 for 1 pc. Ice drill UR Steel Foldable 155 mm. Rapala 9,290 for 1 piece. All large diameter ice screws in the catalog