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EZ Kut Drill or Treehopper Cordless Drill Bit, anyone using these?

G

Gibby

New Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2014
Messages
24
The Woodpecker drill isn't made anymore and hard to come by so I am interested in hearing from anyone that's using or has used the EZ Kut Drill and or the Treehopper Cordless Drill Bit.

Do you like them?

Does anyone know what the drill bit size is?

Are the drills the same size between the different manufacturers?

Does one work better than another?

Looking for a quick and easy lightweight option for getting in a tree

Thanks in advance

Gibby
 
I think they are all the same size, but I only have the EZ Kut hand drill, which is 3/8. I also have a homemade power drill bit made from a Kreg bit and stopper. I will most likely be using just the EZKut hand drill for setups. I found it just a little bit slower than the powered bit because it cleared itself. For the weight difference of a hand drill vs. a dewalt, "just a little slower" is plenty fine by me.
I have only set up a few trees, since it is too early to set up for next year, but I did a 20' setup from bottom to top in just over 15 minutes. Not too shabby, and quieter than I was personally able to do with sticks.


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I've used the Treehopper cordless drill bit for several years. Pro, t works great but the biggest con is the darn Milwaukee cordless drill I have is heavy and a pain to carry through the woods. I recently made a copy of the EZ Kut drill and have only used it to try it out and it seemed to work pretty good. It takes quite a few turns to get the drill bit to penetrate to the stop but it turns easy, much easier that tree steps...

http://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/slow-day-at-work.2967/#post-34949

index.php
 
I use the ez kut hand drill and drill bit. I did break a drill bit this season, I was drilling pretty aggressively trying to clear the hole out. It was my fault.
 
I have tried the tree hopper bit and battery powered drill , the problems I had was running out of power in the middle of sitting up a tree,the hand drill would been better but was no longer being sold.I also didn't like their lag bolts , seemed to short for my size 13 boots.I could have bought longer lag bolts but figured screw in steeps were better on private land and climb paws on conservation land where screw in steps aren't allowed.The other problem was if you left them in to long the tree grew around them and could not remove them.
 
I have EZ Kut hand drill and power drill bit. Zero complaints. And I wear size 13 boots :)
With a small power drill, I have no problem setting up at least 4 trees on a charge. My body wears out before the drill does!
 
I personally avoid drilling a tree by hand. It rea;;y depends upon the type of tree. Some of them are HARD WORK. Make sure you have a really good lineman's belt and know how to use it. Positioning is everything....especially when drilling on your weak side and if you get greedy and try to spread out your steps to much.

I space mine using the distance form my elbow to my fingertips. I always place the first step on the right side at my knee height. Makes it easy to find the first two holes in the dark.
 
I am wondering if some of the issues guys are having with the hand drill stems from it getting dull over time. Auger bits need to be very sharp to effectively cut by hand.
With me wanting to prep between 20 and 30 trees before next season, I expect to need to sharpen the bit AT LEAST twice.

I am guessing that this could be the main issue, because my brand new bit eats through very hard woods like butter. There are lots of videos on YouTube that explore the subject.


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@justsomedude, I have been getting about 2 trees per charge, so I take both my batteries and I can get 4 set up in a day. Maybe this will go up when I start just re-drilling trees, the one tree I have re-drilled was a piece of cake.

@IkemanTX, my problems with the hand drill were the first 2 trees I used it on, so it was still sharp. I just find it awkward and a lot of work. I would compare it to using the cheap screw in tree steps. I have a ton of trees set up with them, but they're a decent amount of work to set up. At least with those they remain there until I take them out.
 
I use one of the step tools and have no problem with getting tree steps in but it all comes down to what you prefer. Some hunters prefer climbing sticks,some use spikes.I guess i should have said i didn't prefer the lag bolt and my drill isn't that great so i don't use them any more.
 
I still have my old Simmons drill and it seems to cut a little faster but frequently requires a second pass to clear shavings. It also is a slightly smaller size that the EZ Kut. My bolts are extremely snug in the Simmons but loose in the EZ Kut. EZ Kut also cuts a deeper hole which will probably cause me to get some longer bolts. Ive drilled many a tree without noticing any effects of the bit losing its sharpness.
 
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