Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[California]

for what they cost I am very impressed with the HF Predator 212 CC (Honda clone) engines...:thumbsup:
one caveat...these are Chinese Honda clones...the key word being "chinese"...I heard from one kart building pro that modifies these engines have found some machine shavings in the bottom of the crank on new motors...FWIW...one of the key modifications for high performance is replacing the stock rod with a billet rod...thus they open the case before they ever put oil in it.

I've read of similar problems with Chinese and Indian clones of the old Lister slow-speed diesel engines, the ones that run for years as ditch pumps and generators. One owner found that casting sand left in the crankcase wiped out the rod bearing in a few hours. At least a replacement Babbit rod was inexpensive. His post led to a bunch of me-too! posts. And I think a few Chinese tractor owners on here have encountered similar problems.

Maybe the lesson here is to flush a new Chinese engine with a couple of short-term oil changes before putting it in service. Of course I didn't follow my own advice with the 6.5 hp engine on my HF shredder when I bought it, and it seems to run fine. It's the easiest-starting small engine I've encountered, much pleasanter to use than a B&S.

 

[Wa11banger]

Here is the link. Not too highly rated.

Magnum-16000 Auto Ramp Set with Built-In Safety Chock

I have a set of these bought them some 5 years ago they get irregular use but have more than one occasion had my 2005 2500HD Diesel drive up on them for this and that's. Have never buckled, cracked or even moved for that fact. I do not use the auto block chalk in them but park my diesel on them I am pretty sure any of the failed reviews might have been used improperly. Maybe on a gravel driveway or something to that nature. on concrete they work great and are lightweight

 

[jhnpldng]

I've got the manual tire changer and although I feel like I'm going to break it everytime I use it, (all 130lbs of me) it keeps breaking tire beads and has paid for itself. One of these days, I plan on using it as a model to make a heavier duty version. I also have the small benchtop hydraulic press and it works. Rebuilt a yota 5 speed with it and since it was so cheap, it didn't bother me to hack it up and make it taller to do the job. Small pressure pot sand blaster worked pretty good but the rubber hoses dried up way before their time. I hear their predator small engines are good for the price. Auto darkening welding helmet has done fine. I've had one of their 800/900 watt two stroke generators going on 5 years and it's still going strong. We've used it a lot and usually at about 90% of it's rating. BTW, if anyone ever needs parts for a china generator, there's a guy in the UK that started a business procuring and making parts for them and has just about everything for them. He has reps here in N. America also. Harbor freight models and other china gens. generatorguru dot com. A coil might cost you 60 bucks but it's better than scrapping the gennie.

 

[murphy1244]

Anyone have their bead blasting cabinets??

 

[Travelover]

I've had one of those folding HF 1000# capacity trailers for about 8 years and for what it is - it is great. Nice to fold it up out of the weather. So, I'm preparing to move and decided to look on Craigslist to see what I should sell it for. I was amazed to see several advertised for $500. These things are $300 new. Yea, they screwed on a piece of particle board and bolted it together.....but......


Utility Trailer 4'x8' - Heavy Duty Folding Utility Trailer

 

[IslandTractor]

I've had one of those folding HF 1000# capacity trailers for about 8 years and for what it is - it is great. Nice to fold it up out of the weather. So, I'm preparing to move and decided to look on Craigslist to see what I should sell it for. I was amazed to see several advertised for $500. These things are $300 new. Yea, they screwed on a piece of particle board and bolted it together.....but......


Utility Trailer 4'x8' - Heavy Duty Folding Utility Trailer

I have one of those too. It works fine on the road. The fold up mechanism however is a hazard. Really should have two people to do it safely. When you flip it up the trailer is quite top heavy and you cannot secure the two halves together safely unless someone else supports it while you lock it into storage position. Also, I replaced the roller wheels with a bigger size as the ?2 inch size they provide simply don't work on anything but very smooth concrete.

 

[Travelover]

I have one of those too. It works fine on the road. The fold up mechanism however is a hazard. Really should have two people to do it safely. When you flip it up the trailer is quite top heavy and you cannot secure the two halves together safely unless someone else supports it while you lock it into storage position. Also, I replaced the roller wheels with a bigger size as the ?2 inch size they provide simply don't work on anything but very smooth concrete.

I agree with your points. I replaced the casters and I use a HF overhead 110 volt hoist to fold and unfold it. You could topple it if you screwed up, but I think the folding feature is a winner. Not in the yard rusting and being an eyesore, yet it is ready to use in a few minutes.

At any rate, I'll advertise it for $150 and it will go fast.

 

[ThomasH]

Anyone have their bead blasting cabinets??

I have had one for about 5 years and it's worked fine. Not too much to them, so there isn't too much to go wrong.

 

[sixdogs]

Here's the 12" tool bag on sale for $5 and that's a great buy on a good item. I recommended the bigger bag a few months back but this one is really handy as well. For me, I have a couple of them and use for hitch pins and stuff like that in one bag and nuts, bolts, wrenches etc in the other. I have a larger bag for tools and it really makes travelling with tools and important parts a breeze. Now I don't forget anything because it's in the bag.

The coupon is for $5 and good through March 2nd.

Here's the coupon-- Coupon Display

Here's the item with regular price showing-- 12 in. Tool Bag

Five star rating I'll add and I highly recommend it.

 

[IslandTractor]

I agree with your points. I replaced the casters and I use a HF overhead 110 volt hoist to fold and unfold it. You could topple it if you screwed up, but I think the folding feature is a winner. Not in the yard rusting and being an eyesore, yet it is ready to use in a few minutes. At any rate, I'll advertise it for $150 and it will go fast.

You could get a lot more for it. Remember it takes 3-4 hours to put together and lots of folks aren't going to make that effort.