Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[gemini5362]

Pat you are getting the curb extruder. AW man I am so far behind you in toys I mean tools I am never going to catch up.

[patrick_g]

Originally Posted by gemini5362

Pat you are getting the curb extruder. AW man I am so far behind you in toys I mean tools I am never going to catch up.

I think your Porsche makes up for a lot of my toys in one fell swoop.

What the heck. I NEED to do some landscaping and for $500 I can get a curb extruder machine. I hope to line my circular drive with curb to retain gravel "creep" which tends to get rock where you don't want it. I will be able to get shale and crushed limestone delivery and just fill 'er up. I have other uses for curbing than just edging the driveway around the house.
If somehow I manage to run out of things to do with it I can sell it for a few hundred and count the difference like a rental.

I still haven't unboxed my new HF cement mixer replacement for the one damaged by being hit by a flying 14x14 foot door. I think it is repairable. I bought a new sprocket for it once before (I think it got bent) and a 1/3 HP GE motor is not that expensive. I would be pleased to give it to you if you would like but a down side is you would have to leave the Porsche behind and drive your brand X truck.

It mixes 200 lbs of concrete per batch. It probably needs a new motor and either a new sprocket or a sprocket flattening exercise. It is yours if you would like it. Let me know one way or the other so I can either hold it for you or find another sucker, uh err ah I mean lucky recipient. I could hang on to it till you were out this way with a truck, even several months, no problem.

Who knows maybe when I run out of curbing projects you might want to extrude a few.

Now listen folks, I often buy and use HF tools but... when my 4 1/2 inch angle grinder died I took it in for repair (not to exceed $40) and bought a MILWAUKEE 7 inch (what a brute) to use on larger jobs and spare the little 4 1/2 inch units (and me) the extra strain. I was tempted to go HF but my experience with Milwaukee is that they are as good as it gets and are super reliable.

Pat
Pat

[wa9w00d]

I was glancing through the HF daily catalog, and noted that the 16 oz. can crusher (item# 46406-1RAB) could not be sold in Iowa, Michigan, or Oregon.

Which immediately brought many questions to mind. Is it only 16 oz crushers, or are all can crushers outlawed? Why? Is it illegal to crush them by hand? Again, why? What is the penalty for crushing a can or possession of a crusher? If you had a truckload of them would you get busted for intent to distribute? Again,WHY???

Then I thought maybe it's not the cans they're worried about. Maybe the ingenious folks of these States figured out some nefarious alternate use for these simple devices. Maybe even a WMD of some kind. One of those babies and a can of starter fluid might be dangerous.

Or is it a protection scheme for local arts and crafts industry? That's the first place I ever saw can crushers.

Anyone out there with some answers?

Wayne

[patrick_g]

Originally Posted by wa9w00d

I was glancing through the HF daily catalog, and noted that the 16 oz. can crusher (item# 46406-1RAB) could not be sold in Iowa, Michigan, or Oregon.


Anyone out there with some answers?

Wayne

Wayne, Sure we could tell you but then of course.........

We'd have to kill you!

This is a fascinating topic. I'm surprised California isn't in there somehow. Surely crushing cans must be known to the state of California to cause cancer!

Maybe it can produce microscopic traces of airborne aluminum - - - aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's disease.

You know you aren't supposed to crush cans but once you start and breathe in the aluminum you FORGET and keep crushing.

Pat

[gemini5362]

Pat thank you for your kind offer of the cement mixer. Maybe I am not quite as far behind you in toys as I let on. A few years ago I saw an add in the bargain column of the paper for a commercial mortar mixer the kind that holds one yard. It was mounted on a trailer that was made out of a solid axler truck axle ( meaning it has highway speed tires) they wanted 100.00 for it and it was about a mile from work. I immediately decided it was lunch time and went and bought it. I have used it one time but my friends have built several really nice projects with it.

By the way they sell porsches in Oklahoma City. I had to use that dealerships price to get the tulsa dealer to come down on mine. If you like when we come to OKC for that wedding I will drive you down to the porsche dealership and you can pick you out one ?

[DetroitTom]

Item: Irrigation Drip Kit
Assessment: Sucks

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Anyone who thinks the Chinese have no sense of humor will be convinced otherwise after trying to make this kit work. I can envision them rolling on the floor laughing as they imagine the crazy Americans trying to fix the leaking fittings, getting squirted at one junction and puzzling over by no water is coming out of another.

At $7, I guess I shouldn't have expected much. My first clue was that the instructions stated "in case it leaks" do this and in case it doesn't work, try that. All the better to draw one into the challenge. Which I was.

Seriously, though, if you have a couple of plants on a patio and want to run a trickle system to them it might work, but I would never leave it unattended. The hose is of such small diameter, there is no way it can deliver water from all the emitters they supply, which by the way, leak water in varying amounts depending on how they were glued together. The "T" fittings work OK, but the inline barbs are of a smaller diameter and leak faithfully. There is a built in vacuum breaker on the hose bib adapter and it leaks steadily, which might be a good thing is you have a plant located there.

[Bedlam]

I think the cans are not to be crushed because that is an outsourced job. Ship them in tact to china and then have then crush them.

[charlz]

Originally Posted by patrick_g

What the heck. I NEED to do some landscaping and for $500 I can get a curb extruder machine.

If you do get it I'd be interested to hear how well it works. My wife has lots of places she would like curbing... the first project would probably cover the cost of the machine versus paying someone to come out and put it in.

[CurlyDave]

Anyone out there with some answers?

I didn't know it was illegal to crush used cans in Oregon, but it does prevent you from getting your deposit back on the cans.

In the great state of OR, you must be able to read the bar code on the can to get money back.

In front of every grocery store is a gadget about the size of a coke machine, which works like a coke machine in reverse. You put the can in, the machine reads the bar code and if it is acceptable, stores the can's value in its memory, and the can itself in its bowels. It rejects some cans, damaged ones, ones that store doesn't sell, etc.

When you are done with putting cans in, you press a button somewhere & it prints out a ticket for you to take to a chashier for your money back.

If you think this is a PITA you are right. The unstated part of this is that the cans always have a little residue in them -- the machine, the cans, and everything within 10 feet of it is sticky.

Because the cans have to be whole, an entire trunkload of them might bring back $2.

I don't bother to do it anymore. Even though I am retired, my time is worth more than the return from recycling cans.

[patrick_g]

Thomas (Gemini), Thanks anyway, how about if I just give you part of your finders fee and we save time and fuel and NOT GO.

Detroit Tom, It said "DRIP" system didn't it? Doesn't it drip at most of the fittings?

CurlyDave, I have seen the machines that read the cans and did 2 liter bottles as well (California) however we don't do that as in Oklahoma cans is cans. The buyers here run them through a rough shredder removing ferromagnetic stuff with magnets. They pay by the pound. I crush mine by hand about 90% as good as a purpose built crusher to save space. We donate our cans to local senior citizens organization that sells them to finance projects. Not worth my time to mess with selling them.

Pat