Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #2,771  
Lots of ways to use the crane. Put a hitch tube and some feet on it:

From:
Truck hoist design ideas wanted. - WeldingWeb™ - Welding forum for pros and enthusiasts

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From:
another Jeep crane - Pirate4x4.Com

craneonJEEP002.jpg



From:
http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/136177.htm

HitchCrane.jpg



Bruce
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #2,772  
I have seen the HF "crane" in the above posts in action and it worked surprisingly well. In one case it was bolted to the bed or frame of a pickup and lifted a 750 (?) lb, five ft wide rototiller from an awkward trailer angle over to another trailer and it did it with ease and accurate placement.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #2,773  
While shopping for blades for it at Home Depot I noticed that their over $700 10" tile saw is suspiciously similar!

No need to go anywhere but HF for the tile saw blade. I have the HF tile saw (older one painted orange instead of blue). I bought this blade when I got the saw several years ago. I used it putting tile in 4 rooms, with no signs of wear. After we moved a couple of years ago, I put tile in one small room, still looked like new. When I started on a landscaping project that involved a retaining wall, steps and pavers I bought an extra blade from HF because I thought cutting cement blocks would wear out the blade. After hundreds of cuts in 1", 2" and 4" thick solid concrete blocks, the new blade is still in the package and the original blade is still cutting like new. The saw and the blade are HF gems.
jp
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #2,775  
No need to go anywhere but HF for the tile saw blade.....
jp

Very good to know! Thanks!

From my reading, I understand that for brick, a segmented blade is best, so that's what I was looking for, and HF evidently only sells the continuous rim in the 10" size. The HF store manager said that he believed it would be fine for brick, so theirs is the one I'm using. I figured with the manager's recommendation AND with HF's lenient return policy, if it wore out after 50 bricks, I'd just return it! But it's working just fine so far.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #2,776  
I'm thinking of using the little HF 40x48 inch trailer to carry a 275 gallon IBC Tote. (40x48 inches, x 46" tall). I just bought the trailer off Craigslist, $30.

Loaded weight would be twice the trailer's rated capacity. For watering new trees in the orchard a few times a year I don't need a highway quality safety margin.

I don't expect to ever license it. (Especially if I abuse it like that. :D)
Followup to my post of last summer. Now we have 125 young trees in the apple orchard that need watering.

I put the IBC tote (pallet-size caged tank) on the little HF trailer and it works great. I put a HF sump pump down in the tank which pushes 15 gallons (what each tree's basin holds) in 50 seconds.

However ... the orchard has been disked since my first watering run. Now the tires are often 8 inches deep in mounded dust. I bent a 2.5 inch sag into the trailer's tongue when I backed up uphill with a full load of water.

This is really soft steel. I easily straightened the bent tongue by removing it and driving the car (little Focus) over it then a few blows with a sledge to reach precisely straight. I welded angle iron to the tongue to strengthen it. Looks like this $30 junk trailer is going to die of abuse by the third year when the new trees no longer need watering.

I thought the sun-cracked tires (original 1985, rated 590 lbs each) would be the first thing to fail but so far ok. I have a pair of new spares rated 990 lbs each so no big deal if I pop an old tire.

Total loaded weight: IBC tote loaded to overflow = 300 gallons x 8 = 2400 lbs water. +100 lbs for the tote, 125 trailer, 25 for pump and plumbing. Total towed weight 2650 lbs.

Added: photo. The golf bag is to carry the hoe and shovel. Note the vacuum-breaker valve at the top - salvaged from a lawn sprinkler valve. This breaks the siphon effect (and makes the wand much lighter) while I drive to the next tree.

P1670184rIBCwateringTrailer.JPG
 
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   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #2,777  
The 24 inch aluminum pipe wrench is wonderful when you need it for occasional projects. I recently bought a second one before tackling a leaky 1.5 inch irrigation pipe. Only $24 after a 20% coupon and well worth it, even if it had only lasted for just that one project.

However ... the steel in the teeth isn't good enough to consider it a tradesman tool used frequently. The teeth on my first HF aluminum wrench are starting to get mashed, and it has gripped something only 50~100 times.

For comparison I bought this smaller Blackhawk pipe wrench in 1966 and have used it for everything over the years, even on hard steel like cylinder head studs. It has stood up to use better than the HF tool.

P1660380rPipeWrenchTeeth.JPG
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #2,778  
Very good to know! Thanks!

From my reading, I understand that for brick, a segmented blade is best, so that's what I was looking for, and HF evidently only sells the continuous rim in the 10" size. The HF store manager said that he believed it would be fine for brick, so theirs is the one I'm using. I figured with the manager's recommendation AND with HF's lenient return policy, if it wore out after 50 bricks, I'd just return it! But it's working just fine so far.

I also bought the new 10" wet brick and tile saw and the continuous rim blade last week to cut 2"x8"x4" solid clay pavers. It is working great so far. with it being on sale and a 20% coupon I got it for $199. I splurged and bought a year warranty with it. I still have 5000 pavers to lay........

One thing I am doing since I'm cutting sticky clay pavers is to put the water pump in a separate 5 gallon bucket and just pour out the tray water after about 15 cuts.

Also I mistakenly got the stand for the older model and it does not fit the newer model saw. I had to cut the protruding pins off the stand and now the saw fits fine. The new stand is on back order till the end of June.

This is a lot easier and cleaner than the 4" cut off saw I was using.:thumbsup:
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #2,779  
I keep thinking about getting the stand for my HF 10" tile saw but so far haven't. The saw is pretty heavy and I would like a folding stand with wheels to move it around.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #2,780  
I keep thinking about getting the stand for my HF 10" tile saw but so far haven't. The saw is pretty heavy and I would like a folding stand with wheels to move it around.

That's the stand I got, might still be on sale for $39. I Don't know how much the new one is but it also has wheels and folds. The new stand is not on the internet site you have to call HF. The item number for the new stand is 69325, which is for the new blue 10" tile and brick saw item number 69275. The new saw is not the one pictured on the HF web site. On the new saw the saw head swivels to 45 and 30 degrees instead of the tile standing at the angle on the block. (The old saw I'm referring to is item number 95385)

However the old stand, item number 46625 ($39), will fit the new saw if you cut off the 4 metal pegs protruding from the top of the stand. You will also have to provide two bolts that screw the stand to the bottom of the saw. The threaded holes in the saw line up with the holes on the top bars of the stand but there are no slots for the pegs on the new saw. (The new stand is the one pictured on the new saw box according to the picture HF tech sent me.)

It's 45 and 22.5 angle cut see photo

also photo of the new stand coming by the end of June.
 

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