Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,151  
I've got the smaller set, but it has been a life saver a number of times when disassembling electronic equipment. Last summer volunteers were swapping out light bulbs at the local state park and they were dumbfounded to find screw heads with just two round holes but no slot. I whipped out my bit set and found the correct tool instantly. They thought I was either a crook or a magician. :laughing:

It's pretty amazing where they use those security screws. I inherited a Honeywell Electric Space Heater tha just needed to be cleaned out to wrok fine again, and it had the ones with a central pin surrounded by an inside out hex (like an Allen head). The bits worked great.

The HF dirty water pump (1/2 HP) also had security screws I needed to get out to clean the algae and sea weed out of it. Those had 3 holes arranged in a triangle.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,152  
Same specification chain at HF is $8 less after using a 25% off coupon, compared to Lowes. ($29 vs $37 @ Lowes, and also vs $70 @ TSC) All three are claimed to meet DOT specs.

As for me - I would buy Campbell chain at Lowes if I expected to work near the rated limit of the chain. Safety is a lot more important than cost. For general farm dragging stuff around, HF should be sufficient with the light tractors I own where typical use is raising something with the loader etc. I've never damaged the old nondescript chains I already have.

I saw the notation on the HF chain that it is yellow to meet CA DOT reqs, and was going to ask what that was all about, until I looked at the TSC link, where it explained that CA DOT inspectors can identify a chain's load rating by its color.

Now can anyone tell what difference is between logging chain and binder chain, or just plain old chain?

We have a couple of 8' 3/8" chains with grab hooks on one end and a ? 12" "J"-hook on the other, from Northern Tool and they get the most use, but all our other chains were inherited or bought at barn sales and are mixed lengths of 5/16" and 3/8" with a devil's assortment of end hardware ranging from standard slip or grab hooks to a forged ring.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,153  
The problem people have is they try to compare Harbor Freight stuff to premium tools. Of coarse they often come up short of snap on. When you come are "Pittsburg" to Stanley I feel they are equal tool for less money. Goes for "Farm Hand" tools at TSC as well; same factory in China probably but 25-50% more than HF's brand. If it feels flimsy in store, it probably is. If you buy the battery powered fly swatter as anything more than a joke, well, I don't know how to help you.

Dude, we love that thing.

Heating with wood, we get a lot of little moths in when we bring the logs into the house, where the warmth stirs them out of hiding. (Even banging the wood together as you stack it can fail to disodge them), and next thing you know they disappear into any little crack between the house logs or molding and wall, only to reappear when you try to eat or sleep.

With the electric handheld zapper, I can fry them at a touch, vs a regular fly swatter, which they just use to catch a boost off of.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,154  
Been there and done that and the only way out was to buy a small assortment of things from HF and call it good. The pre-assembled small packages were filled with truly poor quality tools even by HF standards.

E opened our Urgent Care office, we looked for a general tool kit both for minor repair and for foreign body removals (fish hooks etc) and price wise, buying the HF wrench and plier assortments, using the free screw driver coupon, and picking up a cheap tool box was much beter than any premade sets that we found, though the $17.99 or $19.99 Sears Pink sets look good too.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,155  
6.5 H.P. Predator Gas Engine : Replaced a 5 h.p. Briggs on my log splitter 2 weeks ago . It ( the Briggs ) was having a odd " Miss " issue . Still ran , just sounded weird . Then something broke some were , went from running about 1/2 throttle to barely running , sounded almost like a old hit and miss engine . No throttle response , any choke it would die , but if I held the throttle linkage on carb wide open for about 5 seconds , it would stay there till to much " Load " was applied by splitter then it would go to weird idle again .

Anyway , $50+ for a carb kit ( new float , needle valve , gaskets, etc.. ) , if that was the issue , or around $90 for entire carb , again if that was the issue ??

Or As I ended up Doing was dropping $99 for the 6.5 h.p. from H.F.

A Few Issue's . but this is not exclusive to the H.F. motor .

Since old Briggs was almost 10 years old , old pump mount had a larger bolt pattern , so I made my own , since I was to cheap to Drop $55 + on a new mount . Checked around at various locations and found that just about every new engine regardless of brand , in that H.P. range has the same smaller bolt pattern . Minor issue , easily fixed .

Also output shaft is 3/4" , were as old Briggs had 1" shaft , thus old output shaft lovejoy coupler , did not fit . Again easy fix . Ordered new one from Amazon for $15 . Again , Easy Fix .

Once it was all put together , added oil , manually turned it slowly over for a few minutes to make sure oil was getting around . Added gas , opened gas valve , 1/3 throttle , turned the ON switch On with 1/2 choke and pulled the rope for the first time . Purred like that Briggs never did , even when new .

It starts easier , runs Smoother and Quieter than that Briggs ever did . Also seems to put less strain on it even when splitting nasty black oak or madrone .

For $99 , I am Impressed . Basically Looks exactly like old Briggs with overhead valves , etc... , just a newer version .

Fred H.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,156  
Kind of getting off topic here with non Harbor Freight stuff, but I generally buy my flashlights from Deal Extreme now.
Here are the 18650 flashlights:
Buy 18650 Battery Cree LED Flashlight Torch with Cheap Price - DX

One thing about the 18650 Li-Ion batteries is that they are not all created equally, and the makers in China have no problem with lying about the capacity. If you want a larger capacity from them, they'll print any number you want on the battery. To the Chinese, it is English and therefore doesn't count as lying.

?..and that ultra fire link leads to a $36.99 pricepoint...
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,157  
:shocked:
6.5 H.P. Predator Gas Engine : Replaced a 5 h.p. Briggs on my log splitter 2 weeks ago . It ( the Briggs ) was having a odd " Miss " issue . Still ran , just sounded weird . Then something broke some were , went from running about 1/2 throttle to barely running , sounded almost like a old hit and miss engine . No throttle response , any choke it would die , but if I held the throttle linkage on carb wide open for about 5 seconds , it would stay there till to much " Load " was applied by splitter then it would go to weird idle again .

Anyway , $50+ for a carb kit ( new float , needle valve , gaskets, etc.. ) , if that was the issue , or around $90 for entire carb , again if that was the issue ??

Or As I ended up Doing was dropping $99 for the 6.5 h.p. from H.F.

A Few Issue's . but this is not exclusive to the H.F. motor .

Since old Briggs was almost 10 years old , old pump mount had a larger bolt pattern , so I made my own , since I was to cheap to Drop $55 + on a new mount . Checked around at various locations and found that just about every new engine regardless of brand , in that H.P. range has the same smaller bolt pattern . Minor issue , easily fixed .

Also output shaft is 3/4" , were as old Briggs had 1" shaft , thus old output shaft lovejoy coupler , did not fit . Again easy fix . Ordered new one from Amazon for $15 . Again , Easy Fix .

Once it was all put together , added oil , manually turned it slowly over for a few minutes to make sure oil was getting around . Added gas , opened gas valve , 1/3 throttle , turned the ON switch On with 1/2 choke and pulled the rope for the first time . Purred like that Briggs never did , even when new .

It starts easier , runs Smoother and Quieter than that Briggs ever did . Also seems to put less strain on it even when splitting nasty black oak or madrone .

For $99 , I am Impressed . Basically Looks exactly like old Briggs with overhead valves , etc... , just a newer version .

Fred H.

We did the same on our OLD HeathKit splitter, because the 5HP Briggs blew a rod through the engine wall after I rebuilt the carb to like new specs. We also replaced the hydraulic pump with a 2-stage from Bailey's hydraulics, they worked great together and started easy every time until mice got in the motor and destroyed the wiring over one winter. :shocked::thumbdown::confused3:

We also replaced the 12HP B&S that came on our old DR Brush mower (the one made by Batchold Bros.) with the 11? HP Predator they used to sell, and while some new motor mounts and longer belts were needed, it runs like a boss, and starts like a cheetah.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,158  
A couple of pages back I asked about a studio-apartment-sized toolkit for my daughter (bicycle kid!) who started a new job in NYC.

I bought the Sears Craftsman Evolv $17 kit.
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Everything is decent quality except the pretend level - inaccurate. I'll put in one that size from my shop.

And I bought a HF 'homeowner assortment' of screws, nails, cuphooks, picture hangers, pushpins, in a compartmented box that fits in the Craftsman bag. The bag will be handy, it can carry 3x the tools and/or miscellaneous as what's in it now.


I'm adding the following:
HF LED worklight/flashlight
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4-in-1 screwdriver - HF's previous model -a favorite of mine, I have several.
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sharpening stone
tiny file
gimlet (hand drill, for starting screws)
putty knife
stubby screwdriver
needle nose pliers
big tweezers for getting stuff out of a drain
ruler
and I'll add more stuff as I think of it.

This Sears Craftsman Evolv kit seems better quality than the Sears iWork (not Craftsman) kit I first considered, plus the tool selection is a better match to what is needed.

I asked at HF if they sell a homeowner kit but their smallest kit includes a full socket/ratchet set and a far larger hard case that you couldn't carry anything else in. This Craftsman kit in a bag is a better match to an apartment dweller's needs.
 
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   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,159  
I bought 0.041" Stainless Steel Lock Wire, 1 Lb. Coil (SKU#8895) to replace the one I had used up in the last 20 years for $8.00.

A real bargain. It comes in a plastic dispenser. While you are at it, get one of these 9" Safety Wire Twisting Pliers (SKU#45341) for $12.00.

These are OK if you don't treat them too rough. A neighbor ruined the first pair, but HF replaced it.

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   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #4,160  
Dude, we love that thing.

Heating with wood, we get a lot of little moths in when we bring the logs into the house, where the warmth stirs them out of hiding. (Even banging the wood together as you stack it can fail to disodge them), and next thing you know they disappear into any little crack between the house logs or molding and wall, only to reappear when you try to eat or sleep.

With the electric handheld zapper, I can fry them at a touch, vs a regular fly swatter, which they just use to catch a boost off of.

We have a half dozen of the electronic fly swatters at our summer place. Everyone wants their own after seeing how effective they are. Makes a sport of the whole thing too. Very satisfying snap crackle and pop that is a sweet revenge to mosquitoes.

Our friends like them so we buy handfuls of them on sale for $2.99 and hand them out as gifts.

They are actually very popular in Asia too where they have a rechargeable version.
 
 
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