Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[jinman]

Last Saturday, my wife was going to a baby shower in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex and it was near a fairly new Harbor Freight store. (For those of you that are local, it's the store on Hwy. 26 in North Richland Hills.) I decided to go shopping while she was at the shower. I had a couple of flyers with coupons for items I wanted to buy, but I found this store to be so well stocked, new, and clean, that I walked up and down every aisle. What caught my eye was this item:

LED Flashlight 2-pack

I had seen those flashlights in black for $6.99. The store had an in-store special on this two-pack for $3.99. It is regularly $9.99 and a very good deal at that price because that makes each flashlight about $5. If you have seen these at other stores, you know what a good deal that is. Well, I bought two of the 2-packs because each flashlight is only $2 each. I'll use them for Christmas stocking stuffer type gifts. I was shocked when I took one out of the package to find it had three AAA alkaline batteries in it and the 9 LEDs are very bright. What a deal! I could not buy batteries for $2, much less a flashlight.

These are probably a little large to keep in your pocket, but they would be perfect in the glovebox or a lady's purse. Sometimes you just get lucky.

[JC-jetro]

HF non contact infra red thermometer seems to work well and it is built not as cheesy as their other electronics. I have checked it against known temps and some high $$ testing equipment at work and it seems to be up to par. I bought same type of flash light that Jim Bought. For the price they are hard to beat. The little guys are easy to carry. My wife is a R.N and at night she uses it to check the patient chart without disturbing the patient. Her friends saw it and they wanted them as well, so I bought couple of twin packages and gave it to my wife to give it to her co-worker at the hospital. I told her don't tell them how much I bought them for

JC,

I guess i bought mine for $30 on sale.


- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

[California]

Good point. I bought the $10 version of the non contact infra red thermometer, the one about the size of the remote car unlocker on my keychain.


Since my elderly Yanmar doesn't have a thermostat I was curious about spot temperatures at various points. This little tool did a great job. (Results - temperatures varied from 150 at the lower block, 180 at top and radiator top; about 200 on exhaust manifold, after moderate work). My main intended use is to spot when the radiator's fins are clogged with chaff.

Summary: great value for $10 (sale price).

[johndeere4300]

The 4-1/2inch grinder wheels, cut off wheels and 14' cut off wheels are pretty good.

You can get a box of 10 grinder wheels for a little over $10 dollars.

[Travelover]

Originally Posted by California

Good point. I bought the $10 version of the non contact infra red thermometer, the one about the size of the remote car unlocker on my keychain.


Since my elderly Yanmar doesn't have a thermostat I was curious about spot temperatures at various points. This little tool did a great job. (Results - temperatures varied from 150 at the lower block, 180 at top and radiator top; about 200 on exhaust manifold, after moderate work). My main intended use is to spot when the radiator's fins are clogged with chaff.

Summary: great value for $10 (sale price).

I've got this one, too, and find it handy for all sorts of stuff. I've used it to find cold air leaks around my windows and electrical outlets, to test wall temperatures when I was doing a heat loss calculation on my home and to measure my furnace plenum temperatures. On a nature hike I was leading I used it to demonstrate how skunk cabbage shoots generate heat to melt through the snow and to take the body temperature of a garter snake that I caught (45 degrees F. in April). Cool little gadget.

[daniull]

Well I just had to chime in....I love HF for some things and hate them for others....blah blah blah that's what everyone says.... so instead of that let me categorize (humbly) if I may into 5 categories: (1) Does not suck at all (2) Sucks but only in very minor ways (3) sucks but may work fairly well for a season (4) has huge potential to suck (5) full suck

(1) DOES NOT SUCK AT ALL
"most" hand tools made of large chunks of steel or metal
generic items such as batteries, air fittings, fastners, cable ties etc
wrenches
staples
brad nails
latex & nitrile gloves
Tarps
folding aluminum dolly (maybe the best thing I ever bought there)

(2) SUCKS BUT ONLY IN VERY MINOR WAYS
Blades: razor, grinding, others
many hand tools, tapes, levels,
sandpaper
some power tools
tile saws
clamps
some air tools

(3) SUCKS BUT MAY WORK FAIRLY WELL FOR A SEASON
compressors
some air tools
some power tools
wood saws
jacks
most everything in the store
car care items
water pumps
trailers
large floor standing tools

(4) HAS HUGE POTENTIAL TO SUCK
most garden tools
screw guns
most of their "seasonal" offerings
some welding equipment

(5) FULL SUCK (from personal experience)
hand planers
drywall shavers
screwdrivers
masking and duct tapes
machetes
chisels
most precision hand tools

well thats my take

[JC-jetro]

Originally Posted by daniull

Well I just had to chime in....I love HF for some things and hate them for others....blah blah blah that's what everyone says....

well thats my take

Great analysis I have read so far perfectly put, One might need at least a minor in Suck-ology to be so accurate.

JC,

[johndeere4300]

Originally Posted by daniull

Well I just had to chime in....I love HF for some things and hate them for others....blah blah blah that's what everyone says.... so instead of that let me categorize (humbly) if I may into 5 categories: (1) Does not suck at all (2) Sucks but only in very minor ways (3) sucks but may work fairly well for a season (4) has huge potential to suck (5) full suck

Since most of your list was on the suck side, you might should have put it here.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/p...ools-suck.html

[California]

I bought the HF 3.5 x 4 ft trailer kit to use as a jeep trailer behind my Subaru for camping, and it has worked fine. At 140 lbs empty I can turn it around, alone, when I occasionally get down into someplace so hairy I can't back it out.

I keep this trailer in my garage in town for the odd errand such as moving a washing machine for a neighbor. At $139 it was a lot cheaper than owning a pickup!

The photo shows a typical use. I had just picked up a yard sale welder, and then added a couple of pallets before heading out to the ranch.

I also have a larger 4x8 utility trailer to tow with these same vehicles, but its too big to keep in my garage like the little one.

Summary - No problems in 10-15 years use. I would buy it again if I had a specialized application that called for it.

[valley]

Hi California, looks like you built the box on the trailer frame. Nice job. One of thoes could come in handy. Richard