Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[flusher]

I bought one of these HF portable tire change tools.

Portable Tire Changer

Used it on the 6.50-16 front tire on my JD B tractor. Works fine.

There are two excellent videos on YouTube showing how this baby works

Harbor Freight manual tire changer Part 1 - YouTube

Harbor Freight tire changer Part 2 - YouTube

The rim on that JD B front wheel what a rusted mess on the inside and the tire bead was really rusted tight onto the rim. It took me about 3 passes with the bead buster to get the bead separated from the rim. After that the tire came off the rim just like it shows in the first video.

Not a bad tool for $40.

[flyerdan]

I've got one of the tire changers. Biggest problem is finding a suitable anchor for it if you don't have extra floor space to mount it to. When I built my fork extensions I mounted the changer on a piece of scrap plate that I had and it sandwiches the fork between the other half of the plate like a bolt clamp. Makes a pretty substantial base for it.

[CBW1999]

48 inch 3.5 ton Farm jack- Purchased on line, sale and coupon for % off purchase, delivered to me for $46.98.

Out of the box appeared to be built well for the most part. The base plate has a small footprint but works well on solid ground. for soft ground I just used some boards to distribute weight. I may build my own larger plate to slip over it- I've seen them available for other brands but way too expensive.

The lever arm is round tube compared to solid cast on other brands. I actually like the tube better because you can see and feel any flex that may indicate exceeding its limits. Not sure a cast lever arm gives the same feedback. The tube likely will fail by bendingsharply as opposed to snapping. This would also be an earlier fail than having the whole jack fail/blow apart.

I bought it to jack a 24x14 wood beam animal shelter so I could level it on the piers (again). Worked great, very happy with its performance. action up and down was smooth. I imagine with reasonable care it will last a while.

Definately would by again, even if I didn't have the % off coupon.

[sixdogs]

This may be the morphing of the new normal. The 25% became 20% and maybe is becoming 15%?

The "Golden Age" if you could call it that, of Harbor Freight and the improving Chinese experience might be passing us by.
Maybe part of a larger trend of rising prices for manufactured goods?

[rbstern]

48 inch 3.5 ton Farm jack- Purchased on line, sale and coupon for % off purchase, delivered to me for $46.98.

Have owned the same jack for aboout four years now. I've used it for so many things, I've lost track. Boats on trailers, atvs, tractor, two sagging decks that needed new support posts. Toughest duty was lifting a very stuck, freshwater dock out of the mud to relaunch. The jack got completely covered with muddy silt. The mechanism did get a bit balky during that job; hard to fault the jack for not working smoothly after adding muddy sand to the operating mechanism, but it still worked. A hose-down and some WD40 had it working smoothly again in short order.

My neighbors borrow it frequently.

One of the best items HF sells. Value for the dollar is over-the-top.

[jimmysisson]

I recall paying that much for a Hi Lift jack 45 years ago. Course that was in AK, prob cheaper in the lower 48. So HF has a good price there. Great for getting a vehicle unstuck out of a ditch.
Jim

[Travelover]

This may be the morphing of the new normal. The 25% became 20% and maybe is becoming 15%?

The "Golden Age" if you could call it that, of Harbor Freight and the improving Chinese experience might be passing us by.
Maybe part of a larger trend of rising prices for manufactured goods?

You can always get a 20% off coupon at this site: Digital Savings

At least for now.

[kc5sii]

I've had great luck with HF tools. However, I seldom buy anything that's going to get a lot of use... Like a 1/2 inch wrench.

One tool which should suck and doesn't is the Suction tool. Mine has a thread issue that doesn't allow the end to screw on tight enough to seal. I'm going to return int in a few minutes to see if they remedy it through the lifetime warranty.

[CBW1999]

Anyone know where to find this coupon?



Someone is "selling" it on ebay. Like all other coupons, it has to be out there somewhere, i just haven't been able to find it on line.

[JordanFTW]

Anyone know where to find this coupon?



Someone is "selling" it on ebay. Like all other coupons, it has to be out there somewhere, i just haven't been able to find it on line.

Here is is for 99.99
CAN OBD II Code Reader / EOBD Scanner

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