Sears Tools That Suck On The Price

[Steak]

Sears might be on its way out, but around here, I would be sad. All the tools I have bought from sears have been top notch. I dont buy the cheapest. We are on a tight budget, so I save up to buy the tools I want. Sears power tools? nope. Hand tools? My Craftsman premium 84 tooth 3/8" ratchet is the pride and joy of my tool chest. Why? Because 20 years of bloody busted knuckles ended when I finally got a REAL ratchet. HD, or lowes, have nothing that compares. Snap on is the only competitor to this ratchet, at 3 times the price. Also love my ratcheting wrenches. Sears has a dilemma, they WANT to sell quality, but most people just want really cheap junk. Sears will sell them the junk as well, then people say craftsman is junk. They have a hard market to compete in. I fear if we banish Sears/craftsman, the quality of other stores will just degrade further. Harbor freight could probably not go any lower, 98% of their stuff should be taken from the shopping cart and put in the dumpster. Their tool chests are nice though

 

[stevewatr]

Sears power tools? nope. Harbor freight could probably not go any lower, 98% of their stuff should be taken from the shopping cart and put in the dumpster. Their tool chests are nice though

A couple years ago I bought on sale a Craftsman electric impact driver. It is from there "professional" :laughing:
line of tools. It is well made, and has been great. I wanted somthing for times when I do not feel like getting out the hoses, and waiting on the compressor to do it's initial fill. Now, I never bother with my air impact. It is the corded model, not cordless. The pro mechanic I know has a cordless snap-on one, and says it is great, but like you said, I'm not sheeling out that kind of dough.

As for Harbor frieght, I'll say this. I wanted a 3/4" drive set, for thhose rare occasions I need huge sockets. Bought the "Pittsburgh" brand set there, came with breaker bar, ratchet, and sockets. While using a "helper" 6 froot extension pipe, I broke the breaker bar. With the forcr I was exerting, any bar might have failed, but when I went back to HF, the manager gave me a new bar, no charge, no questions asked...........:thumbsup:

Steve W.

 

[jenkinsph]

Steak,
You bring up some interesting points about the dilema some stores are facing. Lots of people buy bases solely on price, they often don't know the difference in low or high quality. I have mixed feelings about Sears but I think most of it is because of a poor local store. I just stay out of there now.

 

[Soundguy]

i think you have an extremely myopic vie of the products coming out of hina.

china can build as higha quality as you can afford.

Seent he made in chine Ep ON CRAFTSMAN HAND TOOLS?

HF has lifetime warranty ont heri hand tools as well.

you want to pay 50$ or 10$ for a ratchet.. both with lifetime warranty?

my 3/4 and 1" tools are harbor freight. and get used infrequently. but when used.. are used heavy.

to have bought the same 3/4 and 1" set of extended sockets from a leading name retailer. it would have cost me half my tool budget for my garage.

that said. You can usually find 2-3 different grade tools at hf in straight hand tools and advanced hand tools. ie wrenches vs ratchet. the price difference betweent he least cost and the most quality is not a huge difference. IE.. it doesn't cost you 2x the low cost price to get the higher quality tool.

I tell you i can go to HF.. buy their higher quality tools and come out at 1/4 the price of a leading name.. and rebuild the same tractor.

your wallet.. your call.

if the craftsman name that costs 3-4x as much and does the same work as my tool helps you sleep at night.. go for it.

probably the same deal with designer clothes too. not for me.. I can wear no name clothes and get them greasy on my farm same as ones that cot 2x as much.. while using those less expensive tools with lifetime warranty at a fraction of the cost.

the last wrech i broke was a craftsman by the way! ( and yes.. was replaced. and the repalcement was of much inferior construction i might add... )

Sears might be on its way out, but around here, I would be sad. All the tools I have bought from sears have been top notch. I dont buy the cheapest. We are on a tight budget, so I save up to buy the tools I want. Sears power tools? nope. Hand tools? My Craftsman premium 84 tooth 3/8" ratchet is the pride and joy of my tool chest. Why? Because 20 years of bloody busted knuckles ended when I finally got a REAL ratchet. HD, or lowes, have nothing that compares. Snap on is the only competitor to this ratchet, at 3 times the price. Also love my ratcheting wrenches. Sears has a dilemma, they WANT to sell quality, but most people just want really cheap junk. Sears will sell them the junk as well, then people say craftsman is junk. They have a hard market to compete in. I fear if we banish Sears/craftsman, the quality of other stores will just degrade further. Harbor freight could probably not go any lower, 98% of their stuff should be taken from the shopping cart and put in the dumpster. Their tool chests are nice though

 

[J F]

I think you may need a new tablet...or you're enjoying the opening weekend of college ball just right. :laughing:

 

[Soundguy]

I think you may need a new tablet...or you're enjoying the opening weekend of college ball just right. :laughing:

and there you go back on ignore... permanently I think now.

how rude to correct spelling after i've pointed out the reason why.

 

[J F]

Sorry missed it...but you'll be missing this post. All in fun.

 

[crazyal]

I had thought about buying a set of Craftsman sockets, one of their large just socket sets (300+). They say made in the US but there were lots of bad reviews. Things like the chrome flaking off and the size labeling being laser etched and not lasting. Who would want a set of sockets that after a couple years no longer had the size written on them. With Sears being on shaky ground I'm not sure how much the lifetime warranty is worth.

 

[TomSeller]

I like the Sears tools I have, and I have a lot. My Father had Craftsman, I have Craftsman. The price is reasonable enough and I like the history behind grabbing my Craftsman tools. I know there are cheaper, I know there are better, but I can't get the same feeling of history when grabbing a China wrench. I have China tools I could not avoid buying, like a monster crescent wrench, but I can't say I like them. I try to only buy the sets of Craftsmans that I can trace to made in the US. Many of them are so old, they were made here without question.

 

[rScotty]

I grew up in a depression era family that made their living doing work for other people - usually farm work and manual labor and fixing things. It was common for farmers to hire rural families to do this. It was usually for a year, and was in exchange for basic wages and a place for us to live. How long depended a bit on the harvest; if harvest was good then keeping our family on was no longer an advantage to the farmer. So we moved on. My parents taught me that although they had little choice in what they did for a living, that I didn't have to do fixit and laboring work unless I wanted to. Naturally enough it turned out that I wanted to...and I in spite of eventually getting an education, working with my hands is still a favorite hobby.

Hand work is even more enjoyable when the tools are nice quality. So a "Thank You" to Sears for popularizing the concept of quality Craftsman tools. BTW, it was "Sears and Roebuck" back then.

When our hometown Sears store decided to close their doors last year, the local Ace Hardware started carrying the Craftsman brand of tools. Apparently they bought the franchise, because the Ace store has a better selection of Craftsman tools right there in the store than Sears ever did.

It was a nice move; Ace's line up sure looks better for having Craftsman quality. The only thing puzzling to me is why Ace hasn't advertised that they are the Craftsman provider now. I only discovered it by going there...not something I normally do. And a lot of people don't seem to know where Craftsman went. For awhile I thought it was just local, but apparently it's wider than that. When traveling last year we found Craftsman tool displays in Ace stores in two other states.
rScotty