Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Mattc8832]

My Father and I started going to Harbor Freight Tools Back in the late 1990's and we had to travel down to Lexington KY. At that time there hand tools such as sockets and wrenches was really not very good. Today I believe that their hand tools are much better than they use to be. We have 3 Harbor Freight stores here in WV. I use to buy a lot of power tools there but I don't now because they don't last. I only buy Dewalt power tools now.

 

[daugen]

I read yesterday that 91% of all Walmart's products come by super freighter into California, made in China or SE Asia.
91%. Mind boggling.

So if HF is 99%, hey it's only 8 percent...
and shows how it is likely the same tool is getting repackaged under many different labels.
I bet most of those Dewalts Matt are made overseas also.
but I'm sure to a much higher spec. Have a Dewalt or two myself.

 

[JRobyn]

Its a suck if you need what it says it delivers. When it wont run its worse. One of mine failed in emergency due lack of spark. ... NOT sparkplug or kill switch. I have had and returned 3 of them, counting the 1st exchanged under extended warranty. It doesnt suck only if you dont need anywhere near its speced power and are lucky.
larry

Thx Larry! So far the second one seems to be OK - still takes about 10 pulls to start, but DOES start and run reliably. 95% of my use will be to run relatively small motor-driven tools (drill, circ saw, elec pole saw, etc.) in the "field", that are probably mostly 2-10 amps, so some voltage variation is tolerable.

- Jay

 

[SPYDERLK]

Thx Larry! So far the second one seems to be OK - still takes about 10 pulls to start, but DOES start and run reliably. 95% of my use will be to run relatively small motor-driven tools (drill, circ saw, elec pole saw, etc.) in the "field", that are probably mostly 2-10 amps, so some voltage variation is tolerable.

- Jay

Thatll work. Im surprised it will run a circ saw tho under any load w/o blowing its breaker. They normally want 10+Amps. I sure would like one of these if they ever fix it. I have real use for an 800W-115V gen.
larry

 

[NHmitch]

I have actually used mine to run a circular saw, and a power drill for about 7 hours straight at a time building an outbuilding for our farm equipment storage. I have actually used it to start my snowblower engine on multiple occasions before I replaced the engine. It would only start with the electric start. I have started it up in weather as cold as -2F before. Great little engine for what it is, and I always use startron, and quality Stihl 2 stroke oil in it. It is a bit more expensive, but the small amount extra by far pays for itself in the long run. I use to have issues with my chainsaws, tiller, and this generator, all two strokes, and now with the combination of the two, I have 0 issues. Glad to hear it is working for you!

Thatll work. Im surprised it will run a circ saw tho under any load w/o blowing its breaker. They normally want 10+Amps. I sure would like one of these if they ever fix it. I have real use for an 800W-115V gen.
larry

 

[NHmitch]

Has anyone seen the ads for the 6.5HP engine from HF? I have three recent adds, all showing the 6.5HP engine with an electric key start. At first I thought it was an error, but then I looked close at the three new ads, and the engines all say 6.5 HP on the pull start cover. I may have to call them to confirm this. I am going to buy one either way for my Troybuilt tiller, but I was wondering if anyone has had any issues or owns one of these? Does anyone know if the Lilifan engines from Home Depot are better? Thanks!

 

[PapaPerk]

Has anyone seen the ads for the 6.5HP engine from HF? I have three recent adds, all showing the 6.5HP engine with an electric key start. At first I thought it was an error, but then I looked close at the three new ads, and the engines all say 6.5 HP on the pull start cover. I may have to call them to confirm this. I am going to buy one either way for my Troybuilt tiller, but I was wondering if anyone has had any issues or owns one of these? Does anyone know if the Lilifan engines from Home Depot are better? Thanks!

Why not just buy a Honda and be done?

 

[NHmitch]

Hi,

I would, but unfortunately the Honda 6.5HP is roughly 4x more at $400, and the HF Predator is $80 with a 20% of coupon. I have a Predator 3.5 HP engine on my water pump that we use on our farm, and that engine runs great, and starts on the first pull every time, but I have not used the 6.5 Predator engine, and I was wondering is anyone had luck with them. If I had the extra $$ I would certainly buy a Honda, but these days, that really is not an option. Thanks.

 

[Travelover]

Hi,

I would, but unfortunately the Honda 6.5HP is roughly 4x more at $400, and the HF Predator is $80 with a 20% of coupon. I have a Predator 3.5 HP engine on my water pump that we use on our farm, and that engine runs great, and starts on the first pull every time, but I have not used the 6.5 Predator engine, and I was wondering is anyone had luck with them. If I had the extra $$ I would certainly buy a Honda, but these days, that really is not an option. Thanks.

They use that engine for a special class of go-kart racing. If you do a little search on Honda clone or Chonda (Chinese Honda) you will see lots written about it. I have one on a 3" HF pump and it has been great, except for a bad spark plug.

 

[NHmitch]

They use that engine for a special class of go-kart racing. If you do a little search on Honda clone or Chonda (Chinese Honda) you will see lots written about it. I have one on a 3" HF pump and it has been great, except for a bad spark plug.

Thanks, that actually was the first thing that I did on my 1" water pump and 2stroke HF generator was change the plugs to ngk's. That is good to hear about the engine! I figured that they were probably just as good, but you never know because they seem to have different versions of the same item. I almost bought an 11 hp predator for my snowblower, but I found a new Briggs snowtek engine for the same price on eBay. That engine is amazing, and also starts on the first pull, and surprisingly it is one of about three models that Briggs still makes in the US. I guess one advantage to the predators is the warranty. Thanks again!