Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Rustyferrious]

HF tools I have:

2 ton shop crane. Pros: heavily built, strong ram, moved a 1800 lb Sheldon lathe from one side of my garage to the other easily. Cons: Takes a lot of pumping to get the arm up from storage position.

Wire wheels: lousy. so out of balance it nearly shook the buffer apart the first (and only) time I put it on.

Towing/lifting straps: Very happy with these. I move all kinds of heavy machinery with them.

Rolling Tool Box: So so. I broke two drawer latches - near impossible to get replacements.

Large hydraulic table/cart: The first one I bought there was so much grit/sand in one of the casters bearings it would not turn. The replacement has been good. Great for lifting heavy items up to a comfortable height. THe rubber mat it comes with still stinks to high heaven after a full year of airing out.

Table top 6 ton arbor press: works, but I've already bent the frame - lousy steel.

Wood Furniture dolly: Greatest thing since sliced bread. Cheap cost and decently made. I have a dozen of them.

Magnetic parts trays: never have enough of these handy items

8" bench top polisher/buffer. In daily use for more than a year and still going strong. Worn out 4 wire and 2 buffer wheels in that span.

Vibratory parts cleaner: The media HF sells does not work at all - I think with the right media it might.

Yellow degreaser: best stuff EVER. I use it for everything that needs cleaning. Buy 6 jugs at a time.

Resin rolling cart: Good cart. Great for the garage & shop.

What I would like to try:

air hose reel - Is the spring strong and does it hold up?

stick welder : I want to learn to stick weld. Are they junk?

 

[Rustyferrious]

Sorry, darn post duplicated.

 

[sixdogs]

I've got two items to give good ratings to, assuming you buy at the right price.

The first is a simple tool bag, now on sale for $5. At that price, it doesn't suck. if you have tools or parts or whatever that you need to carry in the truck or whatever and don't need to forget anything, this works. I put hitch pins, click pins, washers, simple HF tools related and leave packed and ready to go. I will never forget some small hitch item because it's all in the bag. if I have the bag, I have it all. $5 right now and often at that price.

The second item is a set of magnetic tow lights. The are great if you are dragging something home that maybe you didn't plan on and it's too wide or awkward. These plug into your trailer connection and the magnets hold the lights where you want them. Magnets are strong and the lights work.
There is a note here in that the lights were recently changed to LED and there have been some reported problems. I have other 12V HF LED things so they should figure it out. It's always on "sale" for $10, and at that price is worth it.

 

[Scrambler82]

Found their larger tool chests to be pretty HD.

 

[drizler]

You have to get the I-Beam from a metal/steal distributor.[/QUOTE]

No you don't necessarily. The best place to find stuff like this is the scrap yard. Particularly the small ones will call you and let you know when something you want comes in. As often as not they have plenty of structural stuff sitting right there. The trouble is getting to it if it's buried back in the pile because that's one place you aren't going to go climbing around believe me. You may have to be a bit patient to get one this way but you can buy it at the scrap price for steel (which is low lately) rather than paying retail.
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[Wa11banger]

What I would like to try:

air hose reel - Is the spring strong and does it hold up?

so far so good.. Have had it for a little over a year and plenty of in and out use with lots of abuse from my 18yr old son just letting it slap in. Also no leaks on the banjo fitting whatsoever so far. However, the HF whips that get you from the hose real to your supply are absolute junk. Especially if exposed to any sunlight at all. I had two of them, one on the self retracting reel which was exposed to sunlight directly just about any time the garage door was open, and one on a manual reel that was pretty much not exposed to any direct sunlight.. The one exposed to sunlight broke down and burst in a month.. The other didn't last much longer, developing hose leaks around the 4 month mark. Both have been replaced with name brand whips and I have had zero problems since.

 

[Rustyferrious]

Thanx Rick. I picked up a fully enclosed 50' coxreel at an estate sale for a good price. I tested the reel several cycles before making the purchase. Got it home, replaced the old hoses with new US made hoses. Nearly killed myself hanging overhead in my garage, then after a few days of use I pulled out the hose the spring breaks. I used a few choice cuss words that day. So now I'm deciding between a replacement spring (not cheap) or buying another reel for less than what the cox spring would run. I deal with spiral springs all the time but this is a big one and would really rather not deal with it.

 

[California]

Here's a HF tool that is excellent and surprisingly low priced. #92867 4-sided diamond hone.

I have one in the kitchen and another in the shop. It's the modern replacement for the traditional Carborundum 2-sided sharpening stone.

 

[MossRoad]

I've got two items to give good ratings to, assuming you buy at the right price.

The first is a simple tool bag, now on sale for $5. At that price, it doesn't suck. if you have tools or parts or whatever that you need to carry in the truck or whatever and don't need to forget anything, this works. I put hitch pins, click pins, washers, simple HF tools related and leave packed and ready to go. I will never forget some small hitch item because it's all in the bag. if I have the bag, I have it all. $5 right now and often at that price.

The second item is a set of magnetic tow lights. The are great if you are dragging something home that maybe you didn't plan on and it's too wide or awkward. These plug into your trailer connection and the magnets hold the lights where you want them. Magnets are strong and the lights work.
There is a note here in that the lights were recently changed to LED and there have been some reported problems. I have other 12V HF LED things so they should figure it out. It's always on "sale" for $10, and at that price is worth it.

I've got the magnetic tow lights. They worked great when I had to dolly my daughter's car home 100 miles. A friend of ours has borrowed them and they worked fine for him, too. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[California]

I bought the $9.99 magnetic towing lights to use as the cheapest available trailer rewiring kit. I have an 'open' somewhere and it will be simpler to just string this all-new wire to the back. It even has the right connector on it already. Might even use the lights in the kit.