Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Tractor Seabee]

Does anyone have a recommendation for reasonably priced flare nut wrenches? How are the HF ones? I bought some cheap ones years ago and they were junk.

I have them, they look real good but have used little. Nice to have when working on hydraulics.

Ron

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Standard drawer. Missing some gear wrenches I used and didnt put up.View attachment 575953

I like the plastic holders the sets come with.

Ron

 

[Tractor Seabee]

But they are even better at $169.99 (please don't round $189.99 DOWN to $189).

note the #'s on the right.

I got one of the 4 drawer when on sale for $99, now wish it was the 5 drawer, O'well.

Ron

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I am on a HF roll this morning. The completion of my story on the HF concrete mixer.

Here are final pictures. Installed a D ring on the post so i can move around w/the tractor using a FEL attachment I made a few years ago. Painting complete. Not a perfect match but close and covers it.

Used it yesterday to place a base for a new steel post mail box (pictures coming when I get that done. Used 4 bags of pre-mix. I add extra gravel to these jobs as mass/weight is more important than strength. It is definitely a one 80# bag max load. A little wobbly but adequate for the once in awhile job. It is not suitable for production work probably. I have several more jobs for it. When done I can junk it and be money ahead over renting one several times as I get to small jobs.



Ron

 

[Rock Crawler]

I got one of the 4 drawer when on sale for $99, now wish it was the 5 drawer, O'well.

Ron

I did the same. When the new gen 2 4 drawer and 5 drawer were both out/in-stock/on coupon for $99.99 and $149.99 I said to myself that it was not worth $50 extra for the 1 more drawer.... But I did not know that it was a deeper top compartment, latching drawers and the extra drawer for that $50 up charge. So I have 2 of the 4 drawer black carts, I may give one to my freshly returned Marine and buy myself a Kuboter Orange 5 drawer tool cart if they ever go back to the $149.99 price. (That is not an accident, I call it a "Coo-Bow-Ter" all of the time to further annoy my wife).

Maybe for black Friday they will go back down for 3 days and I can score one? I should have just bought both of mine as the 5 drawer and been done with it. Stupid me.

I'm trying to not repeat that all to common mistake where I cheap out, sell or give away and then buy what I should have in the first place.

My next big move in garage stuff is a HF 72". Then... Ball joint press, all of the adapters, 20 ton shop press for pressing Dana/Spicer semi float bearings and tone rings on and off, and some other larger shop tools that I typically borrow as I am constantly busting my jeep up. Yea, the one that is broke again now.

This time I did so good that I crushed a section of the frame, tore a wire harness to the rear ABS/VSS, smashed the front unit bearing into submission and caved in the passenger door and bed side. But man.... it was one **** of a show I put on at "The Grinder" rock section!

 

[def38]

Didn't you know?

View attachment 575723


View attachment 575724


Bruce

I always thought the " He who dies with the most tools, looses all his tools during the estate sale and his heirs get the money".

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm really surprised HF doesn't sell tool and wrench rolls. I have an old vinyl roll for a large set of wrenches, and it is very handy. Mine has the clear front panel which is great for reading the sizes, but it's aging and starting to crack. Like others have said above, a roll is portable and it lets you see if you are missing any wrenches.

I have the HF cheap punch and chisel set... the pouch with clear plastic front was cracked right out of the box. Had to duct tape the bottom to keep them from falling through.

 

[dragoneggs]

Toolboxes; I have had the large drawer type in the past. Now in my downward trail life I am just setting up individual tool boxes for each trade except mechanic. I have one of the 4 drawer roll arounds for the mechanic stuff. Otherwise boxes for" carpenter, electric, plumbing, sheet metal, then misc items seldom used. I have the Vulcan welding cabinets (one of each) for my welding gear (O/A and arc). I have two benches w/drawers and 2 racks everything resides on. I am putting everything on wheels so the can be consolidated and moved out and around as needed. My garage/shop is small and wifey wants her car inside too.

Works for me well. I put a HF large vise on one of the HF grinder stands (works great) and have another one w/wheels for the 6" grinder. Also have an old HF 16 speed drill press on one of their large equipment stands W/wheels. Two shelves hold all the accessories and drill bits. It has its own hammer and center punch screwdriver and wrenches for the vises. Still organizing, winter coming on will get at that inside work. When complete will provide pictures. (5% of the new tools are HF. Even some basics in the pickup tool box.

Mark, I know I am supposed to be downsized and fully retired, WELL there I am, cannot resist tools plus ding a lot of work on and around the new (to us) dwelling. My wife pushed the sell out and now regrets the sale of tools seeing me buy again.

Ron

Ron, who are you kidding? Your wife's car is never going to fit. I hope you aren't stringing her along like I have since we went from a 3 car to a 2 car garage.

I keep telling her I am going to build a shop so she can park her car in the garage. Every winter she asks when... every summer I don't get to it.

 

[California]

I always thought the " He who dies with the most tools, looses all his tools during the estate sale and his heirs get the money".

Oh man that touched a nerve.

I'm sitting next to a stack of 50 Kodak slide carousels. There are 140 photos, slides, in each carousel. I finally got my wife to consider discarding the slides from her parents' vacations. Her parents died 17 and 14 years ago.

But last night the projector burned out after viewing only 100 or so slides, a random sample across many carousels. We've seen 99.9% landscapes and only a couple of photos of relatives they visited who we don't recognize. - but apparently every one of the people photos has to be found in this maze and preserved because some relative - more likely their grandchild - might want to see the slide some day. Yeah sure.

And this slide collection is one of the last pieces from our closing down three cluttered households. All our siblings offered little help, 'just send a check after you sell stuff'. Dad had remaried so Dad/Mom had unrelated cluttered households. And Dad had inherited a ton of nice stuff from a relative who had no other descendants. So overall mountains of 'stuff' that was meaningful in the previous century.

We're near 20 years into disposing of estates and still aren't done. Pro tip: Yard sales, Craigslist sales, Ebay sales won't recover much of what you are trying to liquidate. The one time I paid a helper to organize a big load to the flea market I lost money after their wages and the space rental. Nobody wants 99% of what old people thought was important. Even good tools will take huge marketing effort to recover a small percentage of what they cost because matching what you have with a suitable buyer is a lot more effort than it seems. I finally worked out an arrangement with an honest Ebay seller to pay me immediately a quarter of what he estimated he could get for old tools - Blue Point, early-logo Craftsman, Thorsen, etc. Months later he still hadn't cleared all of it so doubt he made much of an hourly wage. Better him than me. I learned long ago selling anything on Ebay under $20 is time wasted.

Moral of the story before I bore everyone to death: He who dies with the most stuff may feel himself a winner but he forced his heirs into an unwanted losing role. Liquidate your own stuff. That's a more thoughtful gift to your kids.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I have scanned many of my parents pictures and slides, still many to go. Of course my siblings wants them after they've been scanned. This is my childhood history, i trying to document as much as i can. Not sure what my kids will do with it.