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.

 

[California]

... Not sure what my kids will do with it.

I described that above. ^^^

Pictures of people, captioned with name and at least era, are interesting to inherit and share. The slides we are going through are the same ones they shared with us 40 years ago in slide shows after a big Sunday dinner, interesting (to them) places they visited with very few pictures of them in front of monuments etc and even fewer of relatives they visited. Lots of photos of airplane wings over pretty clouds or over who-knows-where. Most of these sets begin with several photos of the airport departure lounge. The ones we've reviewed so far are travelogues, not portraits.

Got to admit I have a photo collection (prints) to give to my kids but at least nearly all of the photos are of them.

 

[PJSprog]

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.

My Wife got together with my older sister last year and scanned a bunch of old family pictures, most of which I though had been lost after my Mother died in 2011. She printed a bunch of it and put it together in a photo album, which she gave me for Christmas. Best Christmas present I've ever gotten.

 

[Diggin It]

This is my childhood history, i trying to document as much as i can. Not sure what my kids will do with it.

And I've done evrything to eliminate and destroy as much as I can. No kids, so the family name dies with me. Finally.

 

[KubotainNH]

These are not cheap, but not as bad as the ones I got years ago from my Swagelok dealer;

PROTO Ratcheting Flare Nut Wrench Set, SAE, Number of Pieces':' 7, Number of Points':' 12 - 1AKW'|'J38A - Grainger

Those look neat but way above my budget. How do they work on tight spaced brake lines? They look like they'd be a bit bulky for some jobs. Rusty brake lines are what I would use them for. I generally cut the line and tap a 10mm socket on the nut.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Okay, I've never locked a dang thing in my life, I'm not about to ever lock this stupid tool cart.

I'm tired if having my beer prep area on top with my towel, knife, lime and a few RTIC beer coozies that prevents me from ever putting tools in this thing seeing as how I can't have the beer station and still open the sliding drawers.

Screw that, I'm cutting these lock pins off. Now I can have the lime prep area and still actually use the drawers.

Now I can keep lime prep area set and ready right beside the trusty fridge, and yet still try to find a use for this tool cart.

Much better now. More better. Bestest ever. Whatever.

 

[KubotainNH]

LOL, must have your priorities.

 

[PhysAssist]

Might have to give them a try... always figured they would dry up and crumble in short order.

Naw, I've been using my for probably 7 or eight years first on the dirt floor in my woodshed, and now on concrete in the barn, and aside from some curling from the unevenness of the dirt floor, they're still holding up well.

Besides reducing my footsore quotient, they also make it possible for me to be working on my cold concrete floor in winter for at least twice as long before ending up with blocks of ice on the bottom of my legs, [also good when lying or kneeling on the cold floor...]

 

[PhysAssist]

Thats the problem with HFs multiple supplier system. They are not always the exact same product. But hey once theyre dirty ya wont know the difference.

Now maybe spray some bedliner over em all and make it a pernament floor...

 

[sodamo]

Excellent priorities

 

[PhysAssist]

I find I have a lot of tools - interior trim tools, code readers, flare nut wrenches, vacuum brake bleeders, compression testers, and that is just a sample of the auto stuff, another couple drawers for electrical specific (sq drivers, 12v testsers, meters, etc), then one rolling cabinet with just sockets, deep, impact, reg. depth, shallow, etc...
Really ends up taking a lot of space and I personally like it all organized so that honestly takes up some extra space....

Plus, I inherited tools from my dad, my F-I-L, and my elder brother- typically in the form of a garage's-worth of boxes of assorted tools, hardware, and actual dreck- oh and I have brought home [literal] tons of steel, wood, and other raw [and other] materials from various hospital and other dumpster salvage.

I have had just an approx 1700 sq ft basement and a couple of basic tool sheds to store all my shop, firewood, and yard/garden tools, after moving from our house w/ garage in 1994, until 2012 when we built our 1350 sq ft barn- so I'm slowly spreading them out.

Most of this is still in the process of being sorted out as well....