Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Rock Crawler]

This way
4X 48W 4" Flood Beam LED Work Light Offroad DRL Boat Truck Jeep SUV ATV For Jeep | eBay

That's $23 for a set of four 48w LED floods, plus $4 shipping. In fact, when I bought two sets for myself and a buddy two months ago, the shipping was free. These are very nice lights that really light up the night. One or two very small flecks of paint missing on them when they arrived, easily touched up with a black magic marker if you care to bother. We mounted them forward and rear on our Kioti CK3510 HST open-stations. I paid several times this four years ago for the rectangular 45w LED floods that I replaced the OEM work lights with on my NX4510HST cab model.

Now back to the thread topic...:laughing:

The problem is the amp draw. The 18 watt lights are pushing the limits of the B2650, so depending on your charging system.... You do need to be mindful. I replaced all factory bulbs with LED to clear up enough overhead to run the 6 18 watt lights. I couldn't possibly run 4 of the 48 watt lights on my charging system without being in a discharge condition the entire time.

 

[lexluther]

Why would you buy either of those when you can buy a Makita, Metabo or Bosch (and many other brands) for less? Because it's stated at 11 amps?

I don’t even know that I would ever buy a $90 4.5 inch grinder, they get such regular abuse. I am still in shock at the audacity of the approach...

 

[PILOON]

Here's a favorite from Harbor Freight: The stainless steel shoehorn. Very durable, 12" long, last a lifetime, very smooth to the touch with heavy gauge stainless. Works better than any shoehorn I've ever had so I bought a bunch of them for Christmas gifts. $5.99. What a deal.

LOL, you must be approaching my age. I prefer my 24" one even tho it is a plastic dollar store copy.
My wife is also sneaking its use when I don't look.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Why would you buy either of those when you can buy a Makita, Metabo or Bosch (and many other brands) for less? Because it's stated at 11 amps?

The LAST Makita 4 1/2" grinder I bought was made in China and spit a segment from the armature in less than 1/2 hr. use.I didn't even bother returning it, just threw it in the trash and bought a DeWalt which is still running like new 4 years later.

 

[KubotainNH]

The LAST Makita 4 1/2" grinder I bought was made in China and spit a segment from the armature in less than 1/2 hr. use.I didn't even bother returning it, just threw it in the trash and bought a DeWalt which is still running like new 4 years later.

Point was there are better brands for the price. I don't know of any that are made here now. At least you can buy a German one for similar money as to what was listed. Personally I like my $40 Porter Cable grinder, seems very well built including the power cord.

 

[stuckmotor]

I left Harbor Freight a little while ago. My purchase was one of the last Chicago Electric tools left. I bought it to replace a $9.98 or so grinder that I'd let get wet. I didn't feel bad about the loss of the cheap grinder. If it'd been one of the new higher priced grinders, I'd have felt awful. This was a sad day.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I left Harbor Freight a little while ago. My purchase was one of the last Chicago Electric tools left. I bought it to replace a $9.98 or so grinder that I'd let get wet. I didn't feel bad about the loss of the cheap grinder. If it'd been one of the new higher priced grinders, I'd have felt awful. This was a sad day.

This was gifted to me, unopened, sealed box.... Yes.... Or no? Sell it on CL unopened or open it and play with it instead of my tried and tried hand filing teeth and depth gages?

 

[dragoneggs]

The LAST Makita 4 1/2" grinder I bought was made in China and spit a segment from the armature in less than 1/2 hr. use.I didn't even bother returning it, just threw it in the trash and bought a DeWalt which is still running like new 4 years later.

One data point isn't much to evaluate quality and especially longevity of a power tool. Any brand will have a rare failure out the box. I have four of the $9.99 HF grinders that I treat as disposable. I have more expensive grinders too. I don't expect my HF ones to last as long but upon purchase, I crack open the case at the head, and remove the vasoline, what little there is... and replace with proper gear grease.

 

[John_Mc]

This was gifted to me, unopened, sealed box.... Yes.... Or no? Sell it on CL unopened or open it and play with it instead of my tried and tried hand filing teeth and depth gages?View attachment 580980

You can do better job with your hand filing guides than with a high quality grinder, let alone the HF chain grinder with known flex problems (which leads to inconsistent grinding). If you are getting good results with what you are doing now, why switch?

 

[Rock Crawler]

You can do better job with your hand filing guides than with a high quality grinder, let alone the HF chain grinder with known flex problems (which leads to inconsistent grinding). If you are getting good results with what you are doing now, why switch?

I thought that maybe I am missing something and that this is both better and faster than me doing the hand filing as I've done for about 30 years now. I feel that I'm pretty good and quick at keeping my chain tossing nice squares out and no powder. But I thought that there has to be something that attracts people to these kinds of things... So I could be missing out.