Harbor Freight Tools that DO SUCK II

[5030]

I have a Champion (yes it's imported) but it's 100% dependable. Got it from Generators Plus.

 

[5030]

Soon we will be driving Chinese cars. Go ahead and scoff, but years ago we scoffed at Korean cars and in the 60s Made in Japan was synonymous with "Piece of Crap"

Now I'm looking for a 9k-10k portable generator for emergency use and don't know who to trust. Even Generac and Honda make them in China.

Reminds me of an interesting story.. Back when I took my T&D apprentiship, I was buying precision tools for my tool box and the only 'quality measuring tools were either LS Starrett or Brown and Sharpe, quality American made tools for a price of course. The outfit I was purchasing them at also carried Mitutoyo but they were consider crude and cheap and only good for crude measuring. Fast forward to today and they are considered the premier precision tool makers in the world, Surpassing LSS and B&S.

One thing about the Japanese and soon the Chinese is, they constantly improve on a product but keep the price point reasonable.

I own a couple sets of Mitutoyo digital calipers and their digital bore gage and the quality is at least equal to anything out there and maybe better.

Guess it's all about 'World Class Manufacturing'...

 

[Liquidsilver]

I'm going to go ahead and say the 16" Atlas 40v chainsaw DOES suck.

I only bought it for a quick utility job and I wanted it quieter than my trusty Stihl because I was along somebody else's property line.

It ain't any quieter than a small gas Home Depot saw (I'll bet) and in order to prune stuff without the chain jumping off I had to run the chain tighter than a piano string and that made the battery life pretty poor.

To add insult to injury, I walked by the cheap Home Depot gas saws (that I'll bet was just as quiet) and I could've gotten one of those for 70 bucks less than I spent at Harbor Freight.

Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

 

[5030]

Never considered one. I have the corded Portland pole saw and other than the smallish bar oil tank, it's done the job for me. I just take my small inverter genny and put it in the back of the side by side with an extension cord and go prune limbs.

The Portland pole saw comes with an Oregon bar and oregon chain too.

 

[5030]

I have to say, I bought a Tanaka top handle gas saw on Amazon 2 years ago for 100 bucks delivered and I've used the heck out of it. On my 2nd chain and bar. Dandy little top handle pruning saw. Made in China under license from Makita. In fact other than the color (orange and black) it's the mirror image of the Makita for a whole bunch less moolah.

 

[jjeff]

14 gauge rated sheet metal nibbler can't cut 18 gauge without breaking. Might cut aluminum foil but couldn't test it cause it broke first cut. I've learned not to buy hf tools unless you really need it for your current project. That way if it breaks you can easily return it.

 

[grsthegreat]

be patient, at some point you'll find the smoke in your DeWalt cordless tools. I've roasted no less than 3 DeWalt XRP drills over the years and repair cost made them prime landfill candidates.

I have zero issues using the HF wannabe cordless tools at 1/3 the cost.

You must be hard on them….
I have maybe 4 sets of Dewalt and a few milwaukee. Only 1 Dewalt hammer drill failed after maybe 10 years hard use. All others still going strong. These were used daily up until I retired and canned employees.

 

[4570Man]

You must be hard on them….
I have maybe 4 sets of Dewalt and a few milwaukee. Only 1 Dewalt hammer drill failed after maybe 10 years hard use. All others still going strong. These were used daily up until I retired and canned employees.

I have the majority of the Dewalt 20 volt line and use them frequently. Not daily because I don’t do the same thing everyday but they are used. I’ve never had a Dewalt tool fail me. My dad busted the bottom end drill with a hole saw but he deserved it. I’ve never had the better drill fail.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Reminds me of an interesting story.. Back when I took my T&D apprentiship, I was buying precision tools for my tool box and the only 'quality measuring tools were either LS Starrett or Brown and Sharpe, quality American made tools for a price of course. The outfit I was purchasing them at also carried Mitutoyo but they were consider crude and cheap and only good for crude measuring. Fast forward to today and they are considered the premier precision tool makers in the world, Surpassing LSS and B&S.

One thing about the Japanese and soon the Chinese is, they constantly improve on a product but keep the price point reasonable.

I own a couple sets of Mitutoyo digital calipers and their digital bore gage and the quality is at least equal to anything out there and maybe better.

Guess it's all about 'World Class Manufacturing'...

yup

i worked in T&D, fab, precision machining, foundry's, assembly houses, screw machines, N.C. etc etc etc

Brown and Sharpe was the standard.

i just bought a plastic caliper from hf for $3.00.

i have been looking for a caliper with the old slide rule calibrations. i found one at an auction but i'd have to sit around 6 hours to get to it.

Anybody out there can still read a slide rule etc?

 

[daugen]

Guess it's all about 'World Class Manufacturing'...

yes...my chinese built Agco/Massey Ferguson 4707 was a marvelous tractor, competing in performance, features and build quality with JD and Kubota.
for many of us, particularly those of you handy folks who can actually fix these things, parts availability is key.
If an internal gear chips a tooth and you need a new one, and none available, likely another addition
to local land fill. We have been a disposable, throwaway society for a long time. HF is on the top of the heap of throwaways since
usually you can't fix them, which is why their refund policy seems lenient.

I know folks who buy stuff from HF, use it on a job, no intentions of keeping it, and return it saying it's defective.
I think my father and grandfather would turn over in their graves if I ever did that.

HF is definitely changing, in product quality I think for the better. They sure are charging more now.
So maybe our free/cheaper lunch is over. After the Feds successfully sued them for false advertising with all those
nonsensical price structures, and finding three different prices for same item in current marketing, well HF is cleaning up
their marketing act for sure.

For most of us, going in there is our version of toyland. But we all know some of this stuff is just the bottom end and we need to have
fair expectations.

I went from Craftsman cordless to Makita cordless and never looked back.
However, my Predator inverter gen I bought for the rv was a great product. All about the spec.

Slide rule? no...Abacus? no....
we have an app for that