Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[3Ts]

Mossy, don't forget to put some air tool oil in the air inlet....

There are some out there that are oil less. I don't know what happens if you oil them, I assume damage to gaskets?

 

[PILOON]

I also bought one of their palm nailers.

Compact Palm Air Nailer

It was about $26 after coupons. Wow, it actually works very nicely for putting in truss nails in the brackets in tight spaces. Dirt cheap and works. That's just crazy talk.

Yep, great tool for truss hangers, don't know what I'd do without it now.

 

[stuckmotor]

I also bought one of their palm nailers.

Compact Palm Air Nailer

It was about $26 after coupons. Wow, it actually works very nicely for putting in truss nails in the brackets in tight spaces. Dirt cheap and works. That's just crazy talk.

I like mine, too.

 

[5030]

There are some out there that are oil less. I don't know what happens if you oil them, I assume damage to gaskets?

Haven't met any of those yet. I do imagine they do exist.

 

[Diggin It]

Yep, great tool for truss hangers, don't know what I'd do without it now.

If I had a hammer.
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening
All over this place
I'd hammer on a rafter hanger.
I'd hammer on a truss plate
I'd hammer out a hurricane tie.

 

[stuckmotor]

Over the years, I've used a sparkplug, and clamp to make several spark checkers. It's been difficult to clamp them in a position so I could see the spark on all of them. The other day I tried this one In-Line Spark Checker
In the two times I've used it, it was easy to hook up and the light was easy to see. I like it.

 

[Grumpycat]

Over the years, I've used a sparkplug, and clamp to make several spark checkers. It's been difficult to clamp them in a position so I could see the spark on all of them. The other day I tried this one In-Line Spark Checker
In the two times I've used it, it was easy to hook up and the light was easy to see. I like it.

Late 1990’s I had a John Deere 21SP (I think) self propelled walk behind mower with Kawasaki engine. Keeping the self propelled drive operational was the death of that mower. Loved the Kawasaki engine but for one quirk: it would quit running with a 3 year old spark plug. Remove plug and plenty of spark. After much head scratching installed a new NGK plug anyway and it ran another 3 years and did it again. And again 3 years later.

Old plug sparked fine out, but not in. The electrodes looked great after 3 years.

Am guessing the spark was weak. Later heard of others with same issue.

If only the self propelled drive didn’t eat exotic John Deere proprietary belts and high wear on plastic gears and steel shaft in wheels and $25 tires (in 1999!) I’d still be using this mower.

Currently mow with 56V EGo 21” self propelled. Not as powerful as any gas mower I have used but gets the job done.

 

[stuckmotor]

Late 1990’s I had a John Deere 21SP (I think) self propelled walk behind mower with Kawasaki engine. Keeping the self propelled drive operational was the death of that mower. Loved the Kawasaki engine but for one quirk: it would quit running with a 3 year old spark plug. Remove plug and plenty of spark. After much head scratching installed a new NGK plug anyway and it ran another 3 years and did it again. And again 3 years later.

Old plug sparked fine out, but not in. The electrodes looked great after 3 years.

Am guessing the spark was weak. Later heard of others with same issue.

If only the self propelled drive didn’t eat exotic John Deere proprietary belts and high wear on plastic gears and steel shaft in wheels and $25 tires (in 1999!) I’d still be using this mower.

Currently mow with 56V EGo 21” self propelled. Not as powerful as any gas mower I have used but gets the job done.

I think it was a youtube mechanic who said a sparkplug that would fire outside of the engine wouldn't always fire in it and recommended using something similar to the spark checker to test with the plug installed.

 

[Frankenkubota]

I bought the jiggler syphon from hf yesterday. I was going to buy the standard syphon tube with the ball in the middle that you squeeze. I never heard of a jiggler syphon so for $7, what the heck.

It痴 a good idea with poor execution, imho. You see a lot of that, good ideas are like opinions. Great execution is.....hard to find!

Problem was the packaging. The 5 ft tube was not only too short, my fault, but it was also mashed into an almost flat oval. That痴 because when they roll it up they attach it to the cardboard with zip ties and its 100 degrees out.

I let it sit in the Carolina sun yesterday trying to un mash it but, no way.

Of course the oval shape won稚 carry the volume a circle will. I won a bet on that once.

The metal gadget on the end that makes it work is probably worth the $7 dollars and since the tube was was too short anyway, no harm done.

So.............

I went to Lowe痴 last nite, 8:30 pm, Friday nite, always raining. That痴 the only time to go, imho.

They had a 20 ft roll of clear plastic tubing, perfect. $24. I don稚 blame them but, Nope.

I致e learned. I used to think, make a quality product and sell it as cheap as you can and Own the market. Nope.

The truth is, in general, make an product that people will swallow and sell it for as much as you possibly can!

The syphon sort of worked and I think if I find a decent tube, it will work fine. Kinda neat idea!

But to spend $7 for the gadget and $25 more, just to make it work? Nope

But you know that when you go to harbor freight.

 

[duffer]

I bought a set of 1" ratchet straps at HF. They were much better than the ones at Lowes & HD. Much better mechanisms, and had heavy plastic coverings around the metal mechanism where you touch them to cinch and release. I threw the Lowe's POS in the trash.

 

[Jim Nelson]

I bought the jiggler syphon from hf yesterday. I was going to buy the standard syphon tube with the ball in the middle that you squeeze. I never heard of a jiggler syphon so for $7, what the heck.

Itç—´ a good idea with poor execution, imho. You see a lot of that, good ideas are like opinions. Great execution is.....hard to find!

Problem was the packaging. The 5 ft tube was not only too short, my fault, but it was also mashed into an almost flat oval. Thatç—´ because when they roll it up they attach it to the cardboard with zip ties and its 100 degrees out.

I let it sit in the Carolina sun yesterday trying to un mash it but, no way.

Of course the oval shape won稚 carry the volume a circle will. I won a bet on that once.

The metal gadget on the end that makes it work is probably worth the $7 dollars and since the tube was was too short anyway, no harm done.

So.............

I went to Loweç—´ last nite, 8:30 pm, Friday nite, always raining. Thatç—´ the only time to go, imho.

They had a 20 ft roll of clear plastic tubing, perfect. $24. I don稚 blame them but, Nope.

I致e learned. I used to think, make a quality product and sell it as cheap as you can and Own the market. Nope.

The truth is, in general, make an product that people will swallow and sell it for as much as you possibly can!

The syphon sort of worked and I think if I find a decent tube, it will work fine. Kinda neat idea!

But to spend $7 for the gadget and $25 more, just to make it work? Nope

But you know that when you go to harbor freight.

I have a couple of those jiggle syphons that I think I got from a boat supply place years before I even heard of H.F. and they work great. I don't remember what I paid for them but I'm sure it was less than $7 each, maybe that for both. When we had our first boat a buddy and I would take a pair of plastic 30 gal drums to the gas station and get boat gas because the marina fuel dock was so high. It's amazing how fast a pair of them will drain a 30 gal drum.

 

[California]

I have a couple of those jiggle syphons ... It's amazing how fast a pair of them will drain a 30 gal drum.

Practice makes perfect! :laughing:

 

[Jim Nelson]

Practice makes perfect! :laughing:

Yeah but we "practiced" a little too much and the marina dock master came along and let us know that it was strictly against the marina's rules as well as Coast Guard regs. due to the spill hazard and that if caught again we would be thrown out of the marina. Great while it lasted and I still use them putting fuel in my RTV and wife's golf cart. I can't hold a full 5 gallon can anymore for those side fill rigs and this works great.

 

[MIkeWard]

My daughter and husband have a good sized boat at a small yacht club. They have 2 large gas tanks that feed the 2 engines that are not cross linked to balance fuel. They have a guy who comes to the club to fill up boats. Hose reel from truck goes right to the boats.
Don't know the legality though.

 

[Jim Nelson]

A guy like that probably has a devise to attach to the hull right below the vents to catch any over flow, much like the marina fuel docks have. We always carried a spray bottle of Simple Green when fueling and spraying that on the sheen that spilled fuel leaves breaks it down and it disappears. Of course that's a big no no too.

 

[John_Mc]

I see that the Daytona 3 Ton Low Profile Super Duty Floor Jack (item # is on sale for $30 off with coupon # 20068411 good until Sept 20 online or in store.

I bought mine 6 months ago, and have been very happy with it. The 23 1/8" lift is great for working on my Dodge M37 (antique Korean War military pickup). 3 year warranty beats what is offered on most of their other jacks.

 

[jwstewar]

I also bought one of their palm nailers.

Compact Palm Air Nailer

It was about $26 after coupons. Wow, it actually works very nicely for putting in truss nails in the brackets in tight spaces. Dirt cheap and works. That's just crazy talk.

My old palm nailer died last month after about 15 years. I bought the Bostitch from Lowes and the Harbor Freight version. While the HF version is a little smaller, the Bostitch was much faster, less vibration, and actually drove the nails faster. I'm keeping both though since the HF version just because it is a tiny bit smaller. The Bostitch was $50 at Lowes.

 

[Frankenkubota]

I see that the Daytona 3 Ton Low Profile Super Duty Floor Jack (item # is on sale for $30 off with coupon # 20068411 good until Sept 20 online or in store.

I bought mine 6 months ago, and have been very happy with it. The 23 1/8" lift is great for working on my Dodge M37 (antique Korean War military pickup). 3 year warranty beats what is offered on most of their other jacks.

I tried to buy the yellow Daytona jack 3 times, always out of stock and would never sell the display model. The hf kid, young guy, said the javks were all the same, just different colors. Nope. They all are slightly different and the Daytona had a longer warranty.

So far, so good.

 

[rbstern]

Big thumbs up for the Atlas 40v weed trimmer. It's ergonomic, powerful, and the battery charge lasts a very long time. Really a good job on product development. I'll keep my Husqvarna gas trimmer for backup, but the Atlas is an absolute winner. Thinking I'll try the chainsaw this fall.

 

[5030]

Has anyone ventured a try with the Bauer 20 volt liquid transfer pump, pumping diesel? Kind of want to get one but don't know if it's compatible with ULSD?