Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[California]

Today I used the 25% off coupon and bought the baby needle scaler.

I intend to use it mostly for welding slag. I have the larger scaler but it uses far more air (claimed 10 cfm) than I have patience for with my 4 cfm compressor.

Does anyone have this little needle scaler? Many of the reviews said theirs failed sooner than expected. I didn't buy the $8 additional warranty, maybe I should have.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Today I used the 25% off coupon and bought the baby needle scaler.

I intend to use it mostly for welding slag. I have the larger scaler but it uses far more air (claimed 10 cfm) than I have patience for with my 4 cfm compressor.

Does anyone have this little needle scaler? Many of the reviews said theirs failed sooner than expected. I didn't buy the $8 additional warranty, maybe I should have.

FYI: Not all the Hercules stuff gets high marks. And I would not call this guy a Dewalt fan.

BOLTR: Dirty Secrets of Harbor Freight HERCULES | Better than DeWALT? - YouTube

 

[lostcreekranch]

I have a similar set and have used it a few times to straighten out fender or hood dents on tractors I acquired. They work fine for that although sometimes I use a heavier ball pein hammer since the hammers in that type of set are normally lighter. The set works fine and I'm glad I have it. It was bought with a 25% off coupon when it was already on sale so that's an OK price.

I bought mine in person so I could make sure all the heads were tight on the hammers. No big deal but I don't like fixing new things. Also, the metal will rust pretty easy so I wipe mine with an oily rag when done using. It's a good purchase although mine doesn't get all that much use.

Thanks very much.

 

[Michael Aos]

I've seen those online, but they're apparently not available in my area. Can't even order one.

Seems a shame too. I would have probably bought one.

Ended up buying a 4' x 6' trailer with ramp tail gate from Lowes.

 

[Ford850]

A while back there was some conversation about vise grip pliers and their quality. I have this one below and it is an excellent pair of vise grips that I have used and abused for a few years with no problems. This set...


View attachment 520825
1" Professional Curved Jaw Locking Pliers

I bought on a sale with a coupon and they replaced a cheaper HF version of the same thing. This set is a good one that will withstand hard use but probably not an extreme amount of abuse.

I just picked up a pair of those on Sunday, along with a pair of these 6" long nosed pliers. I've had a pair of the long nosed in the barn and really like them. I decided to start a set of tools for my tractor tool box, mostly consisting of the Pro series with the red and black handles. The plan is to have red handles on all the tools on the tractor so I'm less likely to lose them in the field. I'm going to get a pair of side cuts, maybe a linesman pliers, and a long nosed locking plier too.

 

[IslandTractor]

A while back there was some conversation about vise grip pliers and their quality. I have this one below and it is an excellent pair of vise grips that I have used and abused for a few years with no problems. This set...


View attachment 520825
1" Professional Curved Jaw Locking Pliers

I bought on a sale with a coupon and they replaced a cheaper HF version of the same thing. This set is a good one that will withstand hard use but probably not an extreme amount of abuse.

I have a set of those or something that looks just like that. My only complaint is that the rubber/plastic handgrips slide around too easily and even come off. Otherwise they are a fine budget quality tool.

 

[V65ozzie]

Not a tool, but I have several of the HF adjustable tow hitches. Loose and rattly, but I've hauled some heavy trailers with them, so far they have worked great. So much so I had to paint them yellow, my customers kept "forgetting" to return them.

 

[V65ozzie]

I have a 4000W generator that we bought on a whim, the price was great as we had a killer coupon, after a year of rentals it's still working fine, in fact, a couple of my contractor customers request it.

 

[V65ozzie]

I read through the manual, it appears the engine is a clone of the Honda GX series, yes ? no ?

For all intents and purposes, they are, with small changes to avoid lawsuits. Honda is on top of that stuff. Years ago, I used to give away copies of their parts 'fiche's for free(not saying what machine it was), you paid for a blank disc and postage, about 2 bucks. I did it for a year before I got a cease and desist letter. Occasionally I will still get an email asking for a "coffee cup coaster"...........

 

[V65ozzie]

re chainsaw inertia - I discovered my little Ryobi 18 volt 10 inch saw was an adequate replacement for a 2-cycle saw here. 99% of its use is clearing fallen orchard trees that fell because they were rotten, punky, with only a veneer of live wood sustaining them. Plenty of power for that. An advantage I hadn't considered is the much lesser inertia overrun so it is safer to operate. Here's a photo I posted previously of the other 1% of its use where it is working at capacity bucking Eucalyptus which it does adequately. No longer owning anything 2-stroke has made my life simpler, and in this case safer.

Toying with getting an electric saw, my big Echo is a beast, and works great on bigger stuff, but anything under about 3" diameter, and it just grabs it and tries to throw it. Had to cut some shrubs down to the ground the other day, saw didn't even notice it, but I got a face whipping from some of the thin stuff. Echo brand saws get a big :thumbsup: in my book, but my experience has only been with 20" or over. Started mine up the other day after it's sat for 3 months, 3rd pull, ran great. Trying out a 20" echo hedge trimmer now, time will tell. Appears to be made as well as my chainsaw.