Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[buckeyefarmer]

These: Hearing Protector

View attachment 543735

They have a NRR [Noise Reduction Rating] of 25 dB, which I believe is accurate in comparison with other ear protection I have used.

They work great at the range, chop saw, splitter, etc- and where/which ever I am going to be working on, my nearest pair is nowhere to be found.

Thanks. Should get a face mask also.

Was near HF sat, ended up not going, even after wife said go........

 

[PhysAssist]

I under stand you statement, but in the past, there have been times when I wanted to try some new type of tool and would buy something low cost, and on more than one occasion, I wasted a lot of money, and some times nearly gave up on a tool or system, because the inferior tools did such a poor job, even some one skilled and with talent was no more than a chainsaw carpenter, using inferior tools that were not up to the job,

and yes I have a good number of HF tools myself, and some I am impressed with, and some are not worth looking at,
but there are times (for example I have a few sets of HF wood chisels, actually the steel in them is not to bad,
but the way they came out of the box would have made any one look like a chain saw carpenter, if a person had the skill to properly sharpen them they became a usable tool, but from HF they were trash can special,

so on some things getting some thing quality is worth it,

a lot like a junk table saw and a quality table saw, yes both will cut wood, but many times the precision is so bad on the cheap one that beside rough carpentry is all it is good for, and usually dangerous,

You do make a very good point!

Which is why I began lurking in this thread for years before I even had a tractor, and have continued since actually becoming a tractor owner- I really prefer to make those mistakes vicariously whenever possible.

I do have a very old 12" Craftsman Radial arm saw, and an even older table saw, but I often use my HF 12" double-angle miter saw instead [unless I'm ripping something] because it's easier and at least accurate enough for my skill level.

Ditto my cold-cutting cut-off saws vs my HF bandsaw [unless it's not a straight line cut].

 

[PhysAssist]

When I click the link
http://www.hfqpdb.com/coupons/501_ITC_4_GALLON_BACKPACK_SPRAYER_1520695220.9873.jpg
this shows up
View attachment 543487
Well worth $18.

Looks very good to me too- where do I send my PayPal payment?

In fact she looks really familiar to me too?- not kidding either...

 

[PhysAssist]

I caught a good sale on their 1000 lb. lift table about 3 years ago. Last time I used it, it leaked down over several hours. I need to check Fluid in it.

1 lbs. Capacity Hydraulic Table Cart

I love mine, and even though [or maybe because] I didn't follow their owner's manual instructions to prep the hydraulics before use- it has never leaked down, and has saved my azz [and back] to many times to count- in places it was never designed or envisioned to be used.

 

[PhysAssist]

With a mechanical knee on one side and an arthritic knee on the other, yea, it sort-of does. What do you think, does each downward stroke feel like 2 pounds or 20 pounds?

Nowhere near 20#- in fact I'd feel better if it had some resistance to speak of- I end up slamming my foot down the first couple pumps- as I forget between uses how easy it is...

As a veteran of 2X-left knee replacements [the 1st was a victim of late infection]- I highly recommend it.

 

[PhysAssist]

I've got years of excellent service from this Harbor Freight 1300 lb hoist.

13 lb. Electric Hoist with Remote Control

I use it in the garage for lifting heavy stuff in and out of the trailer and pickup. Easy and safe. This planer weighs a bit over 100 lbs, the sturdy lad at the tool outlet just threw it in the back of the pickup, and I could too but 30 years ago!

If you don't mind my asking: How do you have that mounted overhead?

I have thought about getting an I-beam mounted to use one of those on a trolley, but I can see a lot of times when a stationary vertical lift would be all I needed.

I'm just always concerned about vertical loading on the horizontal struts which are after all only suspended by those perforated metal panels at the ends and joints, and I'm not engineering savvy enough to calculate what the maximum safe load would be...

 

[Ford850]

If you don't mind my asking: How do you have that mounted overhead?

I have thought about getting an I-beam mounted to use one of those on a trolley, but I can see a lot of times when a stationary vertical lift would be all I needed.

I'm just always concerned about vertical loading on the horizontal struts which are after all only suspended by those perforated metal panels at the ends and joints, and I'm not engineering savvy enough to calculate what the maximum safe load would be...

I mounted mine in a pole barn that has trusses on 8' centers. I added 2 2x6 that were 12' long resting, on edge, across 2 bottom chords. I think they are about 2' apart. I then added 2 short 2x6's about 2' apart that tie the 2 12'ers together and form a 2'x2' box. I use that box to house my winch up high and out of the way. A simple bar/uni/2x2 or whatever the winch calls for is all that is needed, resting that on top of that 2x6 box, to hang the winch in there. It works great for me. (on edit, I might have used 2x8's instead of 2x6's for that frame)

 

[downsizingnow48]

I put a piece of steel tube in the web angle of two trusses, and hung the hoist on that. So the lift is directly supported by elements of two trusses. I figure if full size carpenters can walk out on the chord during construction, this should be ok for moderate concentrated loads. The heaviest I have lifted was 250 lbs. A 5/8" drywall ceiling pulls downwards on those bottom chords and pulls straight down on those steel plates, they are pretty strong.

 

[crazyal]

if you don't mind spending the money and have the headroom I would recommend getting the portable gantry crane from HF. Some of the crew who move stuff at work have them (not HF brand) and they work well. My garage has a large i-beam in it with more than 10' of clearance under it so I don't need the crane. I've dragged my feet but I plan on upgrading from my chainfall to an electric hoist. It cost a little more but instead of the 1 ton push trolley for I-beams I got a geared trolley from Northern tool that uses a chain to move it along the beam.

 

[Code54]

if you don't mind spending the money and have the headroom I would recommend getting the portable gantry crane from HF. Some of the crew who move stuff at work have them (not HF brand) and they work well. My garage has a large i-beam in it with more than 10' of clearance under it so I don't need the crane. I've dragged my feet but I plan on upgrading from my chainfall to an electric hoist. It cost a little more but instead of the 1 ton push trolley for I-beams I got a geared trolley from Northern tool that uses a chain to move it along the beam.

I have the Harbor freight Gantry crane in the shop and it works GREAT. Changed out the top beam to a heavier one I was given and used it on 1000lbs loads several times without the slightest problem. Can roll it all around the garage and use it where ever it is needed. Find I use it a lot for building implements and fixing implements.