Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[California]

.....hired an American engineer....not so much.

The guy probably also had a JD in American patent infringement law.

 

[Scotty Dive]

I looked pretty hard at the badlands winches - and I found that the smitybilt were identical. The HF winches has a 90 warranty where the Smitybilts have 2 years. And....I got the 8000 Smitybilt for under $300 delivered - cheaper or about the same for the HR.

XRC 8 Winch - Smittybilt

9000 lb. Off-Road Vehicle Winch with Automatic Load-Holding Brake

 

[Hughman]

Bought one of there hopper guns to texture some drywall. Paid $18 after the %off coupon. It was well worth what I paid for it.

Textured Paint Spray Gun

 

[barneyrb]

I have one of the 12k badland winches on the front of my F150. Used it a couple of times to pull other people out and it worked great. I put it on a Westin mount (~$250) and everything is great for >$600.....

 

[Ductape]

Curious if anyone here has one of their 10K gen head. I've had thoughts of using it for a PTO generator.

Generator Head - 10,000 Watts Max, Belt Driven

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Aluminum Hitch Cargo Carrier - 500 lb. Capacity

Going for this March coupon special for SUV/MH use. Would go steel if going to tow with 2" ball out of the back of it like my neighbor. Notice I said IF.

 

[sixdogs]

I looked pretty hard at the badlands winches - and I found that the smitybilt were identical. The HF winches has a 90 warranty where the Smitybilts have 2 years. And....I got the 8000 Smitybilt for under $300 delivered - cheaper or about the same for the HR.

XRC 8 Winch - Smittybilt

9000 lb. Off-Road Vehicle Winch with Automatic Load-Holding Brake

What do you guys think about the Smitty 8000 for the front od a trailer. Plan to pull equip up plus maybe a tractor or car. Is it enough?

 

[Ductape]

What do you guys think about the Smitty 8000 for the front od a trailer. Plan to pull equip up plus maybe a tractor or car. Is it enough?

I 'd say that if what you are loading rolls freely, you could get away with much less than an 8000 lb winch.

 

[rsewill]

I think when it comes to make in China it's the Quality Assurance team that makes all the difference. For name brand products they spend the money to make sure that short cuts and bad batches don't happen. For HF and other discount brands they just assume that each batch of metal or tempering was done correctly and put it on the shelf in a box. If it breaks they give you another one and hope that it works.

Are you kidding. The QA people are there to make sure the tools are crappily built with rough edges, poor working design and poor reliability so that you throw it in the scrap bin after first use and then go buy some other cheap junk Chinese tool. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Barnone]

rsewill,
Typical warranty below from HF on hand tools.
"Manufacturer Warranty Detail Lifetime Warranty. We guarantee this Tool to be free from defects in material and workmanship for the life of the product. Limitations apply."
If it is defective in normal use they will replace the tool just like Sears. I've never had a problem returning an item. Sometimes I just get my money back. Same thing I do at Lowes and Sears.