Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[KubotainNH]

I have the stubby wrench set in the top link and went to HF to get a set for my son because they are so useful. I read here that the Taiwan stamped wrenches are better than the China ones. I dug around and noticed all but one was made in India, the last one being China, no Taiwan. The China set looked better quality, cleaner lines and smoother metal. The India was overly thick on the closed end and had stamped sizing on the ends that looked cheesy. You can actually see them on the website.

China:
12 Pc SAE & Metric Stubby Combination Wrench Set

India:
12 Piece Stubby Combination Wrench Set

 

[thepumpguysc]

GOOD EYE KubotainNH.. "THATS" something to watch out for.. THICKNESS..
Kid at work just bought a set of Craftsman HI polished chrome long handle combo wrenches..
I think they advertise them as "mechanic wrenches?"
COMPLETELY WORTHLESS for the work we do..
The chrome is SO THICK on the box ends that they wont fit between the nut & studs on the injection pumps we work on..
BOTH the standard & the metric are like that..
They "LOOK" nice but that's NOT what they're for..
I told him to throw them in the garbage,, Lol

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

One of the most useful "cheap" tools I have found is the $19.99 reciprocating saw. I have had 3 or 4 of these over the years. (Yes I consider them "disposable"). For a 20 dollar bill I can use, abuse, destroy, and do it again a few times. Then I go buy another. They ussually last about a year or so, depending on how much abuse. This past "time to replace", I decided to get a Ryobi one, 1/3 more power, some nicer features... What a POS !... First time using it, broke the blade holder... Took it back the next day and got another... 60 miles RT (had to get other materials anyway). The second wasn't any better, the reciprocating shaft would bend when any pressure is applied (and I mean just a little). Got another $20 special (really $16 w/ 20% off). Serves my purpose well. I think I'm gonna try the next better "industrial" one next time around.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Oh, forgot about another "favorite go to tool". The $14.99 occillating tool. Again have gone through a few of these after heavy use, but at $12 w/ coupon, can't beat them. I hesitated to buy one for quite a while, but once I used one, I wondered how I did without. Figure I can get 5 of these before I get to the price of "a real name brand one". They are great for getting into tight spots and cutting where you can't get another tool to fit into. Next I'm going to try the variable speed one for $24 bucks.

 

[newbury]

i have the same cart, but it's a few years old without the side table, nice cart, and drawers are holding up well

i just picked up that 225 piece tool set , and also the 130 piece set (for my son) and it was quite obvious there
is a difference in the quality of the tools... the 130 piece has the cheap non polished wrenches, and the
old school cheap ratchet.. but the 225 set was much nicer, polished open/box wrenches, and nice action on
the ratchets, the hand tools seemed nicer also, (pliers etc).
but , for $29, the 130 is fine for him as he had no tools to speak of, and i'm going to keep the 225 in the
truck, nice to have some wrenches and sockets....
the sockets were quite a bit different also, seemed a much higher quality, and the labeling was much easier
to read for my old eyes!

Did you check the country of origin? Reports are that Taiwan has better QC than China.

 

[Dutch445]

Did you check the country of origin? Reports are that Taiwan has better QC than China.

what little bit i looked at them in the store,, (we had both boxes opened comparing the sets) i couldn't see country of origin,
i'll dig into it a little more when i have a few minutes and see if i can find any indication on the tools

 

[sixdogs]

what little bit i looked at them in the store,, (we had both boxes opened comparing the sets) i couldn't see country of origin,
i'll dig into it a little more when i have a few minutes and see if i can find any indication on the tools

Agreed. I look close at things and Taiwan is way better in terms of fit, finish, polish and tool accuracy.
There's some real quality out there in older Japanese tools as well. Even their cheap stuff was good.i

 

[Zippster]

I do alot of property maintenance for rental companies bought one of these a couple years ago.

5 Ft. Commercial Power-Feed Drain Cleaner with GFCI

It works great, has built in gfi on chord, foot vacuum operator, is heavy duty enough to do main lines no problem but still can be handled by one guy. Granted I wouldn't want to carry it up and down stairs all day but you can get it in and out without killing yourself.

 

[crazyal]

I do alot of property maintenance for rental companies bought one of these a couple years ago.

5 Ft. Commercial Power-Feed Drain Cleaner with GFCI

It works great, has built in gfi on chord, foot vacuum operator, is heavy duty enough to do main lines no problem but still can be handled by one guy. Granted I wouldn't want to carry it up and down stairs all day but you can get it in and out without killing yourself.

It's funny how when you (not just you) post the link to the tool HF seams to get the description wrong. Your's is the perfect example. Who would want a 5' power drain cleaner, lol. I know the one you are talking about, the 50' drain snake. It's not even like they are cutting off the very end of the text. It's usually something like a number that makes a big difference. You would think that HF would fix that as it's not a good business practice.

 

[bcp]

If you put your cursor on the link, it says "50-Ft." The loss of the zero is likely in the forum's software. It either drops it or replaces it with some strange character.

Bruce