Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[jjeff]

I currently own and occasionally use the air over hydraulic 8 ton long arm jack on my 2 ton picker also use the 20ton air over hydraulic jack on my press. Both have been trouble free. Both are HF brand and were upgraded replacement jacks for what came with them originally.

 

[California]

Bah. HF mailorder isn't up to the quality of store-bought, where you can inspect before checkout.

I ordered three of the 99 cent scissors and a bunch of other stuff on April 1 with "5-7 day shipping". Arrived today the 14th. Claimed shipped by FedEx, but FedEx never heard of the tracking number I was given. No evidence of FedEx on the carton when it arrived.

Then two of the scissors in Gordon orange blister packs were obvious returns, the blisters were cut open. Tried to cut a paper napkin and neither would cut, they just mashed the paper. Third scissor was in older white/red HF sealed blister pack. That one cut fine. For comparison my old slightly rusty one cut the paper napkin perfectly, too.

So I was shipped someone else's Gordon customer return scissors and they're useless.

The other items in the order were as expected, no problems. Well, aside from waiting that second week without a tracking number.

Caveat emptor, buyer beware. No more HF mailorder for me.

 

[crazyal]

Anyone have the 3/4" Icon breaker bar? I'm rebuilding a backhoe boom cylinder and there's a 1 1/4" bolt that has to be removed. I have (had) a Pittsburgh 18" pipe wrench I tried to use and it couldn't budge it. I tried to put a cheater on it and the handle bent. I have a Snap On 1 7/8" socket but I've only used it with a 1/2" breaker. It's a grade 8 bolt so they really didn't want it to break. A quick look shows the torque rating is over 1800 ft/pounds. To break it free I'm pretty sure that I'm going to need to use a pipe to gain leverage. The other option is to bring it to the local hydraulic shop and let them have at it vs spending $100 on the Icon.

 

[bigtiller]

Buy it and you will always have it to use.
And if you never use it again, hang it on the wall. Tools like this make good wall-art, almost as good as antique tools.

 

[AWSubie]

Anyone have the 3/4" Icon breaker bar? I'm rebuilding a backhoe boom cylinder and there's a 1 1/4" bolt that has to be removed. I have (had) a Pittsburgh 18" pipe wrench I tried to use and it couldn't budge it. I tried to put a cheater on it and the handle bent. I have a Snap On 1 7/8" socket but I've only used it with a 1/2" breaker. It's a grade 8 bolt so they really didn't want it to break. A quick look shows the torque rating is over 1800 ft/pounds. To break it free I'm pretty sure that I'm going to need to use a pipe to gain leverage. The other option is to bring it to the local hydraulic shop and let them have at it vs spending $100 on the Icon.

Search amazon or eBay for a torque multiplier. They are priced around $65 and are well worth the price. They are intended for semi trailer lug nuts but I have used mine for heavy equipment. U just need to be creative about rigging a reaction point for the tool. They can handle 3500 foot pounds.

 

[4570Man]

Take the cylinder rod by truck tire shop. They should have an impact capable of busting it loose.

 

[flyerdan]

If you have an air hammer you can blunt one of the chisels or weld a little chunk of angle on one and use it right on the 1/2" breaker bar near the socket to give it a blast while you're leaning on it. That often works for me when my impact doesn't have the oomph.

 

[1Mech]

We have a pretty fair amount of HF stuff. For us, the $ value is very good.
As others have said, you get what you pay for, and for us, HF quality is often fine.

We have lots of hand tools (hate having rusty hunks of junk in the bottom of the wifes mowing truck box that say "craftsman" or "snap-on" on them.

At one point, I was buying the dang claw hammers in bulk I think and just leaving a couple in every room we worked in.

Big stuff, I have the 14" chainsaw type concrete saw, the concrete mixer, the vibe compactor etc. etc. We could not afford to have bought the "good" brands, and we can buy and have them around cheaper then rent.

I think most the folks that have problems, and get aggravated tend to think they will be as good as the name brand stuff. I expect the stuff too work (and they have been great at replacing or refunding with zero hassle when it did not) but I do not expect it to be as nice as a name brand tool.

You ever notice when you have a bunch of hammers, or whatever and leave them scattered around so you don't need to bring one along, eventually, they are all in the same room or area!
I bought a multi amp battery charger there, but would not buy it again if it fails completely. Also bought quite a few pipe clamps and strap clamps when I was building cabinets for our kitchen remodel, they worked well.
Got tired of finding a flat tire on the wheel barrow, so I bought a never flat tire, holding up well, just wish it was a larger diameter.

 

[John_Mc]

I just can’t bring myself to trust the HF battery chargers. The charge and float voltages on the two I measured were not where they should be. (One too high, the other too low.) That was years ago, maybe they’ve improved by now, but I’d rather not chance it.

As far as leaving hammers around: when I do that it’s usually not on purpose, I end up not being able to remember where I left any of them.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I just can’t bring myself to trust the HF battery chargers. The charge and float voltages on the two I measured were not where they should be. (One too high, the other too low.) That was years ago, maybe they’ve improved by now, but I’d rather not chance it.

As far as leaving hammers around: when I do that it’s usually not on purpose, I end up not being able to remember where I left any of them.

That's my problem too. As far as HF stuff goes - Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed. All junk, but a lot of times junk is good enough.

gg