HF tools that suck

[chopped]

Actually I did and at the time Harbor freight was no where near.. But they liked my business with mail order, AND also online but then once they made their way into New England it all went sour. Like Wal Mart they get big and the regular customer suddenly is of no real interest.Unlike Wal Mart I doubt they will be able to make a dent in the mom and pop stores here.. Its been a long winter without the weekly catalogs to burn LOL

By any chance did you move far from a city for the quiet and solitude up there? :laughing:

 

[HillStreet]

Harbor Freight store opened near Portland this year and I visited 3 times so far. I really do like the store and got stuff like wrenches and various pliers, magnetic parts bowls, hemostats clamps, mechanics creeper and mechanics stool. Prices are reasonable and tools are fine for occasional use (spares for shed and airplane hangar).

I recently bought a set of 3 rock drill with SDS-MAX shank. I thought I found a real bargain at $37 but that is not so. I drilled 3 holes today with a 3/4 inch drill bit 16 inches long. I drilled the holes to about a 10 inch depth. First hole went fine, second hole I could tell it was losing it's edge, third hole was real slow going. These bits are 4x carbide, made in China.

Certainly not worth the money unless you only need to drill two holes with each. For comparison, I usually use Bosch 4x carbide bits and get great service from them. I get a discount on Bosch, about $42 for 1 inch diameter x 10 inch.

 

[AchingBack]

HillStreet, I'm just curious, into what rock are you drilling, and how deep do you need to go? I worked with a company installing irrigation for a golf course. Once in a while we would hit a bed of sandstone. The drillers/blasters were always on standby if needed. Most often, we went around the obstructions. Sure, we used more pipe, but we didn't spend hours butting our heads against the ground.

 

[HillStreet]

Hi AchingBack,

I have been drilling and splitting granite boulders in my yard for 4 years, we kinda grow them here in Maine. This particular one is on the rear section of lawn--I dug around the base to drill and split the top off, then cover and seed what's left below ground.

I do a lot of secondary trimming with a smaller drill and hammer/chisel for wall stone. Typically I will drill several boulders for a couple of hours, then split them. The boulders I have been splitting range in size from a large watermelon to my Cub Cadet. Smaller stuff might split with an 8 pound rock hammer or chisel, others I just bucket over to the "north 40" and pile.

My wife and I built this house going on 5 years ago and this has been our own property development. We now have a 1.5 acre lawn. We developed the lawn because all the rock outcroppings made it impossible to mow or even bush hog, so we would have been surrounded by wild growth if we didn't clear the land.

For perspective, the excavation contractor said he could put in the lawn ( an area smaller than we have now for $30k to $40k depending what he ran into. We did it for the cost of a drill, bits, grass seed, and of course the Kubota.

 

[Guesseral]

I bought the HF large high speed steel bit set, I really didn't expect a whole lot but figured at the price I could but a new set for each project. The set I think went up to about 1-1/8 I think I didn't need to go that large but what ever. I had to drill up to 3/4" the set cost less that one good 3/4" bit, I have drilled over 10 holes so far I always start small and go up in increments just like I should and I still have the set and will use it more in the future.
Now that said it hasn't been a walk in the park by any means. I have had to sharpen all of the bits I have used several times and if I didn't have any clue how to do that they would have been pure junk, I have also had to straighten two of them because they caught and bent and straightening them was really easy and they didn't break believe it or not. It has been trying but with a little TLC they work ish!

 

[weldingisfun]

Here is another HF tool that you should NOT waste your money on buying. The electric paint spray gun Electric Paint Spray Gun is a piece of junk. I read the HF reviews before giving up my Andrew Jackson ($20) and decided it was worth the chance. WRONG! First, the paint, a Valspar exterior latex paint had to be thinned so much to work in the sprayer that it would not cover. We were painting two outbuilding covered with T-111 siding. They had been painted over 7 years before and were in desperate need of fresh paint. The spray volume and pattern could not be adjusted to put out a decent pattern and the gun had to be held to within 6 inches of the surface. Forget about holding the sprayer at an angle to paint under the eaves. Horizontal or not at all. And, talk about leak! I swear I had more paint on me than on the walls. We finally gave up part way through the second building and finished it off with the old reliable roller and brush. The first building will have to be redone with a roller as well.

 

[kenmac]

Here is another HF tool that you should NOT waste your money on buying. The electric paint spray gun Electric Paint Spray Gun is a piece of junk. I read the HF reviews before giving up my Andrew Jackson ($20) and decided it was worth the chance. WRONG!

The brand Krause & Becker :laughing: Never heard of that brand . Some of their stuff is so bad, it shouldn't even be sold ! That said, I have bought some descent stuff from HF. 20 Ton shop press has worked well.. 2 Ton cherry picker (engine hoist) has worked well. You just have to figure out the good stuff,from the plain old junk !.. Their welding gloves are JUNK ! shouldn't be sold. The leather seems to be good. It's the sewing job that is crap ! They fall apart in no time.. Guess that's why they sell them in 3 pair packs. The auto darkening welding hood has held up great !. I've had it for about 3 yrs and used it alot

 

[weldingisfun]

Kenmac, you are right. HF does sell some good things. That is why there is a thread entitled Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/114176-harbor-freight-tools-dont-suck.html. This thread, HF tools that suck is intended to warn folks about the HF junk.

 

[California]

# 61675 'AA Heavy Duty Batteries 24 Pk'. (pale yellow/black).

Useless, the power output was less than the used HF alkalines (orange/black) I needed to replace.

User reviews on HF's website are the worst I've seen there.

This was the 'free gift' along with a purchase. I suspect they are clearing out an unsalable batch from the warehouse.

 

[Dftodd]

Haven't had much luck with there pullers, 1 rating (gear, steering wheel ect..) :thumbdown: They use standard threaded rod and strip with out applying much force. Have had better luck making my own out of scrap.

Ratchets, pipe wrenches. 2 rating. Ratchets will pop and switch direction and have ended up with sliced and busted knuckles. Only recommend them.if you into pain. Put any amount of butt on the pipe wrenches, and after a couple uses, the jaws will fall off. Gave up after the third replacement.

Grinding disks and cutoff wheels. 1 to 5 rating. Stay Away From The Paper Thin Ones pay attention to the rated speed for them, and what your using them on. Find ones that are rated for at least 5% higher then the speed of the grinder!!! With a minimum of 1/8th thickness. I've had the same luck with hf brand as well as the ones from higher end welding suppliers. You have to pay attention to what your getting!!!!

ALWAYS WEAR A FACE SHIELD I've had a cut off wheel disintegrate and ended up with a piece stuck in my neck Missed the vein by a hair

Screw drivers, 5
Sockets and wrenches, 7
Bolt extractors, 1
Drill bits, -1