Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[crash325]

Home Depot Rant

They do have a veterans policy. Only if you are disabled & even then you can only use it on holidays.

So nice to take a vet away from his or her family on a holiday.

OK done, do as you see fit.

Low's does have a real vet discount, every day & disabled not mentioned.

 

[bcp]

Low's does have a real vet discount, every day & disabled not mentioned.

They told me the year long vet discount was for retired, and disabled, not for the others who served for a shorter time.

Bruce

 

[crash325]

They told me the year long vet discount was for retired, and disabled, not for the others who served for a shorter time.

Bruce

I just show my vets card & never had any problems. Not disabled or retired. Maybe other stores have different rules????

 

[Pixguy]

What does this have to do with HF!
Haha



HD changed their policy awhile back to only vets who's card says service connect under photo all year round.
Vets day and Mem. day 10% off to all Vets I think.

 

[PhysAssist]

My experience exactly. I returned one similar - I think I bought it alone however - because a two-handed squeeze on the handles rounded off the slip-joint teeth and it jumped to the next looser tooth. Useless. I went out to the flea market and for about the same price bought used real Channellocks. The real ones have undercut teeth/groves that can't slip. Also better, stiffer steel in a lighter tool.

FWIW, I had the same issue with the knock-off Chunnel locks I bought at TSC.

If I used more than a little gentle squeeze or torqued them at all, they slipped right through the range and opened up.

I bought 'em on clearance to get a cheap pair for the car tool box, and since the receipt was long gone before I ever used them, they got put in the scrap metal collection box waiting for redemption in another incarnation.

So I'll probably be buying 'em back from HF in my next life.

 

[PhysAssist]

I never found the saw on the HF Web site, however I have seen it in the store, but haven't seen it recently. Have been using one for several years now. Works great! Usually cut 16 gauge sheet metal but have cut 3/8 in plate as well.

I used mine to cut one of the tabs off of a under-bumper mount trailed hitch to make it fit on our Box Blade, and even though it was well over the rated thickness, it was like cuttin butta.

 

[Grouse09]

Home Depot Rant

They do have a veterans policy. Only if you are disabled & even then you can only use it on holidays.

So nice to take a vet away from his or her family on a holiday.

OK done, do as you see fit.

Low's does have a real vet discount, every day & disabled not mentioned.

HD's Veteran's discount is 10% for retirees and active duty all year with your blue retiree card, or your green active duty card. They also have reserved parking spaces for any vets right up front.

Never heard of "a disability card". Might be for service members that were separated because of a service connected disability. They would never ask for "a disability card", unless it was volunteered.

 

[Oaktree]

FWIW, I had the same issue with the knock-off Chunnel locks I bought at TSC.

If I used more than a little gentle squeeze or torqued them at all, they slipped right through the range and opened up.

Seems to be a lot of that going around. I had a pair of Sears brand ones (not Craftsman) that did that too.

 

[Midniteoyl]

HD's Veteran's discount is 10% for retirees and active duty all year with your blue retiree card, or your green active duty card. They also have reserved parking spaces for any vets right up front.

Never heard of "a disability card". Might be for service members that were separated because of a service connected disability. They would never ask for "a disability card", unless it was volunteered.

I believe he meant the VA Medical card.. Service Connected disabled are labeled as such on the front.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Seems to be a lot of that going around. I had a pair of Sears brand ones (not Craftsman) that did that too.

Adjustable pliers and wire cutters are tools I won't buy anything but a name brand. And even then, you have to be careful to make sure they're not made in China.

I recently bought a pair of fencing pliers and discovered the "Channel Lock" brand were made in the USA, the Crescent brand pliers were made in Taiwan, and all the others were made in China. Paid the extra and bought the Channel Lock brand.

 

[dragoneggs]

Adjustable pliers and wire cutters are tools I won't buy anything but a name brand. And even then, you have to be careful to make sure they're not made in China.

I recently bought a pair of fencing pliers and discovered the "Channel Lock" brand were made in the USA, the Crescent brand pliers were made in Taiwan, and all the others were made in China. Paid the extra and bought the Channel Lock brand.

Even USA made when talking quality pliers... I recently bought a pair of lineman's pliers by Proto... paid handsomely because I needed them. Got home, started snipping some wire and I wasn't happy. Looked at the cutting faces and there was a gap! :thumbdown:

Very surprised and I took them back and showed it to the counter guy at a contractor supply store. He was surprised too. I traded them for another pair of Proto's (one size up) and they have been great.

 

[Travelover]

......... Looked at the cutting faces and there was a gap! :thumbdown:

I recently bought some electrician's pliers at HF and sorted through a dozen pair before I found one where the cutting jaws aligned, both sides of the cutting edge were sharp and where there was no gap.

 

[sixdogs]

I recently bought some electrician's pliers at HF and sorted through a dozen pair before I found one where the cutting jaws aligned, both sides of the cutting edge were sharp and where there was no gap.

Excellent point. If I'm going to buy pliers or side cutters from HF, I'll spend a while making sure I get a pair that lines up. Most don't.

I haven't seen US General branded pliers/cutters at HF in a while but if you ever do, they were very good.

 

[bcp]

"US General" is a Harbor Freight brand.

"General" is a General Tool Co brand.

Bruce

 

[Pixguy]

Here's two items that work great especially when changing over to the new season.

I "repurposed" the large mover dolly to make a dolly for my sander.

and the 3 ton lift works well to take off the tire chains without mounting the bh to lift the tires.

edit: sorry that they're posted horizontal. I take these with my iPhone and post via my iPad. I don't have paint on my iOS tablet.

 

[dragoneggs]

Here's two items that work great especially when changing over to the new season.

I "repurposed" the large mover dolly to make a dolly for my sander.

and the 3 ton lift works well to take off the tire chains without mounting the bh to lift the tires.


edit: sorry that they're posted horizontal. I take these with my iPhone and post via my iPad. I don't have paint on my iOS tablet.

The thumbnails are sideways but when I click they are upright... no worries. I have also made a couple mods to HF dollies to fit my stuff. The wood ones are great for the sale price or 20% coupon.

 

[TractorGuy]

So far I'm pleased with the product support. Just ordered a gear for my band saw. This is actually a stretch on my end. I have an old band saw I bought from another company years ago that looks similar to the small one HF sells. I downloaded the manual for their saw and it had a parts breakdown. I emailed their product support and gave them the illustration numbers. They got back within 3 days and told me the number and price for the gear. He said they didn't have the seal but I could find it online by size so I ordered one of those off ebay. I called today to order the gear and they say it is in stock in CA. Hopefully in a week or so I will have my old saw fixed.

 

[JRobyn]

Assuming they actually deliver, that will be the FIRST time I have ever heard of HF supplying a part for any of their products!

 

[IslandTractor]

Assuming they actually deliver, that will be the FIRST time I have ever heard of HF supplying a part for any of their products!

I agree. I've never heard of other examples.

 

[California]

Up to about 5 years ago they would provide parts, probably by stripping them off customer returns. I was able to order a couple of replacement poles and corner brackets for this 20x20 tarp shed (no longer sold) the first time the wind knocked it all crooked. I had anchored the corners well, I learned it wasn't stiff enough to survive without the middle poles ballasted as well.

This photo is a few years later. I gave up replacing the $50 tarp on an average of 1.5 years each after this final disaster. The fundamental problem is the stretch cord/ball attachments between the tarp and the structure didn't last even a year before stretching to a slack, inflexible maximum length where some fell off, further increasing the stress at the remaining ones.

There was a massive management change at HF some 5 years ago, apparently including ending parts support.