Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[California]

Went to a local HF today to buy the 105 pc tool set for my 14yo son. There were four different PN's! I bought 4030. Hope that's a good one!

That's the 105 piece set with four drawers, no? How do you like it?

I finally noticed I've moved near 100% of my quality tools out to the ranch. So I bought the 130 piece 'briefcase' set for the house in town. This set cost a few $ less than what you bought. Let's say the quality is sufficient for things you would take apart on the kitchen table. But any criticism of cheap tools from HF is applicable, these aren't 'Pittsburgh', warranted, quality. I wouldn't try applying a lot of force to anything in this set. One real advantage is all tools are in one easily carried container. That's an improvement over loading a bucket with the specifc tools for a project then going back for something forgotten.

This 130 pece set is ok for replacing faucet washers etcetra. In a year I've used it once to tighten a bolt that was falling out of something, and once loaned it to a neighbor who needed an Allen wrench for a tradesman working on her dishwasher who didn't have the size he needed. In this sort of light service it's sufficient. And I bought a similar but simpler set for my daughter when she lived in a 1-room studio apartment in NYC. She said that was ideal for hanging drapery rods, pictures, cuphooks etc while she furnished the place. The difference between no tools and cheap tools is a huge step up - assuming you won't need them very often.

For your 14 year old son - just replace anything he breaks, with better quality tools. The broad variety in your set will always be useful.

 

[John_Mc]

Has anyone had any experience with the Northern Tools 3500# Ironton Winch? They are currently on sale at $95 (for NT's "Advantage" members) it's normally $140.

I'm wondering how they compare to the Harbor Freight 3500# Badland Winch ($140).

I've used the HF 3500# Badland Winch in a couple of applications, and have one now that sees occasional use on an antique Coot UTV. It seems to have held up OK - It's no Warn, but for the price, I don't expect it to be. I may have a use for another, and was wondering about sticking with the HF unit vs the NT offering.

Both have the same gear ratio and duty cycle (5% at full load - not exactly impressive, but I'm not using it at full load anyway). The NT Ironton winch has a slightly larger motor (1.1 HP vs 1.0 for the HF Badland). However, the NT is slower and pulls less current (probably reflecting the slower speeds).

I'm curious if anyone has used the NT Ironton winches long enough to get a feel for their quality as compared to the HF Badland winches

 

[Rock Crawler]

I'd call 4WD.com and ask for Sara Oaks, tell her you want a price on the white box Smittybilt X20 winch and that Larry from the Willy's Wheeler Jeep club told you to call and get the hook up, you'll likely be amazed at the price of the white box version (same winch, but not retail boxed) and it's a Warn assisted design (Smittybilt had Warn help design it), is fully sealed and submersible, and I've been beating on mine hard since 2014 with a Jeep. I run the Jeep club, Sara is our club rep.

 

[California]

The 'Free With Purchase' multimeter - Worth every penny it cost! ullinghair:

I keep a license-plate-size solar panel on a tractor that is seldom used. I tested its battery with a different meter than usual and got an unexpected low reading.

So I got a couple more free meters, checked that there were good batteries inside each meter, and made a comparison by measuring a single 9 volt battery:

Newest multimeter a week old:
9.50v
red one from a few weeks ago
9.48v
red, a year (?) ago
9.61v
Yellow ones, in use for quite a while
9.69v
9.51v
9.50v
9.44v

That's a quarter volt range!

(The variance isn't from the meters internal batteries. I verified that each meter reads the same regardless of the battery inside it).

Conclusion: I was relying on a bad meter to judge the charge of a seldom-used tractor battery.

Anybody have advice for a multimeter that is inexpensive and accurate?

 

[Rock Crawler]

The 'Free With Purchase' multimeter - Worth every penny it cost! ullinghair:

I keep a license-plate-size solar panel on a tractor that is seldom used. I tested its battery with a different meter than usual and got an unexpected low reading.

So I got a couple more free meters, checked that there were good batteries inside each meter, and made a comparison by measuring a single 9 volt battery:

Newest multimeter a week old:
9.50v
red one from a few weeks ago
9.48v
red, a year (?) ago
9.61v
Yellow ones, in use for quite a while
9.69v
9.51v
9.50v
9.44v

That's a quarter volt range!

(The variance isn't from the meters internal batteries. I verified that each meter reads the same regardless of the battery inside it).

Conclusion: I was relying on a bad meter to judge the charge of a seldom-used tractor battery.

Anybody have advice for a multimeter that is inexpensive and accurate?

Fluke is the only multimeter to own. Buy it once, have it for life

 

[4get gto]

The 'Free With Purchase' multimeter - Worth every penny it cost! ullinghair:

I keep a license-plate-size solar panel on a tractor that is seldom used. I tested its battery with a different meter than usual and got an unexpected low reading.

So I got a couple more free meters, checked that there were good batteries inside each meter, and made a comparison by measuring a single 9 volt battery:

Newest multimeter a week old:
9.50v
red one from a few weeks ago
9.48v
red, a year (?) ago
9.61v
Yellow ones, in use for quite a while
9.69v
9.51v
9.50v
9.44v

That's a quarter volt range!

(The variance isn't from the meters internal batteries. I verified that each meter reads the same regardless of the battery inside it).

Conclusion: I was relying on a bad meter to judge the charge of a seldom-used tractor battery.

Anybody have advice for a multimeter that is inexpensive and accurate?

Went in a HF the other day to get a free multimeter and said they can't get them here anymore. Said some guy in California keeps getting them all! :laughing:

 

[John_Mc]

I'd call 4WD.com and ask for Sara Oaks, tell her you want a price on the white box Smittybilt X20 winch and that Larry from the Willy's Wheeler Jeep club told you to call and get the hook up, you'll likely be amazed at the price of the white box version (same winch, but not retail boxed) and it's a Warn assisted design (Smittybilt had Warn help design it), is fully sealed and submersible, and I've been beating on mine hard since 2014 with a Jeep. I run the Jeep club, Sara is our club rep.

Thanks for the tip. The Smittybilt winches certainly seem well made, but that X20 is way overkill for what I need. If I do end up with a need for a larger winch, do you know the duty cycle of the X20? I could not find any info on the web site.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Thanks for the tip. The Smittybilt winches certainly seem well made, but that X20 is way overkill for what I need. If I do end up with a need for a larger winch, do you know the duty cycle of the X20? I could not find any info on the web site.

Not sure about overkill, but okay. I don't do duty cycles on my rock crawler. If I'm screwed or another Jeep is screwed, my X2O Comp series 12,000 rings as hard, fast and long as it needs until we are moving again.

You don't need to use the X2O series, call Sara and ask about the non sealed version in 5k lbs, I'd expect it to be a couple hundred tops in the white boxed version. I've never said it heard... "Gee, I just have to much winch to do this job", but I've seen plenty of guys with stalled 8K winches that I've helped day that they really wish that they had went bigger.

The general rule is that the winch should be rated 2 times the vehicle, if your typically alone or the only winch in your group, or you mud (suctions the stick vehicle in)... You should go 3x the vehicle weight.

 

[sodamo]

Fluke is the only multimeter to own. Buy it once, have it for life

Unless it breaks. The battery terminals corroded off mine.

 

[tjkubota93]

Unless it breaks. The battery terminals corroded off mine.

They have a lifetime warranty.

I bought mine for $35 new. If you want one deals can be found California.