Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[tjkubota93]

I got two new 3 1/2" "Roadshock" LED lights tonight. Hooked them to a power supply and they are nice. 1050 lumens. They come with a waterproof plug, they have a heavy diecast aluminum housing, stainless steel hardware and have Cree LEDs. They look like a good choice for fog lamps but not for high-beam driving lights. $29. each.

Roadshock, Hercules, Maddox, etc. Chicago electric, Pittsburgh.

I want to see a picture of the guy who comes up with all these goofball names.

 

[Ford850]

Roadshock, Hercules, Maddox, etc. Chicago electric, Pittsburgh.

I want to see a picture of the guy who comes up with all these goofball names.

Eric Smidt, Chairman and CEO of HF. Net worth $3.1 Billion. Smiling all the way to the bank, thanks to most of us.
His story is a good one though, and I thought I'd add it here, pulled from Wiki:
"Eric L. Smidt was born in Los Angeles, California in 1960 to Allan Smidt and Dorthy Smidt. His mother had multiple sclerosis and his father, overwhelmed, sent him to an orphanage when he was nine. Four years later he went to live with an aunt in Tennessee, returning home after two years but moving into his own apartment on his 16th birthday. He graduated from Grant High School in Van Nuys, a public school in Los Angeles. In 1977, as a teenager, Smidt started Harbor Freight Tools with his father in a small building in North Hollywood, California. Originally known as Harbor Freight & Salvage Co., the company began as a mail-order tool business. Eric introduced the company's defining innovation of cutting out the middleman and began to obtain tools directly from the factories to the customer.

In 1985, Smidt was named president of the company at the age of 25; he served under that title until 1999 when he became CEO.[4] In 2001, Smidt was listed as one of Ernst & Young's Entrepreneurs of the year"

 

[tjkubota93]

Eric Smidt, Chairman and CEO of HF. Net worth $3.1 Billion. Smiling all the way to the bank, thanks to most of us.
His story is a good one though, and I thought I'd add it here, pulled from Wiki:
"Eric L. Smidt was born in Los Angeles, California in 1960 to Allan Smidt and Dorthy Smidt. His mother had multiple sclerosis and his father, overwhelmed, sent him to an orphanage when he was nine. Four years later he went to live with an aunt in Tennessee, returning home after two years but moving into his own apartment on his 16th birthday. He graduated from Grant High School in Van Nuys, a public school in Los Angeles. In 1977, as a teenager, Smidt started Harbor Freight Tools with his father in a small building in North Hollywood, California. Originally known as Harbor Freight & Salvage Co., the company began as a mail-order tool business. Eric introduced the company's defining innovation of cutting out the middleman and began to obtain tools directly from the factories to the customer.

In 1985, Smidt was named president of the company at the age of 25; he served under that title until 1999 when he became CEO.[4] In 2001, Smidt was listed as one of Ernst & Young's Entrepreneurs of the year"

Does he come up with the names or does he "have "a guy" for that"?

 

[Ford850]

Does he come up with the names or does he "have "a guy" for that"?

The job of "Name that Tool" is probably outsourced too.

 

[California]

I think in HQ there's a whole floor of MBA's fine tuning the product manufacturing contracts, the 'standard' (occasional!) prices, what's chosen for the 'special' sales, the coupons, ITC Specials etc etc into one smooth running money machine. Oh and not visible to the public - they continually fine tune the borrowings that capitalize the enterprise. That's maybe the most critical role.

Smidt takes out the profits into his personal, separate fortune at every opportunity so the corporation is actually thinly capitalized.

OPM!! Leveraging, running on Other Peoples Money, is the key modern fortunes. Smidt is risking nothing, it's not his money at risk as the corporation grows.

As I noted above, I did a little Due Diligence to see about buying HF stock when I saw they were aiming to replace Craftsman. No way. Smidt owns 100% personally.

 

[sixdogs]

It's long ago but I remember when they were Harbor Freight and Salvage Company. Before the mail order, a guy used to show up in town with loads of tools for public sales. Not sure if he was the company or just bought from them but I still have some of those tools. Harbor Freight is an American icon and the guy that started and runs it a real entrepreneur. Say what you want but he did it and none of us did.

 

[KubotainNH]

I created a little video this evening while I was playing around. All filmed, edited and produced from my Galaxy Note 9. It's amazing what these computer phones can do!

Very cool, thanks for that. If I needed a set at this point I would grab one of those.

I got two new 3 1/2" "Roadshock" LED lights tonight. Hooked them to a power supply and they are nice. 1050 lumens. They come with a waterproof plug, they have a heavy diecast aluminum housing, stainless steel hardware and have Cree LEDs. They look like a good choice for fog lamps but not for high-beam driving lights. $29. each.

How do you think those would work on a tractor to light the way when cleaning up snow at night? I also need lights for the back of my plow truck so I can see better.

 

[Threepoint]

Eric Smidt's journey is a real "rags to riches" American success story. One of the few times we can truly say "Made in the USA" in the same sentence as Harbor Freight Tools.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Very cool, thanks for that. If I needed a set at this point I would grab one of those.



How do you think those would work on a tractor to light the way when cleaning up snow at night? I also need lights for the back of my plow truck so I can see better.

If you want good reliable and yet shockingly inexpensive LED lights for your tractor, go on Amazon and get NiLight. I installed them on my Wrangler in early 2014, they are still in use today.

Buy the spots though, not the flood. The spots are not truly spot lights in the sense of say KC Daylighter lights or other higher quality reflectors, they do somewhat concentrate the beam of light while still giving plenty of dispersion for peripheral lighting.

I run 6 of these 18W cubes on my Kubota.
Nilight 2PCS 18W 1260lm Spot Driving Fog Light Off Road Led Lights Bar Mounting Bracket for SUV Boat 4" Jeep Lamp,2 years Warranty https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G620ZVU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4qW.BbJD7HXJV

On my Jeep I have these 36 mini bars that are essentially double wide cubes..
Nilight Led Light Bar 2PCS 36w 6.5Inch Flood Led Off Road Lights Super Bright Driving Fog Light Boat Lights Driving Lights Led Work Light SUV Jeep Lamp,2 Years Warranty https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IZ9VAOI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_6sW.BbM2W3DP9

 

[KubotainNH]

If you want good reliable and yet shockingly inexpensive LED lights for your tractor, go on Amazon and get NiLight. I installed them on my Wrangler in early 2014, they are still in use today.

Buy the spots though, not the flood. The spots are not truly spot lights in the sense of say KC Daylighter lights or other higher quality reflectors, they do somewhat concentrate the beam of light while still giving plenty of dispersion for peripheral lighting.

I run 6 of these 18W cubes on my Kubota.
Nilight 2PCS 18W 1260lm Spot Driving Fog Light Off Road Led Lights Bar Mounting Bracket for SUV Boat 4" Jeep Lamp,2 years Warranty https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G620ZVU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4qW.BbJD7HXJV

On my Jeep I have these 36 mini bars that are essentially double wide cubes..
Nilight Led Light Bar 2PCS 36w 6.5Inch Flood Led Off Road Lights Super Bright Driving Fog Light Boat Lights Driving Lights Led Work Light SUV Jeep Lamp,2 Years Warranty https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IZ9VAOI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_6sW.BbM2W3DP9

Nice, thanks for the info and how do you beat that price?

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Has anyone purchased / used the 4x36 and 6" disc stationary sander? Saw it 'red tagged' for sale at $65. Wondering how it performs as far as tracking and holding tension. Any thoughts? Also wondering about the 15" Bauer planer.

I will be cutting about 6-800 pieces of 3 x 3/8" x 36" long out of old barn lumber. Need to sand or plane the saw kerfs / marks out. It would be nice to have uniform thickness, but not a necessity. I figured the planer could do 4 pieces at a time, speeding up the process. It doesn't have to be perfect, will still be used for a "rustic" look, but I don't want the "rough sawn" look. The pieces will be used for wall planking in a herring bone design. Any other thoughts ?

 

[Rock Crawler]

Has anyone purchased / used the 4x36 and 6" disc stationary sander? Saw it 'red tagged' for sale at $65. Wondering how it performs as far as tracking and holding tension. Any thoughts? Also wondering about the 15" Bauer planer.

I will be cutting about 6-800 pieces of 3 x 3/8" x 36" long out of old barn lumber. Need to sand or plane the saw kerfs / marks out. It would be nice to have uniform thickness, but not a necessity. I figured the planer could do 4 pieces at a time, speeding up the process. It doesn't have to be perfect, will still be for a "rustic" look, but I don't want the "rough sawn look. The pieces will be used for wall planking in a herring bone design. Any other thoughts ?

Planer reviews....

Harbor Freight Bauer Planer Review and Unboxing - YouTube

 

[bcp]

Some have complained that the disc is fully inside the guard, so you can't disc sand something longer than 6 inches.

Bruce

 

[Rock Crawler]

Some have complained that the disc is fully inside the guard, so you can't disc sand something longer than 6 inches.

Bruce

View attachment 580814

Guards are for wimps with 10 fingers. Cut that guard down or tear it clean off and make that tool your biotch.

 

[KubotainNH]

Larry, I just finished your review on YT, good stuff. I'm curious about the chucks on both drills. One thing I do not like on my C3 is the chuck, my 12v Milwaukee has a ratcheting chuck which I really like. You can torque that one down for no slippage. It is nice to see the all steel Jacobs on the HF unit. I like the battery release on both units, my C3 set is a bit tougher as you need a wide grip to squeeze the release buttons. I don't think the ladies in my house could get the battery off my C3 tools. Just a couple thoughts.

 

[dragoneggs]

Guards are for wimps with 10 fingers. Cut that guard down or tear it clean off and make that tool your biotch.

I was going to say, take a grinder to your grinder, but RC said it better.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Has anyone purchased / used the 4x36 and 6" disc stationary sander? Saw it 'red tagged' for sale at $65. Wondering how it performs as far as tracking and holding tension. Any thoughts? Also wondering about the 15" Bauer planer.

I will be cutting about 6-800 pieces of 3 x 3/8" x 36" long out of old barn lumber. Need to sand or plane the saw kerfs / marks out. It would be nice to have uniform thickness, but not a necessity. I figured the planer could do 4 pieces at a time, speeding up the process. It doesn't have to be perfect, will still be used for a "rustic" look, but I don't want the "rough sawn" look. The pieces will be used for wall planking in a herring bone design. Any other thoughts ?

I bought the HF 12" disc sander about 5-6 years ago. It's very well balanced and has plenty of power.

12" Benchtop Disc Sander

When I got mine it was about $129 and got to use a 20% coupon on it.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

I bought the HF 12" disc sander about 5-6 years ago. It's very well balanced and has plenty of power.

12" Benchtop Disc Sander

When I got mine it was about $129 and got to use a 20% coupon on it.

Yeah, saw this too. I was looking closer at the belt sander and was wondering if that stop block /guard bolted on or was permanently attached. It would definitely have to come off

 

[lexluther]

The HFT catalog came yesterday comparing their 11 amp Hercules 4.5 inch paddle switch grinder to a deWalt with the exact same specs... and the exact same price... why would they do this? If the price is the same, why not get the dewalt? If.

It by the specs or price, why would you buy HFT over Dewalt?

I am so confused

 

[Rock Crawler]

There is socialize that HF is starting to advertise in such a way as to suggest to the customer that they are no longer a lower class of tool compared to the retail box store offerings, but an equal or even a step up from....

There has been mention in some YouTube reviews that HF tests advertising, tests name changed, test pricing and closely monitors what the test samples get in response. Based on the test results they adjust and evolve, always watching and calculating.

So this may be another test sample. Or the test sample may be behind us and they are starting to make more of these claims that state that a HF product is neck and neck with the likes of DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Ridgid and others. Heck... Maybe HF actually believes it?