Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

thepumpguysc · Dec 11, 2023

Man Oh Man.!!!
If u can imagine all the TINY parts inside different injection pumps & injectors, that magnet saved my bacon 100’s of times.!!!
A lot of the parts are part of an assembly, and not sold separately.!!
It sure is a life saver..

Fallon · Dec 13, 2023

I've got the wide 24"? wheeled magnet from Harbor Freight. I wish I'd gotten the skinnier one, 18" I think. The wide one is annoying to manuver through the shop. Using it on uneven ground means there is more to drag on a high spot of plant.

thepumpguysc · Dec 13, 2023

Whatcha mean “wish”.??
U act like they’re 200.00..
The 17-18” is 13.00 (inside track club)
Lol.. go get 3…
1 for work.
1 for home shop.
1 for anybody that needs to use it..(loan out)
Lol..

MRTOES · Dec 13, 2023

This looks like the list that keeps on giving. May have been said but the worst thing ever bought at HF by me were 2 different battery charges.....

I did learn a little secret maybe worth sharing. I for one didn't appreciate the way HF abandoned all there battery powered tools for others with different battery style (and no support for old). I happened one day to pick up my old battery powered hand saw and place a new Ryobi LI battery in it. Except for not wanting to stay latched the battery was a perfect fit and ran the tool perfectly. Have used on a couple other tools in a pinch.

MRTOES · Dec 13, 2023

thepumpguysc said:
Whatcha mean “wish”.??
U act like they’re 200.00..
The 17-18” is 13.00 (inside track club)
Lol.. go get 3…
1 for work.
1 for home shop.
1 for anybody that needs to use it..(loan out)
Lol..

You mentioned inside track club. Have you ever scanned through any magazine such as Popular Mechanics etc and run upon an add from HF and found it was loaded with coupons for prices far lower than inside track?

5030 · Dec 13, 2023

MRTOES said:
You mentioned inside track club. Have you ever scanned through any magazine such as Popular Mechanics etc and run upon an add from HF and found it was loaded with coupons for prices far lower than inside track?

All depends on what and how much you buy. Always been an ITC member and it's saved me literally hundreds.

Good example is the Pro-Tig 205 I just bought. 300 bucks off ITC.

sd455dan · Dec 13, 2023

Been looking for a good Price on a good used floor Drill press and after looking through CL
for 2 months and seeing HF Bench top drills for over $300 gave up and ordered a 17" 16 speed 43389 just over a week ago.

Most reviews are decent. First time in years I ordered over the counter at HF to ship to store. Should be nice not having to reef the table up and down and no more running out of z axis.
It does suck that you can not track it.
Called HF hotline and all they can say is "should" arrive at the local store within a month.

My heavily used bench model HF can go to one of the kids.

Also ordered and got a XY axis 6" adjustable vice to go on it.
HF also sold out of those in the local store.

5030 · Dec 13, 2023

I will say my last couple purchases at HF have been fantastic in quality and price. Sold my Lincoln Square Wave TIG machine as well as my Hypertherm 75 amp plasma cutter, cash deal to a friend and turned around and bought a Vulcan Pro-Tig 205 which is a much smoother and 10 times more adjustable than my Lincoln ever was plus it's an inverter machine so it's much, much lighter. Nice big digital readout and fan on demand too. Bought a Titanium 65 amp plasma cutter as well. The Hypertherm consumables are getting out of sight price wise, time to say goodbye... Best part is I sold them both, bought the HF machines (with the 3 year warranty on both), plus the Vulcan roll around cabinet, 2 sets of plasma cutter consumables and a spare 120 cubic foot 75-25 filled bottle and put 2 grand in my pocket. Life is good. I will get a Weldcraft water cooled torch and cooler yet. That should put a crimp on my 2 grand profit. The Vulcan 150 amp air cooled torch isn't up to running aluminum. Fine for ferrous however.

Very impressed with the Vulcan Pro-Tig 205. Very impressed with the Titanium plasma cutter as well.

Put everything on my HF credit card and got 3 years same as cash, no interest. I love Harbor Freight.

5030 · Dec 13, 2023

The shelf behind the bench is loaded with Bauer 20 volt tools. I have their right angle brushless cordless drill, their 3/8" 20 volt impact, their 20 volt brushless 4.5" angle grinder, their 20 volt cordless shop blower (the small one), their 20 volt cordless chainsaw (for the wife), their brushless hex driver, their 20 volt circular saw and their 20 volt detail sander. I've had ZERO failures to date as well and plenty of 5ah batteries and 2 chargers too.

California · Dec 14, 2023

5030 said:
The shelf behind the bench is loaded with Bauer 20 volt tools. I have their right angle brushless cordless drill, their 3/8" 20 volt impact, their 20 volt brushless 4.5" angle grinder, their 20 volt cordless shop blower (the small one), their 20 volt cordless chainsaw (for the wife), their brushless hex driver, their 20 volt circular saw and their 20 volt detail sander. I've had ZERO failures to date as well and plenty of 5ah batteries and 2 chargers too.

Is the Bauer cordless angle grinder powerful enough?

I have the similar cordless Ryobi and its not as strong as even the HF $9.95 corded equivalent. Most Ryobi 18v tools are adequate but I wish I hadn't bought it.

In contrast HF's Hercules 11 amp corded angle grinder is a beast, its now my favorite.