Harbor Freight Rant

[5030]

If you were insane enough to try and build a tractor from parts, a small tractor would be beyond your pocket book.

 

[PhantomOfHeat]

Seems like you could make a good living by buying some new items and parting it out.

 

[Granthol]

Except everyone always needs the same part.

 

[Diggin It]

If you were insane enough to try and build a tractor from parts, a small tractor would be beyond your pocket book.

I remember back when you could buy a nice new car off the showroom floor for under $10K, it was said that to buy all of the parts from the same dealer to assemble the same car yourself would cost around $35K.

 

[crazyal]

All of this cr^p has to come from China. It's far easier and cheaper to just ship a container full of the item in question in it's original package than to ship lots of spare parts to fix it. Then a company like HF needs to pay people to identify and pull the part so it can be sent out vs just split up the container sending a predetermined number of new ones to the store. I can remember going to the store with my father to test tubes from the TV to figure out which one(s) were bad. Today most people either just take it to the guy or buy a replacement.

 

[radios1]

I have one of their O/A welding sets. The torch handle and cutting attachment were stolen. Called customer service about getting replacements. There price for the two pieces was 75% of the cost of the new whole set. What a profit center that is for them. As there O/A sets are compatible with Victor I will use it for parts and the other pieces. Another HF buyer beware. Should have lied and tried to claim a warranty issue; but, that is not my forte. Glad I never bought it new but at a garage sale el cheapo. Don't really need it. Good regulators are worth $30-40 each to the unwary.

Ron

look on Amazon and Ebay!. you can buy Victor clones with the same construction and quality as Victor for a fraction of the price!. I bought a bunch of welding tips there for $5 each, and they were exact clones of Victor tips!. you can get the handle and cutting tip cheap there too!..

 

[California]

I can remember going to the store with my father to test tubes from the TV to figure out which one(s) were bad. Today most people either just take it to the guy or buy a replacement.

The modern equivalent of using the grocery store's tube tester is: Google 'how to repair (whatever)'.

The clothes dryer in the barn is 25 years old and rusty. When it quit heating I almost replaced it. But a Youtube video by a parts mailorder house provided a checklist, what they said to check first was all it needed. There's a thermal 'fuse' in the lint vent that halts power to the gas solenoid. I temporarily put in an automotive blade fuse, everything worked again. (The vent wasn't plugged). The proper part was $5 and arrived in a couple of days. Calling a pro would have cost $100+ for the 10 minute project. - Or, considering the appearance of the dryer, I might have just replaced it, $500 ~ $750.

Then somehow at the same time, the washer started dumping its drain water on the floor. Also 25 years old and rusty on top, I thought it was worn out. When I pulled it away from the wall, the drain in the wall was obviously plugged and was vomiting back water from the washer. Got my HF powered drain snake and pulled out a root ball from way down the line. Another $500 replacement avoided. Replacing that without analyzing the problem would have been a complete waste and it still would have needed a $125 Roto-Rooter callout before we could do laundry.

Avoiding expensive service calls is a major money saver. Much of the specialized knowledge that was known only to techs, can now be found online.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Th HF O/A sets are interchangeable with Victor series 100 and 300 in their respective sizes. I have a mixture of both. I am going to sell the set so would be good to keep the branding pure. In time I will probably find a match either at a garage ale or the auction. I have a mixture of Victor and Harris odds and ends I eventually make up whole sets to sell that way. I add HF and other clone tips and etc to flesh out the sets as most used sets I pick up are missing those items. Both brands have been cloned extensively. I am collecting a lot of other brands odds and ends. Victor and Harris bring the best prices. Sell those off cheap from time to time. Amazing what people are looking for.

For those who do not know; Harris is made in Ireland.

Ron

 

[5030]

We know where HF is made at..... China.

 

[fidowanttobe]

We know where HF is made at..... China.

Tariff will take care of this!