HF tools that suck

[BlacknTan]

The Chinese have poisoned our pets with contaminated dog and cat food, endangered our children with unsafe toys, and now want us to use their subpar tools to tighten their fraudulent, mismarked bolts.

When will we ever learn?

This is the prime reason I will not participate in the weld forum where the sponsor pushes crappy Chinese welders on the unsuspecting! It's time for Americans to wake up and smell the coffee... There is NO free lunch!

 

[Dargo]

Yeah, they never seem too happy when I go in and return my HF lifetime warranty hand tools...:laughing:

I must, no wise cracks now, have a brain defect that makes me wonder back into their store every so often to see if they have something for one of the tool kits I keep in pretty well every one of 'my' cars. You see, when I collect cars (very small time) and have 5 kids, it's not hard to end up with 15 cars, several tractors, excavator, dozer, track loader, 40' motorcoach, 5 Jet skis etc., etc. I have this primal fear of having something break down on me and having to ask for help. You know, it's sort of like one of those 'asking for directions' things.

Anyway, I do post a "winner" from HF when I come across one. I'll even admit that a few have saved my bacon with my little bag of tools that I try to carry with me on each machine. I knew I was a true HF candidate when, on the way home from college, the throttle cable broke on my '71 VW Super Beetle (not a regular beetle, but a Super Beetle with a factory sunroof - crank type with built in factory leaks) and I was stuck on the side of a hayfield with nothing in site but bales of straw. Yup, you got it, I worked and worked until I twisted up me a piece of bailing wire long enough to reach out the driver's side window to the carb (through the slotted air vents over the engine - mine was missing the black plastic rain shield there) and was able to drive home by operating the throttle by hand out the window with the borrowed bailing wire.

I think that puts a true red patch on the back of my neck and darn near makes me a card carrying member of the HF club, even if I call them as I see them there.

*edit*
P.S. In each little tool kit there is about a 25' section of bailing wire....just in case. Now you know why.

 

[crazyal]

The Chinese have poisoned our pets with contaminated dog and cat food, endangered our children with unsafe toys, and now want us to use their subpar tools to tighten their fraudulent, mismarked bolts.

When will we ever learn?

This is the prime reason I will not participate in the weld forum where the sponsor pushes crappy Chinese welders on the unsuspecting! It's time for Americans to wake up and smell the coffee... There is NO free lunch!

Why go all the way to China? I can point to our own country's history and show you that we did all of that to ourselves long before the Chinese did. Of course we won't get into which country has a harsher punishment for said crimes.

 

[crazyal]

But the real question is why are some of you even posting in this thread? You have stated that you will not buy anything from HF so what business do you even have posting here? Do you go into the threads of tractor brands you don't own and post how awful they are? Only a troll would. So again why are you posting here? It would be nice if the mods could delete all these posts that have nothing to do with garbage HF tools that suck so people who want to learn what to avoid when buying from them or what to expect if they do can do so without reading a bunch of post from people bashing something they have no clue about.

 

[chopped]

Well said crazy...good point.. I also like to know why they 'suck' so that i can judge if its some product that I can buy and maybe weld it right or use it ..

 

[5030]

Another tool that don't suck from HF... and a comment.....

I broke my 1" NPT pipe die halfway through a job. It ws a Rigid. Desperate for a 1" die, I stopped by HF and low and behold, they had a complete set of 1/4"-3/8"-1/2"-5/8"-3/4"-1" and 1 1/4" NPT die heads plus a ratchet handle for less than haft the price of a new Rigid 1" NPT die. I bought the whole set though I only needed 1". With consternation of course......

The female die sets cut just as nice as the Rigid, the threads are burr free and the taper is correct. I'm impressed. It don't say Rigid on the ratchet head and the collet is plastic as is the direction knob but threads are threads.

It does a does a fine job and I have extra heads now. It's not dryseal but neither wa the Rigid.

A great buy. I recommend it.

I won't post in the welding thread either. I weld everyday using various processes and the primary poster there (In my opinion and opinion only) sells junk. Junk at a reasonable price is one thing, but junk at inflated prices is entirely another matter.

HF sells a Tig/Stick unit that I'd consider for light duty SMAW and non aluminum TIG. I'll have to do a road test on one soon.

 

[BlacknTan]

But the real question is why are some of you even posting in this thread? You have stated that you will not buy anything from HF so what business do you even have posting here? Do you go into the threads of tractor brands you don't own and post how awful they are? Only a troll would. So again why are you posting here? It would be nice if the mods could delete all these posts that have nothing to do with garbage HF tools that suck so people who want to learn what to avoid when buying from them or what to expect if they do can do so without reading a bunch of post from people bashing something they have no clue about.

I can answer this pretty easily ..

I post in this thread because I CAN! Isn't that what we're here for? We're not talking about events that change peoples' lives!

For myself, I have not insulted any member, or been mean spirited. I've expressed my OPINION, which we all have a right to do!

I'll bow out of this thread, because it seems some folks are taking it waaaaaay too seriously!

Remember .. It's just the internet! It doesn't have much to do with real life.... For those that get their knickers in a twist over what is posted on a computer bulletin board, the only thing I can say is "lighten up, it's all good!"

 

[rtimgray]

Alot of this Harbor Freight talk often boils down to good vs. good enough. I would think that generally speaking, a Milwaukee/Dewalt/Hitachi/Porter Cable/Bostich/etc. is of better quality than whatever brand HF is marketing under that week. They also almost always cost considerably more. I would say that they are the "good" tools. The HF equipment, while not as high of quality, may be capable of doing the same job, albeit for a shorter amount of time perhaps (i.e. shorter lifespan) at a fraction of the cost. I would say that they are "good enough" tools. Again, the need for good vs. good enough boils down to the individuals needs.

As I mentioned, I've had good luck with HF power tools, as well as some from Cummins tool sales and Chuck Homier. I bought several $5 grinders that I felt I got $5 of use out of. Were they high quality - no. Did I get several hours use out of them and was I happy with money spent vs. results given? Absolutely.

When I was building my house and got to the point of needing a hole hawg, I waffled between the HF version and the Milwaukee version ($80 vs. $250). I decided to go quality and bought a brand new Milwaukee. The first day I used it, only 4 or 5 holes, the transmission broke. Now I will have to say I was only out the $12 that it cost to ship it to Atlanta for repair, but it was gone for almost a month. I had the luxury, since I was building the house myself, of switching to a different task while I waited. If I was in a hurry, I would have had to buy or rent a replacement.

In the end, its up to the consumer to make the decision as to whether they need a good or good-enough tool

 

[crazyal]

I can answer this pretty easily ..

I post in this thread because I CAN! Isn't that what we're here for? We're not talking about events that change peoples' lives!

For myself, I have not insulted any member, or been mean spirited. I've expressed my OPINION, which we all have a right to do!

I'll bow out of this thread, because it seems some folks are taking it waaaaaay too seriously!

Remember .. It's just the internet! It doesn't have much to do with real life.... For those that get their knickers in a twist over what is posted on a computer bulletin board, the only thing I can say is "lighten up, it's all good!"

Trolls can post where they like, you're right. People who respect others who have nothing of value to add to the topic don't. The thread is about opinions on specific tools. Am I taking it too seriously, maybe. But since this thread could save me or someone else from buying junk then it's our money earned by us working so shouldn't those who find value take it at least some what serious?

So yes it is about changing people lives. The fact is that a lot of people who buy from HF do so because they just can't afford to buy said tool otherwise. So the difference is buy the right tool and fix your car or tractor for a fraction of the cost or buy the wrong tool and now they may not have enough to pay someone to fix their car or tractor for them.

Thanks to hard work and some lucky breaks I'm not in this position but it wasn't that long ago when I was (the internet wasn't around back then). I had to make choices like do I eat tonight or do I pay someone to fix the power steering pump that's on it's last legs?

Having the right to be able to do something doesn't always mean that you need to exercise that right. Yes, that's a pet peeve of mine.

 

[psj12]

Here is a real post about a HF tool that sucks. It seems that HF has at least two different makers for its' Silver & Deming drill bits. That is the bits with the reduced size shank on a larger bit. I had ones that come packaged in a wood case at my place in OK and the cutting edges broke off while trying to drill mild steel. This happened to all the bits I tried. At home in MD I had another set, also from HF, that were actually cheaper and came in a cheap plastic roll type packaging and they have drilled many holes in all kinds of material without a problem.