Harbor Freight - what sucks and what doesn't list

arceeguy

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Since we all like to tinker with mechanical things like our motorized bikes, and do it on a "low budget" - I thought it would be helpful to post which tools sold at HFT are good, and which ones are not.

I have found that most of the tools are OK if you are not a professional contractor/mechanic that depends on them every day - but there are some items that aren't worth the shipping from China. There's a reason why some have nicknamed them "horror freight". When I placed my first catalog order from them several years ago, they were "Harbor Freight Salvage". Where did the "salvage" go? I can risk $25 on a 4.5" grinder, but I wouldn't trust a HFT pacemaker!

Post your experiences both good and bad!

Also - let's not get into China bashing. It's all about getting cool tools cheap. For example, a HFT auto feed wire welder for 90 bucks can get a fellow MB enthusiast making custom frames where they wouldn't be able to afford the $500 Miller or Lincoln.


The Good-

Central Pneumatics 2HP pancake compressor. - I've had mine for several years now. It is oil lubricated with cast iron cylinder. Great for dusting things off with compressed air, and to run small air tools. I even run my IR 230C impact gun with it. (in short bursts, enough to knock off lug nuts with ease!) Can be had for $89 on sale.

4.5" Grinder - Had mine for about 5 years. It hasn't failed me yet! Gearbox is noisy, but my buddies Home Depot Ryobi is worse.

Bench Grinder w/flex shaft - I use this one a lot. I had to replace the brushes already! (it is about 3 years old)

3/8" butterfly impact wrench - Great for automotive work. Knocking off oil drain plugs, caliper bolts, etc. Small enough to fit in most spots, powerful enough to break small fasteners (less than 15mm bolt head) loose.

Electronic Fly Swatter - yep, this one is silly, but they had a pile of them on sale for $2.99. Kills flies and yellow jackets with a hearty "SNAP" and a bright blue spark.

Engine cleaning gun - add compressed air with some detergent mix and end up with a sparkling clean engine. (cars, lawn mowers, etc.) Works great on alloy rims blasting away brake dust with ease. I do have to crank up my 220V compressor to run it continuously, as the little HFT compressor cannot keep up.

6.5 HP Horizontal Shaft Engine - we beat the living carp out of these Honda GX clones and they keep coming back for more. Disable the governor, and keep it under 5000RPM! The ones I've purchased had the "Central Machinery" brand and were made by Lifan in China - a large motorcycle/scooter manufacturer. "Greyhound" is a new trade name for HFT. I have one of their new 2.5HP engines, but haven't powered anything with it yet. (it is going on a rack mount motorized bike project)

The Bad -

1/2" drive impact extension set - The metal is too soft and considerable energy is lost in the extension and not applied to the nut or bolt you are trying to hammer off. My Craftsman impact extensions are hard enough to transfer the power, yet not shatter like a standard extension would. The HFT set is the one I will loan out. :devil2: (Golden Rule #1 - Never loan out tools you actually want back!)

Anything cordless. (and less than say $35) The chargers are most likely overnight trickle chargers, the batteries self discharge in a week, the motors are not too powerful.

1/2" Drive Electric Impact Wrench - Rated at 240 lb/ft, I doubt it exceeds 120 lb/ft. Very disappointed. Another one to loan out. :)

1/2" Drive Impact Wrench - This one is kind of a toss up. For 20 bucks did I really expect it to deliver 250 lb/ft of torque? It doesn't, but I do use it quite a bit. I'll pull out the Ingersoll Rand impact if this one doesn't have the balls to do the job.
 
happycheapskate: Those are electric compressors, aren't they? If you took their motor to use on a bike, you would need a long cord!

I remember seeing someone reporting info about the generator motor, and said that it would be very hard to use the motor from it; that it was too tightly integrated with the generator.

If you had an electric bike, you could probably come up with a way to use the HF generator to keep the batteries charged, though...
 
I have another thread on this site about which 2 stroke generator and compressor engines can be used on mb's. The compressors are 2 cycle gas engines, and not compatible. The generator might be useable for some kind of home-rigged job, but does not bolt up like the auger engine to existing kits.
 
Good: 6in. Digital Caliper a Great buy @ 18.00 the usual sale price. Everybody should have one. It reads out in english decimal, english fractions, and metric.

ocscully

I second the digital calipers, I use a set of the lightweight plastic ones in my woodworking hobby and it has added a welcome dimension of precision to my measurements vs. a rusty old 20' tape measure , get two, you wont regret it!
 
Hello Nuttsy old thread I know, but what would one use as a cleaning agent in the ultra sound cleaner? Thanks!
 
In the past I purchased knowing that the tools are of low quality. And if it breaks or did not work it had a 30 day return policy. Now

they have a 20% restocking Fee (as they call it) for anything you return. Even if its dead out of the box!

Before this you knew they sold crap that it may or may not work but you could always return it. Not any more. Harbor Fright

calls it a rental tax. I will be buying from Home Depot from now on. I'm boycotting Harbor Fright until they remove this

policy. I hope you do also.
 
I've never heard of the restocking fee? They've never had a great return police IMO but they've made exceptions for me whenever I didn't have a receipt so all way good.

But I wanted to add the 120 dollar 1000 watt 2 stroke Generator to the GOOD list.
I've had 1 as my camping beat up generator for years and I run the hell out of it. They go on sale for around 89.00 unfortunately the coupon say no generators but it's still a good deal when it's on sale

Also they have a battery load tester that has come in handy so many times. Not sure on for price but it does 6v and 12v and I'd guess it cost around 20 bucks
 
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