I'm sure you guys don't need to hear from a newbie, but i have to get my 2 cents in on this one. First, buy drill bits with a 135 degree split point-less walking and better penetration. Second, I used to own a hardware store and stocked both cheap import and good quality sockets and wrenches. The cheap import were always advertised with a lifetime warranty. I sure had a lot of farmers come in with a broken wrench that the warranty didn't do them much good out in the middle of a field. Most of these guys just threw them away and started buying the better quality tool. That's my take.

 

Yeah for rural Minnesota and welcome to FTE! I have many happy memories from working on a dairy farm up there.

 

Look for Cobalt drill bits. They last and do a decent job on Stainless let alone Mild steel.

stk

 

$99 HF 3-ton hoist that plucks my 26' SeaRay w/ Ford 351m motor (that disappeared off my sig?) and friend's Toyota (no accounting for taste) off my flatbed just dandy. Don't thimk will try heaving my trucks though.

 

They've got a 150 ft-lb torque wrench for about $19, which is not bad even if it's got a 15% tolerance. They also has some VERY cheap 1/2" drive impact sockets, which you would just toss as they broke. I bought a set of those from WalMart years ago when they stocked them and used them professionally for a few years without any problems.

 

Have you seen the welding auto darkening welding helmet for 59.99?

 

I use my tools most evry day. Iam a traveling mechanic for farmers. aka all my tools are on my truck and i go from farm to farm fixing machinery. Ive bought most of my tools from harbor frieght and have never broken one yet. If ya look carefully some of the stuff they sell from china is made by the same factories as some of the name brand stuff but at half the price. Plu for me i alwasy loose a few wrenches here and there evry year while working in teh field and i cant aford to replace them all the time with brand names. Id rather have a tool thats gets the job done then no tool at all and cant get the job done.

 

Cool to see this topic come up again. This weeks add is really goo. I made another $100 run yesterday :-) But, it's amazing what I got for $100.

It would have been $140, but they were out of that $40 6000lb electric winch. I really needed it today. I pulled my truck in the shop with a pair of come-alongs...Well, I got my workout.

 

I buy all my tools from Wal-Mart. No it ain't Snap on but when I break them, all I have to do is go to wal-Mart right down the road and not have to wait for the SnapOn guy to come next week. I don't use my tools everyday but my Stanley tools take a licking and keep on ticking. Why pay 4 times as much for the same quality?

 

I buy Crafstman, Husky, or equivalent tools for my good stuff. But every once in a while there is that nut or bolt you can't get to easily without "making" your own tool. That's when it is handy and economical to have some HF, Cummins, etc. sockets or wrenches. I don't feel bad about grinding, cutting, or welding on one of those to make it fit something.

Just a thought,
Pbfoot

 

I have quite a bit of stuff from HF. I bought the engine hoist a few monthes ago and the torque wrench. I was looking at their ad and am thinking about getting the 2 1/4 ton floor jack.

 

One good thing about Harbor Freight for me is that I don't have to buy a pig in a poke. There is a HF store just on the other side of town from me. There is also a Cummins Tool store just a couple of miles away. Same kind of tools from China. It is nice to be able to examine the tools b4 you buy.
http://www.cumminstools.com/



I have a number of HF tools in my shop. They may not be as pretty as the high $ tools but they work and I have not broken any yet... Something I can't say about Craftsman tools.

I have seen some broken tho. Their C-clamps are cast iron instead of forged and they can snap. They are OK for light duty.

 

It's hard to find a bottle jack, jack stands, a sissors jack, a floor jack that isn't made in China. Your can buy Sears "professional", Northern Tools, Omega, etc., etc. etc. ..........You can go to Walmart, AutoZone, NAPA, O'Reiley's and you see the same product with different names on it. And if you pay top dollar for it, you're ( I ) (me) are a fool. .........or, you're just tired of shopping! and, BTW, this chinese stuff is not near the quality of American made stuff from as recently as the '70's.......and the price is realtively the same, to boot. I guess those container ships are about to sink with all that crappy stuff.

 

You noticed those similarities too

 

I've bought a bunch of stuff from HF over the past year. I have been pleased with my cherry picker $160. The small 12 ton shop press has been awesome for my hobby. The pickle fork however broke on the second swing of a hammer. Oh well it was cheap and got the job done! Believe it or not, it worked better in its broken state. Offered me more room to swing my hammer.

I figure if you need a tool once and can get it from HF for cheaper than the rental fee, you might as well buy it. Who knows you might be able to use it twice.