Harbor Frieght just opened a store about 2 miles from my house. I went there and the prices are just crazy low. Anyone have experience with thier products? I know it's all China, but a former employer of mine got a buffinig motor from them and I used it a lot and it worked fine. Comments? Thanks

 

I have a local branch near me. Everyone likes to badmouth them but I feel that for the at home mechanic for the most part they are fine. I have 3 of there $9.99 grinders I have a grinding well in one, cutting in another and 80 grit flap disc in the other. I use the heck out them and so far 4 years in they are still fine. Unless you are going into business I think they are fine for garage use.

 

In my experience, it's like a lot of other things--pick your battles and think about how "important" the tool needs to be, especially if it has your life, safety, or livelihood in its "hands". For instance, it's probably not the best place to buy a 3/4" drive set to work on a bulldozer or a piece of heavy machinery, but it's probably just fine if you're looking for tools to do routine household maintenance or minor repairs on your car, etc. I have a sandblaster that came from Northern Tool (kind of the same type place). It does just fine, but for every success story, it seems like there is somebody else who isn't very happy with places like that.

 

I buy a lot of stuff from HF and here's why...

No one has ever stolen any of my HF tools. Dewalt, Makita, etc. walks away all the time but no one seems to care about my HF tools. The local pawn shops won't buy HF tools so I don't worry about the crack heads stealing them. Also, when people borrow my tools, I loan them the HF. If they break it, I charge them the Snapon price. LOL

When I only use a tool a couple of times a year, why should I pay top dollar for a brand name?

I mostly use my HF tools for personal use. No one is paying me to use my tools. For professional jobs where a customer is paying me good money, I tend to use good tools. I use Snapon, Matco, Craftsman and HF. Heck, Craftsman and Kobalt use to be made here in the U.S. Not so much anymore.

Most of the stuff on the market these days are made by companies in China. Some are made with better materials or better processes and their cost reflects that. HF will never win any awards but I have used many of their tools and some have lasted in excess of 7 years. I got into an argument the other day with a Snapon rep. He had a drum brake tool set for $205. A similar set at HF was on sale for $5.99. Again, if I worked on brakes professionally and for profit, I would buy the Snapon set. For me, 5.99 works fine because I use the kit maybe once every 3-4 months.

Have HF tools let me down, YUP! The key is to look at the product and seek out the weakest flaws. Anything from them with casters or bolts WILL require tightening. But I have also successfully used some of their tools for years without problems. I run a HF plasma cutter and vertical air compressor daily for over 3 years and never had a problem. I also like their steel floor jacks (the aluminum ones gave me problems). The other week, my orbital sander from HF stopped working. My father not-so-kindly picked on me about the junky sander from HF. I informed him that I use that sander 20 days a month and the sander was over 5 years old. For an investment of $12, that sander gave me a lot in return. There will be times you get a bad product and there are times the design is junk from the get go.

I have never had a problem returning a bad product to HF. If something from HF works for a week it will probably last for a year. That's my motto.

Just my .02.

P.S. Most of their abrasives are from Russia, India or Israel. If you have to strip something fast, their Russian made sandpaper cuts like a mean bolshevik.

 

Thanks for the info, guys. I walked in there and I started thinking this is too good to be true. I was thinking of buying that aluminum jack..thanks for the heads up.

 

Zoot,

That 3 ton steel floor jack is a good buy though. Never had one let down on me. The problem I had with the aluminum jacks was seals after about 3 months. Look at their website and there are reviews for every product they sell. That helps sometimes. I had a buddy who has been painting cars for 35 years buy 2 of their paint guns. He complained how poorly they worked compared to his $900 paint gun. For most people the $15 gun works ok, for some people they need the $900. Buy some cheap stuff and enjoy!

 

I think it depends on what tool you're buying. If it's a tool that I rarely use, HF may work. I've had poor luck with their welders and I switched to Hobart. Several high speed electric tools have needed brushes replaced. Parts can be difficult to get. I buy some consumables there, along with simple tools. The hamb has a thread about making their bead roller work and some reports have been poor on the english wheel. You just have to be a smart shopper and ask yourself if lower quality will be OK in each instance.

 

Have had one of their aluminum race jacks for about 5 years and it works fine. Same with a cut off grinder & heat gun. Some other stuff has broken after several uses. As others have said U have to be careful in selecting the item. Their Nitrel gloves are great for keeping hands clean.

 

pretty sure you can buy the lifetime warranty with all there stuff. i have a ton of there stuff i use the bandsaw and buffer all the time no complaints, there green and black screwdrivers come with lifetime warranty. there blue screwdrivers with the wrench part on the top are my fav. i bought a set of there nut drivers i liked them so much i went out and got one for every work truck i have.

 

If there is a tool that I may use alot for a short time - Grinding a Frame - I will get a HB grinder and get the $5 warrenty - If the grinder breaks before I'm done with the frame I take the grinder back and the hand me a new one - Free - I pay another $5 for a new warrenty and away I go
I wouldn't buy their tools to make a living with - I've also had brand name poop out right in the middle of a job
Ya pays your nickle and ya take your chances

 

Yeah I took a look at the English wheel and the top roller was quite loose. I wiggled it and there was lots of play.

 

Here's my experience with harbor Fright: They buy their tools in batches from the lowest bidder at the time, and just use basic specs, so the parts from one batch (manufacturer) to another may not be interchangable. They do no on site inspection or quality control so they accept that some of the items will be DOA, have excessive tolerances and fit/finish. They do not stock extra parts for anything. what parts they have are cannibalized at their distribution warehouses from DOA or returned merchandise. Do not expect high quality machining, bearings, close tolerances, quiet/cool operation, long life. If you need a power tool that will be abused, overused, mistreated over a short time buy the HF cheapie, save the packing and receipt, return it when finished with the job, working or not. Do not buy large multipart machines that you expect to keep for a long time that may require parts! I know someone who has/had one of the larger floor standing drill presses. The long rack gear than raises and lowers the table is made of soft pot metal and broke several times, once spearing the operator in the leg with the broken end. The part is no longer available so the whole thing is scrap.
Positive story: I used one of their small lightweight aluminum racing jacks to change tires on the race car multiple times a week and carried it around the country with me for more than 8 years, with nothing more than occasionally topping off the hydraulic oil and bleeding the air out of it. (keep the instructions on how to do this and DON'T use motor oil in it.) Mine finally stopped being able to be resuscitated recently so I immediately used a sale coupon for the jack to get another one! Watch in their ads for freebee coupons as well. (I have 4 of their free VOM!)

 

First of all I like to buy American made products whenever I can. But they are getting harder and harder to find. I think most of the stuff we buy anywhere is made elsewhere these days. HF is no different than most of the big box stores or Walmart or Target or even Sears. Sometimes it is hard to even tell where something is made anymore. Most of DeWalt tools are now either totally made in China or have most parts from there. Same with Craftsman from Sears. Even the Japanese tool makers (Hitachi and Makita) have most of their tools made in China.
I am a woodworker/cabinet maker and buy a lot of plywood. About 10 years ago, when the Chinese plywood hit the market hard, I occasionally bought some just because it was so cheap - some jobs need cheap! But the more I used it the less I liked it. One day I was cutting a 4 x 8 x 3/4" sheet of Chinese Birch plywood right down the middle on my table saw. When I had pushed it about halfway it suddenly popped and completely came apart. I was able to stop the saw and keep from getting hurt, but the plywood had become two pieces of 3/8" ply. I never bought it again unless I had no choice. Domestic plywood became harder and harder to find as the Chinese took over the lions share of the market. The domestic makers sued them for selling it so cheap and now, finally, the lawsuit is done. The US imposed a 25% retroactive tariff on all Chinese plywood for selling it unfairly below cost. The market has now changed considerably as the US makers had scaled way down over the years and now there is a huge shortage. At the end of this month another tariff will be imposed on them and they will be out of business here in the US. While plywood will now cost more, I am fine with it as the quality will once again be much better.

 

Topmoo, that really sucks. No reason to have to pay more for but that's what happens.

I tend to like Northern Tools over HF. I buy some cheap tools from them for my business. Tools I don't use on a daily basis. I compare items on line from both places and they tend to offer the same items but there has been a few exceptions and Northern seems to have better tools. Distance isn't a problem, both stores are within a 2 miles of each other.

I used to be a Craftman guy but the quality of their tools in the last ten years have really fallen. The life time warranty has gotten really bad. Before you just had to hand them the broken tool and you got a new one in exchange. The last time I returned a broken 1/2" rachet they guy reached into a box under the counter and gave me an obviously reconditioned rachet. I went back to the shop and this one broke the same way. I went back to the store and the guy again went into the box and handed me another rachet in worse conditon than the first. I really got ticked off and demanded a new rachet, which I got. I will never accept a reconditioned tool as a replacement.

 

Before you buy anything from HF check for coupons. i like this site
Harbor Freight Coupon Thread 04-02-2009 - Slickdeals.net
and check and compare coupons because the coupons in our hotrod magazines are actually cheaper than coupons you get in the mail or email. here's a quick list of the tools i bought from there that get abused and are still running fine.
Electric Impact Wrench and impact socket set - had it for 3 years changed a lot tires and stuck bolts on cars
Angle grinder - $9.99 with coupon. cut a lot of sheet metal with it..do not use HF cutting wheels and flap discs, they suck.
Socket sets and opened end wrenches.. had it for 5 years still going strong
Hammers. - come on now..they're hammers you beat things with them.
Body hammer kit. Works pretty good
timing light - works fine for me. going on 5 years.
i have more stuff but my mind isnt working right..it's friday and i've had a few drinks to unwind from a tough work week..
Oh, they sale Evapo-rust. get a 20% coupon buy a gallon and soak your rusty parts in it..they come out looking brand new! i wish i could dip my whole f1 in it.