I've bought A LOT of HF tools over the past 15 years and have the
following rules of thumb - (IMHO of course)
The quality improves every year, so what used to be marginal may now be
acceptable.
Anything with a Chinese AC motor is risky - particularly air compressors
and hard start items.
I wouldn't trust any life safety or major item safety to most of the
products. Nothing overhead!
The wrenches and sockets hold up - my 3/4 drive socket set is ok for big
jobs.
The drills are worthless. Concrete mixers likewise.
If a high quality steel is needed (e.g. punches) you may have a one time
use tool.
They have lots of very good deals if you can use the sale coupons. Good
for use little tools.
Even the heavy duty tarps last only one season.
The compressed air fittings are ok, low cost, and rarely off spec.
Good for disposable items like chip brushes, hand (not power) wire
brushes, etc.
Carts, hand trucks, and the like are great for the $$. Also ball
bearing tool chests if on sale.
Caveat emptor!
Grant KZ1W
On 12/19/2011 2:51 PM, Richard Solomon wrote:
> In HF's defense, I must say that their products are designed to a
> price and while not
> the "Cadillac" of the industry, it does do a job. I have a bench top
> drill press that gets
> used about once a month. For that level of usage it is an adequate product.
> Also, I see a lot of guys in pick-ups buying tools there. I guess that
> if they only need
> it for one job, it works out ok.
>
> Finally, one must look at the difference between a winch and a hoist.
>
> 73, Dick, W1KSZ
>
> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 3:37 PM, Michael Goins<wmgoins@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Pretty much what I thought, guys. I've never bought any of their stuff but
>> reviews here have always been pretty bad.
>>
>> Mike, k5wmg
>>
>> *
>>
>>
>> *
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 4:29 PM, David
>> Gilbert<xdavid@cis-broadband.com>wrote:
>>
>>> I can't speak for all Harbor Freight winches, but the manual worm gear
>>> winch (rated at 2,000 pounds) I bought for occasional duty to lift my
>>> mast/antennas (total weight about 300 pounds) out of the rotator
>>> literally chewed the toothed gear to pieces in a matter of minutes. I
>>> had to sit there and liberally grease it with high quality lithium
>>> grease every revolution of the gear in order to just finish the job
>>> before the teeth totally disappeared. The worm gear apparently was made
>>> from hardened steel but the toothed gear might as well have been
>>> copper. I replaced it with a Thern model 465 (similar dimensions, rated
>>> at 750 pounds) and have had no problems since.
>>>
>>> In my opinion, Harbor Freight tools should be considered disposable
>>> items. I once bought a medium sized crowbar there that literally bent
>>> from my non-leveraged arm strength alone.
>>>
>>> Friends don't let friends buy Harbor Freight tools.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>> Dave AB7E
>>>
>>>
>>> On 12/19/2011 1:42 PM, Michael Goins wrote:
>>>> Has anyone used the Harbor Freight winches? They have a 2000 lb electric
>>>> that is priced nicely at the moment on sale.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Mike, k5wmg
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> TowerTalk mailing list
>>> TowerTalk@contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> TowerTalk mailing list
>> TowerTalk@contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|