What has your experience been?

[Mr. Man]

Harbour Freight opened a store near where I live. I've heard mixed reviews on their stuff. Have any of you bought stuff from them? What did you think?

[Joe Walsh]

HF&T used to be absolute junk! .... you'd buy a tool ONLY if you were going to use it ONCE.
But, I've bought several things from them in the last few years and the quality isn't too bad. They actually last for multiple uses!
Not Snap-On nor MAC quality, but still pretty decent.
Considering that Craftsman is now Chinese junk, I'd look at HF&T for some of my tools*.

*But, I've already got just about everything you'd need in a Roll-Away.

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[Mr. Man]

I know what you mean about the Craftsman stuff. I recently bought a left over Kobalt tool box set as it was leaps and bounds better than the Craftsman junk boxes Lowes was selling. I'm waiting for Santa time to increase my box wrench supply with some SK. Didn't have enough lube to pull the trigger on that quality on just 'because I want it' kinda whim.

[vkirkend]

I get all my tools from them now. (I don't use them often and they work just fine.) Bought a air compressor recently from them.

[gdsqdcr]

I bought a 12K winch in April 2016 and mounted on the front of my F150 since then. It has pulled out Jeeps and tractors from the mud. It has been used to pull me out of a bog .. ripped out trees from the ground, and so much more. It cost me $250, on sale with a 20% discount. I was hoping that it would last me 18 months or so and then I would replace it. I am very surprised that it is still working 4 years later, and after so much use. I would not call them the best tool company out there, but I am pleasantly surprised with the 'quality' of the tools.

I also use them to buy tools for my non-profit baseball fields where those tools are beat, abused and unloved. Most still are usable.

[mustangeddie]

It depends on what you buy.Some of their stuff is decent others junk.My experience with the portland line of yard equipment has been awful most only last one use.At least they have a decent return policy, have had no trouble replacing stuff just a pain to ride over there all the time when stuff breaks.

[MyBlackBeasts]

^^^ What he said^^^
Pick & choose what you buy. The hand tools are good. Their recent product revision has wrenches & ratchet wrenches that are nearly SnapOn good for $20 set not $500+ set. Sockets are Ok, screwdrivers - meh. The small air tools are good, I bought a bunch of die grinders so I don't have to change out cutting tools for the ones I use a lot. I would not buy any electric tools w/o firmly understanding they will probably puke soon. It's a great place for getting that tool you need to use 1 time or couple times in your life. Like the trans jack I got for the MM trans rebuild. Probably never need again but its in garage "just in case". I also get supplies there like grinding discs & cutting wheels, can't beat the price for something you'll be destroying in minutes. I have a friend that bought a Mig welder from them, he loves it and uses it all the time. Just buyer beware, thoroughly examine what your thinking of getting. The lifetime guarrantee helps too!

[justbob]

I agree with all others commenting that the quality has definitely gone up. I’ve bought a ton of stuff from them over the years. Once you buy enough you know what to stay away from. And like Bill mentioned, I buy as much shop consumables as I can thru them.

I’m done with air tools however, I’m upgrading everything to Milwaukee fuel.


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[Spectragod]

I’m done with air tools however, I’m upgrading everything to Milwaukee fuel.
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As have I, still have a tool fetish on the snap-on truck, it’s more like an addiction.....

[MyBlackBeasts]

I’m done with air tools however, I’m upgrading everything to Milwaukee fuel. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'm doing that too to some degree. I picked up Kobalt 1/2", 3/8" impacts and 1/2" drill and Milwaukee 3/8" & 1/4" ratchets. I use the h ell out of them! Lowes Kobalt are every bit as good as name brand at a fraction of the price and I picked them up on super sale deals - stole them for the most part. However there is no cordless die-grinder or cutoff wheel tool that is a match for an air ones that I've found. And cordless impacts are great on clean fasteners, have to break out the air impacts for rusted ones. Working on that Mercedes last summer it had 1 lugnut on RF that was crusty & Kobalt cordless and CP air impacts did not budge it. Didn't want to hit it with full force 800ft# Ingersoll & snap it so I hooked my 3/4" Ingersoll to the small 3/8" air line to neuter the power and a few raps of the bigger hammers loosened it up and spun it off eazy peezy.

[a_d_a_m]

I like HF, but it can be a crap shoot. YMMV; caveat emptor, etc all apply.

I bought an air impact gun there that was total trash (and that's where it ended up).
Then I bought a cheapie cordless impact driver that kicks total ass.
On super major purchases, I do try to buy American...that rules HF out a lot.

[fastblackmerc]

In my opinion, HF tools, hand, electric and otherwise are good if you don't use them "professionally", ie. constant use.

[Grimrepairman]

It's a case by case basis. I have some HFT which have been used professionally and survived surprisingly well. Fairly easy to judge the quality once you have your hands on the stuff.
Have their trans jack, some extra play where it pivots but gets the job done. 3 1/2 ton aluminum floor jack is capable of lifting my service truck and surviving.

[justbob]

I'm doing that too to some degree. I picked up Kobalt 1/2", 3/8" impacts and 1/2" drill and Milwaukee 3/8" & 1/4" ratchets. I use the h ell out of them! Lowes Kobalt are every bit as good as name brand at a fraction of the price and I picked them up on super sale deals - stole them for the most part. However there is no cordless die-grinder or cutoff wheel tool that is a match for an air ones that I've found. And cordless impacts are great on clean fasteners, have to break out the air impacts for rusted ones. Working on that Mercedes last summer it had 1 lugnut on RF that was crusty & Kobalt cordless and CP air impacts did not budge it. Didn't want to hit it with full force 800ft# Ingersoll & snap it so I hooked my 3/4" Ingersoll to the small 3/8" air line to neuter the power and a few raps of the bigger hammers loosened it up and spun it off eazy peezy.

I just picked up Milwaukee’s 1,400 ft pound 1/2” impact. The thing is a monster! It has a progressive hammer action. The longer you hold the trigger the harder she bangs! Picked up a 12.0 battery as well. The thing lasts FOREVER even on the circular saw.


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[tbone]

Their Pittsburgh line of sockets sets are reasonably good. I just got a 500 ft pound torque wrench from them and it gets great reviews. Only $75. Doubles as a baseball bat. Keep it in your trunk.

[decipha]

I bought a winch for my car trailer 5 years ago. It works excellent and only thing I've ever had to do was replace the cheap chinese wiring on it.

I've bought car dollies, jacks, towing equip, small power tools, an air compressor and misc hand tools over the years and have never had any issues.

I might be the minority though.

As far as sockets ratchets and the like I always go to autozone and get the lifetime warranty for a few bucks more.