# Harbor Freight Tools



## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

I like HF for a couple specific purposes. 1) I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of a particular high-dollar tool, so I'll buy the HF version to test the waters before buying the real deal. 2) Tooling up a bigger job where the tools are being charged off to the job ahead of time (assuming they'll be stolen or damaged, ie: I won't ever need them again).


----------



## ElectricalOJ (Aug 14, 2015)

I recently purchased a the nut driver bits from one of their stores. I haven't had any problems so far. Certain items like that seem to be just as good as something from HD or Lowe's.


----------



## BryanB (Feb 15, 2014)

I bought the Harbor Freight hydraulic punch set. Had it for about a year now and still good. I would buy again before getting a greenlee one.


----------



## Bootss (Dec 30, 2011)

I have a view of the cheapo hole hog ,heavy duty 90 degree drill motor from HF.Actually I've had them for a few years no problem.,cost about a third of what the Milwaukee products are and if they grow legs at the job site not the end of the world


----------



## ElectricalOJ (Aug 14, 2015)

It seems like it's not such a bad idea shopping there. Their priced for ppe are cheaper than going to a HD. I burn through work gloves. I'll probably go there for that stuff now.


----------



## tjb (Feb 12, 2014)

My thought is to use them for things you'll use up or break, like drill bits, paddle bits, hole saws, sawzall blades, that sort of thing.


----------



## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

ElectricalOJ said:


> I've been seeing more harbor freight stores popping up. I've bought a few items from there. They seem to work fine so far. There are other things that I'd be worried about buying without someone's thoughts on the item. I saw a warrior hole saw kit the other day. It was $30 for the kit. I thought the price was too low to be of good quality. Has anyone owned or used this set? Any advice on a decent kit under $50?


Most hole saws when using cutting oil as a lube will give good enough service....if you let the tool do the work.


----------



## Service Call (Jul 9, 2011)

tjb said:


> My thought is to use them for things you'll use up or break, like drill bits, paddle bits, hole saws, sawzall blades, that sort of thing.



I find there drill bits and blades to not be that great. But, I may go get the hydraulic ko's though. 


Sent from my house using 2 cans and a string!


----------



## AllWIRES (Apr 10, 2014)

Fish sticks!


----------



## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

AllWIRES said:


> Fish sticks!


They have those but it is not very good lumber.


----------



## papaotis (Jun 8, 2013)

lumber? are they bamboo?


----------



## ElectricalOJ (Aug 14, 2015)

AllWIRES said:


> Fish sticks!


You saw some of those there?


----------



## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

I have bought a few of the hydraulic KO sets from there and have not had any problem with them what so ever.
They don't seem to like the 4" KOs as much but it works on them just fine.
I don't think you can go wrong spending $89 for the set.

Also bought a portable engine hoist to pull out a 20hp motor. No problems with it either.


----------



## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Another interesting thing I bought there was an electric shear. I had to cut back some low voltage conduits to relocate the board.
The conduits were stubbed up about 6" from the floor and then they added a 36" section of EMT on to that.
I had to remove the 36" section while not cutting or disturbing the telephone cables.
I planned on two crews working an 8 hour day to cut the EMT out of the way.
Once we figured out how to use the tool, we were cutting open and removing 10 pipes in about 10 minutes. 
The shear would run down the pipe and leave a 1/4" gap along the length of the pipe. Plenty or room to remove the old cable. 
We made a second cut on a few of them that had 100 pair cables.
I used one crew for about 2 hours. I bought two of the shears just in case they were total crap.
I didn't even take the second one out of the box.

It was a quoted job and we walked out of there as heroes that day.


----------



## AllWIRES (Apr 10, 2014)

ElectricalOJ said:


> You saw some of those there?


Yeah man. 30' for $10 or something close. They're thinner then the greenlees. It's makes it nice for bending it into tight spots.

The tip sucks though. It will pull right off. 

Other then that they work great.

Fiberglass I believe.


----------



## ElectricalOJ (Aug 14, 2015)

I will look for them.


----------



## Grogan14 (Jul 16, 2009)

I have the hydraulic KO set, and the Pittsburgh Pro ratchets and whatnot that are made in Taiwan are pretty good, but most stuff there is junk that's not worth my time.


----------



## ElectricalOJ (Aug 14, 2015)

That Pittsburgh ratchet set was a good deal. I think it was only $13.


----------



## mdnitedrftr (Aug 21, 2013)

I shop there for certain things. Mostly tools that I don't plan on getting a lot of use out of. My last purchase from there was a machete for $6 because I had a job where I had to access some aerator pumps that were in a pond that was completely surrounded by vegetation. Carved myself a nice little path.


----------



## Glantz496 (Apr 28, 2014)

Ah good ole' Harbor Freight....

It's the place to go when you are looking at new tools and say "I ain't payin' that much for it, go for the cheapo"

Personally, with work tools, If you're going to buy a tool, make it a good one.

With tools around the house ehhh, whatever's cheap and will get the job done


----------



## heavysparky (Jun 2, 2009)

Stuff I have from there that is good

Composite ratchets. These are way better than craftsman raised panel.

Cable shears

Disposable nitrle gloves

Torque wrenches, @ 11.99 each can't beat that

Dead blow hammers 

Long breaker bars

Magnetic parts tray

Their pipe wrenches use to be decent. If you only used them for backer wrenches


----------



## Bootss (Dec 30, 2011)

jrannis said:


> I have bought a few of the hydraulic KO sets from there and have not had any problem with them what so ever.
> They don't seem to like the 4" KOs as much but it works on them just fine.
> I don't think you can go wrong spending $89 for the set.
> 
> Also bought a portable engine hoist to pull out a 20hp motor. No problems with it either.


They have hydraulic knockout set ( for conduit) with the hand pump?
need to order it online?


----------



## Grogan14 (Jul 16, 2009)

Lep said:


> They have hydraulic knockout set ( for conduit) with the hand pump?
> need to order it online?


I got mine right off of the shelf, but they probably will ship you one for $6.99 via Fedex.

http://www.harborfreight.com/hydrau...triciantalk.com/f14/harbor-freight-ko-122473/


----------



## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

I bought a plastic work cart and it's been good.


----------



## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Spend 25 or so minutes crawling into an attic or crawlspace , and have a cheapo HF tool fail on you, and get back to me please

~CS~


----------



## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

chicken steve said:


> Spend 25 or so minutes crawling into an attic or crawlspace , and have a cheapo HF tool fail on you, and get back to me please
> 
> ~CS~


The only Harbor Freight tool to fail on me is the smaller size titanium oxide drill bits. All else is good.


----------



## ElectricalOJ (Aug 14, 2015)

HF is a good place to shop as long as you buy certain things


----------



## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

ElectricalOJ said:


> HF is a good place to shop as long as you buy certain things


I , personally am a fan of their nitrile gloves.:thumbsup:


----------



## papaotis (Jun 8, 2013)

cheap ass! pun intended!


----------



## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

papaotis said:


> cheap ass! pun intended!


You'll have to give me a break. Yes, they are inexpensive but I can only use a finger once and am able to get five exams with one glove so I am saving ET a lot of money.


----------



## papaotis (Jun 8, 2013)

WHAT? et is paying for this? i thought you just did it for fun!:whistling2:


----------



## ElectricalOJ (Aug 14, 2015)

RIVETER said:


> I , personally am a fan of their nitrile gloves.:thumbsup:


I bought some of those the other day. I'll try them out today


----------



## LGLS (Nov 10, 2007)

We just completed a 3-year project that was completely tooled by Harbor Freight stuff. Everything purchased was accounted for in the gang boxes. That's a first.


----------



## ElectricalOJ (Aug 14, 2015)

IslandGuy said:


> We just completed a 3-year project that was completely tooled by Harbor Freight stuff. Everything purchased was accounted for in the gang boxes. That's a first.


Lol what type of cheap company would do that?


----------



## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

ElectricalOJ said:


> I bought some of those the other day. I'll try them out today


The fore finger and thumb usually wears out first. If you can, please save the index finger for the picnic.:thumbsup:


----------



## sparky970 (Mar 19, 2008)

I bought a hydraulic pump cart/table for installing wall mount enclosures and drives. Makes it easy for a 1 man install. More than worth the $250 when we had 70 drives to install.


----------



## telsa (May 22, 2015)

sparky970 said:


> I bought a hydraulic pump cart/table for installing wall mount enclosures and drives. Makes it easy for a 1 man install. More than worth the $250 when we had 70 drives to install.


Buy a "Third Hand" from FastCap.

Wider application -- lower cost. :thumbsup:


----------



## sparky970 (Mar 19, 2008)

telsa said:


> Buy a "Third Hand" from FastCap.
> 
> Wider application -- lower cost. :thumbsup:


Not sure that would work for lifting a 400lb drive


----------



## Yomanyouahippie (Aug 22, 2013)

The impact hex sockets are great for only 29 dollars.


----------



## circuitman1 (Mar 14, 2013)

got one of the 225 ac welders, no problems .works just as good as the higher priced ones. just heavy. got some of the wire strippers , there alright too.:thumbup::thumbup:


----------



## kylemiller (Oct 1, 2015)

Sockets are fine for my use. Also, I picked up a set of PittPro screwdrivers that look like Snap On knock off handles with nice CV shafts. Mainly bought them as beaters, but the magnetic tips is nice since most of the nicer brands don't offer that. Overall, for $10 I think it's a good deal. Most of my work is done with small drivers (wiha, wera), so these are just for odd jobs and the once in a while time you need a magnetic tip. I recommend them as a second set. 

The 3/8 socket drive allen wrenches are great too. The long ones, not the short one. I work with a lot of allen fasteners and thowing these on a 3/8 drive and chucking it into my impact driver is a god send. Also, the PittPro version of those are more than fine for my applications.


----------

