First Harbor Freight Store Visit

Yesterday I visited my first Harbor Freight store. Not sure how long the one in my vicinity has been there, but probably no much more than a year. Went to mostly look around, but took the coupon from the Sunday paper with me for the free LED flashlight.

Some of the stuff is obviously junk. The better quality tools, it seems, are in locked display cases. And the "free" flashlights aren't on the sales floor anywhere, they're only kept behind the counter at the register. I saw the 4-1/2" angle grinder with the paddle switch, and it apparently IS somewhat better quality than the cheaper ones. [Someone on one of these boards mentioned that the small angle grinders are junk until you get up the line to the one with the paddle switch; just confirming their judgement.]

So I'll probably go back once in awhile, for some one-time or some emergency tools when cash is short...because Pappy always told me, "in an emergency, a cheap tool is usually better than NO tool." For everything else, there's Crapsman [which is now avaliable through Grainger].

But I will be back...I still need a few more "free" flashlights [I have 3 more coupons] for Christmas gifts.

How un-American of you......Bet you shop at walmart too :shock:

Those cheap tools carry the same lifetime gaurantee as craftsman and snapoff and less likely to get borrowed. "I ain't borrowing that ghinese sh!t from Bman" translates to always having a complete toobox.

Dave

I agree, for a one time use or an odd job there good enough. I mostly have craftsman, USA made and ACE professional hand tools. Like my father in law said" I bought some of there cheap screwdrivers, wrenches hammers ect, to leave in his tractor cabs." He said if he looses one or breaks one he wont care.

What's wrong with wall Mart? they didn't get as big as they are buy not running the business right. These companies go to china because they are taxed to death here. Vote for the same idiots in Washington and you get what you got. That makes it your fault.

I carry one of those free flashlights with me every day, now that the clocks are back. HF tools are my "test" tools, if I break one of them, and use it a lot, then, I buy a good one off of a tool truck.

everyone believes a sucessful business is evil.
WM gets the blame for killing the mom and pop stories.

Truth be told the mom and pop stores in my area were dead long before WM came to town.

I've been buying from HF for 30 years. Like anything anywhere, you have to pick and choose carefully.

I too just made my first visit to real store, instead of ordering via a catalog.

My experience was quite different then your's. I was amazed at some of the bargains they had, that you could never get from Sears, Mack, Matco, Snap On, OTC, etc.

My wife and I drove the 120 miles (round trip) because I've got a job that requires a 2000 lb. HD transmission jack. HF had it, but shipping would of been over $150. So, we drove to the store. Wound up being $30 cheaper then adverstised and it's pretty good quality. Would it hold up as well as an OTC under constant use for 50 years? Maybe not - but it cost 1/5 the price and will easily outlast me. $249 well spent (item # 04075).

I find some of the complaints about HF laughable. Yeah, they do sell a LOT of junk. They also have some great bargins if you shop carefully.

Back in the late 1970s, I was in charge of tool purchasing for John Deere dealership shop. After wearing out many Sioux, Milwauke, Metalbo,Makita, etc. tools, we experimented a bit with HF grinders and drills. They were 1/4 the cost, so we figured we'd still do OK if they lasted as least 1/4 as long. Well? Some held up just as well as the name-brand stuff. Some I still have today and am still using. Most was Japanese back then, now much is from China, India, Italy, and Taiwan. All countries that never declard war on us (except maybe parts of Italy).

If it wasn't for places like HF, many home-mechanics would still be renting big tools instead of owning. I'll add that I'm amazed over all the complaints about the Chinese stuff. China has never declared war on the USA or the world. Germany has (twice), and also Japan. Yet, I hear few complaints about their products - including chain saws. Stihl was a Nazi supporter. So was Bosch.

say what you like about WM ,it got me 7 tractors and did not touch the household budget.

Harbor Freight is the only one that'll ship big items to my APO address. Northern tool tries to eat me on postage for just about anything. As far as bosch and stihl, I think the nazi supporters (if they actually were) are long dead.

Dave

About wal-mart...Why do we shop there? Because we are 50 miles from town and a lot of the times we go there on Sunday and they are OPEN. Most of the other stores are closed. The same thing if you get to town in the late afternoon. Most places are closed by 5 or 5:30. Wal-mart is OPEN. As for their "chinese junk". Ever been to K-mart or Shopko or Ace Harware. Same stuff. Plus I can get some oil and maybe a TV while my wife is getting the groceries and shampoo. In one word, convenience. One stop shopping anytime we want to.

Gotta agree with most of the posters here. Our Mom and Pops were mostly in the business of wholesale rape. There was one place that was still the old fashioned hardware but they were dying because of a a local True Value, which oddly enough fits many peoples idea of a Mom and Pop. When Lowes came in the True Value had some real competition and between Lowes, some really stupid business moves, ridiculous prices and really miserable employees they went under. Same with some of the local dept. stores, when Walmart came in prices dropped like a rock, selection was wider and they were open past 5:00PM. That always mystified me- why would a business expect to only be open from 8-5 and 9-noon on Saturdays? Plus, many placed closed up from 12-1PM for lunch. That's just dumb these days. Open early, close late, work Saturdays and Sundays if you have to.

No wonder so many went under.

A fellow once told me " Walmart has never put any store out of business, it is you and I driving past that store on the way to walmart that put that store out of business ".

Got to agree, the guy is dead on right . LOL.;-)

I bought two of HF little angle air die type grinders. One stopped turning and the other made a gear stripping noise. I got to looking at both of them and found that in assembly they did not adjust the gears on the angle close enough. I adjusted both in closer and they both work fine now. I just had one of the cheap orange 4 1/2" electric angle grinders quit and when I looked it over on brush was gone. Probly best to check those things before using.
I buy quite a few tools at HF and for the most part an satisfied. Like said a person has to pick and chose.

WAl Mart started out as a mom & pop store. Then a light bulb came on in old Sam's head.

Still a few old-original Nazis around, along with many new ones. In fact, war-crimes trials are still being conducted for Nazi-Germans who have been hiding for a long time. Seems at this point, it would be cheaper to let them die of old-age somewhere. Much is still resident in my mind, since my dad was shot in Germany, and my grand-uncle was killed by Nazis (or Germany foot-soldiers) in southern France at age 16, and my grandmother orphaned by Nazis when they burnt her entire village to the ground. So, yeah - I guess I hold a few silly grudges.

I'll use a tool, regardless of origin. I'm just making a point about the abundance of double-standards being used against foreign merchandise and companies that sell it.
German OK. Japanese OK. But, Chinese bad?? Yet China is the only one of that group that never declared war on the USA, Canada, etc. China also does not cost us any USA tax-dollars because we are constantly funding a military presence on their lands. We still spend a fortune keeping an eye on Japan, Germany, etc.

How many on these forums have USA-built cell phones? When is the last time you got X-rayed or CAT-scanned at a hosiptal with a USA built machine? Who owns a car or truck built with USA parts?

Last I heard, a $30 cell-phone made in China would cost near $1000 if designed, part-sourced, and constructed in the USA. I wonder how many here are willing to pay $1000 for a cell phone - to support a few USA labor-unions.

I understand how you feel. I had an uncle that was a POW at Stalag IVb-Muhlberg as well as another who was badly injured in a tank somewhere in France.

However, there comes a time when you have to let it go. That was nearly 70 years ago now. Those who have not been brought to justice will meet their maker at some point here. Nobody really gets away with anything in the end.

You have to consider what Germany has done since then to redeem themselves. They have been a reliable supporter of our causes. They even sent troops to Afghanistan and the Balkans for the first combat outside of Germany since 1945. The current people in Germany are largely not responsible for the sins of 70 years past.

Forgive, but don't forget--always remeber, but don't continue the hate.

I stopped at HF and brought a few things to the cash register, including a LED trouble light. Before the lady rang it up, I told her I wanted to plug it in and test it, since I didn't know how much light it would put out. She made a big deal that OSHA would not allow them to plug anything in. So I told her that if it was too dangerous to plug in at the store, I sure didn't want to take it home.
Is that OSHA thing true, or just a story to keep people like me from trying things out?

No,Chin never declaired war on the US, but they sure did kill a lot of US military men, and a few women during the Korea, and Vietnam wars. Stan

Ya Stan, and there still trying to get us, with all the lead they put into there products we buy! LOL, J

I had a guy working for me for many years (carpenter) who fought in the Germany army. I never held it against him, and believe his claim of being a pretty clueless young soldier and not knowing much about Hitler - at that time. Now his wife?? That's another story. She would of loved to be in charge of a few death-camps - and blamed all the woes of the world on a certain religous/ethnic group of people, just as Hitler did.

I also own many Bosch, Stihl,Siemans, and Dolmar tools and chainsaws. Also own two Volkswagen diesels (Volkswagens were once Nazi cars). My son works for big German company that supplies MRI machines to USA hospitals.

My point being - WWII memories don't exactly rule my life. But, I won't forget it was Germany that declared war on the world - twice - within the space of just a few years. That because many forgave them after the first attempt.

Many USA and Canadian companies got to steal all of Sthil's chainsaw designs and do pretty well - selling them as US and Canadian made after WWII. It's also how American Bosch came into exisitence - that made injection pumps for many American tractors (USA and Canada). Bosch got it's assests seized in the USA during WWII, and thus became "American Bosch."

Harbor Freight"s prices and no-hassle warranty are two of their greatest selling points...
I enjoy my visits to their store in Fargo, ND often, when I go that direction. They don"t sell Snap-On, Proto, Duro-Chrome, SK, Craftsman or other Name brand tools.. I have these good tools... When I go to Harbor Freight and look at a set of twelve wrenches on sale for $19.99, I don"t expect to get the same quality wrench as Snap-On.... I HAVE bought the "cheapo" tools to fill in the "voids" in my shop..: 10 ton porta-power with a pull ram, one inch impact wrenches( one is gutless) floor jack, sand blasting cabinet,,, large tap and die sets; to name a few.. lots of purchases... most of them are worth the low price that I paid for them..

Harbor Freight is in business to market low priced tools and equipment, and it appears they are busy.

Interesting thing about Harbor Freight-about a year-and-a-half ago, I bought a set of polished wrenches as a gift for one of the sons-wrenches have "INDIA" prominently stamped on them.

Same wrenches (HF's "Pittsburgh" brand), same item number, now have "CHINA" stamped on them in the same place.

I'm not a professional mechanic by a long shot-but I do have a pretty complete set of Craftsman tools, some that I have owned for 30 years, in a rollaway in the garage. For the back of my truck, however, it's almost all HF stuff-this truck is parked outside at work overnight, and theft is a possibility. I could replace the entire set for about $100. I've been okay with quality, but I honestly don't expect a whole lot for what I paid.

I only buy HF hand tools, though. I'm still a little leary about their power tool stuff.

Oh, and all three of those "free" LED lights I've gotten-not one of them has worked!

I used to live within 1 mile of a HF in Austin, now I live in So. Ill and am over 2 hrs away. I miss the convenience.

Tools I like - Hand held Band saw! Bottle Jacks, cheap wrenches to throw into the truck/tractor toolbox, Digital Calipers, Dial indicators, Brad air nailer.

I have the small R8 mill, pretty handy $400 mill as long as you don't try to run it like a bridgeport. Cuts aluminum real nice.

John

USA companies did the same not long ago. Thus all the tax-payer lead-paint "police" throwing people out of their own houses when lead is found. At least that's one thing not permitted yet in NY (ejected people from their own houses). It does happen in a few other states.

USA companies dumped lead ,asbestos, PCBs, and much more - in products and waterways for years. General Electric - in this area of NY, was one of the biggest culprits.

Yep, now GE was dredging the Hudson last fall. I dont even know if thats still going on?? Last I remember 2 guys working on the river, went over a dam in a small boat and were killed. Maybe it was shut down.

Another thread on HF on the Ford board today.
Heres what I wrote there

Can't live your entire life in fear, my friend.

Actually, there is evidence that France and Russia started WW 1 and then successfully blamed Germany. At least one of the French documents that proved Germany started the war has been proven to be a forgery. And then after Germany surrendered, France insisted on different terms than had been originally agreed to. The reparations that France got caused the hyper-inflation that brought the Nazis to power. So regardless of who started the war, the French set up WW 2.

Yes, I'm aware of many theories on the subject. But that's why they are called theories; i.e. can't be proven - one way or the other. So, for now - I chose to believe what seems to be the best evidence available - and only go back so far. At the time of the beginnings of WWI in Europe, France was split down the middle -between Bonarpartists on one side and monarchists on the other. Not much different then the left-wing/right-wing thing we have right now in the USA. I doubt either side had much to do with killing the Archduke of Austria - and it as that event that pretty much set things in motion. How they handled the event afterwards is another issue.

History gets rewrittten, over and over and over. Truth is, even with current events - we often don't know the causes. And, if we did - we probably wouldn't know we did.

I remember when JFK was a hero for how well he handled the Cuban Missle crisis and those "evil" Russians. Funny that it was rarely mentioned in the 60s that the USA started the whole mess by installing Chrysler-built missles at a new US base in Turkey - aimed at Russia first.
And yeah, I'm sure we did that because of something else previous. So, if WWIII HAD started then, who would get the credit for starting it?

Maybe we can blame the whole mess on Adam and Eve. George Bush wasn't around yet and can be exempted.

I wonder sometimes if some cultures, ethnic groups, and/or races were/are more intrinsically warlike than others? Not worth studying I guess since most cultures are now watered-down and intermixed anyway. That is, unless we're talking Papua, New Guinea or some small countries in Africa.

I'm a USA-American and one thing I know for sure. Germans have warred against us as a nation - or nascent nation-want-a-be three times. Remember those pesky German Hessian soliders during the American Revolution? Yeah they were hired by the British, but were killing Americans just the same.

I'll be the first to admit, I wasn't there when WWI started. If I had been, I'm sure I'd been clueless as to the cause.

That's bunk, I would've asked for the manager. There's no such OSHA law that prohibits demonstrations of simple electrical products.

I agree, we don't know a lot of the facts. I'm part English, German, Norwegian, Scots, Scots-Irish, and Delaware (maybe, we're trying to prove that one) and don't like the French.

If you don't like the "French", seems you need to be more specific. The French don't like the French, generally speaking. My grand-parents grew up on farms in southern France near the Pyrenees and French wasn't even their main language. That was late 1800s to early 1900s. They spoke Catalan with "friends" and only spoke French with strangers or officials. They lived amont the Basque. At one time, France had many, totally different cultures and people - many of which hated each other. Italy was even more segmented.

We called the Delaware Indians "Lenni Lenape" where I grew up in New Jersey.

Some of my family in French Canada intermingled with the Bowl-Head Indians, better known as Attikamekw, Tête-de-Boule, or Saint Francis Indians. Delawares and Bowl Heads share the Algonquian language group.