8 tools you should never buy...

2x4

Well-known Member
anyone see that article on the Yahoo news? Curoius, I bit & found I owned 7 of'em. How many do you own?
 
I've only got 4 of them, but I very much disagree on the floor stapler. My stapler paid for itself in the first job, and probably twice again in the second. It's a harbor freight unit, but it performed very well.
 
1) small tile saw
2) 2 posthole diggers
3) several hammer drills in different sizes, one is also a chisel (hard to find a "normal" drill) Mine sure never cost 250 bucks tho :roll:
4) couple air and an electric paint sprayer (that are useless cause I'm afraid to use them :roll: )
5) several 4" and 7" diamond blades
 
I will never rent or buy a self powered posthole digger - man killers. Takes two very strongmen, and would be better to have three or four. I have tractor mounted PTO driven unit. Holes are a breeze.
 
Have a 3 point post hole auger, airless sprayer, diamond blade for the. Partner saw, hammer drill,j roto tiller and a 75 foot drain auger.
 
I have the three point post hole auger and have put in several hundred fence posts and built two pole barns as well as pole horse shelters. I used a clam type hand post hole digger to clean the bottom of every hole before dropping a post or pole in the hole. A person can get a lot done in the time they would be running up and down the road renting and returning tools. Hard to get a job done of any size in a short enough time that the rent would be cheap. I choose to buy the tools and machines I need. Not many that I have not used enough to pay for themselves.
 
I think that was intended for people that live in town. Like the tiller, most people will only use one to put in a lawn and till a little 10X5 garden area.
 
Over the past 5 years, I've put down about six grand worth of hardwood flooring in my house. I also maintain a huge garden. No way in the world that I would pad somebody's pocket by renting hardwood flooring tools or a garden tiller.
 
I read the article.

We needed to aerate our lawn this fall. It would have cost me $150 and a 60 mile round trip to rent an aerator.

I ordered an identical one online from Home Depot for $179 with free shipping.
 
I did a quick mental inventory and I have at least 1 of everything listed with the exception of the flooring nailer. I do however have a Bostich N88 framing nailer, does that count? Had a guy stop me a couple years ago down at the gas station, "Are you the one with the old John Deere with the post hole drill on the back"? I told him yes sir so he wanted to know what I'd charge to drill 10 holes 4' deep. I figured with transport and all $15 per hole. He thought I was crazy and left in a huff. Dunno how he made out, but from the looks of his new 3/4 ton diesel truck, $150 would likely be chump change.
I've always worked alone so as I needed a tool to get a job done efficently and correctly, I usually bought new.
 
I disagree with that guys opinion.

You can never own too many tools. I find that the money I've saved over having it contracted more than pays for the specialty tools. I keep most of them but have done very well selling some after I'm done.

I sold my tile saw after 1 project. I'll hire any tile job done from now on. I don't care for that activity.


The best one was in 2005 I put in a boat and RV storage lot. Several different contractors bid +- 40K for the dirt work and crushed concrete.

I bought a brand new JD5103 with loader and box blade. Spent 17K on that and 16K on crushed concrete. Saved a bunch on that project and still enjoy the tractor to this day.

It did take substantially longer to get it done but I wasn't in a big hurry.
 
I don't think we're the target demographic for that particular article. He's probably talking about the suburban, weekend handyman types with 1/4 acre... :roll:
 
I've got 4 of those, and haven't needed the other 4. And that $600 tiller I bought 20 years ago has paid for itself so many times over I've lost count.
 
Got everything but the drain auger, flooring nailer, and diamond blade. So far I've never had a use for an auger, but when I do I will buy or rent one, have no need for a flooring nailer so that is a non issue, and although I do have a cut off saw I just use the abrasive blades and have never had any need for anything else.
 
Got 6 of the 8, but neighbour has a tile saw so I don't have too. Those diamond wheels are great, I use them all the time cutting cement blocks etc. I'm planning on trying it on some glass soon as the little scoring tool isn't getting very good yield right now.
 
Seven

I think the guy who wrote the article must be connected with the DIY rental.

Why rent if you can own and write it off your taxes as an expense? I look it this way, for every $3 I spend I don't send Uncle Sam $1. Where can you get 33% off on anything you buy?
George
 
Same here - 7 of the eight. I don't have the drain auger.

Obviously it depends on how often you use all of those tools - and in my case it's pretty often.

Not sure about rental rates across the country - but for me they're pretty steep.

For instance, I always thought it'd be cheaper to rent a floor drum sander, but having done about 10 different (mine and friend's/family's) floors now, I SHOULD have bought a good used one for what I've spent.

Even if I never need it again, I could sell it and recoup most of what I had into it. I'd now be ahead by thousands of dollars.

Live and learn.
 
Dean,
I agree with you. I think I have an addiction to owning tools. Should we start Tools Anonymous to get over our addiction?
George
 
7 of the 8. No floor nailer, never needed one and still don"t need one.
The funny part, I ran a rental store for many years and every one of the tools I bought from the store once they had depreciated down to a good reasonable purchase price. Naturally I had my best mechanic at the time rebuild every one of the tools prior to my purchase. The tool I"ve probably used more than any other is the airless paint sprayer. It"s amazing how fast I can paint the barn, not to mention paint in 5 gallon buckets tend to be cheaper. I plan to paint the metal roof on the barn early next year with it too.
I purchased a lot of other goodies there too not mentioned on the list. The one item I use most of all is a set of 10 foot rolling scaffold with the good aluminum frame walkboards. Handiest darn thing for trimming trees, great for painting and great for getting up on the roof...safer than a ladder and I can stack tools on it.
 
Ray, I too have a 3 point auger with a 6, 9 and 12 inch bit. BUT, if your not lucky enough to have one then there is an auger that can be run by one person and it's NOT a man killer. We rented them and everyone that used them loved them. Every now and then someone would come in and complain about how they almost broke their leg and I would ask them to set it up in the parking lot exactly how they were using it. Each time, they were bypassing the safety switch and not using the torque bar even though there were instructed to use it only with the torque bar. The excuse was usually the same, "I didn't have enough space to use it that way". I asked one guy how many holes he drilled, he said 20. I asked how many he did with the bar on, he admitted none. He still wanted a refund. I asked him if he got his job done, he said yes but since it almost killed him I should give him a refund. I then installed the torque tube and asked him to follow me out front where we had a small grassy area. I asked him to drill a hole for me and tell me if he thought it would be fair that I give him a refund. He griped but did drill the hole. He didn't say a word, just walked back to his truck and drove off. My guys got a good laugh as they watched him knowing what I was up to.
Funny thing was, he came back the following weekend and rented a tiller. He never did mention the previous weekend and sure didn't ask for a refund again!
One man post hole auger that wont kill you
 
i'm good i have 6 out of the 8, if i think i will use more than once i will most of the time buy it. have 3 boys and there all wrench monkeys too.
 
I have a tile saw, 6 hammer drills or roto-hammers, 2 airless spray rigs and 5 air spray guns, multiple diamond blades, both manual and pneumatic flooring nailers.
I've rented enough post hole augers to know I don't want to do that again.
Don't have use for a tiller. And just installed a new sewer line so I shouldn't need the sewer auger.
 

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