Was working on my woodchipper tire in a field. Had my pickup bed open and was being careful to keep track of my tools and putting them in the bed when I was done with each one. Packed everything back into my toolbox and moved the woodchipper to the yard behind a house I own and continued to work on it. Got home that night and found my 1/2" breaker bar missing out of the toolbox. The socket that was on the end of it was there. Bothered me to no end. It was part of my first set of Craftsman tools I bought in 1972 that I have every single piece of it still intact (or did until now).
Couple of days later, retraced my steps, scoured the field, had my daughter look too ("Dad, it's just a tool"), looked up and down the driveway, under the chipper, emptied my toolbox, etc. No luck.
This weekend I went to Sears to replace it. $25 for a new one, MADE IN CHINA. For a couple of pieces of forged steel on a pivot! Well, the guarantee is still lifetime, so maybe that's what I'm paying for. :lol: Hopefully, the tool specs that Craftsman has for their suppliers is different than HF's or other cheapo tool places. That original breaker bar was strained (sometimes with a cheater pipe) to what I thought would be a "snap event" several times over the last 40+ yrs. We'll see if the new one holds up. I DID notice that Craftsman has some wrenches that have MADE IN USA on them, but most say MADE IN CHINA if they have a tag or nothing at all if they're hanging on a hook.
BTW, buying a replacement probably means I'll be walking through the grass soon and find the original bar. :roll:
Couple of days later, retraced my steps, scoured the field, had my daughter look too ("Dad, it's just a tool"), looked up and down the driveway, under the chipper, emptied my toolbox, etc. No luck.
This weekend I went to Sears to replace it. $25 for a new one, MADE IN CHINA. For a couple of pieces of forged steel on a pivot! Well, the guarantee is still lifetime, so maybe that's what I'm paying for. :lol: Hopefully, the tool specs that Craftsman has for their suppliers is different than HF's or other cheapo tool places. That original breaker bar was strained (sometimes with a cheater pipe) to what I thought would be a "snap event" several times over the last 40+ yrs. We'll see if the new one holds up. I DID notice that Craftsman has some wrenches that have MADE IN USA on them, but most say MADE IN CHINA if they have a tag or nothing at all if they're hanging on a hook.
BTW, buying a replacement probably means I'll be walking through the grass soon and find the original bar. :roll: