from The Land of Not Even Close to Right

Teakettle

Member
I know some folks refer to The Land of Almost Right, but this one wasn't anywhere near "almost". A couple of years ago at a sale I bought a spare air hammer (so it's too late to return it). Yesterday I finally fired it up and found that it hammered whether or not the trigger was depressed (which is a heck of a thing to discover, when you're holding the thing by the top and attaching it to the air hose). The way these guys work is that the trigger pushes a plunger that unseats a ball from a rubber seat. On this one, either the plunger was too long or the bore in which the seat sits was bored too deep, as the plunger held the ball above the seat with no pressure on the trigger. I put an O-ring behind the seat and all is well. But geez, don't they test these things -- even for a second -- at the factory?
 

It came from Harbor Freight, right? Several years ago I bought a 3/8" air impact from them. Hooked the air hose to it and found that the air just went right through the thing. The trigger did nothing. I threw it on the scrap heap and vowed to never again set foot in a Harbor Freight store, and I refuse to visit their website.
 
(quoted from post at 06:52:10 08/28/15)
It came from Harbor Freight, right? Several years ago I bought a 3/8" air impact from them. Hooked the air hose to it and found that the air just went right through the thing. The trigger did nothing. I threw it on the scrap heap and vowed to never again set foot in a Harbor Freight store, and I refuse to visit their website.

Sounds just like my luck with the HF hyd jacks. Went through 3 before they told me I could warranty another one. Ended up buying a Werner (made in the USA) from a local tool store and have had no issues since. It was worth the $200 pirce difference to have one that I an trust to work when I need it to.
 
I think it came from Northern Tool, actually, but their Chinese tools come from the same factories as HF's Chinese tools...
 
(quoted from post at 07:48:10 08/28/15) I think it came from Northern Tool, actually, but their Chinese tools come from the same factories as HF's Chinese tools...

Yes, it is all the same stuff. Northern tool USED to have fairly good stuff. NOT any more. Once again, the bean counters have prevailed.
 
I required a THERMOSTAT top Rad hose Casting for my Ferguson TEA -20. Finally a supplier contacted me and consequently I purchased TWO. The Aluminum casting LOOKED perfect.............NO. I had to add A 1/8" SHIM AS THE MOUNTING HEIGHT WAS TO SHALLOW. The second housing Looked great...........NO. When the engine was filled with coolant the housing leaked. When I probed the casting it was porous! Yes I was able to use a space age epoxy and made a repair as good as new ....but why.
There are times when it's hard to under stand that corporations left USA and CANADA to have there products made off shore, only to flood the USA and CANADA markets with substandard quality. Yes I have shopped around, yes I have returned goods. An example is: I required all components to replace all timing sprockets, chain and clutch components for a TEA-20 Tractor. When the parts arrived some components were produced in South East Asia, others from Israel, and two components from Australia.
I had to rework one component and why should I? Well the quality control sure as heck is not the same in each one of these locations. I've found the quality from AUSTRAILA and ISREAL is excellent.
 
if it is running full power, hook a shut-off at its inlet.
use it in places where you don't want to mess up your good one.

I have a 3/8 air ratchet..repaired many times, it has earned its keep.
no more parts available.
it runs all the time slowly now when you plug in the air,
press the trigger and it works, but weak.
I use it on oilpan bolts where weak is good.
 
If it is from Harbor Freight, show it to them, Being obviously new, I bet they replace it no matter how long you have had it.
 
" But geez, don't they test these things -- even for a second -- at the factory? "

It seems factories in China, like in the USA, have very different quality standards, some great, some terrible or non existent.

One surprise, I bought a 5 pack of plastic sprayer bottles with squeeze pumps at TSC for $5. for a doller, I did not expect much, but I expected at least a couple to work.
I took the pack of pump bottles from the unheated garage ( outside temp was around 0 F) and filled one with water, the pump would not work, tried another, same result. Chinese crap :(
When I grabbed the third, I noticed a bit of ice in the bottle, thats when it dawned on me that the Chinese company had put a bit of water in each bottle and tested the pump. The reason they did not work now was that the water in the pump was frozen. I held the pumps under warm water for a bit, all 5 worked perfectly as the Chinese tester had proven at the factory. Just lucky that my allowing them to freeze did not wreck the pumps.
 
(quoted from post at 09:24:51 08/28/15) Two things I don't buy : power tools at garage sales, and air tools at H-F. Why because I did once and got junk.

I HAVE purchased power tools, air tools, etc. at auctions, but only if no one else was bidding, and the final price was an extreme bargain. Also, the power tool HAS to be a name brand with a good reputation. Lately there have been quite a few Harbor-Freight type tools showing up on estate auctions. Most of those are still in the original package, never been used, and a few show slight useage. Those tools always seem to find a new owner, but I refuse to even bid on such things.
 
Rustyfarmall,I wouldn't cry over H.F tools. We bought a 5ft drillpress from them folks, problem showed up almost right away> Pulley slipped when adjusting r.p.m's. called em and they said bring it back and they would exchange it for a new one. Only problem was, the store was over 100miles south of us,told them to send us the part for it and I would replace it. The spindle shaft had a sleeve with threads on it that cracked and the nut wouldn't tighten the pulley. They sent me a new sleeve and I installed it with lock tight and it has been going ever since. It did all the holes on the OC 46 track pads, a bunch of heavy hole cutting (hole saw) thru 1- 1/2" solid steel, plus bunches of heavy drilling and never skipped a beat. I suggest to either repair the stuff or exchange it for new that works. Even name brand things don't work out of the box, as a example I have a snap on ratchet that just refuses to lock in either forward or reverse, this is from years ago, we bought it new from them. For our money it's worthless,and have to find a dealer to try an exchange it is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I say don't complain, fix it, if possible.

Today we just changed an engine (Briggs and Stratton) on a agri fab leaf vacuum, the engine was junk, every year it needed work to just get it going, one year the push rods would fall out, the next year the carb and fuel line gummed up and quit, another year we had to rock the whole engine to keep it running while vacuuming the up the leaves, that was the last straw. We bought a Harbor freight predator engine and had to cut the sleeve on the fan wheel blade and put a new 3/4" sleeve bushing on it. We cut it and welded it in, instead of crying about it, we fixed it. The engine fires up first time and works great. People just don't show enough fortitude to fix something, they would rather pizz and moan about it. JMHO,and I'm stuck with it.
LOU
 
I agree, I have many HF electric and air tools, use them hard and have good luck with them.
One thing I always do with any HF electric tool, is to run them for at least 5 minutes WITHOUT LOAD, so they have time to seat brushes and run in bearings / bushings. For the money, they serve me well.
 
I have some horse shoeing tools that are made in Australia. These are really good tools. I also have some made in the USA. The same tool from Australia has a better feel, works better and stays sharper much longer than the USA one. Mustad is the Australian brand. They are well made tools. But, I agree you can find good and bad in everything.
 
(quoted from post at 09:52:10 08/28/15)
It came from Harbor Freight, right? Several years ago I bought a 3/8" air impact from them. Hooked the air hose to it and found that the air just went right through the thing. The trigger did nothing. I threw it on the scrap heap and vowed to never again set foot in a Harbor Freight store, and I refuse to visit their website.

Was that enough to scare HF straight ?
 
(quoted from post at 06:31:15 08/29/15)
(quoted from post at 09:52:10 08/28/15)
It came from Harbor Freight, right? Several years ago I bought a 3/8" air impact from them. Hooked the air hose to it and found that the air just went right through the thing. The trigger did nothing. I threw it on the scrap heap and vowed to never again set foot in a Harbor Freight store, and I refuse to visit their website.

Was that enough to scare HF straight ?

Makes no difference to me. Harbor-Freight is targeting customers who do not make a living with tools, and wouldn't recognize high quality if it jumped up and bit them on the nose. There is a very broad customer base that fits that description. Harbor-Freight will be around for a long, long time.
 
Yeah, I remember when a US firearms dealer was working with Norinco in China to build the old Winchester Model 97 shotguns to fill the demand for CAS. It took him quite a few trips to China to impress upon them that it was expected that the stupid things actually worked. Once the slant-eye-guys got it through their heads what level of workmanship was required, they started building some very good 97's.
 

Well, you can buy a $25.00 HF tool, degrease it, tweak it and maybe polish the innards and it will work. Or you can buy a $250.00 name brand tool, degrease it, tweak it and maybe polish the innards and it will work. Just cause it 'cuz it has a good old American name (Dewalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee) doesn't mean it isn't made in the same province as the HF job. QC may be a bit higher, but pretty much everything is made in China these days. Thats what happens when you price you labor out of the market and punish the company with ruinous taxes and regulation.
 
(quoted from post at 05:46:08 08/31/15)
Well, you can buy a $25.00 HF tool, degrease it, tweak it and maybe polish the innards and it will work. Or you can buy a $250.00 name brand tool, degrease it, tweak it and maybe polish the innards and it will work. Just cause it 'cuz it has a good old American name (Dewalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee) doesn't mean it isn't made in the same province as the HF job. QC may be a bit higher, but pretty much everything is made in China these days. Thats what happens when you price you labor out of the market and punish the company with ruinous taxes and regulation.

If it doesn't work right out of the box, it goes back to where it was sold. If you "tweak" it any, the warranty is voided.
 
May he could go to Marlin and tell them the same thing about their Marlin 1895s - only without the language barrier.....
 
(quoted from post at 10:09:05 08/31/15)
(quoted from post at 05:46:08 08/31/15)
Well, you can buy a $25.00 HF tool, degrease it, tweak it and maybe polish the innards and it will work. Or you can buy a $250.00 name brand tool, degrease it, tweak it and maybe polish the innards and it will work. Just cause it 'cuz it has a good old American name (Dewalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee) doesn't mean it isn't made in the same province as the HF job. QC may be a bit higher, but pretty much everything is made in China these days. Thats what happens when you price you labor out of the market and punish the company with ruinous taxes and regulation.

If it doesn't work right out of the box, it goes back to where it was sold. If you "tweak" it any, the warranty is voided.

Yes, you can do that too. I just don't have time to run 45 miles back and forth trading in tools.
 
(quoted from post at 05:31:44 09/01/15)
(quoted from post at 10:09:05 08/31/15)
(quoted from post at 05:46:08 08/31/15)
Well, you can buy a $25.00 HF tool, degrease it, tweak it and maybe polish the innards and it will work. Or you can buy a $250.00 name brand tool, degrease it, tweak it and maybe polish the innards and it will work. Just cause it 'cuz it has a good old American name (Dewalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee) doesn't mean it isn't made in the same province as the HF job. QC may be a bit higher, but pretty much everything is made in China these days. Thats what happens when you price you labor out of the market and punish the company with ruinous taxes and regulation.

If it doesn't work right out of the box, it goes back to where it was sold. If you "tweak" it any, the warranty is voided.

Yes, you can do that too. I just don't have time to run 45 miles back and forth trading in tools.

Neither do I. Which is the reason I do not shop at Harbor Freight or Northern Tools in the first place.
 
(reply to post at 02:51:14 08/29/15)

Today we just changed an engine (Briggs and Stratton) on a agri fab leaf vacuum, the engine was junk, every year it needed work to just get it going, one year the push rods would fall out, the next year the carb and fuel line gummed up and quit, another year we had to rock the whole engine to keep it running while vacuuming the up the leaves, that was the last straw.

I've had an Agri Fab vac/chipper with B&S engine for many years and it has worked flawlessly. We don't baby it and it still starts and runs like a new one, every time.
 

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