Ratchet Guy
Well-known member
Does everybody knows that HF has their own test lab to test their tools, I've been buing their stuff for a while now and just found this one exist.
https://vimeo.com/123657685
https://vimeo.com/123657685
Harbor Freight test lab
- Thread starter Ratchet Guy
- Start date
B_Bimmer
Well-known member
Independent testing... At their lab... Which looks like an average community college. Fits right in at harbor fright.
toddoky
Well-known member
Kool-aid of a different flavor.
Notgrownup
Well-known member
Many of their tools have served me well. Just to be a homeowner and light user. If I was using them for work I would scrutinize it a bit more but for my situation it has done pretty good, don't get me wrong, if I get a good deal like I got around the holidays far Dewalt orbital sander or a Porter Cable lithium ion tool kit them I'm all over that.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Laugh all you like but Harbor Freight is going to blow everybody out of the water. I was in the electronic industry my entire career. I remember when Epson introduced their first dot matrix printer to the American market and all us said: "what a toy" we use real printers like IBM and Printronics these guys are strictly low end they'll never make top tier printers. Well Folks 5 years later most American printer manufactures were out of business. Look at the Daytona Jack and the new Earthquake impacts. Do you think these are one offs. NO THEY ARE NOT. Harbor Freight opening a testing lab, which at the present time looks a little funky, is just the tip off as to what they intend to do in the future. They will continue to go upscale and with the number of stores they have and the buying power they have they are going to take dead aim at Snap-On, Mac and everybody else. It will take five years but by then when you need to buy a tool you're going to be going to Harbor Freight, maybe because there will be few other choices. I've seen this movie before and I can tell you how it ends.
AnEv942
Well-known member
Curious where was it even suggested this was an 'independent' test facility, not owned and run by Harbor Freight?
Pretty sure many of the tools I've purchased from HF didn't make it thru any Quality Control facility.
bmrisko
Well-known member
Based on just how I have seen HF evolve over the past 20 years since I started shopping there, I would tend to agree with you.
Funny story, the 4.5" angle grinder I bought 20 years ago to work on my Jeep with is still going strong today...yes, there is still tons of **** in HF, but you can notice items that have improved or are perfectly adequate tools for what they do.
Lol D, the first thing that popped into my head was even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.
They serve you pretty well if they WORK AT ALL. Light or heavy use is not the issue. Some of the stuff is DOA right out of the box. It took two tries to get a working scale. I just returned a lawn tractor lift that had a broken hydraulic pump from the git go. I bought a caster with inflatable tire that wouldn't hold air. I have other stuff like the big 44" tool chest set that I really like except for the small dent that was under the undamaged packaging. My Earthquake impact wrench was a bargain. Their quality control is a joke. The idea of a lab makes me laugh. In spite of many reviews complaining of the cheap plastic knobs breaking on their air conditioning manifold gauge set, they still break. You just have to face the fact that the quality is all over the place. Some stuff is junk, some is OK if you get a good one or are willing to exchange for a good one. Some stuff is actually quite good. You have to be a very careful buyer to enjoy their "bargains".
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The reason heavier duty printers were pushed out is because it became cheaper to buy a throw away. They are toys and not made to last. You can get a printer for under 100 bucks. Cheap junk often drives good stuff out of the market. Given the choice, people put price and bells and whistles features over durability or repairability. I remember when electronic equipment was nade of solid materials and could be disassembled for repair. Today every thing snaps together ir is glued or sonically welded plastic and never intended to be repaired.
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These interesting thread response always seem to highlight the level of denial, of the average biased tool consumer.
Hf sells $2 billion a year, so the thought of any type of quality control or performance testing, is completely out of the question.
Hf sells $2 billion a year, so the thought of any type of quality control or performance testing, is completely out of the question.
Lol D, the first thing that popped into my head was even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.
When I read the thread title, this is the first thing that popped into my head:
...wasn't too far off.
B_Bimmer
Well-known member
They said it in the video. "No one else does this level of independent testing" or some such marketing drivel. I'm not going to listen again, it was cheesy enough the first time.
txvwnut
Well-known member
They've had a QC lab for quite a while now, I think it's close to 20 years its been operation. I remember reading an article about in one of the many hobby mags I used to get. It surprised me that they had a QC lab as most of the stuff you go was total knock off ****. I don't buy many things from HF but when I do I don't expect to get lifetime type usage out of it, if it gets through the job it was intended for and was cheaper than renting then it's a homerun to me and qualifies as a good purchase.
justanengineer
Well-known member
All this, yet the quality of tools they sell keeps falling and the price rising.
I miss HF of decades past as I do Sears, when you could actually buy some good quality industrial items for a decent price.
I miss HF of decades past as I do Sears, when you could actually buy some good quality industrial items for a decent price.
When I read the thread title, this is the first thing that popped into my head:
...wasn't too far off.
And just when was that??
Narddog
Well-known member
Hahaha hahaha! Nope, I don't buy it for a second. Everything I've ever bought from there has turned immediately to smoking ashes in my hands. There are certain things you can buy from them relatively safely. Zip ties that won't be stressed much, kits with things like washers that you can't really mess up. Anything with moving parts however, once the HF version breaks you are going to have to buy a good one anyways, might as well just get the right one first and save the time, money, and frustration.
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wvrailroader
Well-known member
The HF a/c manifold set I have has aluminum knobs as does every set I have seen there for the past few years. They at least improved that lol.
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PelicanPines
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I love when people say "Knurled"
LOL. Took 'em long enough. There used to be pages of reviews saying, "It works great when I turn the valve with my vise grips".The valve stem was so skinny, the plastic knob couldn't take the stress.
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yamaha0343
Well-known member
entertaining post!As someone else also alluded to, cheap printers and expensive supplies overran the market. Printers became disposable.
I have looked at the Daytona jack, especially Hiball's teardown. Hiball, who's forgotten more about jacks than most of us will ever know, pointed out that they use a crappy oring seal on the pump. In fairness, he pointed out that he didn't know if the Snap On was any better as he wasn't spending the money on one before the HF nuts ran him off the thread.
This "lab" looks like they rented some office space to shoot a commercial. I got a chuckle at how they were testing all of their toolboxes (which admittedly, I actually like) empty, as if that signifies real world use. Same goes with testing floor jacks with no load.
And as far as HF overtaking the world, aiming at Snap On and Mac, and putting everyone else out of business:
I like Harbor Freight for what they are, but you've earned a 'Come on, man!'
AnEv942
Well-known member
Thanks, about 0:40, missed that.
Totally unrelated to this thread but just had to comment because I guess I've never seen you post before. Love the avatar and handle, I am too. Also another Tennessee resident checking in.
Continue with the HF bashing...
I think I saw that work bench in my local HF but a leg was busted and the hammer was missing. Lol.
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It is herasy to say anything bad about Snap On. Those guys genuflect when the truck goes by.
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Zeke
Well-known member
IIRC, HF has been testing tools for some time now. This is probably a new facility and a PR grab. HF has become a boutique these days and you can find the same stuff for less at local import wholesale distributors in most major markets.
See here for an example. And if you open a cash account you get 15 to 25% off those prices.
See here for an example. And if you open a cash account you get 15 to 25% off those prices.
Revelations
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
- Messages
- 274
[emoji23]When I read the thread title, this is the first thing that popped into my head:
...wasn't too far off. [emoji38]_hitti
Sent from a Galaxy far far away.
vettex2
Banned
I'm more concerned about QA.
This is CHINESE plastic. Not everybody overtightens but every other review was about broken knobs. HF is not SnapOn or Robinaire. If I broke an HF socket would you be saying l over torqued it because a Snap On socket would not have broken. It is nice to know that HF is now comperable to Snap On
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As someone else also alluded to, cheap printers and expensive supplies overran the market. Printers became disposable.
I have looked at the Daytona jack, especially Hiball's teardown. Hiball, who's forgotten more about jacks than most of us will ever know, pointed out that they use a crappy oring seal on the pump. In fairness, he pointed out that he didn't know if the Snap On was any better as he wasn't spending the money on one before the HF nuts ran him off the thread.
This "lab" looks like they rented some office space to shoot a commercial. I got a chuckle at how they were testing all of their toolboxes (which admittedly, I actually like) empty, as if that signifies real world use. Same goes with testing floor jacks with no load.
And as far as HF overtaking the world, aiming at Snap On and Mac, and putting everyone else out of business:
I like Harbor Freight for what they are, but you've earned a 'Come on, man!'
Without any preconceived bias, He did a review on a Chinese-made floor jack and the worst thing he could say about it was that it "had a crappy o-ring"?
I looked at one for the first time at HF, yesterday. It looked like a floor jack. A very nice floor jack.
I have two of their "cheap" ones, that have worked perfect for years, but the more expensive Daytona, is probably just a big heavy dog.
Might Depend on how long Americans continue to have less money.
HF annual revenue $2.3B
Snap on annual revenue $3.5B
May not put them out of business, but certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Let's not mention Craftsman.
panknuckshovel
Well-known member
HF testing is nothing more than
1. Does this supplier make this **** tool cheaper than the previous supplier?
2. Does this cheaper supplier make the **** tool look like previous suppliers **** tool?
3. If new supplier is cheaper, print the coupon and go find an even cheaper supplier.
1. Does this supplier make this **** tool cheaper than the previous supplier?
2. Does this cheaper supplier make the **** tool look like previous suppliers **** tool?
3. If new supplier is cheaper, print the coupon and go find an even cheaper supplier.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Let me put it to you this way. I worked in the semiconductor industry, the highest level of technology on Earth. All of us thought that America would rule the world of semiconductors forever as we were God's chosen people. No way anybody could beat us. Then during the 1970's Japan became a world power in semiconductors and in the 1980's Korea became one and in the 1990's Taiwan's government basically financed Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc. which is now the world's #1 silicon foundry. Only Intel and to a lesser extent TI and Global Foundries (owned by Dubai) still have substantial semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. China makes more high end chips than we do by a lot.
Come on, man! you say. I say why don't you take a look at recent history. If China can build I-phones and semiconductors do you honestly think that building something high quality made of steel and plastic is out of their reach. Come on, man.
Harbor Freight has the size and the number of retail outlets now in Phoenix that Sears use to have in this city. They can easily, as they have already demonstrated, go upscale with their product's quality.
Be as blind and stupid as we were in the semiconductor industry. Autel, made in China, is already undercutting Snap-On's scanner business by a factor of 4. There is little question that the Maxisys is hurting Verus sales. It's just about as good and cost 1/4th the price. Harbor Freight is positioned to do the same in hand tools. This will not occur overnight obviously, neither did the movement of the semiconductor industry to Asia, but give it five years, as I've previously stated and a lot of people on this forum will be eating crow.
Come on, man! you say. I say why don't you take a look at recent history. If China can build I-phones and semiconductors do you honestly think that building something high quality made of steel and plastic is out of their reach. Come on, man.
Harbor Freight has the size and the number of retail outlets now in Phoenix that Sears use to have in this city. They can easily, as they have already demonstrated, go upscale with their product's quality.
Be as blind and stupid as we were in the semiconductor industry. Autel, made in China, is already undercutting Snap-On's scanner business by a factor of 4. There is little question that the Maxisys is hurting Verus sales. It's just about as good and cost 1/4th the price. Harbor Freight is positioned to do the same in hand tools. This will not occur overnight obviously, neither did the movement of the semiconductor industry to Asia, but give it five years, as I've previously stated and a lot of people on this forum will be eating crow.
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Re the no weight in the tool box comment: I believe i saw that the drawers had a plain piece of steel supposedly representing the typical weight of tools in a drawer. I don't know how they arrive at that weight since I, like most guys, just fill the drawer up with tools.
I have seen the steel piece representing tool weight in display boxes.
KEH
I have seen the steel piece representing tool weight in display boxes.
KEH