Is Harbor Freight turning a corner?

[57JoeFoMoPar]

Let me be clear, this is not a thread to bash higher priced tools.

Years back when HF was newer and less prominent, it seemed that what you got from HF was a known: low quality tools that were barely home-owner grade, that were intended to be used once and then discarded. The low price made this appealing. You buy the tool for the price of a rental, it usually got the job done to a minimal degree and then if you got any more out of it, it was a bonus.

However, it seems now that while HF still offers the low cost, low quality, minimally effective tool, they now offer a higher priced option of the same tool of decent/good quality that performs comparably to a far higher priced competitor.

Certain examples that come to mind are their 44" cabinet that has been a favorite on here and the Earthquake XT impact gun. Now they're offering a new line of Vulcan welders, as well as Hercules and Bauer branded cordless drills and impacts.

So it begs the question, has HF turned a corner? Can we not look at HF as a solely as a low budget, low quality supplier, but as one that offers high quality, viable alternatives to the major brands?

 

[M1Firehawk]

Harbor freight is filling the void that Craftsman is leaving behind

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

 

[zendriver]

It's not Harbor Freight, it's the entire Chinese product manufacturing market in general.

They are no longer cobbling something together in some barn. Their factories are some of the most advanced in the world.

Snap On has manufacturing facilities in China, for foreign markets and it's doubtful, they are turning out ****** tools.

It takes some manufacturing nuts to build an 80" LED HDTV. Apparently they are getting some.

LG, Samsung Display feel heat from little-known Chinese LCD makers

BOE Technology is now planning to raise 46 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) in the biggest Chinese equity offering this year, to build panel production lines and increase its stake in its LCD venture BOE Display Technology.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...nown-chinese-lcd-makers-idUSBRE98F0XW20130916

HF is selling better stuff - at higher prices of course, because that's what's now available.

 

[M_George]

One thing is for sure, they have definitely taken more that their fair share of the tool market. Don't forget their Pittsburgh Pro line of tools with the lifetime warranty. They are comparable to the Husky and Kobalt lines.

 

[Ign]

http://toolguyd.com/harbor-freight-pro-tool-push-2017/

Although apparently Bauer can be had at a better deal on Amazon

 

[ddawg16]

It's the normal cycle....

In the 70's, the joke was "Made in Japan"
In the 80's, the joke was "Made in Taiwan"
In the 90's, the joke was "Made in Korea"
In the 2000's, the joke was "Made in China"

The current joke (and truth)....if you talk to a customer support person....you know they are in India. They all know English....work hard and are sharp....

Is "Made in India" next?

Let's just hope "Made in America" never becomes a joke. We can't sit on our *** and ride the wave. Otherwise, that wave will end and we end up stranded on the beach.

 

[zendriver]

http://toolguyd.com/harbor-freight-pro-tool-push-2017/

Although apparently Bauer can be had at a better deal on Amazon

Amazon does not give away free tape measures and magnetic parts holders.

 

[American Locomotive]

My big problem with HF is they still don't stand behind their products. I still see it happen all the time on here. Someone tries to get information or support on a product that was discontinued 2-3 years ago and they can't. HF corporate will just claim they don't have any record of that tool existing.

 

[Hawk]

My big problem with HF is they still don't stand behind their products. I still see it happen all the time on here. Someone tries to get information or support on a product that was discontinued 2-3 years ago and they can't. HF corporate will just claim they don't have any record of that tool existing.

I have NEVER had that problem, and I have been using Harbor Freight from when it was only mail order. The local managers will willingly replace any product with the nearest product of the same tool if the original has been discontinued. I still have some of the mail order tools.

 

[turnthewrench]

So it begs the question, has HF turned a corner?

More tool buyers are turning the corner to make it to Harbor Freight.

Harbor freight is filling the void that Craftsman is leaving behind

Because of this.

 

[jonesg]

http://toolguyd.com/harbor-freight-pro-tool-push-2017/

Although apparently Bauer can be had at a better deal on Amazon

Don't know but I suspect the bauer and blue Hercules will be phased out. This from reviews of the internals.
The Hercules especially cannot compete with their own earthquake XT tools. I was in the store last week and they were pushing the Hercules line very hard, it looked like they were trying to just get rid of them.
The far superior earthquake xt lithium tools were nowhere to be found.

I finally discovered them in the air tool section, to me it seemed obvious they were holding the xt impacts back.
The xt review on YouTube prove compelling, they are better than anything out there. I still am very happy with my Milwaukee but the jig is up.

 

[Formula]

I'll never step foot in a harbor freight again. They smell of cheap tools is enough to make me sick.

Plus, you can't polish a turd as they say.

 

[kythri]

Snap On has manufacturing facilities in China, for foreign markets and it's doubtful, they are turning out ****** tools.

I can attest that they aren't, at least partially.

Among Snap-on's Chinese investments, they bought (or bought into) Zhejiang Wanda Tools, which specializes in pliers.

http://www.cccme.org.cn/shop/tools098/index.aspx

I bought a couple different pliers blister packs at Costco several years ago, and they're Wanda pliers. GREAT stuff. These were manufactured either immediately prior to Snap-on's investment or shortly thereafter. I can't imagine the quality is any less today.

 

[dnschmidt]

Harbor Freight is like the BORG. You will eventually be assimilated. I personally don't care where my tools come from but how they work. Obviously HF has decided to take on the big boys head to head (see Daytona jack) and with the number of stores that they have, and are growing every day, and the number of other retail outlets that still exist for buying tools (shrinking every day) they are going to win and win big. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!!

 

[-Brent-]

That corner they're turning is all well and good. But until they get distribution on a level of the big boys, they'll feed at the bottom.

 

[zendriver]

My big problem with HF is they still don't stand behind their products. I still see it happen all the time on here. Someone tries to get information or support on a product that was discontinued 2-3 years ago and they can't. HF corporate will just claim they don't have any record of that tool existing.

Most of their customers probably realize, that HF products are priced so, that if they fail, or have problems and don't have a lifetime warranty, they are pitched in the scrap pile and a replacement is purchased, either at HF, or somewhere else.

Personally, I have almost no HF products that have ever needed follow up service or parts, same as what I buy from anywhere else.

 

[Hpozzuoli]

We're just lowering our standards

 

[dogdog]

Most of the people doesn't realize that most name brand stuff that offer life time warranty is a scam as well.....

anyways HF have it's place in tools, I think their new line of products they are trying to change that image and stigma / blemish of its names associate with cheap tools, even though some of the tools are not. But there are a lot of misguided COO tool Zealots out there.

 

[dogdog]

Harbor Freight is like the BORG........ RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!!

LMFAO.... I guess you are a trekkie or you are going to scream trekker.

 

[-Brent-]

Most of the people doesn't realize that most name brand stuff that offer life time warranty is a scam as well.....

^ Truth!

 

[L.Cheapo]

So it begs the question, has HF turned a corner?

If so, I hope they're not driving on those non-conforming tires they just recalled.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

those magnet trays have always been pretty reliable and satisfactory. Wish i cold say the same about the darned tape measures.

 

[zendriver]

We're just lowering our standards

Personally, I have no doubt, most tools buyers would rather have something more higher end, than Harbor Freight, but there is that crazy ole thing called reality.

 

[buffalobill]

I wish my hf pail pump gave as good of service as their jack stands. It's abut the only thing of theirs I use somewhat regularly. I have one of their pry bars, it's got its place, I guess, but if I need to MOVE something, it's like a big spring, so out come the sk prybars....

 

[ex-x-fire]

A few years ago they said that we were getting a HF in town, I was like ok, which vacant build are they going to use. There were a few good buildings to put one in. Instead they built a new building. I was really surprised at that, its a nice store.

 

[Ign]

I’ve always said HF is the easiest and best way for a home gamer to get into shop equipment like presses, hydraulic carts, pallet jacks, gantrys, engine hoists, even floor jacks. I’ve even got their 50T press.

Their hand and power tools, meh

But this is nothing new.

 

[guitarbutt]

I've never had a problem with anything I've bought there. Most importantly, they're priced at a level that I can afford. It's a good place for us overworked & underpaid folks to buy tools to get stuff done. I don't care where my t shirts are made and I wear those almost every day, I don't care where my tools are made. I personally don't need expensive things to get stuff built/ taken apart, nor do I need to pay more for a name brand item that was likely made in the same Chinese factory as the HF stuff

 

[zendriver]

I’ve always said HF is the easiest and best way for a home gamer to get into shop equipment like presses, hydraulic carts, pallet jacks, gantrys, engine hoists, even floor jacks. I’ve even got their 50T press.

Their hand and power tools, meh

But this is nothing new.

The value of their hand tools are no different, than the rest of their products, IME.

People who can't, (or don't want to) spend $50, for a pair of Snap On dia cut pliers, can get a similar pair at HF for $5.

The HF pair I have, seem to work like dia cut pliers and have lasted great for several years. Are they the best? Don't really care.

Many others report similar results, with most of their HF hand tool purchases, apparently, they get the job done - which is what tools are supposed to be for, at an affordable cost,.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I had a few bad experiences and stopped going there for about 10 years. I still won't buy certain tools there. But, when a tool is needed and it's a significant price difference with no tangible performance difference for my purpose, I am not going to be fiscally irresponsible.

 

[6PTsocket]

My big problem with HF is they still don't stand behind their products. I still see it happen all the time on here. Someone tries to get information or support on a product that was discontinued 2-3 years ago and they can't. HF corporate will just claim they don't have any record of that tool existing.

Lack of support or spare parts and a 90 day refund or exchange warranty is a big part of their business model. If they had those things they would have to raise the price to near what the name brands go for. You have to decide how important that is to you. When they show those comparisons to Snap On, Honda and DeWalt, that part is not mentioned. Some customers don't care and for them HF might be a good deal. Also the extended warranties they sell make them less competitive if you have to pay for what others include in the price.

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[MSearider]

I think HF has a place. Some things I have bought there are just as solid and reliable as anything I could elsewhere. Other things, not so much. In all cases, I felt that I could reasonably tell the quality of the specific thing I was interested in at the store before I purchased it. The result is that there are times I was walked out without a thing and gone online or to a better source, other times, they had just what I needed. The moral to this story is that No place has everything for every need. Just like with tools, Pick the right supplier for the right tool, then you can have the right tool for the right job.

 

[MrGiggles]

I feel like they are pricing themselves out of the market with some of these "higher end" advertised power tools.

It's been proven by AvE that the Hercules line is nothing special, and nearly as expensive as the name brands, with a much shorter warranty period.

I'd just as rather buy a recondition Milwaukee for the same or less money.

As far as the Vulcan welders, say the feed motor or something goes south in 3 or 4 years, the chance of finding a replacement part is small. HF will probably have changed manufacturers two or three times in that period. All when you could have purchased a Miller or Lincoln for not much more.

 

[hangfirew8]

Personally, I have no doubt, most tools buyers would rather have something more higher end, than Harbor Freight, but there is that crazy ole thing called reality.

GDP is a metric that favors exporting countries, which we are, but not what we used to be. The fact we have recovered a bit in the GDP metric is an encouragement, but much of that recovery plowed money into automation, not into low paying manufacturing jobs. The winners there were engineers, technicians and skilled trades people.

The government switched to using GNP. Comparing either to household income, even divided by household? There are too many disconnects to make any sense of such a comparison. The real sadness there is not that one went up and the other didn't, but that household income wan't going up during the Great Recession. The last 5.5 years are missing from that chart. I'd really like to see that graphed. It's not unusual for household incomes to lag by a couple of years, as companies squeeze efficiencies first before hiring.

 

[sberry]

Back in the day a flea mkt had a junk 3$ adjustable and a Proto was 30, now BY want shopping and when a good wrench now cost 5 the 3 want by the wayside and is hard to find now. Wal-Mart did the same, a Stanley socket set is good and could be put in a different box and rebranded without question. A quite a bit of the H F is now the same way, their better 4 1/2 grinder is sold elsewhere under brand names and about as good as many DeWalts

 

[bharral]

,.c,


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[BUGSBUNNYBUILDER]

Their prices give many of us a chance to own tools we would never buy at higher prices.
What's funny to me are the
People who have never shopped there or owned a tool from there advice on what not to buy from there. ..
Slapping the label Cheap Junk just does not work for them any more..
Somebody has to be buying their stuff beacuse a lot of new stores are being built.

 

[General Geoff]

It's been proven by AvE that the Hercules line is nothing special, and nearly as expensive as the name brands, with a much shorter warranty period.

More recently still, AvE BOLTR'ed their new high torque, 1/2" drive cordless impact and was very impressed at its construction and performance.

 

[jrockford]

My big problem with HF is they still don't stand behind their products. I still see it happen all the time on here. Someone tries to get information or support on a product that was discontinued 2-3 years ago and they can't. HF corporate will just claim they don't have any record of that tool existing.

This is why I have a hard time believing their "high end" tools are a good buy. They are priced so close to their name brand competition and even then, some of their stuff is priced OVER their competition. We won't even talk about replacement parts, warranties, rebuilt kits etc.

I have NEVER had that problem, and I have been using Harbor Freight from when it was only mail order. The local managers will willingly replace any product with the nearest product of the same tool if the original has been discontinued. I still have some of the mail order tools.

This is what they are supposed to do. No experience with it personally (because I haven't given them the chance), but I've read it on here many of times.

 

[pepi]

Let me be clear, this is not a thread to bash higher priced tools.

Years back when HF was newer and less prominent, it seemed that what you got from HF was a known: low quality tools that were barely home-owner grade, that were intended to be used once and then discarded. The low price made this appealing. You buy the tool for the price of a rental, it usually got the job done to a minimal degree and then if you got any more out of it, it was a bonus.

However, it seems now that while HF still offers the low cost, low quality, minimally effective tool, they now offer a higher priced option of the same tool of decent/good quality that performs comparably to a far higher priced competitor.

Certain examples that come to mind are their 44" cabinet that has been a favorite on here and the Earthquake XT impact gun. Now they're offering a new line of Vulcan welders, as well as Hercules and Bauer branded cordless drills and impacts.

So it begs the question, has HF turned a corner? Can we not look at HF as a solely as a low budget, low quality supplier, but as one that offers high quality, viable alternatives to the major brands?

You can, it's your money spend (waste) it as you like, but the fact remains.

Put lipstick on a pig it is still a pig.

 

[IndyGarage]

Just in watching this message board over the past 5 years I can tell you that HF tools are becoming better suited to those who post here.

Either the tools are getting better, or folks are becoming more bargain shoppers - probably a bit of both.