Would you avoid cotter pin assortments from Home Depot?

[reader2580]

I see Home Depot has a set of 100+ cotter pins for just over $5. Are these going to be any lesser quality than buying cotter pins individually at a hardware store? Menards also has a 500 piece assortment for about $6.

I am going to use these for things like replacing cotter pins on my riding mower. I really don't know that there is a lot of stress on any of the cotter pins, but I wouldn't to break something because a cheap cotter pin broke.

 

[wayne55]

I definitely don't think you'll have a problem on a mower. I've been using the Harbor Freight ones for years.

 

[T_R]

I wouldn't hesitate. I have never seen a failed cotter pin. I doubt it's an issue.

 

[38 Dodge Coupe]

Ditto on previous responses.

 

[c39er]

The only thing I notice on these cheap Chinese pin assortment sets is some of the pin sizes don't fit the wheel bearing nut holes and other things (shift Rod linkages) .
I like the pins to fit/fill the holes properly.

I ended up buying boxes of all the proper sizes I needed and gave up on the good deal cheap assortment.

I end up buying the proper sized ones I need from a local hardware supply.

 

[mrvm]

Those "special" cotter pins are probably made from the same imported factory that supplies HF, HD, Lowes or the local hardware store. Quality differences for a mower are probably insignificant.

 

[larry_g]

I get my assortments at the NAPA store. They have them behind the counter with the good stuff.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[thomascreation]

If you use it on a threaded nut I wouldn't be the least bit worried. Hell, I have a bent over nail in place of a cotter pin on my riding mower holding wheel nut on....

 

[Richard Cranium]

why not get the 500 pcs set for a dollar more? Why pay 5.00 for 100+

 

[marinusdees]

On the farm, before you were born, we used baling wire, or, for uptown, a bent nail.

It' not brain surgery.

 

[DIC]

why not get the 500 pcs set for a dollar more? Why pay 5.00 for 100+

Yea what he said

 

[reader2580]

I did end up buying the 600 piece set from Menards. I hope the sizing is accurate enough for what I am doing. I remember my dad buying a set of nuts and bolts made in China in the 80s and none of the nuts fit any standard sized bolts. Sizing on China stuff is generally better now.

I have an older commercial riding mower. It has many places where a cotter pin is used without a nut. The traction pedal has a whole bunch of parts all with cotter pins. I have to take it all apart to replace the bushings due to wear. (At least they used bushings.) It also uses cotter pins on some big pins that are used to hold the implements on. I am in the middle of changing from the mowing deck to the snowblower.

 

[bwringer]

Get the big honkin' assortment so you're covered, but for stuff you do often, it's well worth finding out the correct size and ordering a box from McMaster-Carr.

For example, sure, the assortment cotter pins will work OK on my Japanese motorcycles, but the correct metric sizes fit exactly right and don't stick out too far.

You could also order up stainless steel pins if you're extra-picky.

 

[rburke65]

Never have I seen a voter pin fail. I think you'll be ok.

 

[four.cycle]

Hell, I have a bent over nail in place of a cotter pin on my riding mower holding wheel nut on....

I've gotten trade-in lawnmowers where people have replaced cotter pins and hairpin clips with bent nails, wire, and bread-twisties.
Ain't no big thing.
It's a lawnmower. You're not working on a Jag V12 or a Porsche 911.

 

[lh4x4]

I buy all the various store house supplies. I get one supply at a time and use a 20% off coupon along with the free gift coupon.

Over the 25 years of doing that I simply never had a problem with sizes or quality. The chrome nyloc nut set is the best. Each size nut comes with two thread counts. Use them on all my motorcycles.

The led flashlights, tape measures, tarps, multi meters and other items on the free coupons have been used as gifts. Still have dozens of each item.

The E clips, circlips, cotter pins, nuts, washers and vast variety of other store house supplies have keep me going without needing to run to the stores many times.

 

[jeff000]

I remember my dad buying a set of nuts and bolts made in China in the 80s and none of the nuts fit any standard sized bolts. Sizing on China stuff is generally better now.

It's called metric.

 

[SMKS]

It's called metric.

That's the first thing I thought, too.

 

[rayra]

what sort of 'quality' does the OP imagine is in a cotter pin in the first place? And they are typically in non-critical applications, not under a lot of stress or shearing force. Or else it would be a more robust fastener / pin.

 

[Throbbin Rods]

I try to avoid even driving past Home Depot - just my .02

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have a couple of the "assortment" boxes from HF. Invariably, they give you a large quantity of the sizes you don't particularly use (small) and fewer of the ones you do use more often (medium-large).

 

[LumpyMusic]

I used to buy cheap cotter pins. But I found I had to use extra tool polish to get them up to spec. So now I just wait for the tool truck and pay $11 for three pins. They come pre-polished.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[Squankum]

I have nothing constructive to contribute (which is not news) but I just want to say thanks to youse guys for making this place so cool. I'd been wondering about cotter pin quality myself. I didn't think there was a way that HF could screw it up, but you never know... I'll relax a little on this bit of hardware.


.

 

[rcktsled]

You're not working on a Jag V12

Yeah, bent over nails and bread twisties would be a major improvement over most of the stuff used in a Jaguar V12...

 

[reader2580]

It's called metric.

It was a long time ago, but I am pretty sure the fasteners were just **** and fit neither SAE nor metric.

 

[jeff000]

It was a long time ago, but I am pretty sure the fasteners were just **** and fit neither SAE nor metric.

I'd be highly suspect that they were out of spec on the threads. China has been using the same equipment as the US for fasteners since WWII.

 

[elba]

A good hardware store will have stainless pins ( hard to bend ) and aviation pins are cad plated

 

[nadogail]

I would buy one, except I have already bought the Harbor Freight cotter key set.

 

[ZRX61]

For example, sure, the assortment cotter pins will work OK on my Japanese motorcycles, but the correct metric sizes fit exactly right and don't stick out too far.

Cotter pins shouldn't *stick out* at all.

 

[rburke65]

LumpyMusic....$11 for 3 cotton pins! Good for you!

 

[GYPSY400]

15 years of wrenching professionally. . Never seen a failed cottor pin.. although i dont reuse them on crucial set ups.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

[lonestarky]

There's a whole bunch of specs for split pins, you'd be surprised how the Honda power equipment spec reads, radii, steel types, etc. Either way, just get something zinc plated, and if you can get something from an industrial supply place, they'll have 0.0003" or greater zinc which is far more corrosion resistant than commercial 0.0002" or less. There is a difference, but not one you'd notice other than in corrosion resistance. Www.shamrockexpress.com may have something too.

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[bwringer]

Cotter pins shouldn't *stick out* at all.

I mean when you insert the cotter pin, the ones from the assortments are often much longer than needed and stick out (before bending) a lot further than the originals. Sure, you can cut them or bend the extra length out of the way, but it looks sloppy. On a dirtbike axle, for example, long tails on a cotter pin can snag you when you're working on the bike or when you crash. Plus, true metric pins fit better than the inch-size assortment pins.

Not a huge deal, but properly sized cotter pins are a nice detail to get right.

 

[maxpower_hd]

I haven't seen a "failed" cotter pin but I have seen plenty that rot/rust away. Mostly on the underside of tractor trailers on slack adjuster clevis pins. We replace them when noticed during a PM or repairs. I don't buy ours so I can't attest to quality differences.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

When looking at any of these assortments; if they are made in China, you may as well shop for the lowest price/quantity.

Menards, Napa, HF, Home Depot, X,Y,Z... Has anyone noticed any difference in size or quality of the pins and pieces in these assortment kits from the various vendors?

I have a Heinz 57 assortment of kits with cotter pins, brass washers, set screws, fuses, four kits of "o" rings, and so on.... These kits have done an ok job for Me as far as keeping a good assortment of these small parts and supplies on hand.

If nothing in the assortment kits seems to work or fit properly, I head for Ace Hardware..

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have an assortment set that came from somewhere, probably that same factory as the rest of them. The few that I have used haven't broke or came out yet that I know of. For all I knowm the one that I gave to the ODOT driver a few Winters ago for the snow plow is probably still in use.

 

[GYPSY400]

I haven't seen a "failed" cotter pin but I have seen plenty that rot/rust away. Mostly on the underside of tractor trailers on slack adjuster clevis pins. We replace them when noticed during a PM or repairs. I don't buy ours so I can't attest to quality differences.

I have to agree with you on that.. seen lots rusted to nothing, but usually the pin is seized in the clevis.. if i were a truck owner, a stainless cotter would be money well spent in this case as it would make removal a lot less Labour intensive.

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[four.cycle]

I would never buy a cotter pin "assortment" because I know that somewhere out in my garage is a lunch-bag sized brown paper sack that contains about a thousand cotter pins of various sizes which were all dumped into one bag when we pulled the inventory out of one of the stores.
If I ever find it I will have cotter pins until hell freezes over.

 

[TractorJeff]

I bought an assortment box online to save me time from running to the Hardware Store(shame on me for not supporting a Local business). I find them to be of typical quality and all the fellows I repair equipment for have never complained either.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I would never buy a cotter pin "assortment" because I know that somewhere out in my garage is a lunch-bag sized brown paper sack that contains about a thousand cotter pins of various sizes which were all dumped into one bag when we pulled the inventory out of one of the stores.
If I ever find it I will have cotter pins until hell freezes over.

It's guaranteed to be in the last place you look.