Harbor Freight

[Chop Shop]

The greenhouse was $800 and we had a coupon for 25 percent off so it was just over $600 to get it out the door.

My sister just bought a "professional" greenhouse kit for $2200. It is the EXACT same kit except for one thing, it has glass panels instead of double layer insulated plastic. We even got a handfull of hangers that were for my sisters "bling" greenhouse that plug into the wall channels and turn to lock and then become a hanger. They fit in our HF kit perfect also.

After talking to greenhouse people it seems the insulated plastic is way better for a greenhouse. It seems that the glass panels change temperature quickly and get very hot and need special attention to vents and heat changes.

I really doubt cheap thin glass panes cost the $1600 difference.

 

[fieldsken1]

one word carp carp carp

 

[Mace]

one word carp carp carp

Everything there? wow cool...

 

[rusty_tlc]

one word carp carp carp

Do the math.

 

[titanpat57]

I don't want to consider myself a tool snob, I like a bargain as much as the next guy.....but all three things I bought from there failed or broke....lesson learned

 

[kbahus]

Harbor Freight is a strange place. I have found that most of their hand tools work pretty well on a day to day basis. I have some punches, dead blow, screw drivers, large sockets, and a wheel bearing service kit that have worked great for 3+ years of everyday shop use. Heck I have a 1/2" drive impact socket set that I have only broken two sockets with in the many years I have owned it while I have to warranty my Matco impact sockets all the time. I recently noticed that their new line of impact sockets look an awful lot like my Grey Pneumatic sockets, which also look identical to Matco's new line of impact sockets. It seems to be the electrical items that really suck like my heat gun that worked a couple times then melted.

 

[Mace]

4.99 tire iron. Worked awesome!!!! Or at least three of them did!

 

[Jacket]

Agree about the hand tools. I've got good use out of their screwdriver sets, hand sockets, extensions, swivels, and things like that.

I tried an "industrial" sawzall to cut my frame and it broke before 2 hours of use. I've blown out impact sockets, and their grinder and cutting blades scare me.

But more than anything, the people that I see in that place scare me. And I thought the DMV had a monopoly on the dregs of society....

 

[e9999]

just consider HF a useful exercise in shopping skills and good judgement . Great bargains there if one shops judiciously (I'm thinking for example simple hand tools and supplies). There are also items I would not dream of buying there.

 

[Chop Shop]

just consider HF a useful exercise in shopping skills and good judgement . Great bargains there if one shops judiciously (I'm thinking for example simple hand tools and supplies). There are also items I would not dream of buying there.

Exactly.

If you dont have to ability to look, think, and judge wisely then by all means stick to the tool truck raper.

 

[Chop Shop]

4.99 tire iron. Worked awesome!!!! Or at least three of them did!

I used to thnk that simple solid no moving, no electricity stuff was good from HF but.......

I am leary of anything with cutting teeth or prybars or impact sockets anymore.

Impact sockets should be so hard they break/split if they fail. Not at HF, I have a set of HF metric deepwells with about 3 sockets that have a nice "bell shape" to them from stretching them. I also noticed the 1/2 drive hole is all eat out cuz my impact is harder material and eating it up.

Just food for thought.

Were you being sarcastic about the tire irons or were they actually good? I would not take the chance on heat treated items like a tire iron without a recomendation first.

Its hard to find reasonable priced tire irons that dont bend the tips anymore.

 

[e9999]

I had a tire changer from HF that I bent the long rod on, while trying to change a normal car size tire, so yes, metal quality is an issue for some items.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I just bought the 20 ton shop press today and it looks great to me. Steel I-beam frame, decent arbor plates and a good bottle jack. I'm liking it so far, especially for $170 after the coupon!

 

[Mace]

Heat treated tire irons? Cast is more like it. At four bucks a piece, they are not for a tire shop. However, they were perfectly fine for the 10 times I mounted and dismounted these tires..

 

[Chop Shop]

Heat treated tire irons? Cast is more like it. At four bucks a piece, they are not for a tire shop. However, they were perfectly fine for the 10 times I mounted and dismounted these tires..

Those are forged steel. There is no way a cast tire iron could be made thin enough to work and not break right in half.

The rough look is form the forge dies. If you kill one somehow, cut it with a oxy acet torch and see if it cuts nice. Forged steel cuts and cast fizzles.

 

[Dell]

one friend had a 4 1/2" grinder that i could stop with a gloved hand,,,, it became a party trick but the motor burned out after a while.

was the arbor installed correctly ?...
goes on one way for the grinding wheel...
180* that sucker for the cut off wheel...

nawwww.... nobody could be that dumb

 

[wspastorbryan]

I love my 7" grinder from there. I buy the wheels for it elsewhere though.

 

[jynx]

I have a set of their 12 ton stands and they are heavy ****ers. I got them as a gift and oddly they are one of the few items that are actually more expensive than other brands. I want to get a set of torin stands to compare, but I am pretty satisfied with them. I know that some of the lower rated stands have given trouble for others, but these seem to be stout.

 

[llih]

Most of the stuff on the shelves, I wouldn't buy, but here are a few of my experiences: Airsaw and 3/8 air drill have been going strong for nearly 20 years. Step bit set for about $9 is the best money you'll spend ( I've been using the same set for over 3 years now). Deadblow hammers are great for the price ( sure they suck compared to my Snap-On's but they're probably less than 1/10 the price)

I second the step bits. Work great and are less then a 5th the cost of name brands. I pick up some every time they are on sale.

 

[llih]

The greenhouse was $800 and we had a coupon for 25 percent off so it was just over $600 to get it out the door.

My sister just bought a "professional" greenhouse kit for $2200. It is the EXACT same kit except for one thing, it has glass panels instead of double layer insulated plastic. We even got a handfull of hangers that were for my sisters "bling" greenhouse that plug into the wall channels and turn to lock and then become a hanger. They fit in our HF kit perfect also.

After talking to greenhouse people it seems the insulated plastic is way better for a greenhouse. It seems that the glass panels change temperature quickly and get very hot and need special attention to vents and heat changes.

I really doubt cheap thin glass panes cost the $1600 difference.

I don't know about the glass. It could be more then you think. It is more then likely tempered. The cost to replace a 16"x24" of tempered glass in my small green house was 20 bucks.

I was thinking of buying one of those. I read several reviews and most were complaining about the wind blowing the panels out. It seems most kits didn't have enough clips to securely fasten them in. There were also some complaints about the door. One reviewer said every time the wind blew either the door would come loose or he would have to walk the neighborhood to pick up panels.

Maybe you could post back up and let us know how it works in the long run. It certainly is a good deal if it holds together.