Mastercraft Tool Box Warranty Central

Advertisement They reached out first. (I had actually forgotten who reached out first, with the initial unpublished draft of this post inaccurately indicating that I had emailed them, wanting to know more. That’s how much my curiosity has grown; my eagerness to learn more led me to forget that they were faster in initiating the discussion.) Yesterday I spoke with Wes Harmelink, a VP at Harbor Freight Tools’ Global Quality and Product Development department. It was a rather open-topic conversation, touching upon quite a few different areas. I learned some things directly, such as there being are more tools on the way, but I also gained a sense of the culture, motivations, and happenings at Harbor Freight Tools as a whole right now.

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Looking for More Tool Coverage? You won’t find a lot of existing Harbor Freight content on ToolGuyd, and in a storage bin you’ll find a tool or two that I purchased over the years, for research purposes. I don’t recall ever buying any Harbor Freight tools for personal use.

There’s a reason for that. I learned a long time ago that I didn’t have time or money for junky tools. I was more interested in tools that would serve me well for years. And most anyone will tell you, Harbor Freight tools, at least many of their offerings, were considered disposable. They were suitable for a quick non-critical job or task, and cheap enough that you didn’t care if or when they failed. It’s a harsh generalization, but sums up how a lot of people feel about their tools. A few years ago, discussions of “Harbor Freight tools worth buying” cropped up on a couple of enthusiast forums.

These new Harbor Freight Hercules cordless power tools – they’re the tip of the spear of what’s to come. With new developments these past few years, Harbor Freight discovered that users are willing to spend more for higher quality tools. It was quickly obvious, speaking to Wes, that he is proud of the new tools, and of Harbor Freight’s direction. I do believe that the new Hercules tools, and some of the products we talked about, are about offering good quality and highly capable tools at affordable prices lower than typical pro brands can offer through their traditional retail channels.

I never before believed in Harbor Freight Tools’ slogan Quality Tools at Ridiculously Low Prices. Right now, I stand pretty convinced that they are currently working towards validating that slogan. Actions speak louder than words, and they’re taking all the right actions.

Harbor Freight has hired new talent, such as experienced tool designers, engineers, and experts. They’re testing their tools over time, ensuring they meet their performance and quality standards. They’re investing in quality components, such as name-brand chucks, motors, and other sub-components that many power tool manufacturers don’t produce themselves. They’re investing in change, and I’m told that we’ll see changes coming to stores as well. This is a lot of talk, now. I’m optimistic and hopeful.

Imagine that, I’m optimistic about Harbor Freight! Connect With Us: I still have more testing to do, but the Hercules drill and impact driver that I bought – they’re not bad. They’re not perfect either, but I am impressed., the only way to avoid failure is to not try at all. While the new Hercules tools aren’t perfect, they’re a good effort as a first attempt at good quality pro-grade cordless power tools. As even well-seasoned professional power tool makers have learned, getting tools produced and out in the hands of users is the only way to know what needs to be improved.

While I only spoke to one person at Harbor Freight Tools, Wes seems to be in the driver’s seat, helping to steer the company towards their new direction. And that new direction should scare other tool brands and manufacturers.

I don’t know what will happen. One year from now, two years from now, five years from now, what will we think about Harbor Freight tools? They believe in the changes they’re making, and the new tools that they’re coming out with were designed with quality and performance in mind. They’re investing in and working towards the concept that you can have tools that offer high performance, good quality, and affordable pricing. This new push has been a couple of years in the making, and is way bigger than I had anticipated. Upon learning of the new Hercules tools, I was very skeptical. Take a fresh look at my for a reminder.

I said things like: It’s hard to take these tools seriously, first given Harbor Freight’s reputation of cheap throwaway tools, but second because these look to be heavily copied designs. I also said: When a professional tool brand comes out with a new tool, thought has gone into each component. Every design aspect results from a deliberate decision. These new Hercules tools, as it turns out, are deliberately designed. These tools are an attempt to make high quality tools that would serve even pro users’ needs.

I honestly didn’t expect that, given Harbor Freight’s history and reputation. I always assumed that their Chicago Electric tools were slapped-together designs using readily available components and basic housings to hold them all together. Whether I was right or not, things are not that way with the new Hercules tools. Harbor Freight is doing airflow modeling, simulations, and testing to improve motor fan designs. They’re optimizing the grease for their impact driver mechanism. And working with top-shelf brands to build their Li-ion battery packs. Among other things.

These are signs that they’re undergoing a transformation. What do you think all this new in-house experience will amount to? Perhaps better and better tools. I am very excited to see where things are headed. My expectations have been raised, and I’m hoping that I won’t be disappointed. On the phone call, we talked about a few recent products that were similarly designed with quality, performance, reliability, and other such good things in mind.

The new breed of cordless power tools is a big push along that same path. These examples make it easier for me to feel optimistic, but more than that, the sense of pride at Harbor Freight is what convinced me. When you talk to someone at Harbor Freight who genuinely seems proud of the new and upcoming tools they have a hand in developing and steering, it’s hard not to be convinced. It’s going to be very interesting to see what Harbor Freight does next.

I am now not so much skeptical as I am cautious. Cautious, interested, and optimistic. I welcome it as well. I ‘own’ a lot harbor freight automotive tools that served their purpose a single time, and not sure if I could find them currentlybut they didn’t fail. But, at the same time, I’m assuming they’re up against Ryobiwho, imo at least, seem to dominate the affordable category, while also having cordless tools that ‘pro grade’ makers haven’t tried yet.

The only complaint I often read about Ryobi is them being stuck in the 18v stick pack category, which can ruin ergonomics on specific tools. They have a HUGE list of tools available, though.

Anyway, I hope Harbor Freight breaks new ground with this. The company has served me very well with cheap one off fixes for specific problems. If they can translate the same into cordless power tools for users that aren’t using them day in and day out, great. The reason Harbor Freight has thrived is because of the cheap tools they are looking to upgrade. I buy those “one use” tools (that generally are perfectly serviceable, and last much longer than one use) because I don’t need to use them every day, and I don’t want to spend the money on something I really don’t need more than once or at most a couple of times a year. I appreciate what they are trying to do, AS LONG AS they maintain their current lines of cheap tools.

Otherwise, I think Harbor Freight may be alienating their largest customer basepeople doing one time jobs, or people who just can’t afford something better. Trav I stay with there Pittsburg Pro line mfg in Taiwan.

Since Sears Craftsman is going down the tubes with few tools being made in the USA why not give the Pro line a look. I’ve purchased there Pro Ratchets 1/2 3/8 1/4, 1/2 Chrome Molly sockets and wrenches. I’ve beat the crap out of these tools at the pick and pull lot and have yet to break one.

I do stay away from there stuff that’s made in India and China most of the time. There 11 inch blue handle needle nose pliers 45 90 and straight are a great value with there no questions asked Lifetime Warranty replacement. I’m a bug Harbor Freight fan. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars there, probably thousands. I like a lot of their tools. The problem is that the Hercules cordless tools aren’t really cheaper than buying the equivalent Dewalt kit.

If you buy an extra battery & the 2 year warranty(which makes this almost an equal kit) you end up spending the same price as a Dewalt. Why would you pay the same money for an inferior, off brand tool. If your going to commit that kind of money, you will go with a proven professional tool. I’ve watched quite a few of so mentioned “Canadian guy” on YouTube programs (including the one which he disassembles the HF drill) Obviously you did not Bob. Otherwise you wouldn’t be asking if they were decent? Did you miss the part where he shows how the drill motor incorporates two “cheesy” soft inferior brushes which are housed in a light plastic housing, and uses an inadequate fan for cooling?

You didn’t catch the part how the tolerances of the shell housing halves are so mismatched that they don’t fit together? Surely you took note of the lousy battery pack included, which is falsely advertised as 50w hrs. Tested proved to be 33w hrs. Oh, I get it now, You had your hands over your ears so as not to hear all that foul mouthed garage banter of the way guys talk in the garage huh?

Trav I stay with there Pittsburg Pro line mfg in Taiwan. Since Sears Craftsman is going down the tubes with few tools being made in the USA why not give the Pro line a look. I’ve purchased there Pro Ratchets 1/2 3/8 1/4, 1/2 Chrome Molly sockets and wrenches. I’ve beat the crap out of these tools at the pick and pull lot and have yet to break one. I do stay away from there stuff that’s made in India and China most of the time.

There 11 inch blue handle needle nose pliers 45 90 and straight are a great value with there no questions asked Lifetime Warranty replacement. I have a number of HF tools that have done the job reliably. Download Easyworship Full Version. I’ve had to return ones that were DOA or broke in the first few days. Others have been working for years.

A number of them come with no lubrication. But if you are willing to tweak them, they can be good tools. The big question is, though, will they have REPAIR PARTS? Their owner’s manuals have a nice exploded diagram with parts named and labeled.

Try to BUY one of those parts, though! That’s why you eventually have to throw away some of their tools. What’s inside the case is more important to how long the tool will last in real world use and abuse than how much torque the tool puts out straight from the box, and how long a brand new battery works. And honestly even not considering what’s inside that plastic case, the availability of new batteries at a reasonable price for the foreseeable future is another big driving factor. If this ultimately fails to sell for a year, will HF keep making batteries when your batteries are worn out?

Dewalt, Makita, Ridgid, Milwaukee, Bosch, have all been making pro tools for YEARS, and we know none of them are going anywhere. HF’s probably not going anywhere any time soon, but will the Hercules brand still be around when this gambit ultimately fails? • dave9 says. How are you concluding this? From what I’ve seen it looks more like lower than Dewalt performance (durability) with higher than Ryobi pricing. To be fair, there is a small gulf between homeowner and contractor grade that they could fill, but I’ve no interest till they increase their warranty period and # of tools on the same platform, AND commit to keeping the same battery format for a long time. And I mean LONG TIME.

Unlike some people I seem to have some common sense using tools and can make just about anything last 20 years. Bearing goes out, I replace it. I don’t run it till it melts or once it’s clogged with concrete dust. It baffles me why people keep replacing their tools and still hunger for more because I don’t see them doing amazing things that I can’t do with a 20 year old cordless, except of course pick it up and use it without recharging the battery first.

More torque, sure but how many times do I need torque from a cordless drill rather than a drill press or impact wrench? Each tool has its own purpose. I have DeWalt and Ryobi tools and I don’t see the big difference to justify twice the price for the homeowner to own expensive tools and the masses that buy tools are the homeowners. Harbor Freight tools have served me well and lets me have many on a modest income so I would agree with “Trav” about the fact that Harbor Freight has been so successful for so many years by offering good tools for a great price and they will see that anyone who can afford expensive tools will be buying them at big box home improvement stores and hardware stores because money is no object to those people.

I am afraid Harbor is making a big mistake with trying to be upscale. I think their price point is too high for the level of product these drills are. The one I handled in the store had poor finishing on the case (lots of sharp plastic flashing) and the bearings sounded and felt very rough. I feel that $100 would buy a better Ryobi drill. These drills should be priced around $70 IMHO to be competitive. The Jacobs chuck is a nice feature though.

Glad they used a good quality chuck. I also watched the AvE teardown and it confirmed my thoughts that they should be priced a bit lower to be competitive. Bushings instead of bearings; inexcusable in a $1000 saw. I agree with his assessment 100% in the case of that Festool.

Whether we agree with his opinions or not is up to us, but it’s hard to argue when he points out that cheaper tools are using higher quality plastics. “Social Engineering” I believe he called it.

I like that line. We are in the golden age of information and it’s about time we had people keeping each other honest! I honestly think the competition between Bosch, DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee is so intense that it will be difficult for a newcomer to offer a better mix of quality/performance/value than what these guys already provide. Was thinking the same thing as I read through this. The breakdown shows me a tool that’s been designed to a price, whereas I assume Dewalt’s $99 drills are loss leaders to get people into the battery platform. I think the interesting thing will be to see where the line goes as it grows.

If the more fringe tools can offer the same balance of performance and value (in the same way Ridgid does IMO), then I would see some appeal. But it depends on the price of the secondary offerings and variety thereof. I don’t think many pros or even serious homeowners care about the drill and impact drivers at their current prices.

Everyone in the game has similarly priced (and better) offerings on those products, so what’s the appeal? That said, I’ve already seen a few of the Hercules impacts kicking around on job sites, so what do I know?

Also, I don’t get the multiple lines of Bauer, Earthquake, and Hercules. Why not have just one? Or at least make the batteries cross-compatiblethat’s a huge turn-off to me. I was thinking exactly the same thing about the multiple line branding, especially with Bauer and Hercules. From what I have seen in store the Bauer tools at least look less cheap than their Hercules counterparts. I can go to Menards and pick from five(probably better) cordless drills for less than $100 so I have no reason to get one at Harbor Freight. While I do buy HF sockets, ratchets, cheap hammers, cheap pliers and their air tools, power tools is generally where I draw the line-except for my hardly used $30 jigsaw.

“ProTool Market” Thanks to Obama there are alot of us that are Multi-Specialty Pros I.E. “Handymen” In the Handyman Profession we have our main trade that we did prior to Obama, and then all the secondary stuff we have the ability to do to a degree I judge a Harbor Freight tool by ‘If I buy it for this job and it works, will I make money off it” If it not only does the job but continues to work WOOOO HOOOO This, of course only applies to tools that we don’t use all the time I drill maybe 6 holes in concrete each year maybe Do I need a hard core expensive hammer drill? Analyzing a tool’s components can be insightful, but so is analyzing the sum of those components and what that tool can do. I’m still doing that.

This isn’t a review of the tools, it’s a discussion of a conversation that gave me an optimistic forward-looking interest in a store and tool brand whose tools I largely assumed to be utter garbage. If anything, this increases the level of scrutiny I will be giving the Hercules tools and others, as my expectations have been raised. I stepped foot in a Harbor Freight store maybe 2 times in 10 years, and placed 1, maybe 2 small orders online with them during the same time span. It’s a HUGE deal for me to shown any positivity. I’m optimistic about what’s going on behind the curtain; the tools haven’t won me over just yet. I have more testing to do on my purchased samples before I can arrive to any conclusion.

But here’s the problem Stuart, and I’ve always appreciated and trusted your opinions (’til now). Even if they made ONE tool that was good, when their entire business is selling junk – while calling it “Quality” – that is disingenuous, that is lack of character, that is dishonest. So how can you – or anyone – take them seriously or trust them enough to spend hard earned money on what might be – but probably isn’t – truly a quality tool? If your headline is correct and they are taking a “serious push”, first step will be to replace the vast majority of the junk they sell first. I hope you and HF prove me wrong, but as a HF visitor at least monthly (for junk like single-use brushes or parts trays that warp in just 2 months of Houston heat), they are a very very long way from being honest, trusted, and truly “quality”.

Quality is defined not just by a product, but by the company behind it. I can be fooled by words, but it’s a lot easier on paper than over the phone or in person. The phone call was an open conversation. Centered around the Hercules tools, yes, but otherwise open and unrestricted. There is no reasonable way for the person I spoke with to have prepared scripted responses, answers, and explanations for everything I asked, and everything we talked about. There were open and honest comments, even self-criticism. I believe that the team behind the Hercules tools are making a genuine effort at pushing past the reputation Harbor Freight has earned over the years.

We are quick to denigrate tool brands who seek to lower quality and slash features. Is it so impossible for a brand or retailer to move in the opposite direction? Sought a similar shift. Their tool development seems to have slowed down, but I have seen a rise in quality and have heard good things about their customer service. With Harbor Freight, I believe in the sincerity of everything I was told.

Whether I believe they will be successful, that remains to be seen. It will take months, years even, for their ACTIONS to change anything. If someone is training and tells you of their intent to enter a race, do you dismiss them? Tell them not to bother training? Tell others that you expect them to lose because of past events? Harbor Freight has several recent products that earned very positive responses and industry accolades.

They say they want to produce professional-capable cordless power tools. They came out with new products different than what’s come out before, and they’re working on more. They’re training hard, doing things differently than in the past, seem to be committed, and there’s lots of new talent ready to make a difference.

Should I be encouraging and wait to see how the race plays out, or discouraging and tell everyone in earshot that no matter what, they’re going to lose because they lost in the past? I am excited to see what the team comes out with, and how things develop over the next few years. Do I keep optimistic sentiments to myself, because being eager about Harbor Freight tools is an unpopular opinion?

Or do I share it, also keeping in mind that those at Harbor Freight urging for higher quality tools might be in earshot? There was no question of my opinion when I was full of skepticism and doubt.

When I’m full of optimism, I’m now a shill or of untrustworthy opinion? The proof is in the pudding. Resulting from my recent conversation with the Harbor Freight VP, I’m optimistically reaching for my spoon. That doesn’t mean I will automatically like the taste, but I have to have an open mind that it won’t be like what they’ve served before. Keep in mind that I didn’t talk to a “marketing wank.” I spoke with the lead engineer. There quality may be improving but they need to stand behind all there tools. The few tools I have purchased either failed on first use or failed after a couple of uses.

There hand tools may have a lifetime warranty but they bank on people not bothering to return them after they fail I think. I have bought a few tools that didn’t have a lifetime warranty and they failed in about 3 to 6 months and they do not stand behind the tools at all unless you spend extra for a warranty. I have learned to not purchase any harbor freight tools at all and have found the tools the big box stores offer are just as in expensive but they will stand behind there tools. I would need to see serious change before I ever purchase another Harbor Freight tool again. Since this is on topic I just wanted to do a follow up to my purchase of my Lowes Kobalt Drill and driver set. I purchased the 4.0ah battery the first of this year. Charged it once.

Have used the battery on average I’d guess maybe 1-2 hours total since charging. I used it again one night this week, pressed the charge check button and of the 5 led indicator lights 4 were still lit.

So I’m still giving it an A+. And did I mention the set cost me all of $99? And that included one 1.0ah battery. The 4.0ah I picked up for $49.

I have a Hercules grinder and it’s pretty good. We usually buy metabo and its not in the same league as those obviously but for $40 its better than I expected.

The issue i have with the new drills and drivers is there actually not cheep enough. In most cases if you were to buy a equivalent kit with the same kind of motor and number of batteries and type of batteries of one of the more established brands the price would be pretty much the same.

Depending on the store and sale. I’m not anti Harbor Freight. I buy plenty of stuff there and I’m usually not disappointed. While I’m all for mo bettah tools, I think that HF may be missing the boat in some respects here. Rather than going after a segment where there’s a LOT of high quality competition, they should look around and consider segments where there is very little quality/value competition. What would those segments be?

Well, I can think of three. Yes, compared to cordless drills, the market is tiny. But, if you want to produce something that you can put out there to demonstrate quality that lasts, it’s hard to identify a better candidate than an anvil. HF anvils are a joke among anvil users. In most cases, you’re actually better off just getting a square of steel plate and beating on that. Mind you, I’m not talking about making big anvils, just making the ones they sell now much better.

To the mind of the “average tool user”, delivering this answer “too hard for us” to the question “how hard can it be to make a lump of metal” when their anvil breaks is not acceptable. Sure, it IS a bit tougher to get it right with an anvil than most folks think, but it’s something that was perfected not last century, but the century before that.

It’s hard to sell the buying public on the notion that you’re making and selling quality tools when you can’t get something so basic right. Bench Grinders & Buffers – see above. So what DO they do well? Tool storage. They have some pretty good tool storage, especially for the price.

Take those and either insure that ALL of the wear components are commonly available or start providing parts. Oh, and one more thing. Identify the most notorious “tool shaped objects” that are in your stores. Get rid of ’em. Ah, yes the infamous “HF anvil-shaped object”. They used the wrong material, and it is just scrap metal.

You cannot make a usable anvil out of grey cast iron. It needs to be cast steel, or at least “semi-steel” hypereuctoid. I got one of the Russian made 110 Lb anvils that they were carrying a few years ago and while it is not up to real anvil standards, at least it amounts to a usable kit. A good blow with a ball peen hammer will leave a visible dent, but It can be hardfaced or can have a piece of AR500 plate welded to it to make it perform almost as well as a real anvil. It wasn’t that long ago that they were making pipe wrenches with grey iron instead of malleable and those were useless junk too. HF won’t get any respect at all until they start offering a real warranty, at least a year, and then carry replacement spare parts for at least 10 years after an item is discontinued. The extended warranty offer is an obvious scam and I never take it.

That is where they make their money. Without a real warranty and extended product support, their tools are one-time use, throwaway items. Buying from a discount house like HF – is a hard call. I find that their chip brushes and nitrile gloves are fit for my purposes. So what I buy at HF – is meant to be used once and tossed – they are not mission critical items. The gloves – if they fail while working in the garden or painting have few real consequences.

The chip brushes seem to work OK for applying glue and adhesives. Buying tools at HF that are meant to last and perform efficiently and safely might be another thing. Buying for your company and employees raises additional issues. The reputation of the manufacturer/vendor for quality control and assurance gets to be very important – perhaps even more so now that so much is made in China. That’s not to say that Chinese factories can not turn out good product – but it seems to take some effort on the part folks like Dewalt, Milwaukee and others to keep up standards.

While even the best power tools can fail resulting in lost time on the job – or worse if injuries ensue. Even tools having so called lifetime warranties are poor if they fail in the middle of a job. Finally, saving a few bucks would be hard to cite as your reasoning for purchase, after a worker-involved accident. Maybe Central Purchasing LLC. (HF) is turning a new leaf and is up to the task of delivering a quality power tool at a bargain price. The branding (Hercules) is at least better than some of their prior names like “Chicago Electric” that always seemed to me to be attempts to obfuscate. I also seem to recall hearing that model numbers of some HF tools often change.

That does not promote confidence that what they are selling is meant to last. Time will tell – but based on past history – I’d prefer to let others try these Hercules tools – and see how they fare and what’s still being sold a few years down the road. Some Craftsman power tools are house branded Makita with a slightly different battery pack.

I have a drill & impact driver pair that I really like, and it takes the new lithium packs just as well as the older NiCd packs. I would buy it again any day over the Hercules. Craftsman 315.xxxx and 316.xxxx are Ryobi, 317.xxxx is Makita.

Sorry, HF, you have to beat Craftsman in build quality, maintenance support, warranty, and price point. As long as you don’t do that, your power tool products are disposable. I have a few HF power tools and they have served me well for limited, non-critical use, so I have no regrets.

Wilcharl, Tool Teardowns here. I can assure you that I did, in fact, buy the Hercules grinder shown in my videos. According to my receipt, I bought it on June 2nd and the total transaction price was $43.65.

All the HF items shown in my videos have been purchased by me with my own money. The only item in any of my videos that I haven’t purchased was the DeWalt grinder test sample, which I made clear in both videos that included the grinder. I’m a big fan of transparency, so I try to make it clear how I get the tools. Thanks for taking the time to watch my videos.

Here in Canada, as far as I can tell, Canadian Tire is similar to Harbor Freight. They have their Mastercraft house brand (blue) which is generally thought to be cheap rubbish, certainly I’ve never found anything to recommend from that line. However a few years ago they start pushing the Maximum brand (grey) and those tools certainly seem to a lot more serious. The problem is that the higher quality tools, that possibly can compete with the likes of DeWalt, end up being very close to the big name brands in price.

So barring a couple of noticeable exceptions (I have three Maximum routers) I still pay the extra 20% for a more established brand. People are complaining that the price is too high, which I agree with.

However many times their prices use the same strategy as sears, where the msrp is laughable but it lets them have it perpetually on sale for 20-50% off. With the right coupon they might be a decent price That said, I won’t trust anything cordless for them for a long time. Their corded stuff can be fine if you check the reviews before you buy. I abused the heck out of the more expensive oscillating tool is demolition and it’s still working fine. It’s noisy and vibrates you to death, but at that price it was fine.

Best purchases there so for have been 6 gallon compressor, 5 drawer tool cart(so awesome), sds bits, 4.5 inch cut off wheels, jack stands, and 1/4″ 3/8″ flex head combo ratchet (directional selector can be finicky, but so nice for tight spaces ). I completely agree, 1 year warranty is the absolute mininum you would expect for even a consumer-grade power tool. Most brands have more than that though, and pro-grade power tools have anywhere from a 2 year to 5 year or more warranty. I’ll gladly pay slightly higher prices for better quality with a much longer warranty.

A company that says the warranty is 90 days unless you buy a longer warranty – for a price that makes the total about the same as a pro-grade tool that has an even longer warranty – is just taking advantage of stupid people who can’t do math. HF floods the print media with 20% and 25% off coupons but fine print excludes all higher price tool lines and all compressors, welders etc. They “lost” my membership in their extra cost price club card. I guess I complained a bit too much and now my home address has insults where my name should go. Talked to 2 female supervisors in customer service and no change. HF pays no attention to bad comments and has no comprehension of the hundreds of people I interface with and share HF horror stories with.

Also, I get junk mail addressed to the “insults” name, so these yahoos are selling all their mailing lists. I had a new tech start this week and he was sporting all new hf gear including that Hercules drill. The safety guy rode him pretty hard because it’s not U.L listed. He couldn’t charge off the truck inverter like everyone else because his charger pulled too much power. As stated the plastic is poorly finished.

The electric brake is obnoxious, it doesn’t stop in 2 or 3 revolutions it just STOPS. The drill is geared too high. The top end is probably 2700 or 3000rpm and the low range is high too. Rated at 550 in/lbs dropping the ratios 10% would pick up 10% torque and make this competitive at appropriate speed and 600+ inch/lbs The brand new 2.5 ah kept pace with 4.0 ah18v Milwaukee that is 1 month old. It’s crude but it is not junk by any means the balance is on point. The chuck has very little run out. I am still amazed at the battery life.

I wish I could have tried to run some 1.5inch unibits through steel to see how it handles loaded down really pulling some amps. If dewalt is a 10 this is a solid 7.5 maybe even an 8 depending on task. If Harbor Fright wants tool buyers to take them seriously, they could start by retiring the knockoff brand names, and stuff named after US Cities even though it’s made in China. It just tells me it’s a store with brand names targeted at morons who don’t know Chicago Electric and Central Pneumatic isn’t Chicago Pneumatic.

Really it should have been against the law in the first place, but if you only do it because you can get away with it, at least admit why you did it, apologize, and retire the names in favor of something original. Hercules isn’t a bad one, nor is branding tool lines with the same of Greek/Roman gods if that’s how they want to go about it. Though that is a little weird. This is what I was thinking, too.

I have the Kobalt brushless cordless circular saw and jigsaw. I was able to get them at very low prices.

The cordless circ saw is my new best friend for certain jobs. If I needed a drill or driver I’d consider Kobalt.

They had a great warranty and their batteries are very affordable. What’s lacking in Kobalt is the variety of Ryobi (or Makita, etc). But since the batteries are affordable I don’t mind, willing to mix and match.

I don’t see the Hercules as competing with Kobalt in terms of price. There are things I’ve bought at Harbor freight that I considered an excellent value, like their tool storage units, some of which were way more substantial than similarly priced craftsman units. (Waiting for a good sale and using HF coupons). Their tool stands are a good price, though they need some reinforcement, but work fine.

I’m in love with their small japanese pull saw and use it for many jobs over more expensive japanese saws because it’s so small. Also, chip brushes, disposable gloves. I’m not anti-HF, in other words.

I’ve stayed away from HF corded for the most part and also cordless. These are an investment and I want a brand with more backing. To convince someone like me they’d need to do what Lowe’s did and that is to sell it at a ridiculously low price (on sale) until enough people buy them and word gets out that they are a good buy. I love their free stuff like flashlights, tape measures, screwdrivers, and multimeters. I have their tape measures everywhere for when I can’t find my good measures:D.

Their casters are reasonably priced and I’ve had good luck with them for light weight shop furniture without breaking the bank. I been using HF tools for a long time as for drills and other cordless tools I use those big name brands they last about a year or so the HF cordless tools I brought about 3years ago still going strong. When you buy tools you must weigh the pros and cons I brought a span on impact gun it didn’t last 2 year top a line gun I can’t the tools truck back like took my money say when have a friend take to tool repair place he won’t touch it so I got a 500.00$ paper.Now I got air impact gun I brought 15 year go still going strong I paid alot less so sometimes it might be cheaper to go that way. I think it’s a little too late for hf to try to gain a reputation for making quality tools. They’ve been around a lot longer than people think. Long before retail stores were popping up, they were a small mail order company with ads in the back of magazines.

I’m not sure but they may have had a small catalog. My dad got some stuff from them that he never opened dated from the 80’s. No power tools, but stuff from hf. Hercules tools have been around for years as well, they used to be called matrix. I remember my older brother ordered a drill back in the 90’s for under $40. It had a case, 2 or 3 huge nicad batteries and a charger. It was the absolute biggest POS.

Didn’t last a month. About 10 years ago, my dad ordered 2 or 3 corded hammer drills from somewhere and they were Hercules.

Every one of them did not make it to the to the end of the week he got them in the mail. I’m pretty sure he got them from hf. Now unless a sea change has happened to matrix /Hercules, there’s no way that they can ever be considered professional tools. Hf has been selling pos construction power tools for so long that they will likely not be able to convince the public that they really do have something that is decent.

They’ve brought it upon themselves and they earned their reputation. Now as far as some of their shop & machining tools, they’re not that bad. I’m not saying they are the best, but they’re certainly better than the construction tools they have. The one thing that hf has that is far superior to home depot or lowes is the variety of tools for a lot of different fields and trades other than construction. Your not going to find a 20 ton press or a mini lathe or a bike lift or any metal working tools, etc in stock at a big box store anywhere in America. Which is probably what keeps hf in business.

Northern has a few things, but not like hf. Anyways, if hf is really trying to make a serious push for the pro grade tool market, they’re going to need a lot more than a Hercules drill and impact driver. They need to stop production for their disposable power tools and spend a lot of money on repairing the reputation that they have earned. Its gonna be hard to convince the people that they don’t sell junk tools anymore. I can understand HF’s desire to progress as a company and become legitimate, but the fact is, the reason why they have been so successful is because they fill a very important sector of the market. There will always be a need for cheap tools, but the minute they step into competing with Dewalt, Milwaukee, etc.

Then the whole paradigm changes. That part of the market is already saturated with offerings. I think HF should keep doing what they’ve done, I mean, look at how many stores they are opening! I think the average consumer KNOWS they are getting a cheap tool from the outset, there should be no surprise when it breaks, esp from a pro!

What makes HF great is that some of their tools actually proved to be a great valie, like the tool carts, air tools, and ratchets/sockets. These items can and do allow pros to do their work at a fraction of the cost of big name brands, and they offer tremendous VALUE. Add their warranty, which offsets the risk of failure, and they become a very good source of tools and it becomes very hard to justify spending five times as much on a top brand. >>I think the average consumer KNOWS they are getting a cheap tool from the outset, there should be no surprise when it breaks, esp from a pro! There are those folks out there who believe that the tools all come from the same factory somewhere in China.

There is some truth in the thought that some OEM’s in China produce tools under different brand names. In my mind, what makes the distinction is the specifications to which these tools are produced, the component parts that are called for and used in their manufacture, how the tools are finished (grinding, plating quality etc.) the QA/QC that is done or not done by or on behalf of the brand owner (e.g. Bosch, Dewalt, et. Or even Hercules) and who stands behind the product and how they do it (UL listed?, manufacturer warranties, OSHA compliance etc.) Given HF’s penchant for what seems like the switching of OEM’s and model #’s on some of their power tools, I’m not sure that builds confidence – or more likely suggests they are constantly seeking the low cost supplier. Stories about phony UL tags on Chinese goods, and things like contaminated wallboard or flooring coming out of factories in China suggest that vigilance is needed and that if HF wants to convince tool buyers that Hercules is a Professional Brand – they will need to do a lot more to correct their image of being a purveyor of low-end merchandise.

Contrasting all of this, I bet a lot of shoppers think that if a HF tool is as cheap as renting (if that is even an option) and it gets the first job done – they why not buy it? While their parent company is not publicly traded and you can’t read their annual report, the number of stores that they have opened suggests that they are successful in what they do. One thing that strikes me as odd about HF and their power tools is that with all these stores, especially currently, they should have more than enough purchasing power to order in mass quantities and get something around the Skil/Black & Decker/Kobalt quality level, yet they continue to be ok with tools that have lower quality – and obvious indicators of it (stinky rubber overmolds, smelly oily motors, cheap plastic housings, etc.). This tells me, as others in the thread have also stated, that HF is more about deceiving it’s customers into thinking they are buying quality tools than they are actually about making something that’s of at least decent quality at a much lower cost.

I can’t see where HF is going to make a better qualty power tool for a lower price than what I can get from B&D, Skil/Chervon, or Ryobi, and those have much better warranties from the get-go. The big box stores and online tool sites, plus amazon, have also made competition to the point the actual prices are even lower than they would be otherwise. Most every tool company ad I see claims to be pro quality tools. Like the “mechanics tool sets” that sell for $5.99 at Big Lots. HF’s claim to be pro quality is nothing new. I don’t think the Hercules is on the level of Milwaukee or Bosch, etc. But it is a significant step up from their other power tool lines.

Dismissing the Hercules line as garbage or junk simply because it is HF is simply being closed minded. The fact that HF power tools were poor quality years ago also has no bearing on the quality of the Hercules line. Every new line of tools stands on its own in terms of quality. As to Stuart being a paid “shill”, that is both baseless and insulting. His comments were complimentary yet cautious, hardly the comments one would expect from a paid “shill”. I am in the market for a new cordless drill.

The Hercules is not on my list to be considered as I want to see a longer history and read more reviews by actual users before I would consider buying one. Despite that, I certainly could not dismiss them as junk as there is not yet enough evidence to do so. I used to buy some stuff at HF when our company was small i found that it is cheaper to buy quality tools than to buy tools from HF.

Because when it undoubtably breaks you have to go warranty it or buy another. Sawsall blades- bought a three pack and all three broke. Bought a single diablo blade and it did more than the HF three and finished the job. Caster wheels- my local supplier has way better wheels and is cheaper even when HF has them on sale. Drill bits, sanding paper, clamps, all hand tools. Basically everything lol.

Theyre 1/2″ impact sockets and ratchets arent bad though. The pictured drill looks like a direct DeWalt rip off, I own a few HF tools mainly for the occasional one off jobs, it seems that some of the Predator engines are almost dead on knock offs of some of the Honda 4 stoke engines, I’ve read if users having to change the oil 5 times to get rid of all the aluminum castings, so obviously QC is not a major concern. I would gave a hard time spending the same amounts I’ve spent on DeWalt/Milwaukie etc on a HF tool with no US/local service centers, and only a 90 day warranty. So yeah I’m sceptical well. Stuart, you get too easily excited when you talk to a corporate rep.

So HF is serious about getting into higher end tools. Currently we’re looking at their first effort. Will they improve?

Does Harbor Freight have the ability to get better and better, and not worse and worse tools from their suppliers? Those are the real questions. All the US based engineers and enthusiam in the world won’t address that issue. The secret of successful P.R.C.

Based tool manufacturers is they have Taiwanese reps on-site to make sure 1.) no “quality fade” 2.) ongoing improvements and fixes are actually implemented instead of agreed upon and then ignored, and 3.) New designs, materials and technology gets adopted, instead of cosmetic changes to make it look like new tech. Does HF have boots on the ground in China? If not, we all know where this is heading. Sometimes, yes. Other times, I get really mad. Will they improve? They seem open to feedback and genuine in wanting to make things better.

Do they have the ability to get better and better tools [and components] from their suppliers? They have a lot of stores and are opening more. They have a lot of buying power, and are paying close attention to the quality of what they’re getting. From what was discussed, I’d say that they are trying to closely oversee everything that is done overseas, in a ‘boots on the ground’ and ‘racking up frequent flyer miles’ kind of way. No matter what I’m told, and regardless if I believe it or not, the tools are going to have to speak for themselves. They cannot waver.

Look what happened to Porter Cable. They launched their 20V Max line with a really good cordless drill, and a really good impact driver. And then the rest of the tools that followed seemed to have been evolutions from their 18V tools. I am still unable to pinpoint their brand identity. If HF’s new developments are going to be taken seriously, they need to be steadfast and committed to their pro tool aspirations.

I have paid each $15 for NiCd and $30 for Li-ion new packs for my Craftsman 517. (Makita) cordless tools. Those are reasonable prices and battery packs should be readily available long term in that price range. I have a drill and an impact driver and a total of 6 packs and 2 chargers. I often use both tools together, so 4 packs is the minimum for me. You could get away with 3 packs and one charger if you wanted.

I have more because I got the much lighter weight Li packs when I noticed that they were available as form, fit, and function compatible with what I already had with the exception of needing the Li charger. Every tool supplier should have comparable availability. HF has a sad history of lacking long term support for their products. While I know that the “Chicago” brand tools sucked like big oranges, I bought a DeWalt polisher from HF back in 2005.

It was corded, and I used it about 8 minutes and it went up in smoke. I have tried four other electrical purchases from these geeks since then, and they all failed. Corded, cordless, it didn’t matter. HF power tools suck. Now, I have bought hand tools that were a lot more reliable. But I also bought a couple of tool cases that were just ridiculously cheap.

It’s like my dad used to say: “You get what you PAY for. Buy cheap, get cheap”. HF is cheap, and NOT in a good way! Care must be taken not to forget the underpinning that made HF a success. When I retired from the AF, I moved to a farm with two shops approx 100 yds apart. Biggest shop I ever had was a closet.

I was able to stock both shops, over time, with tools and equipment from HF. I’ve had two returns, both replaced without fuss. In the past I use to have Sears Craftsman because of the lifetime guarantee. Now, at 78 yrs old, a lifetime guarantee don’t seem to be that long a promise.

And, Craftsman is no longer the premo tool for unprofessionals. I’m glad to have been able to stock my two shops at the lower costs I get at HF.

As you get into high quality, long lasting, ego satisfying tools, you are in with the big boys and someone else will become the HF of the future. Don’t let that happen. Sam, retired AF pilot, and current tree farmer.

Warranty, Warranty, Warranty. Harbor Freight offers a 90 day warranty on their Hercules tools and you may purchase an additional warranty. If the tool fails and they replace it, you must purchase another additional warranty. DeWalt offers a 3-year warranty at no extra charge.

If that tool fails, and is replaced, my understanding is a new warranty goes into effect for the new tool. Harbor Freight post their price comparison on showing you their sale price against the MSRP of a competitor. Not a very fair comparison as far as price comparison goes. I have found the DeWalt DCD777 C2 priced at $149. Adobe Premiere Pro Garbage Matte more. For the extra $50 I’ll stick with the DeWalt. I own many Harbor Freight Tools and they’re great for the DIY people working around the house. Harbor Freight Tools and their prices pretty much go hand-in-hand.

When they advertise their drill at $99 (that should be priced at $59),and claim it has an MSRP of $110 and compare it to the DeWalt line that’s where I have to draw my line. My Harbor Freight Tools have failed me more than my DeWalt tools. Stuart did an excellent job of reviewing the Hercules drill a few months back comparing it to the DeWalt drill and what Harbor Freight Tools was claiming. So I’m reading all of the so called, “Reviews” about HF’s tools. I work at HF.

Been there for almost a year, & what I’ve found out is this: 1) HF buys direct from manufactures & cuts out the middleman, thus saving the consumer money. 2) As to defects, well, I don’t care how good a company is, there will always be defects, just some brands more than others, & HF has very few defects. I’m not saying none, but compared to the volume HF sells, very few. 3) As to returns, the Predator line, Pittsburg Tool Line, amongst the other brands HF sells, is awesome. Very, Very, few returns due to problems.

4) All hand tools come with a lifetime warranty. If HF tools were that bad, then they’d be out of business because of defective tools. That said, HF tools hold their own in quality. Hence, HF is growing everyday & constantly opening up new stores. 5) HF ESP is awesome.

For a small fee you can purchase an ESP for 1 or 2 years, then extend it for another 2 years at the same cost as your original ESP. So, if you do have a problem, you can bring your product back to ANY HF store. The plus side is this: HF doesn’t tell you to come back in 3-6 weeks so they can send your unit out for repair. If you got a problem, return the product to ANY HF store, & they will give you a brand new unit, no questions asked.

Not the BS about having to send the unit back to the manufacturer to verify that there is a problem. Now, who else does that?

Bottom line, HF’s slogan is correct. “Quality Tools at Ridiculously Low Prices”. That’s all I got to say about that.

The Pittsburgh hand tools are good quality and good fit/finish for the most part. I have observed a few items with obvious signs of cheap manufacture or errors in design, but I have other items that I only use occasionally but make a job so much easier that it’s worthwhile to have them. Impact flex sockets are one example. One error that I observed was on the 6 point flare nut crowfoot wrenches.

They lacked a retaining dimple for the spring loaded retaining ball on the extension. That made them infuriating and impossible to use. I returned the set and got a single crowfoot of the size I needed from a reputable source.

I think I ended up with a Proto or Snap-on and paid the same price for a single wrench as for the entire HF set. Because it was designed correctly, it was a breeze to use and well worth the money. I live near a Harbor Freight retail store and have access to lots more 20% coupons than I can ever use. I generally pick carefully (no knock-off Vise-Grips), and learn from my mistakes. My big concern on HF tools with moving parts is getting spare parts. It’s a nuisance to adapt a NPT-threaded compressor unloaded valve to the failed one which is NPT-on the inlet and metric on both outputs, or to make up an air-filter from NPT-plastic pipe because the top-heavy compressor fell over and broke the metric-threaded plastic air filter off. The root cause is HARBOR FREIGHT SIMPLY DOES NOT SELL SPARE PARTS FOR THEIR TOOLS.

If they don’t start doing this on the new product line, it’s doomed. Maybe not doomed, but a very good point. Their air tools also have a 90 day warranty and zero parts support. This, in an industry where I can buy parts for US made air tools that date back to the 1960’s. Yet HF air tools sell well, why?

Most of them actually work, and they’re really, really, cheap, especially on-sale and with a 20% coupon. Never mind the die grinders spin at a fraction of their RPM rating. So that is a model that works well with air tools. Adequate quality, no parts, really, really cheap. Will not-so-cheap and 90 days work with cordless tools?

Well I was in HF last weekend, prices are already coming down. We’ll have to wait and see.

I remember a lot of excitement when the Hitachi name re-entered the power tool market a few years back. Not much excitement about it now. Just another brand. I have bought from HF since the mid 80’s.

I have many nail guns and you name it. I was a contractor till 96.

I still use these tools to this day. In my opinion if you take care of it right and don’t abuse it, it can last.

Some things are low Quality. But most of them are very, very good. I’m not sure who makes Craftsman tools but I would think a more expensive company in china. HF gives a life time replacement. So go to H.F. And save a buck.

If It’s junk, you saved a buck. I have been happy so far, Maybe some people got a bad stock. So far I’m good. I have bought many “grey” brands and usually found that on critical items like a cordless hand drill, Dewalt is actually MUCH less expensive than the junk brand if you use them a lot. Even Ryobi and Sears craftsman are in the “junk” category for me. Dewalt not only has better performance, but literally lasts a hundred times longer. On the other hand, I have bought a FEW Harbor freight power tools that were surprisingly good, like their corded 8″ circular saw.

SUGGESTION: STOP trying to pretend you are something you are not. Advertise honestly as a good product then LOWER price and INCREASE quality of guarantee. Then a person who only needs short term light duty can benefit and you can make money legitimately. Chicago Electric tools have their place. I keep a drill and a 1/4″ impact driver at our island home.

I use them twice a year (spring to open up and fall to close up). I know that they are low quality, but they do the job I need them to do, and I don’t have to transport my Dewalt tools on an airplane. I also have a drill at home (if I drop it off a roof, no loss, but if I drop my Dewalt I’m going to be upset). I also carry their hand tools when I’m touring in my antique cars. Again, not great tools, but they are as good as Craftsman, and if I lose one, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.

As long as you understand what you are buying, HF tools have a place in the market. That said, I’m not going to replace my Dewalt tools with them! I have seen the tear down of the Hercules drill and others by AVE. He does make good points and isn’t afraid to show weak points in expensive tools too. The other point is that having bought from Harbor Freight since they first started they have improved tools and the price has gone up some. One has to consider what kind of use a tool will get casual use or everyday use with pushing the tool hard.

One thing I can’t forgive Harbor Freight of continuing to buy and sell twist drills that ALWAYS have one side of the drill’s cutting edge improperly sharpened! What is the point of buying TIN coated drills if you have to sharpen them before you use them. The smaller drills 3/16 and smaller are almost always badly sharpened. On the positive side the Viking Lithium jump starter seems to be a good product. I just bought a Viking automatic battery charger. My truck battery from 2007 went dead, thought I’d have to buy a new one. After about 1 1/2 days of using and learning the charger it did bring the battery back from 2.3 volts to 13.3 and 100% I then started the truck just fine!

So I give this microprocessor contrlled battery charger 2 thumbs up! As for a cordless drill I still like my Milwaukee M12 fuel best so far. The Lynx blower seems to work fairly well battery lasts about 20 minutes. Tom in Washington. I always bought their electric tools as a throw away, cheap tool that in reality has no guaranty nor warranty because it is NOT a handtool.

That’s a cheapshot by me at the since I do indeed hold the tool in my hand. Their reciprocating saws fail over and over and yet, even though they are just over the time limit for free replacement, they won’t even consider replacing it. One glaring exception is a 4 1/2 inch grinder, that from day one had lousy gearing noises, ignorantly loud gears and a clumsy spanner wrench. Is still grinding along, still making suicidal bearing and gear noises.

And refuses to die at 11 years old. If only their other power hand tools were equivalent to Ryobi at least. I feel Ryobi is entry level toolssomewhat serious but cheaply made. All the whiie looking decent enough like Bosch. But I’m spoiled from all my adult years of buying and using the most seriously overpriced SnapOn tools.

For my trade. I don’t feel HF is even making a decent tool box yet. The Husky line from Lowes has better steel, better spot welds and so far hasn’t sagged. I bought one after retiring as I cannnot see my keeping $1600.00+ SnapOn tool boxes in my home garage and workshops. That Central grinder though. Has been a steadfast tool and even though i bought another three of them, I don’t think they are as good.

Somewhere in China, all the good parts albeit the noisy ones. Got put into this one grinder. HF screwed this one up. To my benefit!! I don’t use battery tools, simply because I don’t like dead batteries in the middle of a job. I worked for Black and Decker/Dewalt for over 5 years.

They make tools for other brands too, they just change a few MINOR details. I have compared SnapOn tools with CP, Craftsman and Benchtop. EVERY TIME, the SnapOn did NOT do as good a job as the lower priced tool.

I don’t own any SnapOn tools, but I DO own tools from the other companies. If I have a small one time job, I will sometimes buy the cheapest tool that will get the job done.

I have some tools that I bought from Harbor Freight, 10 years ago that are still in use. The guy on YouTube, who tears tools apart is a fool. You can’t compare a $25 tool to a $300 tool and expect the same quality, but how many homeowners actually need a $300 drill to put up a few shelves? I have been doing industrial maintenance for the past 20 years and I haven’t destroyed a tool yet.

>Try a few modern tools and see what’s going on first, then come back. You mean a drill that weighs twice as much and has strange balance? I have a really nice Makita that I rarely use because it’s cumbersome. I used my corded JC Penney 3/8″ drill from 1972 to 1986 when the splines wore off the end of the motor shaft. I replaced it with another corded JC Penney 3/8″ drill which I am still using. And yes, it does get a lot of use, used so much that I just had to replace the brushes in it. I doubt these will amount to much and it is sad, but they don’t have a big plus.

They are not that much less expensive than the name brands and they have no big plus. Ridgid for example seems to be a lesser tool IMHO than DeWalt or Makita, but Ridgid has that lovely lifetime warranty, INCLUDING THE BATTERIES. Sorry for the caps, but that is a big plus. I have had DeWalt and Makita tools for the last 20 years, and I have put more into batteries than I have put into the tools. I think my next cordless purchase is going to be Ridgid for just that reason. If HF wants to enter the game, they need to do something game changing.

Followed this article from my Harbor Fright email msg. I’ve been buying and using their power tools for years just as a Joe Homeowner Handyman/shady tree mechanic and never had a problem with them. I still have and use my old Chicago impact wrench going on about 11yrs. I don’t use it a lot but I cannot count the number of times I have used it to work on my cars, truck, lawnmowers(to remove the blades). It has not failed in all this time and I still have the spare set of spring magnets that it came with!

Definitely got more than my money’s worth on many of the tools I still have and use from H-Fright. As a professional auto mechanic I’ve bought hand tools off the trucks and at Sears.

Last few years I’ve been buying repacements for tools lost or broken items. I now own 4 different rachets from Harbor and they are better and have not broken and I am really rough on those hand tools. I’ve bought several electric tools and I’ve bought their cheap 2 yr warranties o n around 20 items. Only had 2 fail within the warranted period. An air compressor and lost a battery pack for a circular saw.

The beauty is no questions asked and the price of the warranty is usually around 10% of the item price. In this throwaway age people don’t take care of things so for them, it makes sense, BTW, I still have a 38 year old double insulated 7 1/4 circ saw that works perfect and is on it’s second blade!

Being older, we learned to respect and take care of our tools, didn’t want to spend anymore than I have to! It’s fairly simple strategically. To reposition their place in the marketplace and to convince potential buyers they’re serious and in it for the long term, they will need to produce certain products that are as good as the best as what’s out there and offer some kind of incentive(s) for users to switch brands. Even better would be to produce the best of a genre with innovative features and precision engineering and manufacturing. Such products would also require a better support network and readily available replacement parts. Marketing incentives might include lower price than the competition, long warranties and great accessories.

Without an indisputable set of super high-quality products to upscale the branding, there will be too much debate about the new product line(s) and their quality/longevity – plus there’s the inevitable video tear downs that will illuminate the truth, whatever that might turn out to be. At the moment, though, their vision for the future isn’t especially clearcut. (pun intended!) By the way, HF does sell a fairly decent cowbell for a low price! But that’s a story for another day.

To sum up many comments that I agree with here and some of my own, there are a few changes with the Pro lines they need to make: (1) Warranty of 90 days is, well, unprofessional. Hitachi has a lifetime on their lithium tools (had to get one repaired after 5 years of abuse). I have no problem with them selling a ‘better’ warranty – replace instead of repair – but starting with a competitive warranty certainly would increase my confidence level to match theirs.

(2) Battery platform. Going back to Hitachi, many of their ‘modern’ chargers still support charging older generations of batteries (18v LiOn stick charger still can charge a 14.4v NiCad).

If HF is truly engineering their own product lines, there is no reason to NOT create more universal chargers and battery packs across all quality (branding) levels of cordless tools, in addition to supporting the use of any battery level (LiOn/Nicad 12v-20v compatibility) in the accessory market (radio, lights, USB charger, etc). (3) Bare Tools. Once you have a reasonable battery platform, offering bare tools (tool without battery and charger) is required to get me interested. Over the years, I have spent quite a bit of money at HF, but as a highly educated consumer. Garage Journal, ToolGuyd, and others) are outstanding when it comes to accurate, complete, and comparative reviews of all brands of products (as long as you are able to read into and discount bias in both directions).

Was I ever disappointed in HF purchases – sure. I’ve been disappointed in major brands as well almost equally, and much (if not all) of that disappointment was before I became an educated consumer. I avoid HF for (based on reviews, personal experience, and witnessed experience), but generally these rules apply to any ‘value’ branded product from any store or manufacturer: (1) Any kind of cutting or gripping hand tool (always disappointed).

This includes vices. (2) Anything requiring precision.

Chain Saw sharpener, miter saws, etc. Have too much slop in them to be accurate. Cutting landscaping timbers – sure, building a picture frame – no way. I also avoid many other brands for this reason as well. (3) Anything requiring very high tensile strength steel (I’ll exclude the Pittsburgh Pro line here – but the Pro series only).

Impact bits round easily, pry bars bend, drill bits dull/snap easily, screwdriver tips bend/round, needle nose pliers twist, etc. (4) Most any cutting blade is also something best avoided (exempting intentional one-time use items, or regular use in a softer material than advertised) – for example a HF step bit for use in plastic or aluminum is fine, but don’t expect to drill more than one hole in a high-quality metal even when using it properly (cutting oil, etc). (5) Electric motor-based products are generally weak and underpowered (grinders come to mind), but this varies product-to-product, and based on your desired use may be just fine. They also tend to vibrate much more than better tools – see #6.

(6) Ergonomics. If you are going to use a tool often, the ergonomics are important. Is it comfortable to hold, easy to grip, vibration free, and well-balanced?

Are the joints, seams, and ‘flair’ smooth or do they dig into your skin? If it is a bit uncomfortable when looking at the demo unit, imagine that after a few hours of use. The composite ratchets are excellent in this category, other HF tools usually not at all. Seems like the Hercules tools need a bit of work in this area.

Non-HF brands are not immune from issues here. The first tool I bought from Harbor Freight was the $20 drill master 18v drill and flashlight. That was 4 years ago and although I have since upgraded to Ridgid brushless, I still use the drill master on occasion for small holes or driving small screws. Looking back in reality it wasn’t actually worth the money but I rebuilt the battery and modified​ the charger to charge it faster and cut off when it’s done.

It’s more than I would have ever expected​ for $20. Let me say that I’m not a professional, at least not yet. I turn 18 at just before Halloween. You may or may not take me seriously but I’m definitely headed for one of the major trades.

I bought that $20 drill when I was 13, and it did everything I needed to at the time and allowed me to start practicing and building things without spending much. I have since grown a bunch in my abilities and am always open to learning more and making mistakes. I may not be a professional yet, but I have come know good tools by feel but also performance. The online reviews have greatly helped me find the good from the bad. I’m not a professional yet but most of my tools get used once a day for a wide variety of tasks.

Most of them I’ve bought with money from mowing lawns, for which I have HF predator lawnmower engine. I’ve used it for about 3 years now and for the $92 I could not be more pleased. (Although the extended service plan was about half of the engine price, it was worth it to have the insurance since I was using it for a small business) the power is amazing and it’s very fuel efficient. In terms of durability if it was going to break, it would have done it by now. I’ve mowed down 4′ thistles and thick wet grass several jobs a week for about 8 months out of each year. Another category I consider to be top of the line is the Pittsburgh pro hand tools. Of course there’s a few items that don’t work out but I have yet to break a ratchet, socket or ratchet wrench.

Screwdrivers ​are a mixed batch but I have some of the good ones. Plyers are also a mixed batch. I bought the $10 4.5″ grinder about 2 1/2 years ago and it still works decent. I now have a brushless cordless grinder so the $10 doesn’t see too much use any more.

Other items I find to be really good are welding gloves (Vulcan brand), digital calipers, extension cords, cutting grinding and abrasive discs, tarps, impact sockets, alkaline batteries, floor jacks, mechanics gloves and much more. I don’t have any Hercules tools but I bought a 2.5ah battery and used the cells to rebuild a toast Ridgid battery, and it’s working well so far. Interesting note about the Hercules batteries, they actually use Samsung cells, same as Ridgid, Ryobi, Milwaukee, Makita, DeWalt and a few more brands. Harbor Freight has allowed me to get working on stuff on a fairly limited budget.

I don’t care who you are or how you feel about Harbor Freight but that’s a win for me. I’ve found many good items that will easily last a long time for a low price. I’m excited to see what’s to come and I think it’s gonna be awesome for people like me. You can tell a company is growing fast when they open a new store every 3 days. I know their reputation isn’t great but it’s changing quick, and those who pay attention will get some good deals.

I for one approve of the new direction and will continue to find great tools on my budget. Also good news for anyone looking at the Hercules tools, there are more coming soon. Here’s a link I already want to mention AVE’s teardown of the Earthquake XT 20v high torque impact wrench. He actually seemed somewhat impressed, which surprised me and others ​I’m sure here’s a link to that video. I have a HF framing nail gun that I bought in the mid-1990’s.

I used it to frame three large detached garages, a two-story home addition, a sun-room addition, and have lent it out to a number of friends for their projects. I have never cleaned or oiled it during all that time and it still works great.

I agree that there are better tools out there, but the HF tools do the job and I was overjoyed when they opened a store in my town. I own several very expensive tools as well, but the HF tools are a good value for the shade-tree mechanic/carpenter. I have a few HF tools, and they do the job I need them to. I haven’t had any issues with them. That being said, i’m a hobbyist at best.not a pro. On the flip side, I own a few Ryobi tools, and am on my 3rd battery charger in a year.with outages in my workflows until it gets shipped out, serviced, and sent back. Fist time was within 3 months.

The 2nd time was within 30 days, 3rd time was 4 months in. I work though it, because i’ve got a decent investment in the tools, and the tools themselves do me well but this charger situation is beyond frustrating. I look forward to seeing what HF can do, but I do have to echo others here; It’s hard to tout “pro” tools without the warranty to back them up, especially as the new tool lines are marginally cheaper than the pro counterparts they are comparing to.

Warranty is the key difference between the $89 10″ HF table saw and the $99 Ryobi imhohopefully HF does listen to it’s customer base with this new offering, as Stuart indicated they are willing to.but only time will tell. I’ve seen both sides of the “HF has good stuff”, and “HF is crap” campsI guess my response to all of that would be to each their own. HF has a large wall to scale to change opinions of people, but at least they are trying to get that view of them changed. It may be a 100 foot wall, but at least they are at least attempting to put on the climbing gear and have begun scaling that beast. As a hobbyist, I can say that my HF tools (compressor, air tools, and small bench top tools) have done me well, spanning multiple years of use, which imho have already paid for themselves, so if they do fail I wouldn’t mind paying for them again. I think my scrutiny would be harder on these tools if I ever had to cross the line to a “pro”, but I’d still probably give them a shot on some lines of tools. I also think they should keep the multiple brands.

CE/CP are obviously their cheap brands, and they should keep them to offer those hobbyists/single use situations. Keep the Baur/Herc/Predator lines as semi-pro / possible pro lines. I have been buying from Harbor Freight for about 10 years and although I have had some disappointing experiences but believing that you get what you pay for, I never let it bother me. I have also had some great experiences as well. I also have to say that their support is TOP notch! I contacted them about a $400 router & table set that I bought 4 years ago.

It caught fire & when I told them, they gave me a $400 gift certificate. Who else does that on a tool 4 years old? I have their new cordless drills (both Bauer & Hercules) & have used them excessively just to see how they worked & held up. I am not only a contractor of 50 + years but a certifiable tool nut as well (I have a 55×75 building just for storing all my tools).

I own every brand of tool on the market here in America except Festool (refuse to be price raped like they do you). I would put Harbor Freights new cordless drills/drivers up against any brand, bar none! They have so far held up nice, they work very well & lets not forget the cheap price compaired to DeWalt, Bosch, Milwaukee, Ridged and all the rest. What would add much integrity to HF is if they offered replacement parts, or even had repair departments within each store. Sure, they’d lose money (sacrilege these days of “every penny counts towards the bottom line”) but may inspire them to further improve their quality. I’ve a collection of DeWalt 18v tools. I can still get parts, to keep them working, and work they do.

I blew up an electric HF pressure washer. I called and was directed to the “eternal hold” department, with lovely soothing muzak to calm my impatient soul Hercules is a start but as a respondent above mentions, “by the time you purchase an additional battery and warrenty, you could buy a DeWalt, Ryobi.” Parts are available for DeWalt and Ryobi so hint, hint HF. David: The ESP is an overpriced profit scheme.

HF should just make the items right in the first place and include an industry standard warranty. For the price of the item plus ESP, I will buy name brand. I think you have been drinking the corporate cool-aid. Example: I got one of the 150 psi 29 gal tank #61489 belt drive air compressors and they offered me the “free replacement” like you just said. I wanted to put on a better regulator, the larger diaphragm model offered by HF #68232, and wanted to add a quick-connect fitting to tap directly into tank pressure so I could use the #68247 filter/regulator at the far end of a hose. The “free replacement” would be worthless on a modified item. BTW, I got really *pissed* when I tried to disassemble the regulator and motor switch assembly and found that it was put together with super-glue, not pipe thread compound or blue locktite like it should have been.

I had to disassemble the motor switch because I needed to heat the fittings to melt the glue for disassembly and had to remove the pressure diaphragms from the switch and regulator to prevent damage. The switch was difficult to reassemble because there are 2 springs that have to be put back into place just so during reassembly. HF should think a little about how buyers might want to replace the cheap-ass regulators and build the compressors accordingly instead of going what is obviously the cheapest way. BTW I like the way the motor and compressor pump perform. It is a very quiet combo. It is the tank design and assembly that really sucks. Typical of HF doing it on the cheap instead of the right way.

I actually might have been better off paying a little more for a Kobalt or similar, which has an NPT bushing on the tank, especially considering my time and aggravation from the poor design and assembly. I was going to recommend this compressor to others, but now I won’t and instead will warn them of the deficiencies. Things happen, tools break. Yesterday, I was having some work done, and the contractor’s Hilti drill burned out drilling a 3″ hole in 2x wood. He drilled what he could from one side, and then it burn out on finishing the hole from the drywall side. If that drill is pushed like that a little more and fails or loses power, it’s going to end up out of commission at a service center, with another tool needed in its place.

I gave him my Dewalt, and he used that to finish the rest of the work. It took a few minutes for the Hilti to stop smoking.

With Harbor Freight, there are 2 choices, at least that I can see: Service tools, or replace them. With an extended warranty, which I personally don’t care for, if your tool breaks, all it takes is a trip to your local HF to get a replacement. There’s no shipping it to a service center, and no wait. For HF, there’s no need to train staff in their stores for servicing their tools, and no added cost of maintaining separate service centers. That results in lower costs, where service costs aren’t built into the cost of the tools. Since HF is all about driving costs as low as possible, even on tools they’re designing and building to be highly competitive, a service center probably doesn’t make sense from a business standpoint. I’m not defending the practice, just trying to make sense of it.

Perhaps things might change. In a few years, if HF does grow their appeal with professional users, perhaps they will seek to build up their tool servicing features and capabilities. When I spoke to the project lead, he said that the extended warranties were very aggressively priced. I think he said it would be $20 on the drill and impact kits. While that seems a lot, it’s more than it would cost for me to ship a drill kit to a service center, but not by a whole lot. The difference in cost would be more than balanced by having a same-day replacement.

That said – superglue as thread sealant? *Facepalm* BUT, certain threadlocker compounds are very close to superglue in formulation. The threadlocker I use for metal-to-plastic is also marketed as an “instant adhesive” and has a cyanoacrylate chemical base. Yes, it appeared to be a superglue type formulation. The fillets of the adhesive were fully hardened. It held like red locktite, or worse, but was almost clear, or very faintly green. I rounded the corners of a hex nipple with a big wide jaw crescent wrench snugged down tight before I decided to use the propane torch on it.

I had to apply heat *several* times even after the threads started to turn in order to get the nipple unthreaded. And this compound was used on *all* of the threads from the tank nipple to the quick-connect. I had to chase the threads on the switch with a pipe tap to clean them up.

• David Regen Emp. # 256632 (Littleton, NH. A new item that I have to go through all that grief all over again to make it fit my needs?

I have backup equipment. Just send me a replacement part for what actually broke by next day shipping service and I will replace the part myself. HF needs to have replacement spare parts availability for years after any given model is replaced by something else. They also need to keep an online archive of owners manuals for years. I have run into a number of items where all of the info is just gone. An example of the poor HF support is the long frame 2-1/2T jack #42820.

It was apparently made by Torin. The seals are cheap Chinese junk and wear out quickly. I am trying to find a seal kit so I can get good seals of the same sizes from Parker Packing to make it worth my time to do an R/R without having to leave it open. • Dennis says.

Oh, and *any* air compressor *MUST* have provisions for easily attaching a better regulator and a direct tank pressure tap. Most of the larger compressors of other brands have that provision without requiring modification.

They have plugged extra fittings on the tank. That design defect in the HF item is absolutely inexcusable. It should be easy to attach the one of the bigger HF regulators to any 20 gal or bigger tank with no hassle and without voiding any warranty. *>NO EXCUSES.

I can say that there are several Harbor Freight tools that I either own or used when I worked for a contractor that were serviceable and tough. The Chicago Electric spade handle drill is great for drilling large holes and mixing mortar is a great example. The contractor I worked for still has it after 15 years and it keeps plugging away. For $40 it has paid for itself 100 times over. I have pry bars, ratcheting wrenches and some screwdrivers that I bought as disposable tools but they are still kicking after 10-20 years of tough use. So I decided to get the Hercules impact driver as a backup to my Bosch tools (I have both 18 and 12v).

It works great! I have only had it for 3 months but it works just as good as the Bosch tools do. Time will tell but for $100 if it only works a year and I can get jobs done and/or make $$$ with it who cares? Next I’m thinking of getting the Bauer copy of the Milwaukee hole hawg. It’s got great reviews and again if it’s only a backup and gets me through a job and a little more it’s paid for itself. Here’s my issue with this. Harbor Freight is new to the scene with drills that can compare with the big boys and they choose to compare their newest offering to a 5 year old DeWalt model.

The Hercules and Bauer brands they offer haven’t earned a reputation of their own by enduring the test of time to prove they belong in the same discussion as brands like DeWalt who have but they want to claim they “beat” DeWalt right off the shelf. For all we know they could have mass failures in a year or 2. The 90 day warranty is a joke and the best you can get from them is a 2 year extended warranty that’ll cost you $30 more. If they’re so confident in their new drills and want to compete with the big names in the industry, why not offer a comparable warranty in the price like the others do? At these price points they’re asking the customer for a lot of trust and to take all the risk. $100 is officially out of the “disposable tool” category. Either go all the way and offer the same warranty or slash the price in half so it’s not such a loss when it dies.

Maybe it’s a good drill but at this moment, who really knows? They’d be better off allowing their news brands to build that reputation for themselves rather than calling out reputable and respected brands who’ve earned what they have today by providing quality tools and service over many years. Even if i have to pay more, I’ll pay it for a proven product. But at those price points, there’s too much competition that you can find offerings by DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Ridgid and Ryobi at the same $100 price point.

There’s no reason to take a chance on Hercules at Harbor Freight.

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