4 Excellent Harbor Freight tools and ONE terrible one. What to buy and what to avoid!

Which Harbor Freight tools are great and which one sucks.
Is it the nail gun, the batteries, the transfer pump, moving dolly or that Portland power washer?
Honest and real life experience with several Harbor Freight tools.
What to buy and what to avoid.

#powertools
#harborfreight
#tools
#toolreview

[FinancialMinuteWithPaulie]

That is actually Asbestos-cement siding.

[tinkerscorner]

You, showing the nail gun, reminded me of an "Upgrade" I did to all of my air tools.

I ditched all of the 1/4" "Industrial" (wimpy) fittings and went with the 3/8" Automotive fittings. I was already running 3/8" air hoses and it didn't seem to make sense that everything was 1/4". I knew it would make a difference in air flow but didn't realize just how much of a difference. All of my air tools now work like you would expect them to but a little better. The air hammer and the 1/2-inch drive impact are where you REALLY notice the difference. They went from being borderline acceptable, standard DIY, consumer type tools, to being total work horses, being able to remove lug nuts on my truck (torqued to 150 ft/lbs.) without having to use a breaker bar first.

I started out with the 3/8" fittings that HF had on clearance, (they were on clearance for a long time) and converted a few tools at a time. They finally came out with the Merlin line, and I was able to finish the rest of the tools, air lines and compressor. With the leftovers, I've made several 1/4" to 3/8" and 3/8" to 1/4" adapters for the few tools that I really don't want to convert.

That's one of the best conversions I could have done, and doing it using Lowe's or Home Depot would have cost me 2 to 3 times as much.

[MrJohnnyboyrebel]

One word of advice for the power washer, after use run some pump saver fluid through it and it will last a lot longer.

[erallen]

I’ve not used the Pierce brand yet but will check them out. I have 3 of the Banks nailers and they work perfectly. The Banks 23g pin nailer, 18g Brad nailer, and the 18g narrow crown stapler.

[aball]

Couple comments.

I saw a test on batteries and the #1 winner was the HF edge and 2nd place was dollar store alkaline.

I had a house with the same siding except mine was beige. Where I lived you could not cover it up and if you took it down it cost a fortune to dispose of because it asbestos.
If the outside temperature is above 75 you can nail through it easily but if its too cold they will break.

[f.n.schlub]

"... weird cement-like siding ..." ASBESTOS

[mlhm]

IMO you cannot beat the long throw Bauer polisher and you can add a 5" Rupes backing plate with no mods (vibrates less). I would buy the Rupes pads as well. I would change the Bauer long throw grease with lithium or Lucas Red and Tacky grease. Makes it quieter. $80 with no discounts.

[mguerramd]

My favorite products at HF are the Apache cases.

[Tom-xmg]

People don't read the instructions, if you leave it on with out the water running through it the pump will burn up, the moving water keeps it cool. Just turn the switch off when not pumping water through it. Just my opinion.

[photog]

I started some metalworking projects and needed an additional angle grinder to avoid having to keep changing from cutting discs to flap discs. I had a Dewalt grinder, but decided on the HF Hercules corded grinder as my second. That has become my go to grinder. May get rid of the Dewalt and get another Hercules. The Bauer portaband saw is also a keeper.

[TheBigfoot]

Great video. New subscriber here.
That siding is asbestos shingles. Long lasting, fire proof, but cracks similar to glass when stressed. Don't remove it, or some nosy neighbors might call the EPA on you for sending "dangerous asbestos " particles onto the air. ....I'm serious.
Covering it up is okay, tho.

[Walkingman.]

The rolling tool carts are excellent especially when on sale. Most of the storage line HF has seems decent, like cases and boxes, and some of the hand tools like 6’ levels under $20 are outstanding. I bought a 6amp power drill and metal nibbler shears both are solid.

[btrswt]

I have a 23, 18, and 15/16 gauge pneumatic nailers from harbor freight and ive been pleased with all of them. I oil them every time I use them and they have worked for thousands of nails.

[ScenicOklahoma]

The Thunderbolt batteries are much better than those

[sonar]

Yo. There are two kinds of batteries sold at Harbor Freight, heavy duty and alkaline. Heavy duty (carbon-zinc) batteries were common in the 1960s, and have a 3-7 times smaller capacity than alkaline and a higher self discharge rate (shelf life).

[dmo]

I mess with Ryobi for the pressure washer. Only cause i wanted some kind of name🤷 these small washers are all you need unless your trying to do huge jobs beyond your means. I highly agree with you

[ST-]

Those yellow HF batteries do suck. Never buy them.
However, I have lots of them in AA and AAA, because they frequently give them away. They often give them out just for coming into the store, or get 3 items with any purchase offers.
I can't count the times I've had name brand batteries in infrequently used tools only to find them dead when I need to use them. With packs of these all over the house I always have batteries on hand. If they die I couldn't care less. There's no better value than free.

[Relayer]

I could use a little pump. Looks like the electrical cord on that pump is separating from the housing.

[chrisharper]

What happen to the pump's power cord strain relief? The wires a dangling from the motor. Also why are you comparing the yellow HF carbon batteries to Alkaline batteries? For an Apples to Apples comparison, you need to use the orange colored HF batteries. And it looks like your trying to put cedar shakes over to of asbestos siding. The Asbestos pretty much lasts forever and as long as you don't disturb it, it should be safe. Not a good idea to be nailing through it. Just paint it a different color.

[phbrinsden]

Repeat yourself too much like on the transfer pump. Interesting though.