Harbor Freight Tools... Inverter Generator

jfkmk wrote:
Most of Harbor Freight stuff is junk. You pay for what you get, and this is why their stuff is so cheap.

Some of us are old enough to remember when everyone said Honda was JUNK!

Times change I guess.

I have a HF radial arm/chop saw and it's so flimsy that getting the cuts needed for making frames is impossible. However it's good enough for the crude cuts needed for making art crates.

ralphnjoann wrote:
When I was younger, I bought tools that would last a lifetime, usually Craftsman. Other things being equal, I had a lot of lifetime left. Now that I'm over 70, a tool that lasts a lifetime isn't worth the price. This is where HF comes in.

When my dad died at 72 20 years ago it hit me that I was just a mortal. At 60 I started to putting together a few things like the old Ford F700 flat dump, back hoe, etc just for use around the place. I have fixed up the old stuff not expecting not to need it past 80 most likely.

Thanks to HF we have tools to fix most of any of our old stuff when it breaks. :)

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
So picking on Harbor Freight is easy. I sarcastically label them HARBOR FRIGHT. But it isn's so funny when you buy a CRAFTSMAN hand wrench that costs six times as much as discover it is JUNK. Open end jaws that open wide, box end side that snaps open or rounds off a caterpillar brand bolt.

Used to swear by Craftsman.
That brand has pretty much degraded into different levels of poor quality.

Some Harbor Fright stuff scares me to use it.
Stuff like exploding air nailers, hammers made from chinese low chromium steel, engine hoists with welds that look like a wood glue joint, 110 AC powered tools with sparks flying out, motorized things that always run hot, hum and smell toxic...

Stuff made in China under strict supervision is good stuff...but oh yeah, there's a small catch...

When I was younger, I bought tools that would last a lifetime, usually Craftsman. Other things being equal, I had a lot of lifetime left. Now that I'm over 70, a tool that lasts a lifetime isn't worth the price. This is where HF comes in.

Everything I have bought at HF has been fine for normal light duty use.
I imagine the generator listed by the OP would work fine.
Still better IMO to spend the $500 on solar.

My HF 800 watt generator will power my electric chain saw. I have two Champion 2000 watt inverters and neither one will run my chain saw by itself. I have to parallel the Champions to operate the same chain saw.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
...So picking on Harbor Freight is easy....it isn's so funny when you buy a CRAFTSMAN hand wrench that costs six times as much as discover it is JUNK. Open end jaws that open wide, box end side that snaps open or rounds off a caterpillar brand bolt.

If you look close you can find power tools in other stores with name brand labels on them that I swear are the same tool as you find at HF with a Chicago Tools label. Same tool, different label, higher price tag.

MrWizard wrote:
my HF 'vibrating multi-tool has seen many hours of use....

Yep, I've got one of those also, works great.

HARBOR FREIGHT SALVAGE was the one and only original name of that company.

They made a lot of money selling $4.95 socket sets with ratchets. IMHO most of their stuff then can be compared to the worst of what they have today. They also sold drill presses for $49.99 I bought one. It wasn't anything to brag about, it got the job done.

Go into a supermarket and you need to cherry-pick what you buy. Off-Brand canned products can be so poor they get opened, sampled and go into the trash. Home Depot sells receptacles made so poorly that it is almost a joke. Same with wall paneling. I've purchased many name-brand seeds that did not sprout. None in several hundred is a pretty sad ratio. I just got through installing a pair of HELLA genuine 9004 headlamp bulbs in my car. One lasted four hours and both the high and low beam failed. No dammit, I did not touch the bulb with my bare hands.

I purchased a DACK & BLECKER (this is my official name for them) half-inch drill. It was not nearly as powerful as their cheaper 3/8" drill. I turned it in for warranty. They refused. Their answer. "This drill is not intended for heavy-duty service". B&D has lost a customer for life. What do they think I am? Stupid?