Northern Tool, Your best pal

[dabtl]

I am a lawyer not a body man. I find Northern Tool to be my best pal in working on the M35 and M135.

This week I bought a hydraulic ram kit for $109. Great for bending metal into place. Incredibly cheap for the work it will do. learn as you work.

 

[wreckerman893]

I have bought from them and am happy with what I got.
I joined their preferred customer plan and got a huge hardback catalog a few weeks ago.
If you are a member you don't pay shipping on a lot of items.
I got my 12 volt fuel transfer pump from them. Worked great.

 

[Capt.Marion]

I have bought from them and am happy with what I got.
I joined their preferred customer plan and got a huge hardback catalog a few weeks ago.
If you are a member you don't pay shipping on a lot of items.
I got my 12 volt fuel transfer pump from them. Worked great.

The hardback catalog is really nice. It weathers the high-volume reading in the bathroom and the shop better than the newsprint ones.

Without Northern Tool, I would not be alive. It truly is my toy store. (But, Tractor Supply is becoming my favorite...)

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

Thanks to China and the world market our needs get met by them and harbor frieght. I still count on snap on tools my Grandfather bought and also have a couple Milwaukee drills that go back over fifty years that have only needed a new cord to keep twisting away. I have a lot of tools from these guys too just because they are so cheap for the purpose really cheaper than renting more than once and most of them have held up pretty well. I have found them to be friendly to customers as well.

My best pal is still Jesus Christ his guarantee is eternal.

 

[atankersdad]

Thanks to China and the world market our needs get met by them and harbor frieght. I still count on snap on tools my Grandfather bought and also have a couple Milwaukee drills that go back over fifty years that have only needed a new cord to keep twisting away. I have a lot of tools from these guys too just because they are so cheap for the purpose really cheaper than renting more than once and most of them have held up pretty well. I have found them to be friendly to customers as well.

My best pal is still Jesus Christ his guarantee is eternal.

We have a Harbor Freight not far from the house. Same tools as Northern, low cost (cheaper than renting) and all imports. Not a tool made here in the US of A. We are rapidly becoming a third world nation. However, on the flip side it is great that I can buy something I may only use 1-2 times at 25% the price of a Snap On tool. Oh yea, Snap On has moved offshore as well!!! What happened to the manufacturing base here in America?

 

[maddawg308]

Sorry, dabtl, I do not share your appreciation of cheap crap importers. I'd rather pay $1000 for a quality tool than $200 for a Chinese knock-off that will break just when I need it, or produce inferior results. All my hand tools are Craftsman, power tools are mostly Milwaukee, and my air tools and bigger power tools are a variety, but always made here in USA.

If I started my own tool company in USA, I'd buy all the used, cheap, and broken Chinese garbage tools, melt them down with virgin steel, and forge new, higher quality tools. Just a pet dream, but it's MY pet dream.

 

[wdbtchr]

I have mostly older Craftsman tools I bought 25 years ago, but the new stuff is crap. Look at them, Made in China. I don't even bother to take broken tools back anymore because they replace them with junk from China.

 

[dabtl]

Sorry, dabtl, I do not share your appreciation of cheap crap importers. I'd rather pay $1000 for a quality tool than $200 for a Chinese knock-off that will break just when I need it, or produce inferior results. All my hand tools are Craftsman, power tools are mostly Milwaukee, and my air tools and bigger power tools are a variety, but always made here in USA.

If I started my own tool company in USA, I'd buy all the used, cheap, and broken Chinese garbage tools, melt them down with virgin steel, and forge new, higher quality tools. Just a pet dream, but it's MY pet dream.

My father was a cop in Dallas. He spent the better part of ten years working the pawn shop detail. I knew many pawn shop owners as friends of the family for years in high school and college. I had a Model A Ford. They knew I worked on it at home. I bought Snap On tools by the box. Craftsman came along for the ride. I have a stand alone tool chest that will make any mechanic jealous. I bought it over the years working on the freight docks in Dallas. Great tools.

But, Northern Tool has some really great buys. Chinese or not. I bought the 4 ton hydraulic ram kit for little money and got a really great deal. Took a couple of dents out of the M35s in short order. It is not a pro tool by any means, but I am not earning a living with it either.

I had been using 20 ton hydraulic jacks and cutting pieces of wood to do the same job. It is much easier and more sophisticated work now.

Personally, I would just as soon buy American tools. There just are not any.

 

[THEROAD]

Sorry but craftsman tools are crap. I too don't bother taking broken stuff back anymore. Just go 3 miles to harbor freight and be happy.

 

[randyscycle]

I've worked in the automotive and motorcycle industry for over 20 years now and have observed a few things about tools:

1) Any tool is better than no tool. Particularly on a dark roadside.

2) Any tool is junk if you don't use it properly or abuse it to death.

3) Snap-On, Mac, Matco and other major manufacturers make some very good quality tools. If you plan on keeping them for life then buy them.

4) Craftsman may be cheap quality, but if you break it they give you a new one no questions asked.

5) Harbor Freight and Northern are fine if you only need it ocassionally. Using them to earn a living won't work long.

All that said, the bulk of my tools are Snap-On and some are 20 years old now. They still get broken occasionally too, but not as frequently, and many get used every day. The Harbor Freight tools I have have done OK too, but again, I don't use them as frequently.

 

[FrankUSMC]

I bought that same hydro ram set several years ago because it was on sell from Harbor Freight.
Now the funny part is, I have never used it but, I have loaned it out several times to friends who loved it. The best story of it being used was by a church member who's son had just rolled the family station wagon. They used the ram to repair all the damage to the station wagon, then gave it to a family that did not have a car.
So on that note, I would buy it again.
One of the few, Frank USMC RET

 

[cbvet]

Most of my hand tools are old "name" brands such as Snap-On, S&K, Craftsman, Proto, etc. Many wrenches & sockets are over 50 years old.
I've bought some cheap Chinese wrenches for spares, and not been too happy. Many of the sizes were "a little off", & they stripped easily. Some were fine.
Power tools have been traditional American brands until fairly recently.
A few months back I bought the 3/4" Earthquake impact from Harbor Freight & it works really well.
I just bought their $40 chain saw sharpener, & it too works as advertised.
I don't imagine these cheap tools would stand up to everyday professional use, but they should serve me just fine.
And I have noticed on a couple of occasions, when someone has brought a tool they weren't satisfied with to Harbor, that they were given a replacement or refund immediately.
Heck, I've taken in broken drill bits & gotten new ones on-the-spot!
Eric
CBVET

 

[ARMYMAN30YearsPlus]

I have to agree with our friend Dabtl I have three tool boxes that I have collected over three generations of my family. My Grandfather was a master machinest and my dad a mechanical engineer, being the only son of an only son all those tools came my way. The power ram from Harbor Frieght is the same one you have most likely and I have used it several times with excellent results. I got it on sale too and for what it did it was well worth the money and the lugging it around it is heavy. Many of the companies here in Korea are ISO 9001 and produce wonderful things. I am happy to have a tool for the job and still some cash in the wallet for my family.

 

[powerhouseduece]

Thanks to China and the world market our needs get met by them and harbor frieght. I still count on snap on tools my Grandfather bought and also have a couple Milwaukee drills that go back over fifty years that have only needed a new cord to keep twisting away. I have a lot of tools from these guys too just because they are so cheap for the purpose really cheaper than renting more than once and most of them have held up pretty well. I have found them to be friendly to customers as well.

My best pal is still Jesus Christ his guarantee is eternal.

We have a Harbor Freight not far from the house. Same tools as Northern, low cost (cheaper than renting) and all imports. Not a tool made here in the US of A. We are rapidly becoming a third world nation. However, on the flip side it is great that I can buy something I may only use 1-2 times at 25% the price of a Snap On tool. Oh yea, Snap On has moved offshore as well!!! What happened to the manufacturing base here in America?

I will stick with my over priced snap-on tools, since I got one of the best tools one day i will be able to pass them on to my kids. Or when my dad brakes his habor fright tool.

 

[THEROAD]

Hey anyone ever shoot a cheap chinese SKS or crappy AK. They look like crap but will shoot a half a million rounds no problems. In fact my cheap crappy SKS shot better groups at 300m then the AR-15.
Now Snap-on tools are the top of the line. One of my diesel mechanic friends used nothing but snap-on. I love to borrow his tools. He was a union guy who worked for Penski. Tool cost was not an issue. Now another diesel mechanic buddy who owned his own business has snap-on's; but he has got boxes of Harbor Freight tools. He too said the Harbor Freight 3/4" drive earthquake air gun will do everything I need it for. He uses a 2" drive air gun for his big stuff.