HARBOR FREIGHT

[Mmathis]

I hear you guys talking about Harbor Freight all the time. Well, I just realized that we have one in town, and it's only about 5-10 minutes from my house. Go figure!

Anyway, what kind of "pond" items are you getting from them (like I need an excuse to go)?

 

[koiguy1969]

pond pumps and lights....tools for bulding DIY pond stuff, yard tools and landscape stuff... all kinds of neat stuff.

 

[shakaho]

Really cheap pumps!

 

[taherrmann4]

Whenever buying a pump you need to look at how many watts or amps a device uses. You can buy inexpensive pumps but they may be energy hogs and cost you more in the long run.

With that said HF does have a lot of good stuff for cheap prices some of their stuff is cheap and doesn't last other things do last. I have bought many of clamps, straps, bungee cords, yard gloves, compressors, air hoses, bike pulleys for storage, etc. They always run a 20% off coupon in our paper here with their ad and they always have sales, I never buy anything unless it is on sale though.

 

[brandonsdad02]

I bought myself a big compressor from there for christmas. When I started my current job 2 years ago, I had to buy my first set of tools for welding. I bought el cheapos from there and of course they didn't last long, but once you buy the first set of tools for work, they will replace anything that you break. They do also have nice stuff there as well.

 

[addy1]

Tons of neat stuff, my late husband was always there buying stuff. There are no close ones to us out here in rural ville.

 

[mtpond]

My hubby loves HF. We don't have one in our town, the closest one to us is about two hours away.

 

[Waterbug]

Not pond stuff exactly, but related things. MIG welder for $90, welding magnets for $1, free LED flashlights, bolt cutters for $12, etc. Some things are pretty poor quality, like the MIG welder. But that OK for thin metal. Other things are good quality like the welding magnets, auto drakening welding helmet ($35), clamps, nail guns (all the pneumatic stuff that I've tried), casters, wire ties, digital caliper and dial caliper (liked better because no battery to die), etc. Check online for coupons and sales. Many things go on sale often.

I've never bought any of their electric power tools, they don't seem that great. But for a tool rarely used I'd give it a try.

 

[fishin4cars]

I bought harbor freights sump pump last year. I can tell you this, That's one tough little bugger. I've thrown it literally in the back of my truck, heard it beat and bang around back there when I hit the breaks or turn sharp. yanked it out of a pond by the hose,(Never the cord) and had it run dry more than once. Energy efficient, I have no clue, don't use it long enough in one spot to really worry about it, But it does a heck of a job emptying out 1250 gallon pond in a hour.

 

[SE18]

waterbug, I was thinking about getting HF's oxyacy setup to do some heavy welding, occasional cutting and a lot of brazing and tool steel hardening for projects I'm working on (some for the backyard train canal area). Hopefully the quality is good enough to where it doesn't spring a gas leak and blow up.

If I don't get their setup I see stuff come up from time to time on CraigsList. EBay seems to be overpriced for most things.

My HF angle grinder (drill master) crapped out on me after using it for a couple years, but at $16 it seems more cost effective to just get another one rather than spend over $100 for a really nice one.

When I first started in garden ponds, I mistakenly got a cheap $10 pump from them not made to handle dirty water. It was dead in a day. That was some time ago and from what people say on this forum, they have some nicer pumps now. If my current pump from Germany ever stops I'll have to check those out.

 

[sissy]

I have the one for they put onsale and bought it 3 years ago .It was 99 sale put it at 79 and then I had 20 % off coupon and not one problem yet





I still have this one too neighbor loves it

 

[SE18]

thanks, Sissy, what a bargain. Moves the same amount of water as mine and mine was $250.

I don't guess your pump does this but there are 2 features which I don't have but would like.

1. The ability to turn down the pressure (like a rheostat), say, if you wanted less gpm like 1900 or so. My solution was to build a "T" line back to the holding pond where the pump is, regulated with a ball valve.

2. To shut off when water is low. My pump shuts off when it gets too hot, but I'd rather it shut off when water is too low. My solution was to purchase a diaphram that plugs into the pump. When water pressure drops to a certain point it shuts off the circuit.

So I found solutions but I'd rather have had a pump that did what I wanted. But I'm not really complaining as it runs like a champ.

It was made in Germany, I forget the name of it, but who knows if the parts came from China. Even American cars farm out their labor and parts.

DaveV

 

[sissy]

I have a 4 way T on mine and each has a ball valve on the end of it .One sump pump hose to each filter and one and the one that just pushes water across the top of the pond .I just used a glued in piece of pipe in the 4 way T and stainless steel clamps .

 

[smack a yak]

for big pumps over 4000gph look on ebay i just bought a becket 5200gph pump for 120 and i got a jeboa 4200 pump for 100 and a becket 1800gph for 20 all of the were brand new and i havent had any problems with any i have not used the 5200 yet cause i havent had time to install but i did test it and it kicked butt

 

[smack a yak]

and i LOVE HARBOR FREIGHT i go there like once a week they have everything alot of cheap crapy stuff but if you only need it one time go for it.. they also have good quality stuff for really good prices and many things you will find will help you in some way to make pond maintenance easier