Harbor Freight: I love you. I hate you.

Good: I just bought a engine hoist for less then the available coupon.

Bad: how bad of shape is the box going to be in for $7 in shipping cost???

A few months ago, I asked a friend if I could borrow his engine hoist. He said yes, on the condition that I never, ever return it.

The one I have (2 ton version) comes in 2 boxes, so you've got twice then number of boxes to worry about losing parts from.

I learned my lesson after getting 2 destroyed 4x6 bandsaws in a row. I no longer order bulky/heavy things from them, in store purchase only.

In reply to Woody:

Back when I had the Europa I borrowed an engine stand & hoist from a couple friends about an hour away. They went in on the pair 50/50 to share when doing projects. I asked them if they wanted them back after I sold the Europa last year, but no luck yet. Looks like I'm stuck with them for a while...

I'll take any unwanted hoists or stands you dudes have.

I picked up my 1 ton hoist from HF with a 2007 Impreza sedan....

If you think HF's packaging sucks, try unpacking your HF purchase in the middle of the parking lot when its 10 degrees out because your back seat doesn't fold down.

I've got their big one and it is outstanding.

Good luck with the shipping. Heavy items always get screwed up by UPS, and HF's packing is never the best in the world.

I picked up one of their hoists at the store using one of those rare 25% off coupons. Both boxes fit in my friend's Saab no problem. After I had finished the swap project, I sold the thing on CL for more than I paid for it.

Shipping looks like it's coming via truck freight, TNT. I just hope they don't expect to drive a 53' tractor trailer back down here...

I gave away my HF engine stand when I sold my spare BMW M10 engine that was attached to it.

Princess Auto is the Canadian equivalent to HF. Their products and packaging are basically identical. They shipped me my transmission jack because the local store was out of stock. It took them three tries to get all of the pieces here. The first box arrived with the ends blown out and only the instruction sheet left in the box.

I ordered an 80 pound floor jack from HF, and it showed up in one piece. Box was actually not in terrible shape- and all they did was slap a shipper on the store box.

I've used my HF 2-ton hoist more times than I care to remember. It's about 8 years old now. I even got a little exuberant and accelerated out from under it when I was moving it with my truck. Thing still works like a champ.

Anything that gets the job done and has greater than 50% of the purchase price in residual scrap value is a no-brainer.

I have their shop press. I bent the frame pressing out a ball joint.

I have their engine stand. It requires a 2x4 under the front pulley so a BMW inline six won't sag to the floor by the next morning.

I completely understand letting people borrow them with the rule that under no circumstances are they to return them.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I have their engine stand. It requires a 2x4 under the front pulley so a BMW inline six won't sag to the floor by the next morning.

And that is the biggest problem with HF stuff. Variable quality.

I had a 440, with all the accessories, on one of their stands for over a year, and it didn't budge. That's probably north of 900 pounds.

Sometimes their stuff is great, sometimes not so much.

My press came from Northern...

Toyman01 wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I have their engine stand. It requires a 2x4 under the front pulley so a BMW inline six won't sag to the floor by the next morning.

And that is the biggest problem with HF stuff. Variable quality. I had a 440, with all the accessories, on one of their stands for over a year, and it didn't budge. That's probably north of 900 pounds. Sometimes their stuff is great, sometimes not so much. My press came from Northern...

Yeah, my HF engine stand has had several rotaries, a couple of Ford 302s, and now an M20 that's been on it for 2+ years, and it's as good as new, other then some overspray from when I painted the block on one of the SBFs. I also love the engine brace I got from them. Perfect for changing engine mounts. That thing held up the S52 in my M3 for several months while I fought with the steering shaft.

Generally speaking, the simple mechanical stuff I get there is fine. The air-powered stuff is hit-and-miss, and the electrical-powered stuff is mostly junk.

I've had a few friends over on one of the big block ford sites/lists buy the cheapo stands and just weld them up and add a 2x2 kicker to support 800# of BBF.

Funny enough, I bought a 2"teardrop hammer online because no local store had one. I paid the same $7.00 shipping.

I bought the big folding HF hoist years ago. It came just fine, with one of the boxes blown open and the hydraulic jack missing. I called them up an got them to just ship me the missing jack, which they also sell separately.

What are you supposed to use when the heavy thing that you need to lift is the thing that you're supposed to use to lift heavy things?

Tom_Spangler wrote: ...The air-powered stuff is hit-and-miss, and the electrical-powered stuff is mostly junk.

With the electrical tools, unless you want a very occasional / temporary use tool it's best to go for their more expensive stuff (which realistically is probably almost exactly the same as some other name brands).

I have the cordless impact and the worm drive skill saw. Both are very good quality and look to last quite a while. I also have a metal burr for an air grinder that I had to buy online, very good quality (the cheapo burrs they sell are total crap).

I appreciate their cheap stuff, but I also appreciate there expensive stuff.

Toyman01 wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I have their engine stand. It requires a 2x4 under the front pulley so a BMW inline six won't sag to the floor by the next morning.

And that is the biggest problem with HF stuff. Variable quality. I had a 440, with all the accessories, on one of their stands for over a year, and it didn't budge. That's probably north of 900 pounds. Sometimes their stuff is great, sometimes not so much. My press came from Northern...

Their stands work great on engines only 21" long and fully assembled only weigh 230#s

Anything that gets the job done and has greater than 50% of the purchase price in residual scrap value is a no-brainer.

Thats a good one for Say What.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I have their shop press. I bent the frame pressing out a ball joint.

If it was from an E30, that doesn't count. I think I bent time and space pressing one of those out, and I still had to use a torch.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I have their engine stand. It requires a 2x4 under the front pulley so a BMW inline six won't sag to the floor by the next morning.

I haven't tried anything bigger than an M20, but I've several M20s on mine with no issues. Granted, it's not the bottom barrel HF stand, but it is a HF stand.

I use HF for things with a minimum of moving parts - that pretty much solves the problem.

I have little sympathy for someone wanting to pay for crap and then complaining about getting their wish. I bet China makes stuff just as good as anything made here in the U.S. - it's just that we won't pay for it.