As mentioned in my recent “field trip to Harbor Freight…” post, I unsuccessfully sought out Hercules 12V cordless drills at two separate store locations. Actually, both stores were sold out of all of their Hercules cordless power tools, except for their newly launched reciprocating saw and blower.
So what’s going on at Harbor Freight? If you look online, the product listings for Harbor Freight tools tell you to check stores. In-store, there’s nothing there.
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One store manager told me that distribution has halted, and an associate at a different store told me that the entire cordless platform was being revamped.
To get to the bottom of things, I spoke with Wes Harmelink, Harbor Freight’s VP of quality and product development. I spoke to Wes two years ago when they were beginning to push into the Pro Tools market with their Hercules line.
In the two years since then, Harbor Freight launched a new line of Fortress quiet air compressors, new US General tool boxes, more Hercules tools, and they are in the process of kicking off a new line of Icon professional hand tools and tool storage.
So what’s going on with Hercules? The entire cordless platform is being revamped, with the changes being mostly cosmetic. All Hercules cordless power tools and batteries will remain compatible, with the differences being in the styling and visual distinctions.
From the in-store signage above (it’s clickable if you want to zoom in), there are new Hercules LED worklights coming, a vacuum, a grinder, circular saw, more drills and drivers, and even a heavy-duty demolition hammer.
I’m told there will be new batteries, new charger options, and even some brushless cordless power tools.
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There will also be more a la carte purchasing options, so that users can piece together kits of their choosing. Batteries will be priced “fairly.” Checking Harbor Freight’s website, their Hercules 20V 2.5Ah battery is priced at $25, and the 5.0Ah battery is $40. I’m told that these batteries “use the same Samsung Li-ion cells as other top brands.”
I have been to Harbor Freight stores two times in the past week, which is more times than in the past 5+ years combined. There are some changes, and I’m hoping to see more.
It continues to be interesting to watch Harbor Freight’s journey. Their goal at the moment is to maintain the “good” offerings that customers know to expect, while expanding upon “better” and “best” options.
This is actually a very refreshing stance in my opinion. One of my biggest frustrations with the Craftsman tool brand, from back when it was still owned by Sears, was that Sears seemed to have lost sight of “better” and “best” tool options, instead focusing on “good” tools that seemed primarily aimed at gift-givers and impulse buyers.
The new Craftsman tool brand, under Stanley Black & Decker, has launched a lot of tools in the past year, but I’m still not seeing many “better” or “best” options for more demanding users like myself. The current tools seem primarily aimed at homeowners, with some exceptions.
So what Harbor Freight is doing now is well-aligned with what I had wanted Sears to do with the Craftsman brand a few years ago. They’re striving to make better tools, and then an even higher tier, while maintaining their more entry-level options.
Harbor Freight has expanded their in-house talent pool, and although they seem to have gone through some growing pains, they are now pushing into new tool development territories. The need or desire to revamp the Hercules cordless platforms, for instance, results from a developing roadmap of new tool launches. Oh yes, there is a roadmap, and I’m actually quite excited at the potential it holds.
Is Harbor Freight a professional tool company now that can butt heads with brands such as Dewalt, Milwaukee, or Snap-on? I think that in many areas they have a ways to go, but they do already have some formidable tools.
Harbor Freight said they were looking to make a serious push into the pro tool market. My experience with Hercules 20V cordless power tools is that they’re closer than they’ve ever been before, and they’re working to launch even better tools.
Although the selection was limited at my local stores, I was quite impressed with the new Icon breaker bars. The pricing is higher than you would think for Harbor Freight tools, but if they truly compare well against Snap-on tools, they could possibly compete against other mid-priced brands, such as Gearwrench.
I don’t know what’s going to happen.
But, I do know that Harbor Freight is expanding their Hercules cordless power tool lineup. They wouldn’t do this if it weren’t supported by sales and customer popularity. I’ve been told by store managers and associates that the already-launched Hercules tools have been very popular, and customers have been asking for them by name.
Harbor Freight is making good on their promise to push into the professional cordless power tool market. It still remains to be seen how well they will compare, and whether they will be a serious player. Are they ready for the big leagues? They seem to think so.
I would say that Harbor Freight has their work cut out for them, but they do seem to be putting serious effort into their Hercules cordless power tool lineup and many of their other still-new brands.
The first new Hercules cordless power tools should be available in a couple of weeks, and you can expect more tool launches to follow.
Chris
I’m always interested when HF releases new stuff. Especially the upcoming ICON tools. Although I am feeling the prices are a bit high for harbor freight. Even though they’re supposedly professional quality, it’s just not at a price point that harbor freight is known for.
Chris
If they’re truly professional quality though, can you really complain about their prices?
Tool Truth
That’s a BIG If
John
They are not in any way professional quality. If you look at AvE’s teardowns of the hercules tools they are nowhere near the quality of dewalt or milwaukee, despite looking similar.
Chris
Exactly, and look how much HF is asking for them. For like $20 more you can get the most basic of the Dewalt tools and get much better performance.
W.G
You are so full of it buddy, AvE has applauded Hercules as being built better than Milwaukee’s tools, put on your glasses this time and look again at his YouTube vids.
James Wilson
What is HF warranty on their battery?? Home Depot, other than a long run around, and much hype, provides zero warranty on Ryobi batteries
fred
Interesting. When they bought out US General and their tool stores in 1991 – I thought that might be the start of HF carrying a broader range of tools including brands other than their house brands. While HF stores may carry a few non-house-brand items – that is the exception to the rule. Stuart’s point about Sears Craftsman once offering ” good”, “better” and “best” in many of their tools is well taken. Their “Craftsman Commercial” power tools did seem a notch or two up from their normal line. SBD may not want to do that with their new Craftsman lineup – because its seems to be slotted into where they had positioned Porter Cable – and a higher level Craftsman tool might cannibalize Dewalt sales. With only house brands – HF probably does not worry that folks may step up to Hercules – or in-store comparison shop for Bauer, Icon, Chicago Electric or whatever other house brand name tools may be on sale.
Javier A.
I’ll consider Hercules when they’re willing to include more than a 90 day warranty with their power tools.
OhioHead
^ this!
90 days is not a long enough warranty, it needs to be a year for cordless @ a minimum.
I am intrigued by the move up market & I have direct knowledge that the new HF welders are legit (HF hired ex-Lincoln electric folks) to remake the perceived cheapness factor of the old welders.
100% agree that SBD is missing a “good, better, best” strategy w/ Craftsman, I “think” HF is evolving into this strategy in multiple product categories……….
Frank D
Completely agree.
90 days warranty on HF tools is a major dealbreaker.
I have made a couple exceptions to that, while away from home, doing a renovation and I needed something unforeseen, I don’t like to borrow tools, rental was going to take too much time & $$, so drove to the nearest HF and bought the most basic corded unit they had and considered it disposable ( since I wasn’t going to pay $$$ to duplicate a corded or cordless powertool I already had back home )
Having heavily invested in a couple major cordless brands though, whatever HF comes out with will remain a no-go.
Had they had their major store chain expansion and product expansion 7-10 years ago; with a bit of extra tool quality, better reviews and an industry standard warranty; I might have tried a few things.
Toolfreak
At this point, even if HF power tools had a lifetime warranty, I’d probably stick with major brands, just because it isn’t worth the hassle of trying to get a warranty replacement versus just having a tool that works with normal use.
The warranty is the catch with HF stuff, you have to pay extra for the same warranty that major tool brands have standard, so by the time you include that in the price, major tool brands are often priced lower.
This really should be mentioned more in blog posts about HF stuff, as otherwise it makes things seem equal when they really are not.
Christina Marie McCoy
All power tools give the option of an ESP (extended service plan) for a very small price u can purchase . Say for an item 39.99 a 1year @ $7.99 and a two year @ $10.99 .all you have to do is bring the item to the store, no box, no receipt, no questions except for your phone number so we can file the claim and give you a new item , your money back or the option to upgrade in store , no mail in bullshit. Also the plans start after the in store 90 days so one year is actually 15 months if full coverage. Pretty good deal .
W.G
There is NO HASSLE returning anything, in fact if your tool dies, you go in and they give you a BRAND new one, NOT refurbished like Milwaukee or others, and same if you buy the reasonably priced 2 yr or 1 yr warranty, YOU GET A BRAND NEW ONE, stop making these erroneous statements!
Nathan
Price is going to have to come down quite a bit.
or you know – they extend those coupons to use on them.
Chris
Yeah, the coupon restrictions are stupid.
Brian A
Many types of retail is getting ridiculous with coupon exclusions, not just tools. The tools exclusions have gotten really bad online this year.
Was in Macys last weekend, there was a coupon I got in email, it only worked on full price non sale items in the store.
A while back I was trying to buy the kids some Nikes at Kohls, never bought Nike products there before, but then learned Nike is excluded from Kohls coupons.
Sears always had lots of exclusions before their demise in my area about a year ago.
Remember the days when HF coupons had no exclusions…
Retailers wonder why customers are always frustrated….
Matt
Maybe I am just to picky but I dislike the Hercules moniker. I cannot take it seriously enough. With names like Fortress, ICON, Pittsburg, Doyle, I wish I they had chosen a different title for these.
What’s in a name though, right?
John
All I think of is The Nutty Professor line “Hercules, Hercules, Hercules, …”
Weldor
Chicago pneumatic used to be very cheap made in Japan tools, the name was designed to fool potential customers. They are now top tier tools and undoubtedly the inspiration behind harbor freight’s central pneumatic, the name game is cyclical and has been played for a long time!
fred
Really? I know that CP is now part of the Swedish conglomerate Atlas Copco with worldwide factories that include one in Osaka . But I believe that they had a long history dating back to the early days of the last century – manufacturing tools in the US. They certainly produced many firsts in terms of pneumatic tools – including what was reportedly the first pneumatic impact wrench in 1939.
Then – how about the Chicago Pneumatic rivet guns that were used in American Aircraft Factories during World War II? The famous “Rosie the Riveter Poster – depicts a CP riveting hammer in use – certainly not a made-in-Japan tool.
To your point about HF – I’m sure you are right that their Central Pneumatic and Chicago Electric house brands were inspired by the likes of Chicago Pneumatic,
fred
I believe that they have another brand called Warrior for their lower end tools:
https://www.harborfreight.com/18v-lithium-38-in-cordless-drill-kit-64118.html?_br_psugg_q=warrior
I recall seeing British taps and dies with this name – so I looked up the trademark to see if there was any relation. Apparently the UK company (Nuckey-Scott & Co.) that used to own the warrior trademark is now out of business
Matt
I believe Warrior has replaced Drill Master.
They have Admiral, Quinn, Ames, Bauer, Earthquake (meh) etc…. Any of these are better than Hercules
C
Earthquake
John
Warranties are too short, spare parts are basically non existent and prices have creeped up to better known and better built brands. All that makes too many HF tools disposable with too high of a relative price for future landfill.
I do have a few HF tools in my shop, but they were chosen with the understanding that I am responsible for fixing anything that fails or breaks.
AP
With harbor freights warranty you just walk in and get a new one no questions asked. Not like the dewalt nonsense warranty that requires you to ship it in wait a month and maybe get it fixed. You can get a 2 year warranty with the herc stuff it just adds 20 bucks to the price but it is so much better than other warranties out there.
trippy
Very true
Weldor
The few electric motor driven items from harbor freight I’ve owned have really delivered in longevity and don’t owe me a dime (drill presses, band saws, a belt sander, compressor). That being said those items were originally purchased and considered due to their extremely low price compared to competing options. I’ve have a hard time adjusting that mind set with HF and their power new tool lines. Fyi Their orange vulcan welders are indeed Lincoln “inspired” and very solid. They may have removed the protig200 do to the design being too closely copied, but I’ve heard they are releasing a protig205 to take its place early next year. The titanium green welders are said to be common import inspired (everlast, etc) and are said to be based on tried and true designs.
Larry Spence
I have the omnipro and was very impressed with the welder but not too impressed with the mig gun .
Stacey
The price is not right on these tools, especially with a 90 Day warranty. For these tools to be worth it, the price would have to be 1/3 the price of the equivalent good name brand, otherwise I can only see HF taking a beating on these power tools in an already glutted market.
Tom G
I went to purchase one of their newer mig welders ,a Titinaum 125 120v flux core welder. It was on sale for $ 149.00 during their 3 day sale. Normal price was $199. Well they didn’t have any. I had to pre pay and order it. Two weeks later I was told on Thurs they were getting a delivery. Thurs evening I went to the store and saw One and only one on the shelf. I took it to the register with my prepaid paperwork. They got all upset and wanted me to wait till mine came in which they said could be a month. I held on to that one and left. What gives,they advertised a sale and don’t have the product . Isn’t that illegal.
Matt
Good on HF… They obviously get it. Craftsman IMO doesn’t need to offer ‘good,better,best’. They do however need a base (good) and professional (best) line. Folks have mentioned they don’t want Craftsman to step on DeWalt’s toes. The problem there is Craftsman then can’t even compete with Harbor Freight. They can’t even compete with Kobalt or Rigid right now as it is.
DeWalt guys are going to continue to be diehard DeWalt guys and support the yellow brand. And they should… The Craftsman guys however won’t necessarily go over to DeWalt in search of better battery powered tools.. SBD would be foolish to just assume they will. There’s too many other options out there.
Kizzle
Do people not realize they can get a DeWalt 12v Xtreme drill kit for $30 more than the Hercules? Extra battery. Longer warranty. Better support. Parts available. That alone is worth $30 more. Knowing I won’t be screwed if my drill dies on day 91 is reason enough. It’s financially stupid to invest in Hercules tools unless you’ve been given only a few months to live, or, you like throwing stuff away when it breaks and buying a new one.
Gordon
I’d be interested to see how much the LED lights are. I’d like a set of lights for working in the garage with swapable batteries. I’m mostly curious if the large one also has a 120v plug like the Makita version. That would be really nice.
After lugging my 14gal Ridgid vac around, I have come to lust after a handheld shop vac. I seem to make little messes all over the house that I don’t exactly what to be using my Dyson stick vac for. Especially fine particulate like sheetrock dust.
Either way, HF would have to be cheaper for a tool and battery than just the tool from any other brand. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense for anyone to divest from their current battery platform. Nothing there is unique, in a good way, to the Hercules platform. If I was going to invest in a second battery platform, it would most likely be an M12 because it compliments my Makita 18v better than anything.
Corey Moore
The use of the word “Legendary” in their reference to a relatively new, and not top tier line of tools, should tell anyone right away that they’re goal is to pull one over on us.
Carl J
I was thinking the same thing when I read that. I guess the new definition of “legendary” is any time frame lasting longer than 4 weeks.
Evadman
With a 90 day warranty, they obviously know it is going to fail. 90 days means disposable tool only, so I see no point in bothering. They are way too high priced for a product that they warranty with the expectation of failure.
That product lifetime will result in sales to only new customers that haven’t had one fail. This seems marketed to people who do not do research before buying a tool, and that is disappointing from a corporate standards and ethics point of view. 🙁 companies should be trying to keep customers, not make a sale and then drop them.
Steve
A few things:
1. Craftsman does not need a Good/Better/Best, Craftsman is already part of a Meh/Good/Better/Best for SBD:
B&D -> PC -> Craftsman -> Dewalt
Just as HF has:
CE -> Bauer -> Hercules
Subdividing the Craftsman brand in to Good/Better/Best levels would bring unnecessary confusion. SBD wants to keep it somewhat premium so they’re not going to dip down into the B&D/PC range and there’s absolutely no way they’re going to create an in house competitor for Dewalt with a Craftsman Professional or something like that (at least in power tools).
2. To fully take on pro brands Hercules will need to go well beyond a 90 day warranty, to at least a year. Even if it’s immaterial to you it certainly is a big deal marketing wise. Even though sales may be doing well there’s still a significant part of the pro and enthusiast markets that won’t consider Hercules with a 90 day warranty.
3. Price is actually a slight problem for Hercules as they are often times close to, the same, or more than the pro brands they are competing with, especially when those brands have big sales at Father’s Day or the Holidays and/or offer combo kits and other promos that Hercules doesn’t do as of yet.
Matt
I would agree with that if there were Black & Decker tool stores across America with marketing signs both in sales literature and inside stores that literally say “Good,Better,Best” with pictures of B&D,Craftsman,DeWalt.. But that isn’t the case.
Most people have no clue Craftsman is part of a good,better,best strategy for Stanley Black & Decker. Most people have no clue Craftsman has anything to do with Black & Decker. I have diehard DeWalt friends who had no idea DeWalt was part of that strategy. They didn’t even know DeWalt was part of Black & Decker either. Just as most people don’t know Milwaukee has anything to do with Ryobi or Rigid. Also, Craftsman is nowhere near somewhat premium right now. If they were, I don’t think anyone would be complaining. They are indeed in the Black & Decker/P.C. territory on most of their tools.
Steve
The “Better” class would be the somewhat premium range, that’s where Craftsman falls in the SBD good/better/best strategy.
It is immaterial wether the consumer knows of the corporate affiliation between brands.
Matt
But Craftsman doesn’t fall into the Better/Somewhat premium range. I understand that’s how SBD may want the customer to feel, it doesn’t play out in the real world on most of their tools though. I’m not saying they won’t get there, I’m just saying their current offerings aside from a few tools are nowhere near what I consider better, let alone somewhat premium. They are good, but they’re mostly old brushed motor porter cables. And I own several but they are what they are.
I also disagree that’s it’s immaterial. When cross shopping brands, the consumer who’s not in the know may simply pass on Craftsman. Why not buy the Kobalt right next to it instead? It’s brushless, perhaps offers more options, feels better built and may even be cheaper. If they were in the know however then they’d understand why the Craftsman isn’t as good as the Kobalt, or Rigid, or even Ryobi or Hercules. They would know then that they need to buy the DeWalt brand from the Black & Decker family instead.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree… It’s all good.
Stuart
Good: Hard plastic-handled screwdrivers
Better: Comfort grip screwdrivers
Best: USA-made premium screwdrivers
Sears’ Craftsman of a few years ago was great. They had Evolv at entry-level pricing, USA-made Craftsman tools at mid-level and value pricing, and more premium Craftsman Professional tools at higher pricing. But then they smudged the lines and stopped targeting the customers that would have purchased the USA-made “better” and “best” offerings before they were all discontinued or outsourced.
GRAY ?
Have you folks ever heard the saying you get what you pay for. Cheep and free go a long way in this world of retail.Harbor Fright knows this they leave the mental masturbation up to you.Good better best but not the same price Harbor Fright just gave you what’s known in police work as a clue. What you think you know can get you in trouble
Przemek (Poland)
Anything similar to Dewalt looking at led light – DCL040, right angle driver-DCD740, siding mitre saw – DWS780, aku vacuum – DCV58x, table saw-DWE7491/DW745..
Another version of tool for another company/brand?
Too bad that this big breaker is not availible in Europe
RCWARD
Glad to see that HF is trying to become a real store and not a Chinese Junk store that it has been.
Kizzle
These are junk power tools. Why do you think they’ll only stand behind them for 90 days?
Bob
I don’t blame Harbor freight for not giving a warranty. They don’t make these tools. They have their stuff private labled from someone else. Sure they can specify what they want and how much it cost but they aren’t physically building it themselves. A supply chain hiccup can really mess them up. They don’t want to be warranting tools that they can no longer obtain.
I also think harbor freight is counting on the fact that some people go into Harbor freight just assuming the prices are cheaper than everybody else.
Not all their products can be a homerun like the toolboxes. Those are excellent for the money. BUT they can’t survive on just toolboxes. So they are trying to do the same thing with cordless power tools. I don’t think it’s going to work for all the reasons mentioned. But you can’t blame a company for trying.
On another note I’m not sure if I can think of any discount retailer in any sector that has successfully gone up market.
Stuart
It keeps the costs down, and for users that want to pay for the warranty protection, HF’s extended care warranty does sound really good when explained to me.
Personally I’m not one for extended warranties.
During my recent visit I was told about the lifetime warranty on the hand tools. I don’t think I was aware of that before.
jayne
harbor freights ok for gloves, tool chests, and agh diy stuff. some clamps but honestly most of the stuff they sell is of poor quality the 10 dollar 29 piece drill bit set went through steel in hammer drill mode. so not the worst but not the best either. people you tube concure if you m,ake a living oif you tools are going the hft route maybe. heck Aldi’s food is just as good as the reg junk. go figure…………….
ktash
I don’t think that their main target is people who comparison shop and know a lot about tools. For those folks, it’s a no-brainer to wait for sales and get top brands. Or even get the old model on closeout of a top brand, way cheaper than any of these HF tools.
I think it’s partly the customers they already have, upgrading them. They have plenty of customers, since they are an expanding company. At least some of the customers are very loyal and compare HF to what they’d have to pay elsewhere, and often feel those other places are a rip-off. So, they aren’t going to look at these other tools much, assuming they are way too expensive. They mainly shop at HF, in other words. They are also convinced that HF makes high quality tools. I know this from personal experience. They usually aren’t pros. My theory anyway.
me
Even pros will shop at HF for certain things-impact sockets, tools to carry in their daily driver, tools they plan to use rarely, or for one project, tools to keep where having a marginal tool is better than none at all.
The What?
How can they be sold out? It’s their own brand that’s manufactured by their company. They don’t sell different brands of tools that have their own manufacturing facility like the big box brands that HD and Lowes sells. Harbor freight doesn’t have vendors because every tool in their stores are all made under the same roof. They might have different names and have different designs and colors and packaging, but they’re all made in the same facility. They can revamp their brands all they want to, but it’s still not going to change the way people perceive them. They will never be taken seriously by professionals who depend on their tools to make a living. Harbor freight will never be able to shake the tarnished reputation that proceeds them. They did it to themselves and the irreversible damage was done several years ago.
Stuart
Let’s say there’s a bakery called Home Frosting, or HF for short.
HF made chocolate chip cookies. I decided I wanted one. I went to HF looking for a cookie, but the shelf was empty with a sign saying “more chocolate chip cookies are coming soon!”
It turns out that they’re changing their cookie recipe slightly, and are still testing it in-house, and so they’re not selling the new cookies to customers. All of the previous chocolate chip cookies were already purchased.
So, with all the previous cookies gone, and the new cookies not yet arrived, that’s how HF is “sold out” of chocolate chip cookies.
Perception is irrelevant. What really matters are the numbers. Customers are buying and loving the new tools. Do you think they would come out with these new brands and “better” and “best” offerings if sales numbers didn’t support it?
Wasn’t it you who were pushing me to try the Earthquake ratchet?
Gordon
Dang, there are a lot of definitive statements here, from people making some broad assumptions.
1. Pro’s absolutely use HF tools. It might be for a one time job, or because the cost is better. I knew a mechanic that had a bunch of Pittsburgh tools because he couldn’t afford to wait for the snapon truck to come around. Smaller shops might only see that truck once a week. The other day the guys in front of me were buying pumps and fans because someone broke a water pipe and flooded the basement. You can’t always rent that stuff immediately.
2. HF sits nicely between the cost to rent and the cost to own a quality tool. There are many things, like the cheap multimeters, that aren’t worth it at all. But if you need to use a tool for more than a day it can often be cheaper to buy a HF version.
HF makes some ambitious claims in their advertising comparing their tools to much higher quality tools. I don’t think anyone here is trying to support those claims. It’s just the HF has a place and we can all benefit from them increasing the quality. Either you get better HF tools, or it actually does pressure the big manufacturers to make improvements.
Diozon
Although I personally don’t care what anyone spends their own money on I can personally attest that you won’t be taken seriously if you come on a job site unprepared. Cheap tools work until they don’t and if you are in the middle of a job, the customer is not paying you to stand around.
Personally I recommend sticking with Dewalt, Makita or Milwaukee. You don’t want to burn bridges when you in the trades. Too many of the young buck’s don’t seem to realize how important this to not cut corners. Been there done that and this always comes back to haunt you when you least expect it.
The What?
How can they sell out of their own brand that they manufacture themselves. They don’t have vendors. Every single tool in their stores are manufactured under the same roof. They may have different brand names and design differences, but they’re all made at the same facility. What are they revamping exactly? More importantly why are they revamping? I honestly don’t think that it really matters because no matter how many brands they make to contend with the bigger brands, no one is ever going to take it seriously. I don’t think that they’ll ever be able to shake the bad rep that they brought upon themselves. Imo the entire company needs revamping starting with their name. Hercules may very well be a contender with the big box brands, but as soon as the words harbor freight are mentioned, the thought of them selling a professional brand is dismissed because 9 out of 10 people discount it as junk because that’s all they’ve been ever known to sell. I think their reputation is so tarnished that they can’t fix it. At least not without some serious tv and radio commercials. That’s about the only way they can. Advertising on blogs isn’t going to worked for harbor freight. They need media exposure to push their better brands to shed some light through the black cloud that is above every store.
fred
It might be that they really don’t have as much control over their Chinese OEMs as they would wish.
Might they not bid out the manufacture of their tools to different OEMs in China? Perhaps they could no longer get the price deal they wanted with the OEM that was making the Hercules stuff – and the new stuff will be coming from some other factory.
Unlike Lowes and Home Depot – where house brands (e.g. Kobalt and Husky) may come with packaging with GTINs identifying the OEM – Central Purchasing- HF slaps their GTINs on most everything they sell. So you might assume they could all come from the same source – or maybe not.
Grady
Sense Harbor Freight is moving up the powertool market , they could start by clearing out some showroom space by totally getting rid of the super crap models ,Drill Master and Chicago Electric.
If you own one of those products, take the tool and the original purchase price in cash , and throw them in the thrash. That way you can say that you threw something away!
Gordon
You seem to be asking some basic questions for someone making such definitive statements.
In 2010 HF’s revenue was estimated at $1 billion coming from 300 stores. According to 2018 records, it was $5 billion and today they have over 1000 stores. I’d say they don’t have any problems.
fred
That’s been my take too. I’ve said it before – that they must be doing something right – even if some would argue that making lots of money makes my assertion false. Meanwhile HF has also made Eric Smidt a very wealthy man – and to his credit supported his many philanthropies.
Brian M
The deals you can find on Milwaukee and Dewalt on Amazon and eBay, new and reconditioned…definitely not worth it for Hercules. I’ve bought the M12 brushed Impact driver and drill with two 1.5Ah batteries, charger and bag for $99 from Home Depot…where the RETURN policy is as long as the Hercules warranty and you get a 5/3-year warranty from Milwaukee on top of it. I’ve seen the Gen 1 Fuel hammer drill for $50 on eBay as a bare tool, that drill will DESTROY a 20V Hercules drill in any test you can throw at it. I’ve even seen the Gen 2 Fuel hammer drill for around the that same price(but less common)!
Corey Moore
The brushed Hercules has higher speed and torque than both generations of M12 fuel hd. Let’s keep comparisons and projected outcomes based in reality. 2000rpm @ 576inlb will not likely be DESTROYED by 1700rpm @350inlb in any general drilling task.
Corey Moore
Nevermind- I thought your reference to the drills on eBay was following your purchase of 12v’s, that’s my misinterpretation. Feel free to disregard lol
Robert Tripp
Purchased many (a lot) a HF tool in the past for no other reason than was it was all I could afford. Cordless have all been replaced with Milwaukee M12 fuel, sanders with Mirka, Makita and Dewalt has my 120v.
Yes there are still some HF items in the shop. A 60 gallon air compressor at least 11 years old and ridden hard. A 125 amp wire feed welder just as old, its light blue color . A 40 lb blast cabinet, modified a lot and 2 hp dust collector highly modified. A 6 x 48 belt sander also highly modified. Various screw drivers and sockets. Almost for got my 1.5 ton aluminum floor jack.
The ones that were still in working order I would toss in a box and when the box filled I would pass them on to the kid next door. Table saws, miter saw and circular saw every belt sander I think they sold. Drill motors, cordless drills. Tile/brick saw (which wasn’t at all a bad tool).
A tear formed in my eye the day I got my Makita circular saw. As I thought my lack of skills would never allow me to follow a snapped line to rip a sheet of plywood using the HF circular saw or worm drive saw. I was wrong. Won’t even tell you what happened the day I got my M12 circular saw!
There is a place for HF products in the world. Not as big of a place now as there was in my past.
Adam McNutt
I was just at Lowe’s and they have every tool in that photo. But they all are red and saw Craftsman. The bodies are exactly the same, the batteries are the same- everything. Maybe that’s why HF isn’t gearing up, because the manufacturer is pumping them out for Craftsman right now. It is seriously an perfect copy of everything in that photo. All the different flashlights, drills, etc. I did notice Craftsman had a brushless drill/driver, though, as well as the others above.
I took a photo, but can’t upload it here. Here it is in my album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sHhcKHMKBUNw9gn16