I've never had any of the battery stuff from HF, but have several other things and they are average to above average.
- Blasting box. It's OK out of the gate as is from HF, but about $100 in mods and it is a damn good box.
- Parts washer. Works just fine as is, but most folks add a filter to it. I did so the cleaning agent lasts a lot longer.
- 30 ton press - no complaints other than I now want to make it a hyraulicly operated press because why not
- Floor jacks. I have 3 of them. Only problem was self induced when I tried to use a 1.5 ton aluminum jack on something too heavy for it and one of the seals leaks now. Other two are solid as hell.
- Impact sockets. Have never had a problem with them, and one set is at least 20 years old and was used like a rented mule on one of my jobsites before it became mine.
- Badlands winch. I have a couple of them, they work great and have outlasted the Warn I originally had.
- Predator 3500 Inverter Generator. I actually bought this one used about 9 years ago and it gets ran hard every weekend during deer season and a few outside of deer season. We have 3 of them between my buddy and I and I think 2 more on the lease. Can't go wrong with them. The 3rd one my buddy bought because it was $200 and he figured it would be good for a backup, which it has. We run it every now and then just to keep the gas fresh and even though it spent most of it's life in a stilt house in the middle of Christmas Bay, it still fires up and runs.
- Drill press vice. I bought this thing something like 20 years ago and while it worked, it was always loose and kind of janky. But for drilling holes in wood or the occasional angle iron, it worked. One day it felt really loose so I looked at it and figured out how to take up a lot of the slack in it and it's been a solid vice for what I use it for since then.
I also have various hammers, pry bars, etc. that have all been good enough to get the job done. I buy a lot of grinding and flap wheels from them, but only when they have good sales on and it makes sense. They aren't the highest quality by any stretch but when you get a good sale going they become worth it. Extension cords, zip ties, etc. are all the same as anywhere.
I do have a 100lb stand alone sandblaster that has been problematic. I haven't spent any time trying to figure out why it doesn't work like it should. One of these days it will be my project. I expect that like most things, a few key parts being upgraded will fix the problem. Hope so anyway.
