Yeah, and the stuff they rent is probably mostly old junk and beat to hell because renters don't take care of stuff. It's probably a lot cheaper to just go to Harbor Freight and buy a tool there than to rent something.
This really varies. On numerous occasions, I've gone to the rental place, taken one look at the machine, and then immediately left said rental place. Once, I had to wait for the dude to take the brand-new backpack leaf blower out of the box and pour in the first bottle of oil. I had no problem waiting that time. It's always a good idea to have the dude start the motor before you load up.
Harbor Freight is great for hand tools you'll use occasionally, or power tools you'll use rarely. There's a reason people who use those tools for a living shop elsewhere.
The last mechanic I talked to said Snap-On tools had become overpriced junk, and Harbor Freight tools were a much better value. This is for hand tools, mind you. All the hand tools I've gotten from HF in the past few years have been excellent, better than anything I ever got from Craftsman (except torque wrenches; I haven't tried HF's, and my old Craftsman torque wrenches are excellent).
Yeah, if I were a professional, I wouldn't use HF power tools either. But we're talking about DIYers here, not pros. And even good-quality name-brand tools from Lowe's/HD are a better value than renting.
The only place I can see where renting a tool makes sense is for something pretty large, that costs at least $500. For instance, a ditch digger is something I would rent, not buy: it's big, needs maintenance, and probably costs several thousand dollars new. And it's not something I'd need to use much, probably only once. But power tool that costs $80? Just buy it. I'll come out way ahead buying it, using it, and then reselling it on Craigslist than renting it.
I've never used a Snap-On tool; that always seemed like a scam. I have an HF torque wrench that's got to be 10yo by now. It still works, but I don't really ask much of it. Bicycle stuff, usually, with an occasional top-mounted oil filter on a diesel engine (the latter only because everything is plastic now, and one wants neither to break something nor to have oil dripping all over; in the days of steel I would have just gripped a short wrench halfway off the axis and pulled hard). If I were rebuilding transmissions I'd have a good torque wrench. I've broken enough wrenches that I can pretty much tell when it's going to happen, and now I stop before that point. For that reason, it's probably true that an HF wrench is at least 90% as useful as any other. I have yet to really pull on an HF wrench that I would call "excellent", however. Various hammers and chisels I've purchased have all lost their shape after just a bit of hard use.
I have HF power tools, but there's something slightly off about each of them, whether that's a flimsy plastic body, a saw blade arbor that moves around, or whatever. I don't use any of them on even a monthly basis. If I did, I would upgrade. Everything my brother has borrowed for a job has quickly failed. He doesn't buy much at Harbor Freight.
I have a Craftsman cordless drill that has lasted forever; it predates the tiny b&w Makita drills all the contractors have been using for years now. Since the battery is old-fashioned dry cell rather than lithium, I just took it to Ellis Battery for a rebuild when it failed.
>I have yet to really pull on an HF wrench that I would call "excellent", however. Various hammers and chisels I've purchased have all lost their shape after just a bit of hard use.
The HF socket wrenches and sockets I've used have been at least as good as any Craftsman competitor, even from over 20 years ago.
However, for chisels, if you're talking about for woodworking, that's something I doubt I would buy from HF. For proper woodworking, chisels have to be incredibly sharp and hold an edge, and that requires high-quality steel. I guess if you're just installing some door latch plates a HF chisel might be OK though, but I'd get something nice for doing any serious woodworking because having really sharp chisels is critical for quality work.
