5 Tools You Can Only Buy From Harbor Freight

Your first impression of Harbor Freight might not be "unique offerings" (that silly gold-plated ratchet notwithstanding). But it's easy to miss the point of Harbor Freight. It's carved a niche for itself by having stuff not everyone bothers to stock, and offering it at just the right levels of quality and price to appeal to nearly everyone. Additionally, Harbor Freight's house brands — there are more than 70 of them — run the gamut of tools. Where else can you find an Icon fuel injection service kit, a Pittsburgh tire gauge, a U.S. General rolling tool cabinet, and a Predator go-kart racing engine under one roof?

The Harbor Freight magic is often a function of these two factors: how difficult a particular tool is to find locally, and how often you might use it at or near the limits of its construction. A less-expensive version of a common tool might be the best choice when you don't want to pay for more capability than you need. For example, the typical Pittsburgh hand tool isn't engineered for daily, hard use, but if you only use it once every blue moon, there's no sense in paying more for a superior tool. Likewise, the typical Icon tool is only separated from its expensive counterparts by a small amount of durability. So, unless you regularly find yourself beating the bolts off a transmission, you do just fine with Icon rather than Snap-On.

To the extent that you're familiar with it, Predator might seem like a generator brand, but it's actually a fairly well-regarded brand of budget Honda gasoline engine clones– in a blogosphere quick to hate on Harbor Freight, Predator tends to get a sort of grudging respect. They can be bought as vertical- and horizontal-shaft engines of different quality grades, or as go-kart racing engines. Harbor Freight does sell these engines mounted to Predator-branded generators and power stations, but also to pressure washers, pumps, and more. 

If you're in the market for a replacement engine, it's easy to calculate how much of a difference Predator pricing can make. There's an engine replacement matrix on the Harbor Freight website that aligns Predator motors with competitors, and we spot-checked prices and found that Predator engines cost an average of 48.3% of competing engines. Of course, it's not always a crate engine you're looking for.

Predator-branded generators range from 1,800 to 13,000 watts, a comprehensive set of options for most homeowners' purposes, and Predator pressure washers come in an equally broad 2,650 to 4,400 PSI range. In all, there are 66 items (including bare engines) listed in the Predator line, including some pleasant surprises, such as the Harbor Freight Predator post hole digger.

Icon is a professional-quality line of tools, full stop, and is priced as such. That doesn't mean they're not bargains, but they're only bargains when compared to their tool-truck competition, and they're still pretty pricey when compared with other Harbor Freight offerings. Still, comparison with tool truck brands is Icon's specialty. The tools are nearly identical to Snap-On's designs, and are compared directly with Snap-On models. There's little question that many Icon tools are modeled precisely on Snap-On models, with two minor differences: Snap-Ons generally have slightly better build quality, and Icon is often a quarter or less of the Snap-On price.

The Icon lineup is made of the sort of tools you expect to see in an auto shop: lots of ratchets and sockets (sometimes in obscure configurations), shop equipment, lighting, tool chests, and specialty tools. If you doubt the automotive intent, consider the range of Icon diagnostic tools: ODBII scanners, inspection cameras, tire pressure monitors, fuel injection service kits, and refrigerant and EVAP system leak detectors. You don't need most of these in your woodshop, but there's something for everyone amid the pliers, flashlights, hex keys, screwdrivers, and other tools that round out the Icon line, including the one tool every DIYer needs: a pliers wrench. While hand tools might derive much of their quality from materials, tools such as Icon's G2 ratchet line rely on attention to mechanical engineering, building in features such as split pawls, short arc swing, reduced back drag, and the like. Icon tools are genuinely well-made, and worth a look.

Pittsburgh is Harbor Freight's bargain line, an extremely popular brand encompassing 832 items of budget-to-middle-quality automotive and hand tools. The brand's utility spans a vast range of need and experience, from the money-conscious DIYer to the shade tree mechanic, and it's certainly not hard to imagine a pro shop buying Pittsburgh specialty tools if it knows the transfer pump, pick set, or transmission jack probably won't be used again for a decade or two.

Most Pittsburgh offerings — 782 of the 832 — are simply branded "Pittsburgh," but the rest are labeled "Pittsburgh Pro" (and one "Pittsburgh Motorcycle"). So, what gives? Pittsburg Pro is usually described as slightly more professional-quality versions of the Pittsburgh line, and there's some of that. But some tools are better-represented by the Pro brand, especially ¾-inch drive ratchets, sockets, and accessories. This is sensible, because ¾-inch drive is mostly used for industrial and heavy equipment fasteners one isn't likely to encounter in a residential garage (though there is one Pittsburg-branded ¾-drive metric socket set out there).

Pittsburgh Pro does lean toward the slightly more obscure. Tools such as wobble sockets; Torx tamper-proof keys; torque wrenches; unusual ratchet handle configurations and accessories (including the ⅜-inch Drive T-Bar with Flexible Ratchet); impact, spline, and deep-well sockets; and a few other hand tools that are just a little better-made than their Pittsburgh counterparts. However, sometimes, Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Pro tools are nearly indistinguishable; sets of enamel-coated punches, for example. Also, that single Pittsburgh Motorcycle product is a wheel vise for a motorcycle lift; most other motorcycle tools are just branded Pittsburgh.

Toolboxes have become a sort of flex for DIYers. They're often featured filled to the brim with 3D-printed organizational doodads and tackleboxes (toolboxes inside of toolboxes) full of hardware that shouldn't even be in a toolbox. It's a flex because that's part of the return on investment — and the investment is substantial. If you look at roll cabs in the 52- to 56-inch range, you can expect to pay $500 to $1,000 for a Husky, $2,499 for a Harbor Freight Icon, and as much as $8,000 or more for a Snap-On. U.S. General's 56-by-22-inch roll cabs are $899.99. They're not the cheapest, but they also aren't even in the same zip code as the most expensive. That Harbor Freight even has the temerity to compare them to Snap-On cabs is a sign they're pretty good.

Harbor Freight plays some games with specifications (like never specifying the gauge of the U.S. General roll cab), so it's never a straight one-to-one comparison, but you can look at all the numbers — the 4,400-pound capacity, the 120-pound capacity full-extension drawer slides, the 6-inch casters — and understand that you're driving home with a capable, great-looking toolbox. Harbor Freight has also turned U.S. General into something of an ecosystem, with end cabinets, various hanging cabinets, carts, top chests, and a plethora of magnetic, hanging, and other accessories. These days, they're also available in a variety of colors, depending on the needs of your particular flex.

Haul-Master is a brand of trailers, trailer accessories, and related goods such as dollies, wheel barrows, and replacement wheels and tires. You can find some of this locally from other brands, but we wondered how much you could find under a single roof. So, we searched for 20 products at Home Depot that Harbor Freights stocks at our local stores under the Haul-Master name, and found that Home Depot doesn't stock 12 of them in the five stores closest to us. Plus, Harbor Freight has more options for another six of the 20 products.

Haul-Master offers goods for any car with a trailer hitch, including cargo carriers and various hitch- and receiver-related goods. It also has truck-specific items, such as loading ramps, bed extenders, and truck bed racks. There are also trailer-related necessities, from straps and nets to wheel chocks and locks to safety chains and spare tire carriers, and pretty much anything else, including both lawn tractors and actual highway-worthy trailers. Some trailer-related stuff is sold under different brands; trailer wiring, for example, is sold under the Kenway name.

But the brand is Haul-Master, not Trailer-Master, so Harbor Freight has you covered in other forms of hauling as well. You can pick up a three-point hitch for a tractor, for example, or E-Track and accessories for cargo vans. You can also find a wheel or tire for a lawn tractor, wheelbarrow, yard cart, and the like ... if you can stand the smell Harbor Freight's tool sections.