Done with POS Craftsman junk...and I really tried

biosurfer1 · 04-02-2015, 06:15 AM

Harbor Freight from now on for me I guess. If Craftsman is going to make junk at twice the price, why wouldn't I?

About 18 months ago, I bought a new Craftsman lawn mower and received their top of the line garage door opener as a present.

As of today, the lawn mower starts when it feels like it, even though I have gone through the cleaning and maintenance videos and everything "appears" to be working correctly. The almost-hard-to-imagine-how-stupidly-built-and-designed height adjustment broke within about a week into ownership and now requires a strategically placed zip tie to make sure the damn thing doesn't drop down to the lowest setting in the middle of my grass, thus causing me to start over and create a putting green.

Meanwhile the garage door opener has a light on either side that are supposed to turn on when the garage opens and is actually appreciated since its often dark in the garage. I should say it WOULD be appreciated if either light worked. One light hasn't worked since it was installed and the other followed within about 4 months. If you go mess with the bulb, they both come on...just to go out the next time the garage is opened/closed.

So, I'm done with Craftsman. I buy the occasional wrench here and there but that's it. They are clearly no better any Chinese crap and barely survive on their reputation. So much for Made in America....if they even are any more.

*rant over

HardDrive · 04-02-2015, 06:27 AM

I gave up on them years ago. Sears was gutted by a private equity firm.

bpu699 · 04-02-2015, 06:56 AM

The harbor freight stuff is actually usually pretty good. Most everything I bought there has worked great (with occasional fiddling). Not to mention its 50% cheaper than home depot/sears...

herr_oberst · 04-02-2015, 06:57 AM

I've said it here many times, the 3/8 HF ratchet is the one I reach for. The Craftsman is a piece of junk that got thrown across the street every time I used it....

(It's the original handle I bought in the '70's but the ratchet mechanism failed and was replaced a couple of times. Throughout the years, the quality of the replacement part degraded to such an extent that I don't even care to try any more.)

Yet, ironically, over on Garage Journal, there are threads devoted to vintage Craftsman tools like the Block Grinder

creaturecat · 04-02-2015, 07:14 AM

my newish craftsman tool chest is a total piece of garbage.
my top chest is 25-30 years old. solid. it works like a charm.
sears mechanized gardening tools? i concurr - total junk.

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

My harbor freight ratchets last longer than the Craftsman ones. (who's ratchet mechanisms always go bad).

Only issue is that the heads on the HF ones are so big... Hard to get them into tight spaces.

Taz's Master · 04-02-2015, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creaturecat

my newish craftsman tool chest is a total piece of garbage.
my top chest is 25-30 years old. solid. it works like a charm.
sears mechanized gardening tools? i concurr - total junk.

I have a Craftsman mower I bought used several years ago, I just bolted it's engine on a mower to replace the Honda engine that kept sticking valves. I'm not sold on Craftsman power equipment, but I've got to give that powerplant its due.

island911 · 04-02-2015, 07:27 AM

I don't think such a broad brush can be used. --both have crap design/builds. --both have some gems.

biosurfer1 · 04-02-2015, 07:44 AM

I agree Island, my point was more along the lines of since it's hard to tell which is which, I have to default to price.

Nothing pisses me off more than paying top dollar for a giant turd. Annoying part is with my two products, I'm not the only one. There are lots of posts on forums with the same issues. I feel that if the height adjustment on the mower can be fixed with a $.05 zip tie, surely their engineers can fix it permanently!

john walker's workshop · 04-02-2015, 07:44 AM

Just bought a washer and dryer from sears. Took a month to get them due to several delays, miscommunication between store and warehouse and shippers. Paid $70 for delivery and hookup, but when they finally got here, they said they were to leave them on the deck and that's all. They relented finally and hooked them up. The left hand has no clue what the right one is up to. Then i went to the store to pay them off and they couldn't find my account in spite of giving them my account number, home and work phones and credit card. Circling the drain for sure.

sammyg2 · 04-02-2015, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cstreit

Only issue is that the heads on the HF ones are so big... Hard to get them into tight spaces.

That's what she ... oh never mind.

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

I picked up a Craftsman Professional box last fall. It's every bit on par with lower end Snap On stuff, no joke. Not the typical tinny crap Sears sells. Of course this box is NLA. It was built by Waterloo. I did a lot of research. There are gems if you look. I got this one 1/2 off.

LakeCleElum · 04-02-2015, 07:57 AM

Have 2 old craftsman compressors from the '70's that won't quit.....3 old Craftsman tool chests I'll keep forever.

Wife recently bought me a battery powered weed-eater-JUNK.......Looked at recent PLASTIC Craftsman tool chests at a garage sales....Couldn't open the drawer due to sagging under the weight of a few tools...

Try to get a belt for an old Craftsman riding mower......It's an all day job just to get one on order........

Eric 951 · 04-02-2015, 07:57 AM

Lampert really doesn't care about Sears other than how much $$ he can squeeze out of it before it goes bankrupt.

I took a 1/4" open-end wrench to the store last week for a swap since the end snapped off--tool dept. said "we don't swap those individually, you need to bring in the whole set and we will give you a new set"

How is this economical?

I will say that my 5-year old craftsman push mower works like a champ despite the abuse I heap upon it--sits outside under a tarp when not in use even through the winter--pulled it out last weekend, changed the oil and air filter and it fired on the second pull.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Interestingly, SHLD still has a market cap of $4.4BN and an enterprise value of $8.0BN.

I haven't paid much attention to SHLD but the idea seems to be that the company is basically a big real estate portfolio plus a retail business that is losing $1BN/year.

sammyg2 · 04-02-2015, 08:52 AM

Some craftsman stuff if good, some is crap. Some HF stuff is good, some is crap. It's up to us (and sometimes luck) to figure out which is which.

Best thing I ever bought was one of them big fancy harbor freight floor jacks.
Haven't used it a single time since I drug it home.
Better than any warranty. A jack that prevents cars from breaking down

speeder · speeder's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I've said it here many times, the 3/8 HF ratchet is the one I reach for. The Craftsman is a piece of junk that got thrown across the street every time I used it....

(It's the original handle I bought in the '70's but the ratchet mechanism failed and was replaced a couple of times. Throughout the years, the quality of the replacement part degraded to such an extent that I don't even care to try any more.)

Yet, ironically, over on Garage Journal, there are threads devoted to vintage Craftsman tools like the Block Grinder

The best solution for tools, IMO, is to scour eBay for used Snap-on or Mac stuff. Sometimes Craigslist has yielded results, (like my old Snap-on roller chest for $100), but that is more time consuming than combing the web. Of course the reality is that usually I need a new tool right now, like in the middle of some project, so I buy Sears and HF stuff as well. Craftsman hand tools are still ok, seem the same as ever. Too bad about their lawn mowers but here again, I'd buy some old Lawnboy in good condition before a new lower end rig if I had a lawn.

pitargue · pitargue's Garage

I swapped out a Craftsman 1/4" breaker bar since I broke the original one. (How does that happen?) New one is made in China. So, why not just go to Harbor Freight.

But then again, if you get lucky, you can find some killer tools at garage sales. My neighbor is in the storage bidding business. She always gives me good deals on stuff she finds. (Except for the $35k in gold she found recently. No joke.)

Charles Freeborn · Charles Freeborn's Garage

Not sure Craftsman to HF is a step up. Snap On, Mac, Proto would be though.... As for lawnmowers, all the pro's I see around use Honda. Door openers I can't say...
-C

speeder · speeder's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles Freeborn

Not sure Craftsman to HF is a step up. Snap On, Mac, Proto would be though.... As for lawnmowers, all the pro's I see around use Honda. Door openers I can't say...
-C

That's the thing...the whole "made in China" movement has made for dirt-cheap consumer goods for Americans for the last 25-30 years and now people think that a good lawn mower or garage door opener should cost less than it did in 1978. I'd blame it on Walmart and HF, I'm affected by it as well.

In the old days, you'd buy a cheap Murray or no-name lawn mower for cheap and get crap or step up and buy a Lawnboy or Toro and spend a lot more but it would be quality and last for decades. Today, you buy a cheap Chinese mower for $229 or step up and buy a Honda and get quality. It's really not different. Same with tools.