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Harbor Freight chainsaws recalled

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/8700038144

May 16, 2018, 12:25 PM
olfuzzy
Harbor Freight chainsaws recalled
Over a million chainsaws have been recalled after they failed to turn off after being powered up, causing numerous injuries.

Harbor Freight Tools has received 15 complaints about its products malfunctioning, with three reports of lacerated injuries and one even needing stitches.

Chainsaw usage has been recommended to cease by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in a statement on Tuesday, CBS News reports.

Consumers should return the goods to the store and exchange the chainsaws for another.

New chainsaws will be available at Harbor Freight Tools on May 21.

Included in the recall are the Portland, One Stop Garden and the Chicago Electric.

Both the Portland and One Stop Garden both have 'Portland' printed on the blades and come in green and black.

The Chicago Electric features a red and black chainsaw with 'Chicago Electric' on the handle.

The defective items were sold at Harbor Freights stores and online May 2009 through February 2018 at a price of $50.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...r-Freight-Tools.html
May 16, 2018, 12:30 PM
Birdvol
Are they chinese made?
May 16, 2018, 12:36 PM
parabellum
quote:
Originally posted by Birdvol:
Are they chinese made?
Does the Pope wear a funny hat?
May 16, 2018, 12:48 PM
Pale Horse
I’ve bought a few things from Harbor Freight but nothing I needed to last more than a few uses and I’d damn sure never buy something like a chainsaw from there.




“Everybody wants a Sig in the sheets but a Glock on the streets.” -bionic218 04-02-2014
May 16, 2018, 12:54 PM
Ripley
I'll have to call and see about my electric pole saw I got there. I have limited use for it but when I've needed it, it's been surprisingly handy.




Set the controls for the heart of the Sun.
May 16, 2018, 12:56 PM
konata88
Caveat emptor should have originated in China.




"Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it." L.Tolstoy
"A government is just a body of people, usually, notably, ungoverned." Shepherd Book
May 16, 2018, 12:58 PM
az4783054
quote:
Originally posted by Birdvol:
Are they chinese made?


I don't think they carry anything USA made. They're not called CHINA FREIGHT without good reason... Roll Eyes


Beware of a man whose only pistol is a 1911, he's probably very good with it.
May 16, 2018, 01:03 PM
Snake207
quote:
Originally posted by Pale Horse:
I’ve bought a few things from Harbor Freight but nothing I needed to last more than a few uses and I’d damn sure never buy something like a chainsaw from there.


Took the words right out of my mouth!


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May 16, 2018, 01:13 PM
newtoSig765
I looked at the manufacturer's label on one and it said "Fin Ga Gon" made it. Distributed by "One Lop" in Hang Chow province.


--------------------------
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
-- H L Mencken

I always prefer reality when I can figure out what it is.
-- JALLEN 10/18/18
May 16, 2018, 02:04 PM
Aeteocles
In case you've never been to a developing country...

Harbor Freight actually smells like many developing countries, including the industrializing portions of China.

The first time I went into a Harbor Freight, the smell immediately triggered memories of my visits to Vietnam and China.
May 16, 2018, 02:09 PM
JALLEN
Only a complete moron would buy an electric chain saw from Harbor Freight for $50.

With weekend sales and my stash of coupons, I got mine for $34.95.

So far, so good.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
May 16, 2018, 02:24 PM
Edmond
quote:
Originally posted by Birdvol:
Are they chinese made?


What isn't Chinese made at HF?

Not only is it Chinese made, it seems to be the cheaper version of Chinese made.

I wouldn't use any of their power equipment.


_____________

May 16, 2018, 02:26 PM
ChuckFinley
Three words that never belong together "Harbor Freight and Chainsaw"




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"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C.S. Lewis
May 16, 2018, 02:27 PM
RGRacing
Too bad there isn't a core charge for all Chinese Crap Sold here in the US. Load all the defective junk on a ship and send it back to them - Our dumps have to be getting full.
May 16, 2018, 02:42 PM
ensigmatic
quote:
Originally posted by ChuckFinley:
Three words that never belong together "Harbor Freight and Chainsaw"

My first thought, upon seeing the thread title, wasn't far off: "Who in their right mind would think buying a chainsaw, of all things, at Harbor Freight would be a good idea?"

My two most dangerous tools: My chainsaws and my table saw. To my way of thinking "cheap" makes dangerous even more so.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
May 16, 2018, 02:56 PM
Rick Lee
How do you get injured by a chainsaw because it doesn't turn off? Try to pull the chain off with your bare hands? Couldn't you just cut the power by either unplugging it (if electric) or pulling the cap off the spark plug (if gas powered)? Isn't some bare bones knowledge of how things work required when going from a handsaw to a chainsaw?
May 16, 2018, 03:15 PM
egregore
Some Harbor Freight tools are quite good for the money. A friend has a $16 corded recip saw that he says he can't kill. I have some "Pittsburgh" branded half-inch extensions that I haven't been able to break yet. The "U.S. General" branded tool boxes look decent for the money, better made than Sears Craftsman. But much more of their stuff is crap.
May 16, 2018, 03:25 PM
sigmonkey
Rule #1, before using; Chain Saw-check.




"the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב!
May 16, 2018, 03:26 PM
slosig
Never seen a Harbor Freight chainsaw. I’d guess it has an anti-kickback inertial brake like a Stihl or a Husky. If so, just slap that sucker forward and stop the chain, then figure out the best way to shut it off.

We’ve had good luck with their impact sockets, extensions, and grinders on the ranch. Any sort of fab job just eats the grinders up, whether you are talking about a four inch or a nine inch. The Chicago Electric (HF brand) seem to hold up about the same as a Makita, but are much cheaper and for an extra 10% you can get the insurance. Wear it out, kill it, take it back and they give you another one. About half the time you get a clerk who will sell you insurance on the replacement for 10%, then when it dies they replace it for free too. Wink

Harbor Freight is pretty good for some stuff. Other stuff, not so much. You will not catch me buying a chainsaw or any precision measuring instruments at a Harbor Freight. Smile
May 16, 2018, 03:27 PM
ArtieS
I have had good luck with a lot of their stuff. And their new stuff is better than the old stuff.

I have a 4" angle grinder that is a workhorse, and I use their 1/2 inch impact rated sockets with a 24" breaker bar on rusted farm equipment, and haven't broken either the bar or the sockets yet. I'm really quite surprised at how good and tough some of their stuff has turned out to be.



"I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation."

Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II.