Northern Tool opinions?

"MoCamino" (mocamino) 07/18/2019 at 13:14 • Filed to: Tool store = good

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The nearest large-ish town around me is about to get a brand spankin’ new Northern Tools store. We’ve had Harbor Freight, Lowes, Home Depot, Menards, and a few other high-priced tool places around for quite some time, but I’ve never had a Northern Tool near me before. How do they compare to HF?

I’m a hobbyist at best - I don’t make my living with my tools, so I’ve never felt the need for the expensive stuff. But like many people, sometimes I find the quality at HF to be lacking (or non-existent). As long as it’s not something that a poor quality tool could hurt me (never buy spring compressors from HF), I take an “it’s good enough for me” attitude. Going by their website, it looks like NT is going to provide a slightly more expensive but generally better quality tool option. If that’s the case, I’m excited to have them around. What does the OppoHiveMind™ think?

An Opel GT with a Zetec motor for your time.

random001 > MoCamino 07/18/2019 at 13:34

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Northern Tool, Tractor Supply, and Harbor Freight are essentially the same place, in terms of quality. They do tend to be different in terms of content, but not so much in quality. That said, I’ve had good luck with all three for most things I’ve bought there.

NT does have better stickers, though.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MoCamino 07/18/2019 at 13:45

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My impression has been that they’re more or less premium Harbor Freight. Which is to say, a lot of Chinesium, but not necessarily as much resting on the actual bottom of the barrel, more like the nicer stuff at HF.

Quality aside, they also have a different selection somewhat.

Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! > MoCamino 07/18/2019 at 13:54

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Slightly better than Harbor Freight is how I would rate  them.

MoCamino > random001 07/18/2019 at 13:55

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Thanks.  I can definitely see they have a different selection, which is good. 

MoCamino > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/18/2019 at 13:56

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The selection does look different, definitely.  Some options that HF just doesn’t have.  As long as they tend toward the better side of the HF spectrum, it will be a nice option to have around.  Thanks for the feedback!

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > MoCamino 07/18/2019 at 14:22

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I would also say their stuff tends to be on the nicer or more quality end compared to harbor freight. But not in a different league.

MM54 > MoCamino 07/18/2019 at 14:48

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I know that if you buy from their online/catalogs they have actual name-brand stuff, unlike the Plastic Hell, but they also have their own lines of chinese crap.