Northern Tool & Equipment

We have a Northern Tool & Equipment store opening soon close to me. I know that with Harbor Freight you kind of have to pick and choose what you are getting - some things are decent while others are junk. Just wondering what to expect with a Northern store.

 

Northern Tool seems to have better choices. HRP

 

I have had pretty good luck with their tools. They carry some big name brands. Haven't broken anything yet, unlike hf I have broken everything.

CN

 

as you said , you have to pick and choose. Northern has good stuff and crap too. if you need trailer parts it's the place to go. go-kart and scooter stuff too.

they are headquartered out of Minnesota. i have 2 of them within 45 minutes , fun to go look around

 

I liked NT better than HF when I lived down south, but like everything these days you need to be wary of cheap crap. You get what you pay for, shopping by price alone will usually come back to bite you on the ass.

 

At a Northern store near me I looked around for a pneumatic die grinder last year. They had a dozen choices. The quality did NOT follow the prices. I was able to find a nicer unit at the cheaper range. No rhyme or reason why it was like this though.

Overall I think the Northern store has a lot nicer stuff than our local Harbor Freight store.

 

Lucky guy!
Get a catalog to peruse. Much bigger and better selection than HF.

 

For me they used to be a real "go to" place for quality air tools and non hand tool stuff, but the last time I was there, it felt like they have really started to slide more towards the Harbor Freight end of the scale. I agree w/ 36-3 window that they are still the go to place for trailer & go cart stuff!

 

I ordered a welding hood from them not to long ago, its nice and showed up quickly, I was happy.

 

The way I look at NT is it's a step up from HF but not by much.

 

there is one here in Tulsa, It aint bad.....

 

There used to be a NT here in town...closed up..Now the closest store is like 40 miles away ...I miss the Hell out of it...Way more stuff than the HF store that opened up here last year...Some of ther stuff is the same quality as HF , but overall you could get a better product..
They also have a huge ,regional whse nearby.. If the store didn't stock it, you could order it and pick it up 2 hrs later at whse

 

I-77 @ X18, is that 40 miles from you?

 

ITs harbor frieght stuff (northern tool brand) that also sells some quality brand stuff. IE IR and Quincy compressors... Horbart welders.. right along side of their house brand.

Trailer section is awesome!

 

Harbor Freight is closer so if I need cheap China stuff I usually go there. However this week I happened to be near a Northern Tool store and stopped in. The whole center isle looked like a flea market. Yes, they have some name brand stuff and some stuff that HF doesn't but where they have the same things like off-brand hand and power tools, the stuff looked the same as HF but a hell of a lot more expensive. I was disappointed. This is not the Northern Tool I remembered.

 

While they do have some cool hard to find stuff, it appears their sheetmetal forming tools are the same as HF, just more $$.

 

i like them both for looking and comparing but i like more quality in things i use a lot...

 

I used to go there but got tired of a lot of stuff and mostly quit they got some water pump quick couplers fleet farm does not stock

in fact i buy most of my sockets oil and other parts at fleet farm including bondo and undercoating i really love Fleet and spend a ton there in a year

 

They just put one in Conroe. It seems to be what has been described here so far...a bit of a step above HF.

There seems to be a mix of quality.

I've had a lot of success buying really nice vintage tools at pawn shops lately.

 

I'm looking at getting seats there this weekend. They have some equipment seats that are about exactly the right size, for a hundred bucks each.

 

We've used them for years to exchange our empty Mig and torch tanks. The price is good and they always have them in stock. Some of their stuff is HF quality, but some is a few notches above. They do have a pretty good selection of welding supplies, and as was mentioned, trailer and go kart stuff. Their generators and other large pieces of equipment seem to be pretty good too.

They seem pretty good about swapping out defective tools too. I had a nibbler that broke and they gave me a refund with no questions asked.

Don

 

I agree. You can't go wrong with Farm & Fleet (or Fleet Farm in our area) They sell brand name stuff and have some of the best prices around on the real stuff.

 

I've never been in a Tractor Supply store, but have seen them around. How are they ?

Don

 

Tractor Supply is basicly a hardware store with feed and tractor parts. They have a decent tool selection. They run good sales from time to time.

 

I make a lot of trips to TSC. It's the only place around where you can still buy bolts and nuts by the pound. This includes grade eight bolts. Also it is amazing what you can find in the tractor parts section. I found a lot of bushings and hardened pins for chassis building. I even used a pair of their adjustable top link lift arms for short radius rods. Half the price of Speedway.

 

Had thoughts of buying bendpac lift from northern.... They are a supplier and will ship to the store free.....lift price is comparable to internet.

 

where at in st;charles are they going i live in wrightcity tom

 

The new one in Omaha is nice but small selection on lots of items. More name brands than H.F. They seem to be very interested in catalog sales, understandable! My 2 cents. ~sololobo~

 

I can help. Right behind Hooters at the Cave Springs exit. Dennis D

 

I got two Harbor Freight gift cards for Christmas.

Used them to buy a refurbished air compressor. HF had to ship it to the local store.

I picked it up last week. It seems like a quality piece.