# What Kind Of Tools Do You Have ?



## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

I am just getting into repairing my Honda snowblowers myself and have basic tools, mostly Craftsman. This is a fun type hobby for me. 

Was wondering what guys who routinely repair all kinds of snowblowers carry in their tool
shops/

What kind of power tools do you have?

What kind of special tools do you have?

Over the summer, I built all new workbenches for my shop. I have a small sander, some Ridgit drills and impact drill, craftsman impact gun and sockets , etc.

I bought a pick set, long wrenches, screwdriver sets, wratchet wrench set.

I mainly want to work on the Hondas but just got an ariens st824 and a neighbor may sell me a st950? for parts.

So, what do you recommend for a well equipped shop?

Thanks.


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## guilateen02 (Nov 23, 2014)

I would suggest an impact gun. It can be air or battery. They make very easy work of stubborn nuts and bolt. Also on many rotating parts like flywheels, pulleys, augers, you don't have to find a way to stop the mass from rotating. The impact wrench magically just removes the hardware.


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## majorxlr8n (Jan 11, 2017)

I do "at home" mobile repairs, so here's what I have on hand in the truck:

Tools: basic wrenches/sockets in SAE & metric, Torx sockets, allen wrenches/sockets, screwdrivers, extension bars 3/8 & 1/2, pliers, vice grips, 1/2" breaker bar & ratchet, 1/2" drive sockets up to 1 1/4", 120v electric impact gun, 12v portable air compressor, digital volt meter, grease gun, punches, small & BIG hammers, wire bread ties (for cleaning carbs), files, 120v electric angle grinder, large pry bar, cans of lithium grease & carb cleaner, PB Blaster, blocks of wood, funnels, shop rags, hand cleaner, gloves, oil, fuel

parts: roll of 1/8" nylon starter rope, roll of 1/4" fuel line, hose clamps, zip ties, assorted shear bolts, common belts 1/2" x 35"/36"/37", MTD auger belts 954-0430, Tecumseh carb bowl kits, spare Chinese "junk" carbs to cannibalize for parts, spark plugs RJ19LM/RC12YC & Bosch BPR6ES, wire, crimp connectors, electric & duct tape

and probably a WHOLE bunch of stuff I've forgotten!
Marty


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## JayzAuto1 (Jul 25, 2016)

Fun costs Money......How much "Fun" do you want to spend? It will depend on the type of work you do also....Rebuild engines?? Restoration work?? Start off slow and make sure you REALLY enjoy it. Buy things as you "Need" them. Buy Quality that will last/outlast the hobby....don't buy it twice. Read about the job ahead of time, Know your enemy, ID the tools, process and time involved.....Then double or triple that, depending on your skill level. Look for the Junk/Old/Disposable machines,,,, and collect the different models to practice on. Try to borrow/rent a tool for a process you may never do again, or won't enjoy doing......It's not work, If you enjoy it. Go slow..Have Fun.....Repeat if necessary. GLuck, Jay


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

I work on both my snow thrower and mower and find the tools to be the same. An item not mentioned I find invaluable is a variety of worklights. I have a magnetized light that's really handy and a bunch of rechargeable flashlights.

Also, make sure you have a 2X4, from 12 to 18 inches so you still have your fingers when you're finished.


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## e.fisher26 (Nov 6, 2016)

The ryobi half inch and quarter inch battery impact set is a great inexpensive set to have for this kind of work. I think theres a 3/8 impact also but the 2-in-one set does everything.


-efisher-


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## cranman (Jan 23, 2016)

For working on snowblowers, look at the Harbor Freight 6 ' motor cycle lift table. I's just right for getting snowblowers high enough to work on and has enough length to use as a work bench while the snowblower is on the table. $299 on sale


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

I have everything, everything mentioned above plus arc stick welder, Oxy acetylene gas and cutting torch, MIG welder, compression gauge, ultrasonic cleaner, 3 bench grinders, 5 hand grinders, Mason tools, carpentry tools, dry wall tools, painting equipment plus 2 collapsing extending paint poles, 2 walking surveyor wheels, laser levels, electrical equipment, tools, testing, telephone and Internet cable tools, table saw, wood lathe, 2 drill presses, 2 hand jig saws, 2 jig saws, reciprocating saw, knife sharpener, diamond saw blade sharpener, diamond wet tile saw, plumbing tools, pipe cutters, pipe wrenches, torch, tap and die set, 1/4" 3/8" and 1/2" torque wrenches, 2 Dremels, 10 drills including 3 1/2" drills, a gas powered drill, 4 Sanders, belt sander, router, router table, 2 air compressors, 5 chain saws, chain saw sharpener, pole saws, both MTN climbing and tree climbing equipment, complete set of specialized bicycle tools and bike stand, stump grinder, 4 cylinder wood chipper, maybe 3,000-4,000 drill bits, 30 router bits, 2 vises, impact gun, flaring set, car buffer, large 20-30 gallon stainless steel wet vac, 2 small dry wet vacs, gear pullers, 3 step ladders, 3 extension ladders, an open gearz socket wrench set, rivet tools and rivets, lots of nuts bolts screws, air conditioning gauges and hoses, 4 battery chargers, 3 spray guns, floor jacks and cylinder pumps, clamps, 3 circular saws, 8 power washers including 12hp, 8hp, 4 5hp, others are electric, walk behind mowers, 61", 48", 32", rototiller, 13 snowblowers, 50' tree sprayer, 3 snow plow pumps, snow plows, a Gravely with a mower, brush hog, broom, snow blower and 2 Sully's, commercial floor scrubber, do I include my sports equipment? My surfboard, my canoe? My MMA stuff? 2 heavy bags, gi, 15 or so bikes? MTN, road, cyclocross, comfort, tandem bike

Want more? I'm sure I forgot a few.


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## e.fisher26 (Nov 6, 2016)

I bought a 301 pc tool kit from Harbour freight just to keep in the truck to make repairs on location for customers. $150 on sale plus 20% coupon, cant beat it with lifetime warranty.










-efisher-


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

Donyboy73 (youtube) gets a lot of good recommendations here and here is a link to his playlists, including tool reviews and safety tips: https://www.youtube.com/user/donyboy73/playlists

A few things at the top of my list concerning sockets:

- If you end up with an air assist impact wrench, you should only use impact sockets (dull black ones). Chrome sockets can shatter in certain situations, flinging nice sharp pieces your way. Not sure if that applies to the battery powered ones or not, but it may. My electric impact wrench is a goofy big beast, but it can fly sometimes.

- It took me a while to discover 6 point vs 12 point sockets. The 6 pointers are so much better at not rounding old set-up nuts and bolts, but sometimes you need the 12 points for tight spots. 

- Deep well impacts sockets are nice, I tend to use them more often then the regular length, but I use them both.

- Metric and SAE. Metric gets used here a lot more than SAE.


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## Hanky (Nov 14, 2014)

Keep a clip board and paper handy. WHEN some one wants to borrow a tool no matter how big small or how long........ write it down and the date make sure they see you doing it and you will not loose any tools. It is hard to say no to a good friend or neighbor. I look at it as a good fence makes a for a good neighbor.


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## CO Snow (Dec 8, 2011)

Hanky said:


> Keep a clip board and paper handy. WHEN some one wants to borrow a tool no matter how big small or how long........ write it down and the date make sure they see you doing it and you will not loose any tools. It is hard to say no to a good friend or neighbor. I look at it as a good fence makes a for a good neighbor.



Use your phone and take a photo of the person holding the tool that they're borrowing.


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## JayzAuto1 (Jul 25, 2016)

Boy this is a great Post......... Lot's of good suggestions, I also use the phone to take pix of complicated assemblies, BEFORE I touch them...... Also, if doing customer work, take pix while the customer is standing there. It helps avoid the "EvaSinceYa" Syndrome. Ya know, "Was that scratch there before"? Or, "Where's the clean out Stick"? (his wife was using it to scratch her back). A Quality Pen light is Invaluable. I use the Stream Light 2) AAA LED battery model......fits in back pocket, shirt pocket, always at the ready. IDK how your eyesight is, but a Magnifying glass is real handy. I have an articulating arm, round Florescent Lite, surrounding a 10x mag glass, mounted to the wall next to the bench I do carbs on. A Pen with lots of ink...... The better the story on the customers invoice, the more money you can get. I charge by the word. GLuck, Jay


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## snowflitesly (May 5, 2016)

I've been working cars for over 20 years and I mainly have craftsman and mastercraft manual tools in my craftsman double decker tool chest (which is over 20 yrs old).


I would recommend not spending the snap on tool grade for the common manual tools, craftsman (sears) and mastercraft (Canadian tire, Canada's tool den) both honor their lifetime warranty and from my experience not worth the extra bux for a snap on version ratchet. I once purchase a 1/4 inch drive low profile snap on ratchet, the small tooth one (cant remember but I think 172 tooth one) and jammed on me twice in 5 yrs, but still running the ordinary mastercraft one for longer with no issues. The main difference is you have to chase down the snap on tool truck guy to get the exchange. Good tools nonetheless


Still have those odd ball tools to get some odd jobs done right and cheap tools just don't make it really far, as spread wrenches for those tight grip ''C'' clips, good pry bars so they don't bend and pry properly, good air tools, needle pics that don't bend, pullers that don't bend, etc, etc, you get the idea.


My theory, is spend your money where it is necessary, common manual tools all have lifetime warranty, exchange without questions. And the tool chest, definitely a question of how deep your pockets are, because in the end, its just a drawer to keep your tools in, why brag that you can hold a 10 wheeler on top of your tool chest, hehe.


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## e.fisher26 (Nov 6, 2016)

I heard a rumor that sears was dropping craftsman in stores, dont know how true it is tho. Im not a professional by any means but having to replace a socket or ratchet once a year is worth not paying ungodly prices for mac or snap-on and the such, IMHO. 


-efisher-


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Sears sold their Craftsman brand, that does not mean they won't be carrying it, they will. I'm sure that clause is in the sale papers. What it gives them is cash, a better distribution into other stores, and probably a royalty on all sales.

When Kmart bought Sears they carry some Craftsman tools, some, a few, very little. They did get into Ace Hardware.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Great posts from everyone. I have many of the tools mentioned except the table grinder and some of the more advanced tools for engine and head work.

That may be a couple years down the road.

I get a big kick out of helping people with their blowers. Word is getting around and I am turning down work. I only want to work a couple hours a day and not make a job out of it.

It's amazing how much I have learned since the start of the winter and repetition is helping me get my repair times way down.

It's also amazing that I know more than 95% of the general population about snow blowers but only have maybe 5% knowledge of career mechanics.

The guys at the Honda dealer are great. They know what I do and take the time and have the patience to explain some repairs for me.


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## nastorino (Jan 28, 2016)

I have hand tools from craftsman from when I was growing up. Last couple years I've added a lot of Dewalt hand tools and most of their 20v tools. I go corded when necessary. Basement glows Dewalt yellow. **** employee discount kills the bank account :roll3yes:


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## JD in NJ (Dec 21, 2016)

I have a pretty wide selection of tools. A lot of Craftsman hand tools, mostly wrenches and sockets, not much from the past decade. A fair amount of 'Husky'. Ingersoll-Rand air tools, Proxxon torque wrenches. Chinese-made mini-mill and mini-lathe. A few Black and Decker power tools left to me by my grandfather. A Milwaukee cordless drill. Craftsman reciprocating saw. I'm leaving a lot out, of course, including all the woodworking stuff.


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## Tezcatlipoca (Jan 27, 2017)

Being a mechanic and a tool addict, I have LOTS of tooling at my disposal, way too much to list here. Helping lots of people into the trade, I usually tell them all the same thing, start with a basic set of hand tools (wrenches, ratchets, sockets, screwdrivers, pliers, hammers, etc) and from there buy the rest as you need. That way you can grow your tools according to how you like to work. Usually you can get a good basic set for a good price when Mastercraft/Craftsman have sales. Both those brands are hard to beat for home use, quality tools with a good warranty (although I've been noticing some sneaky things Mastercraft has been doing lately, but that's another story). Most of my home tools are one of those brands. Snap-on does make a better tool IMO, a large percentage of my work tools are Snap-on. Worth the extra cash if you use them every day all day, and their trucks come to me weekly at the shop so I never have to chase one down, but unless I need a special tool from them at home I generally don't bring them home. 

Keeping track of what people borrow is a great idea, I've had more then a few things go missing that I could swear someone borrowed, but couldn't remember who or if I got it back. I've finally put a dry erase sign out board in my garage to keep track.


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## GoBlowSnow (Sep 4, 2015)

Sears won't have to drop Craftsman.. At the rate Sears is going, they won't be around much longer!


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## GoBlowSnow (Sep 4, 2015)

ACE sells Craftsman tools now for those that did not know. However- If I need to buy hand tools, I have no issues getting Craftsman or Husky or whatever brand name they sell at Lowe's. Whichever is closest. Or EBAY for when I don't need something right away.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

In another lifetime (30 yrs ago) I owned roughtly $10,000 of Mac and Snap On tools, besides air compressor, welder and etc. Someone needed them more than I did and they all walked off one evening, along with the big, Mac toolbox. Now I have a craftsman 3 section box and pretty much all the basic hand tools and two nice torque wrenches. I have an air compressor and a nice IR 231 impact wrench for tire changing work but I'm at the point in my life where most of my auto mechanical work is farmed out. I do what I want and happily pay someone to do the rest. 
I have enough carpentry tools to build a house. I'm very grateful to have what I have. I don't buy any tools any more. Don't need a thing.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

When my Dad passed he left me all his tools . 3 small boxes and enough hand tools to do just about anything.

Also some tools that I do NOT know what the heck they are used for. Maybe I'll post a picture of them and some of you guys can tell me what they are for.

The best thing about these tools are they are all stamped USA and my Dad told me they all are 60-70 years old or older and still look and work fine.

Probably worth a small fortune but they will be handed down to my son or grandson.


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## Sid (Jan 31, 2014)

Ihave just about everything I need, until I need something else.
Sid


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Sid said:


> Ihave just about everything I need, until I need something else.
> Sid


ain't that the truth. i don't mind buying a tool that i might only use once every other year. it is better having it and not needing it than needing it and not having it.


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## snowflitesly (May 5, 2016)

Tezcatlipoca said:


> ....... I've had more then a few things go missing that *I could swear someone borrowed*, but couldn't remember who or if I got it back. I've finally put a dry erase sign out board in my garage to keep track.


 

hahahaha, This seems sooo familiar, in my late teens as an apprentice, I swore many times thinking I lend something to someone, but when not looking for it I would go '' ah yeah there it is'', lmao


As for the snap on truck guy, didn't mean to sound like I had to chase him down the city, sometimes he dropped by every week, sometimes once a month, yo know, can't have $100 + every week to buy new tools and after a while you don't need anything, so when ever I needed some frequently used tool replaced or fixed, It would make things complicated, as for the store, well it stays at the same place all the time, anyways that's what I meant.


they do make better quality tools, but not all of them is worth the big price tag imo


Happy tooling!!!!!


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## guyl (Jun 12, 2016)

Ah tool addiction...where is the 12 step program?

Wood working: Delta 10" table saw, Craftsman 10" radial saw, Delta 14" band saw, General 6" jointer, Mastercraft 12" planer. Several belt and disk sanders including a Ridgid oscillating band/sleeve sander bought 2 weeks ago. Delta and Craftsman 10" miter saws, Mastercraft plunging router, old Porter Cable router, DeWalt reciprocating saw, Makita circular saw, a couple of DeWalt drills plus two 1/2" drills and a few old 3/8" ones. Bosch belt sander, Skil belt sander, Craftsman electric hand plane, two jigsaws, and several other hand power tools.

Metal working: Diltec floor drill press, Mastercraft 230A welder, compressor, various pneumatic hand tools (drill, riveter, impact, paint gun, dremels), several socket sets (1/4", 3/8", 1/2") in both SAE and metric, a nifty Bosch sheet metal nibbling tool that I just picked up last week for $80, 10 ton arbour press, grinder, handheld angle grinder

And they all get well used!


Recent projects include a snowblower transmission conversion project:

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/foru...ission-conversion-craftsman-professional.html

Porch railings:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153055858573645.1073741844.667418644&type=1&l=81ac9df000

A cedar deck:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154142472863645.1073741851.667418644&type=1&l=a177bbc3ef

A router table:

https://www.facebook.com/guy.lavoie/media_set?set=a.10152054369643645.1073741839.667418644&type=3

Making an all aluminium sailing attachment for my canoe:

https://www.facebook.com/guy.lavoie/media_set?set=a.10151679447943645.1073741832.667418644&type=3






A cabinet for an electronic piano:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151906434263645.1073741836.667418644&type=1&l=b9882c7770

Repairing chairs:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152128929738645.1073741840.667418644&type=1&l=6b95b2332d

Building a solid oak church pulpit and communion table (still ongoing)


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## Snowbelt_subie (Dec 20, 2016)

I am not a professional I have mostly craftsman stuff but lately within the last 3 years or so moved to harbor freight tools can't beat the price and I haven't broke anything yet.










Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk


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## merdody1 (Jan 30, 2017)

I keep blaming my son for my missing tools and then I find them where I last used them.


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## Tezcatlipoca (Jan 27, 2017)

snowflitesly said:


> ...can't have $100 + every week to buy new tools and after a while you don't need anything...


I haven't *needed* anything in years, but almost every week my dealer lures me out there with candy, shows me something shiny, and more often then not it seems to come home with me, and the cost is added to my tab. 

For anyone who has never experienced a Snap-on truck, they are evil things that create love and hate relationships.


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## snowflitesly (May 5, 2016)

Tezcatlipoca said:


> I haven't *needed* anything in years, but almost every week my dealer lures me out there with candy, shows me something shiny, and more often then not it seems to come home with me, and the cost is added to my tab.
> 
> For anyone who has never experienced a Snap-on truck, they are evil things that create love and hate relationships.


 
hahaha, well put indeed, don't know if it's the chrome or that nice calendar on the wall, but yeah, something sure make me step off the truck with a higher tab, rofl.


And there is always that ''don't worry bout the money'' speech, and I say '' ahh, he's my friend''


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

just added a bench grinder and some gearwrench wratchet wrenches. also a magnetic tray set to hold all those little nuts, washers, etc.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

merdody1 said:


> I keep blaming my son for my missing tools and then I find them where I last used them.


I grew up in a household of nine – three brothers, one sister, two grandparents, one mudda, one fadda...for some reason I was the one who always got blamed for the missing tool. Always. 

Before my pops passed away, he addressed that and said I was unfairly accused more than once, and I admitted that I was guilty as charged, more than once.


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