Who Makes Harbor Freight's Drain Snake And How Much Does It Cost?
Once water, hair, and other debris go down the drain, it's easy to not give them a second thought. That is, until plumbing issues start to arise. At that point, you have two options — call a plumber or get to the bottom of the mystery yourself. If your toolbox needs some filling out to make the latter choice happen, Harbor Freight has some excellent finds for all your DIY plumbing needs. Looking over the hardware chain's website, one can find several of such tools, including drain snakes to yank out whatever has gotten stuck in your plumbing.
Per the Harbor Freight website's listings, the bulk of its drain cleaners and associated accessories are sold under the Bauer name. This is one of the tool lines that's exclusively sold and owned by Harbor Freight, but what's the story behind its tools, including its drain snakes? According to Harbor Freight, Bauer tools are sourced from the same factories as some of its competitors. The company doesn't get much more information beyond that — though, product packaging can reveal a bit more. It's common on the back of Bauer tool boxes for it to be stated that the tool was made in China, so at the very least some of the brand's tools are manufactured overseas.
Regardless of where they're made, Bauer tools, which don't quite measure up to the Hercules brand, and its drain snakes are here in the U.S. and ready to use. The other major question is, though, how much do they cost?
Harbor Freight's drain cleaning equipment can get expensive
If you're interested in one of Harbor Freight's Bauer drain snakes, you likely want to know what you can expect to pay for them. Starting on the low-end price is the 20V Cordless Automatic Feed Drain Cleaner, which will run you $69.99 for the tool alone. Meanwhile, the 23-foot Automatic-Feed Handheld Electric Drain Cleaner jumps up in price a bit to $99.99. The significantly more heavy-duty 50-foot Manual Feed Drain Cleaning Drum costs $299.99, while the 50-foot Automatic-Feed Drain Cleaning Drum Machine will set you back a whopping $399.99. As far as attachments, you can get a 23-foot Replacement Drain Cable and a 6-foot Toilet Auger for $24.99 and $34.99, respectively.
Should none of these Bauer offerings from Harbor Freight meet your needs, or your budget, you don't have to venture to another store. You can try the unbranded drill-powered 25-foot drain auger instead, which will only cost you $14.99, or the Drill Master 15-foot drill-powered drain auger for $11.99. Pacific Hydrostar has you covered when it comes to a replacement cable, too, with its replacement cable and cutter set. This not only includes a 54-foot replacement cable, but a few additional cutter attachments to boot. The main downside is that it's pretty expensive at $69.99.
While price is important to consider when buying a drain snake, user sentiment is worth considering as well. Folks on the Harbor Freight website have tossed out their two cents on such products, giving potential buyers an idea of what they're getting into with them.
How customers rate Harbor Freight's drain snakes
It appears that if you decide to go with one of Harbor Freight's drain snakes, you're most likely going to get your money's worth. Starting with the 20V cordless drain cleaner, it currently has a 4.5 out of five star rating based on 386 reviews. 91% of customers recommend it, citing such aspects as price, quality, and useability as its best features. The 23-foot electric drain cleaner is in great standing with customers, too, also boasting a 4.5 star rating based on 1,859 reviews. It's recommended by nearly the same percentage of customers as the 20V model and is said to boast similar strong points.
Moving on to the 50-foot drum machine drain cleaners, the 50-foot manual feed unit comes in at over 4.6 stars based on 89 reviews with a 93% recommendation rate. Meanwhile, its 50-foot automatic feed counterpart dips a bit with a 4.3 rating generated by 81 reviews. Nevertheless, 88% of users recommend it to those considering it. For the sake of comparison, the non-branded drill-powered drain auger has 1,521 reviews but only amounts to a 3.8 out of five star rating. As for the Drill Master unit, it has a four out of five star rating on 329 reviews.
All in all, Harbor Freight, the home of numerous essential handyman tools, seems to deliver with its drain snakes. So long as you're not too hung up on where they're made, those from Bauer should serve you well, or at least potentially better than the store's alternatives.