Middle of Lidl

[Vanterrier]

Some interesting stuff from Lidl...

DIY & Garden

www.lidl.co.uk

K

 

[wildebus]

That car creeper that converts to a wheelie-stool looks very useful. certainly tempted by one of those

 

[wildebus]

I put the car creeper in my basket (trolley actually) yesterday and put it together last night (total of 4 bolts, 8 nuts and 6 wheels to fix) and I have to say I am very pleased with it
I use a creeper just very occasionally and the old one I have is knackered and I was going to repair/patch it up it yet again but no need to bother now But the feature I really like on this creeper is the way it converts to a wheely stool . Turns the kit from something which is useful on a few occasions into something that will be very handy loads of the time - and when not using as a stool, it can be used to sit a toolbox on to both get it off the ground and give a nicer working height to it.

Definately recommended for anyone who has a garage or shed they do any work in or ever find themselves laying on the ground by their van/car.
For £20, I am tempted to get a second one in fact! (for example, I just got a set of casters of Amazon for £8 - this creeper comes with 6 perfectly decent caster-wheels in the price).


Out of interest, I also saw a little folding sack trolley for £12 when I was there. These kind of trolleys are handy and you could even put it in the motorhome if you needed to transport water or toilet cassettes.
£12 is very cheap - but on this occasion you really are getting what you pay for and on closer inspection it was (IMHO) very poor and something that would be either thrown away, returned or shoved in the back of the garage after a couple of uses
A while back I actually bought a compact metal fold-down trolley from I think B&M for about £5-£10 which is more compact and a lot better (bought for OH for her car boot purchases).

 

[Trotter]

Lidi and Aldi.
Germany’s answer to TEMU. Only difference I can see, is they are easier to return stuff to.
Please don’t think that I’m knocking their stuff. For the amateur, their stuff is more than adequate in the short term.I’ve got a fair amount.

 

[wildebus]

Lidi and Aldi.
Germany’s answer to TEMU. Only difference I can see, is they are easier to return stuff to.
Please don’t think that I’m knocking their stuff. For the amateur, their stuff is more than adequate in the short term.I’ve got a fair amount.

I tend to avoid the cheap knock-off and "me-too" kit. Too many experiences of things just not delivering. And I would never buy from TEMU out of principle regardless of the price and quality of the crap they are selling.

My most recent sad Parkside purchase from LIDL was an 18V Heat Gun. It was pretty cheap - but in truth not that much cheaper than a proper mains Heat Gun, and more expensive than a small Heat Gun.
I bought it as having a battery powered Heat Gun can be very handy when doing stuff in a Motorhome and I happened to have a Parkside 18V battery and charger going spare anyway, so seemed like a good use for it.
But .... it is much too low a power to be really effective and if I had mains, I would be reaching for my 25 year old Bosch gun.

Yes, it means I am paying much more than I could for tools, but I now virtually exclusively buy German Brands of tools, where they are either made in Germany (such as Knipex), made in countries who have a fine reputation for engineering such as Czechia (where Wera tools are mostly made), or from Companies who do make their tools in Eastern Europe and Asia, but have stringent QA/QC processes, such as Bosch.

There are always the outliers where you come across the odd good example - like this LIDL car creeper - and recently got a specific Klein Tools (high end American brand) socket set from the US, but generally given up on the rebranded stuff made from Chinesium and put together by 13 year olds in a sweat shop.

 

[alwaysared]

This was sent to me by my mate Kirt (@Nomad-Notmad) and it just about sums up the "Middle of Lidl"

Regards,
Del

 

[wildebus]

I went back to LIDL today to pick up another car crawler Actually got two more of them and might sell one on eBay in a few weeks - in the shop for £19.99, currently selling on eBay for over £50!
Whilst there picked up a Parkside Sawhorse - will actually be handy to support large plywood sheets when cutting with the circular saw, and quality is not a major requirement as the alternative would typically be the back of a chair, so gonna beat that .
And got something that IS likely made from Chinesium .... a "concrete nibbler" or something. Don't expect much from it, but it is a disposable tool at £2.99 and if I knacker it cutting a bit of rebar or whatever, it is better to waste a £2.99 tool than to damage a £22.99 pair of Knipex cutters

 

[Trotter]

I went back to LIDL today to pick up another car crawler Actually got two more of them and might sell one on eBay in a few weeks - in the shop for £19.99, currently selling on eBay for over £50!
Whilst there picked up a Parkside Sawhorse - will actually be handy to support large plywood sheets when cutting with the circular saw, and quality is not a major requirement as the alternative would typically be the back of a chair, so gonna beat that .
And got something that IS likely made from Chinesium .... a "concrete nibbler" or something. Don't expect much from it, but it is a disposable tool at £2.99 and if I knacker it cutting a bit of rebar or whatever, it is better to waste a £2.99 tool than to damage a £22.99 pair of Knipex cutters

I don’t think these items are made locally. I suspect they come in a container from the far east. Sort of China way.

 

[runnach]

Bought a crawler myself, David. I'll be servicing MH soon, so no more hauling my wee buns from under the van, I'll glide out

 

[runnach]

This was sent to me by my mate Kirt (@Nomad-Notmad) and it just about sums up the "Middle of Lidl"

Regards,
Del

That is brilliant!!

 

[wildebus]

I don’t think these items are made locally. I suspect they come in a container from the far east. Sort of China way.

I am under no illusion any of the tools I bought from LIDL today were made anywhere in Europe.

 

[Trotter]

Re the crawler.
Any one who has seen the gradient of my driveway, would realise how useless it would be.

 

[runnach]

Re the crawler.
Any one who has seen the gradient of my driveway, would realise how useless it would be.

Then you would have bought a bob-sleigh Mr T.

 

[Vanterrier]

My drive is gravel so I would need a 4x4 crawler
K

 

[wildebus]

My drive is gravel so I would need a 4x4 crawler
K

So is mine.
I position the crawler and then kind of "roll" onto it. It may not wheel around, but you are still 1) off the ground and 2) not having stones digging into you.

 

[trevskoda]

Had a crawler more than 30 years, think i used it twice.

 

[bartman]

One for Trev, like most of us on here it's been around for a few years
Lidl/Aldi

 

[marchie]

Re the crawler.
Any one who has seen the gradient of my driveway, would realise how useless it would be.

You could use the crawler to train for the luge at the Winter Olympics; it would save ruining the best tea tray ...

Steve

 

[Rumour]

I have plenty of Lidl/Aldi tools. I use them extensively almost every day, mainly woodwork. My impact screwdriver is probably the most used. It came with two batteries and a carry bag and a THREE YEAR warranty (as do all of their tools)

But I do find a lot of snobbery from my peers, as they see my cheapo tools. I also buy Evolution power tools. I have two 255mm mitre saws, a Rage 5s folding table saw and a few other bits. My two mitre saws cost less than one DeWalt equivalent and get used many times a day.

And I love it when one of my mates hits a hidden nail and buggers his blade, my saws have multi material blades and will cut metal easily.

 

[Vanterrier]

So is mine.
I position the crawler and then kind of "roll" onto it. It may not wheel around, but you are still 1) off the ground and 2) not having stones digging into you.

True but I have a piece of plush carpet (well it was plush some time ago) it cushions me from the stones, is low profile and rolls away for storage and best of all it cost nowt!
I did have a crawler when I had use of a barn when doing a nut and bolt restoration of an old TVR S3 and made Good use of it.


K