Just blew $600 on a power stretcher that barely worked for my last job

I thought I was getting a deal on a used power stretcher from some guy on Craigslist. First big living room install in San Jose and the clutch kept slipping, couldn't get proper tension on the seams. Ended up renting a Pro-Loc from the local supply house for $40 to finish the job. Anyone else ever get burned buying used equipment from random sellers?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_ross8d ago

Man, I was just reading about this exact problem in a flooring forum last week. Apparently a lot of those old used power stretchers have clutch issues that aren't easy to spot just by looking at them. One guy said he bought a used one and the clutch was so worn it would only grab about half the time. Same deal, he ended up having to rent a proper one from a supply house and it cost him less than the gas to go return the broken one. I think the takeaway is that those Craigslist sellers probably knew exactly what they were offloading.

sean_murray8d ago

Yeah, that's a fair point. I gotta be honest, I used to think buying used tools was always the smart move, like you were getting a steal. But hearing about that clutch issue changes my mind completely. It makes sense that something like that wouldn't show up in a quick look or a picture. The guy on that forum basically learned the hard way that a broken tool costs you time and money before you even get to use it. So yeah, I'm with you now on that.