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Lance/SC 
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Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Location: Lexington, SC
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 Topic: Fastenal and bolts etc.
Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 9:36am |
I read with interest the replies to Roger Mn about the bolt he was looking for. Several suggested going to Fastenal.
I needed a shoulder bolt that holds the wheel on the mower deck of my Sears garden tractor and of course Lowes or Home Depot didn't have anything like it. One of the clerks said I could find it at fastenal so I went out of my way to go by their local store. The man at the counter checked and said he stocked what I needed. I asked what the price was and he said $120 or something like that. I told him I didn't need any stock in the company, just a bolt. He said the only way they sold them was by the box full. I asked if that applied to everything they sold and he said it was.
Have any of you had the same thing happen at their stores?
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Coke-in-MN
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Afton MN
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 10:09am |
They do sell in small quanity if they have open box. I checked with store in Hudson WI for some hela-coils and they gave me a price per coil, so I ordered 4 so price would be over the $10 minimum for purchase, they were in Atlanta GA and said they would have them in a few days.
Well they had them and then charged me $17 for shipping to Hudson WI, Now 4 pcs could have gone 1st class mail direct to me for less than a $1.00 , called it shipping by UPS , packing , handling charge
So unless they are carried in stock in store you can get ripped off easily. I should have complained more but figure there are other places to buy things so they lost a customer .
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Life lesson: If you’re being chased by a lion, you’re on a horse, to the left of you is a giraffe and on the right is a unicorn, what do you do? You stop drinking and get off the carousel.
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JimD
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 10:13am |
It's like a lot of other businesses. Get to know them, and they will work a little harder for you. I can go in my local Fastenal and Bobby will order whatever I need, place it on his stock order (if I can wait a few days) and pay a reasonable price. I can go to one of the stores in Tulsa, and it's "box quantity" only.
I was buying seals from a wholesaler in Tulsa, and a particular seal ran about $2.50. I called the other day, and was told they were bought out, and my seal was now $28.95. Guess, I'll have to go shopping again.
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Owner of OKtractor.com PM for an instant response on parts. Open M-F 9-6 Central. We have new and used parts. 877-378-6543
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Good
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Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Location: Logansport IN
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 10:13am |
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Our fastenal will sell one at a time.I go there all the time they cary grade 9 were most others only go to grade 8
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B212,716,two 314H's,WC,WD,D19,190XT
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Steve-Ohio
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 10:20am |
Try McMaster-Carr----------------mcmaster-carr.com
good site
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HagerAC
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 10:35am |
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I have had pretty good luck with our local fastenal store in Winona MN. I can usually walk in and get what I need in the quantity I need, but some of the harder to find items they will sell in certain ways such as trailer deck screws in bags of 25. I can see why they would do things like that thought too.
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30+ A-Cs ranging from a 1928 20-35, to a 1984 8070FWA, Gleaner R52
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HagerAC
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 10:36am |
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Coke in MN, where is the location in Hudson, I am a student at UW-RF and I didn't know there was a store in Hudson.
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30+ A-Cs ranging from a 1928 20-35, to a 1984 8070FWA, Gleaner R52
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Butch(OH)
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 10:48am |
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I have always wondered if they only sell by the full box how do they get opened boxes of certain things to sell a few from?? I have only dealt with them once and came away feeling like I didnt need to go back, and have not. Fastenal has closed stores around here and I can see why. Too many other choices for less money and less hassle. Every town of consiquence has a fastener house of some sort. Mc Master Carr can be a good coice for ceratn things. Common stuff I get from TSC as it is hard to beat their price on grade 5 bulk. For things like you are looking for, I own a lathe.
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Lance/SC
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 11:03am |
To update this, I had been to Lowes, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, True value and no one could help. There was another Ace right around the corner from Fastenal and even though I had already been to one I decided to stop in there. There were some on the display but nothing in the size I needed. A lady came up and asked if she could help. I showed the bolt to her and she said follow me. We went to the stock room and on the floor against the wall was a 12 drawer bolt bin that had about 20 years of dust on it. She started checking and luckily came up with one. That's what I call customer service like it used to be. It cost 99 cents vs. about $7 from Sears. I bought two.
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JohnCO
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 11:15am |
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Thats the neat thing about the old hardware stores, they have everything and if not usually know where they can get it. The local one here is McGuckens. They usually charge more for bolts and stuff like that but they have help that knows the products. Their power tools are sometimes cheaper then the chains. I was in Lowes one day and heard the clerk tell a customer "We don't have that but I'm sure McGuckens does." When the Home Depot opened a few blocks away we all wondered if we would loose them but according to the owner, business is great.
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Coke-in-MN
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 11:21am |
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Hudson location is between Walmart and Fleet Farm , by NAPA store ( just west of NAPA)
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darrel in ND
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 11:31am |
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My experiences with fastenal have been less than pleasant as well. We have a hardware/surplus chain called Mac's Hardware that is awesome for bolts and such. I am not sure how far and wide they go, I do know that they are all over ND, and some in SD, I'm not sure beyond that. Darrel
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bikley
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 11:38am |
 Lance/SC wrote:
To update this, I had been to Lowes, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, True value and no one could help. There was another Ace right around the corner from Fastenal and even though I had already been to one I decided to stop in there. There were some on the display but nothing in the size I needed. A lady came up and asked if she could help. I showed the bolt to her and she said follow me. We went to the stock room and on the floor against the wall was a 12 drawer bolt bin that had about 20 years of dust on it. She started checking and luckily came up with one. That's what I call customer service like it used to be. It cost 99 cents vs. about $7 from Sears. I bought two. |
I'm glad you got what you needed I know my local Fastenal will single bolts and stuff but I would rather go the couple of extra miles to the local ace hardware
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Gerald J.
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 11:47am |
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Last year I found powdered Boraxo hand soap in a slightly vintage Fastenal catalog. I ordered two boxes figuring that could be a lifetime supply. When they arrived they were a case of 12 which the clerk admitted she had to order by the case but could sell me just the two boxes I'd ordered. She'd find display space to sell them, she hoped.
I've been comparing prices this week for an IR thermometer and those metric bolts between Fastenal and McMaster and other places. I can shop a lot and make money for my time compared to buying from Fastenal. Worse, the most interesting bolts they didn't have but had a 1 to 2 week delivery time. So they have to order from a vendor, probably in bigger quantity.
In Ames the Fastenal store got flooded so I suspect their stock of Boraxo was wiped out. There is a local fastener speciality store, Hockel Supply, Duff and UP RR that has a wide selection and is very careful about knowing their sources, to avoid poor qualityl bolts. Prices are sometimes competetive.
Gerald J.
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HagerAC
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 4:10pm |
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Thanks coke in MN, i have been to Napa and Fleet farm enough times up there but have still never seen it
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30+ A-Cs ranging from a 1928 20-35, to a 1984 8070FWA, Gleaner R52
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Nathan (SD)
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 4:54pm |
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Our Fastenal has a $10 minimum purchase. I only go there in a emergency.
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ACMAN
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 5:54pm |
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I was looking for 5/8 left hand bolt that holds the opener disks on a 70 series planter called around no one had these so I too called Fastenal , man said sure will have to order them. When I went to pick them up 4 -1 1/4 long bolts was over 120.00 US dollars. I said you are kidding right? No, then I replied I should have ask first about price. I decided I did not need them as bad .
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Dusty MI
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 6:24pm |
Fastenal in Lansing is on the expensive side but not that bad. There's a Mid-State Nut and Bolt, or something like that, That I like to go to for the harder to find bolts.
There's an Ace Hardware in Grand Ledge that's not all that old. Prices are a little more that TSC, but they don't claim to be a discount place, and have many things that the big box places don't have and are very helpful.
Dusty
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Andrew(southernIL)
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 7:04pm |
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I don't have a problem with the nearest one but it dose depend who you are and how much money you have spent with them. I think the general rule is they are suppose to sell in bulk but the ones who know you want to keep you happy and will bend the rules to keep the regulars happy. My store has trucks come in every day so I can have stuff overnight-ed and they don't charge for shipping either.
Edited by Andrew(southernIL) - 01 Dec 2010 at 7:38pm
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norm[ind]
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 7:32pm |
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we have mower wheel bolts been a mower dealer for 43 yrs. keep helping the chain stores an pay more my 2 cents
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Rick of HopeIN
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Posted: 01 Dec 2010 at 9:25pm |
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I have ordered a single nut from Fastenal on line before and picked it up at the store. We even buy very small quantities from the them at work. Same goes for oil seals from small shops in town. Maybe they are struggling at your store.
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paulinkansas
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Posted: 02 Dec 2010 at 8:53am |
JohnCO wrote:
Thats the neat thing about the old hardware stores, they have everything and if not usually know where they can get it. |
A friend and I have access to an old hand dug pond with a concrete duck blind. It was dug in the mid 1800's to provide water for the cavalry horses. There is an old hand powered pump in the blind to pump out the water. It's probably 75 years old. We removed the pump, and the leather seals were pretty much rotten away. We go to this local hardware store that's been around for over 100 years, and they had a package of the leather seals that fit exactly into the pump.
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Lance/SC
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Posted: 02 Dec 2010 at 11:17am |
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This is what I love about this site. Take the politics away and it is just a bunch of good down to earth people. From the replies to my question it appears that Fastenal may franchise their stores to local owners. I like reading about different people's experiences around the country.
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