Hand Tool Storage opinions

[FarmerEddy]

Greetings all,

Just getting started doing the "farming" thing & I'm quickly seeing a need to expand my hand tool inventory for basic maintenance of a new Kioti DK55C I recently purchased. (loving the kioti by the way)

Anywho.....as I have begun buying more tools, I realized I'm quickly running out of room in the old coolers I was using as a tool box previously.

I'm thinking a nice roll-around with large casters, heavy duty, 10-15 drawers, like something you'd see rolling off a Mac tool truck, but without the $4K price.

Any experience or reccomendations with other (less costly) brands would be a great help.

Thanks in advance.

Eddy

 

[beenthere]

:welcome:

Watch Craigslist for good deals on tool cabinets. And estate sales are good places to find them too. Sometimes filled with tools. There are great deals and just good deals out there.

 

[TripleR]

Have you checked Sears? My brother was an auto mechanic and now does industrial stuff as does my nephew and he has Snap On and some others in addition to an old one from Sears that has held up fairly well.

I am getting by with an old no name brand my father in law got me years ago.

 

[Nissan197]

I have had a Craftsman brand for at least 10 years and it has held up good for me. Of course, I am just a DIY homeowner. I bought the bottom/top section and an extra three drawer section was thrown in. Cost a couple hundred if I remember correctly.

 

[LD1]

If you watch the sears catalog they ocassionally have good deals on ball bearing tool boxes.

But the best setup I have seen for a farming outfit with a large enough shop is the 1000 acre farmer down the road. He has a custom cart.

It is more like a workbench that is about 8' long and has about a 3' deep heavy work surface. Mounted on heavy steel casters and it has a backboard that is a heavy pegboard type. He uses that to hang wrenches/screwdrivers/pliers, etc. Heavy vise on one end and a shelf under for other items. Very nice setup.

Me however, I dont have a lot of floorspace in my shop of 30x30 so I tend to hang as much up as I can and avoid the toolboxes alltogether. A row of nails for the wrenches keeping them in order, plywood with a series of holes for screwdrivers, etc.

But whatever you do, avoid the el-cheapo harbor freight tool boxes. They are junk. You dont have to spend 4k unless you have money to burn. There are pleanty of good ball bearing boxes well under 800. The lowes kobalts, menards or TSC (which ever carries masterhand??), craftsman, etc. Craigslist is also a good source as already mentioned.

 

[brin]

I have had a Craftsman brand for at least 10 years and it has held up good for me. Of course, I am just a DIY homeowner. I bought the bottom/top section and an extra three drawer section was thrown in. Cost a couple hundred if I remember correctly.

I did the same thing about 20 yrs or so ago..and it has held up just fine I have the top and bottom with the extra drawers...Hard to beat the deal and it was just a couple of hundred as I recall..but even at the time it beat snap on or any of the others.

 

[56FordGuy]

If you watch Ebay and Craigslist, you'll find the big Mac and Snap On boxes usually sell for 50% of new cost. That said, I wouldn't spend that kind of money again.

I'm a mechanic, and have had several toolboxes, including Cornwell, Snap On, and Craftsman. If I had it to do over again, I'd go with Craftsman. I spent a lot of money on a nice Snap On box, and it doesn't do anything better or more efficiently than the Craftsman box I have sitting a few feet away.

Now, they're both sitting in my shop at the house. I work out of a service truck, and have a Craftsman top box serving as my truck toolbox.

 

[lostcause]

assuming it's the same one, this spring i bought a used mac rolling chest for $800 on craigslist. it's a few year old version of the tech series/tech 1000 that retails for a little over $4000. it has some scratches, but it works fine. also, i know i'll scratch it, and i feel a lot better about scratching an $800 box than i do about scratching a $4000 one.

i previously had an upright craftsman with the bottom, middle, and top that i used for many years. my biggest complaint was that the drawers are too shallow and not deep enough to fit a lot of larger wrenches or tools in cases. also, when heavily loaded, the slides are not up to the task. don't get me wrong - it was a great box for 15+ years, but i just outgrew it. i know that they have ball bearing slides now, but to get ball bearing slides and the 24" depth (not height) you bump up to the craftsman professional line which is as expensive than the tool truck stuff. also, all the craftsman and other store brand tool boxes have drawers that aren't as rigid as the mac i have - they flex pretty heavily in comparison.

i can't justify new prices from a tool truck - heck, you can spend $25,000 on a box now, but if you can wait for a deal on a used one i think they are worth it.

 

[77bronco]

I bought one of the SS rollaways from Costco a few years ago, and it has held up very well. About $650 at the time.
Or there are these Knaack boxes we have at work, they hold a lot of different size tools, and unless someone torches it open, pretty theft proof.
Only downside is that they are in the $1500-2500 range.

KNAACK L.L.C. - KNAACK JOBMASTER Storage Chests

 

[Cat_Driver]

Kobalt has some great chests and make sure you get one with roller bearings on the drawers. The drawers fill up pretty fast and get heavy also. The slider type gets a little tough to pull out when full and heavy.

You pay a little more for roller bearings on the slides but worth in in the long run.

With Kobalt you get the quality without paying for the brand name.

http://www.protoolreviews.com/revie...nization/kobalt-27-stainless-steel-tool-chest

Also as mentioned there are a lot of Mechanics out of work so I have seen chests loaded with tools also at give away prices on Craigs list.

https://www.kobalttools.com/

 

[Stargazer]

I know a flame war is going to start. harbor freight has a 3 tier rollaround coupond for $130 in many mags if inside on concrete it works well at least dump point for tools. I have 3 craftsman rolls that havn't moved in 15 yrs and the hf holds common tools in house so don't run to garage unless odd ball

PR

 

[OKnewguy]

I have one of the sams club tool boxes. It is great, huge, stainless steel, ball bearing drawers. I saw it in the clearance/damaged section at sams, and had them send up front with my name on it. It was marked down to $300 from $600 something (just from a small dent on the back). Anyway, by the time I made it up front, there was a guy pushing it out the door. I stopped him and he said he just bought it, I showed him my name on it, and he said he did not notice it. A manager came over, and the guy was really getting irritated. The manager was really cool thou and told me he would have to sell a brand new boxed unit for the discount price. The other guy was pissed then because he could not get the one without the dent!
Anyway great toolbox, even at full price.
Dave

 

[MBDiagMan]

Do you need to haul tools around on the place or will you be using them mostly in the shop? I have three, soon to be four large roll aways in the shop. It works great because I can usually put a tool right back where it belongs as soon as I use it. This keeps them from getting scattered around. These boxes contain about a 45 year collection of tools.

For going out in the field I have a pretty large three drawer tool box with a handle on top. It's heavy, but I can set it in the back of my pick up when need be.

If you go with shop storage as opposed to field storage, use the tray that comes in a top box to haul a hand full of tools out where you might need them.

 

[Travelover]

I know a flame war is going to start. harbor freight has a 3 tier rollaround coupond for $130 in many mags if inside on concrete it works well at least dump point for tools. I have 3 craftsman rolls that havn't moved in 15 yrs and the hf holds common tools in house so don't run to garage unless odd ball

PR

From the reviews I've seen the higher quality HF tool chests (the red ones) are pretty good for the money. The cheaper ones don't have smooth drawers and are thinner metal, though maybe good enough for some.

 

[dirt ditch]

Just bought one of those high quality HF tool cabinets #90320 last weekend. 13 drawer roller cabinet on sale now for $369.99 used a 20% off coupon made it $295.99. I am impressed with the build quality of this cabinet. It weighs 285 lbs. with a weight capacity of 2894 lbs. Someday will get the side cabinets that go with it. I am going to use the top to set a small lathe on like this reviewer suggests. A note about his review, My top draw does not have any side movement like his cabinet and the silica packs where on the top of the cabinet when we unwrapped it. There are several posts in other automotive and shop forums regarding the construction quality of this cabinet if you care to google it.

Harbor Freight Tool Chest

13 Drawer Red Industrial Quality Roller Cabinet

 

[knightrider955]

Ive been a Die Maker for 13 years and have owned the same Craftsman tool chest with the matching top chest the whole time. Its 40 inches long and at the time it was the biggest sears offered. It has served me well. Now that im out of the tool and die business, its still serving me well out in the garage. As far as out in the field goes, I have a small toolbox bolted to the top of the fender on my tractor (you can see it in the pic). That box just has the basic tools in it but sometimes thats all I need.

 

[Danno1]

.


I got the Craftsman rollaround 25 years ago. NON ball bearing slides. I removed all the drawers when brand new and empty and greased everything. Drawers stilll slide nicely to this day.


.

 

[jenkinsph]

I have about 23 rollaway tool carts and maybe 5 top chests for tools and parts. All of them are Sears (made by Waterloo) some sliders some ball bearing models there OK but not great. I use them on service trucks instead of utility bodies and are much better for tools and parts organization. If I were to recommend a chest to a homeowner it would be the 52" stack unit with ball bearings and grip latch drawers.

I would first look for a good deal on a second hand unit though, there can be some good deals to be had.

 

[Agrantina]

Well you can borrow my son and you want need a big storage chest. He seems to feel that Strategically leaving tools around is the way to go.

AndyG

 

[Ford tractor]

Screw a sheet of 4x8' 3/4" plywood to the wall and mount the tools to it. You will be able to find your tools quick and more importantly, will be able to know if you have one out somewhere.

I have the cheap tools on the wall and the better ones in the rollaround. If someone wants to borrow one, I point to the wall. Easy to determine if the tool came home or not too.