Rolling Tool Chest
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Other Topics
Forum Name: Shops, Barns, Varmints, and Trucks
Forum Description: anything you want to talk about except politics
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=185481
Printed Date: 17 Jul 2025 at 8:58pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Rolling Tool Chest
Posted By: modirt
Subject: Rolling Tool Chest
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 10:45am
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A few years back, my modest tool collection finally outgrew the old metal Craftsman tool box the original set came with......so I upgraded to a Craftsman tool box. Five or six sliding drawers. Screwed up and did not get the rolling base to go with it. Now looking for one of those too. Since then, Sears now long gone......Craftsman name remains, but stuff sold at Lowes does not look like anything I'd want. Is there a better choice.....or where would one go to score a good used Craftsman? Craigslist has gone silent around these parts.
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Replies:
Posted By: Hubert (Ga)engine7
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 11:18am
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I hate to say it but check out the toolboxes at HF. Their quality seems to be good. ------------- Just an old country boy saved by the grace of God. |
Posted By: BrianC
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 11:52am
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I was at Harbor Freight looking at tool boxes. The small Icon one look great. Then a saw it- the Icon "Mechanic's McMansion" of tool boxes. 3 stories tall, a west wing, an east wing, a grand portico entrance way... Utility hook ups, HVAC system, WIFI, kitchen, wheels bigger than a forklift, mailbox and welcome mat. Only $14,285. They told me that is less than 1/2 the price of a Snap-on. What a bargain. Knowing me, I would never get it fully organized, and will have to pull out 40 drawers before finding the hex keys. |
Posted By: JoeM(GA)
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 12:18pm
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If you can catch one of the tool trucks (snapon,Matco, Cornwall etc) most all these trucks are independent franchise and have a storage building full of trade in boxes they’d love to move. I bought a real nice matco box for a lot less that any of the cheaper new boxes. Just a thought for ya, ------------- Allis Express North Georgia 41 WC,48 UC Cane,7-G's, Ford 345C TLB |
Posted By: plummerscarin
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 12:24pm
| Joe, that sounds like a good idea. Didn't know they did that. So, I bought 2 US General rolling cabinets from Harbor Freight. I like them better than my old Craftsman. Their prices have gone up since I got them |
Posted By: ACinSC
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 12:54pm
| Grandson got a rolling tool box for Christmas . Think it came from harbor freight ? Looks good but it's white, which is kinda strange . |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 1:14pm
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Brian... now that there is FUNNY ! ... Good story.. Some of them boxes are HUGE these days. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: modirt
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 1:47pm
And a good thought it was too. Will look into it. I used to know where the Snap On guy lived. If not, can probably find one. |
JoeM(GA) wrote:Posted By: modirt
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 1:53pm
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Sign of the times........tool box made in China from HF better than US made Craftsman......which is probably some investors milking the name for all it's worth until nobody will buy it anymore. Shame......it is said the current Craftsman boxes are made in Sedalia, MO. Not their fault.......they make what they are told to make. |
Posted By: Scott B
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 2:07pm
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Why not just build a wooden base with rollers underneath? Been doing that with slit if things in my workshop. ------------- D17 Series 1 Allis B- 1939 Allis B- 1945 |
Posted By: plummerscarin
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 6:48pm
They have 5 colors now. Even orange! |
Posted By: john(MI)
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 7:00pm
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Some orange angle iron and correct size casters and you are good to go! ------------- D14, D17, 5020, 612H, CASE 446 |
Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 8:15pm
Check Auctionzip, search for craftsman toolbox, Around here you'd get hundreds of hits... ------------- Source: Babylon Bee. Sponsored by BRAWNDO, its got what you need! |
Posted By: HD6GTOM
Date Posted: 01 Jan 2022 at 10:46pm
| The guy who changes oil in my pickup has a pink Snap on box, repo from a gal that got married and started a family. Everybody laughed at him until he showed us the receipt. He got it DIRT CHEAP. You have a chance finding this stuff. |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2022 at 1:11am
| i bought 3 tool boxes from HF, all orange, they are in my cook shack. very high quality, look great, roller drawers, come with large caster wheels that can lock. us general brand, yep made in china, but very good quality. my long lower box weighs 600 lbs. and it took 2 of us to lift the smaller top box up onto the other rolling base cabinet. i keep most of my cooking utensils and different sized plates and pans in two boxes, and in the larger box houses all my battery powered tools, batteries, chargers, my food saver and bags, some smaller tools and screws i use alot of. i'll be buying one more soon, to house my plates and spices to set closer to the grill. (next to it) i also have 6 HF hanging cabinets in there, they are black and have a tough coating on them, and have locks for each door (3) with 2 keys per lock, each cabinet are keyed differently, they hold all my can goods, paper towels, cooking oils, alum foil, spices, all kinds of stuff i use for cooking. kind of a pain to put together, but are a quality cabinet when done. (use 1/4 bolts when putting together, not the ones that come with them). they have adjustable shelves inside too. i think ACE hardware sells your craftsman tool boxes and maybe northern tool. HF also sells craftsman tools, maybe you can order a tool box thru them. oh... i also bought 2 colapsible shelves that you bolt onto the sides of the toolboxes, i screw them on the wall to hold the battery chargers on next to the wall outlet. can leave them out or drop them down. (also orange) |
Posted By: fixer1958
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2022 at 4:58am
| Snapon pitches me about every week to buy a new box. He knows dam well I'm not going too. I have told him before if it doesn't have a 3 point or a loader on it I don't have any use for it. If I spent 35k on a toolbox it better have sleeping accommodations because that is where I will be living. |
Posted By: Dave H
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2022 at 6:15am
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I see a couple of options. 1. the wooden bases with casters come in a couple of sizes from HF. 2. The ole angle iron and casters would do the tick if you got a hack saw and some kind of welder. HF has all kinds and sizes of casters. Hey the ones that I stuck on to the bottom of my press work great and the press doesn't care one bit about my bubble gum welds.
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Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2022 at 7:00am
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Nephew with the Masters in Education manages a series of HF Stores, does NOT regret that anymore as makes Fine Income, been to the stores and noted quality is far better than the old tinfoil and plastic used to sell, wrenches and screwdrivers actually last, rolling boxes actually will hold tools and products and still roll. For the money not a bad buy just Chinese.
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Posted By: AllisFreak MN
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2022 at 9:22am
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If there is a Menards near you in Missouri they have Master Force tool chests. You can check availability online by store. I purchased the full set last year and like it. Seems well built. ------------- '49 A-C WD, '51 A-C WD, '63 A-C D17 Series III, 1968 A-C One-Seventy, '82 A-C 6060, '75 A-C 7040, A-C #3 sickle mower, 2 A-C 701 wagons, '78 Gleaner M2 |
Posted By: DougG
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2022 at 10:19am
| Rural King has a very nice set up for $1000 when i looked at them - Ive shopped around and it was the best set up / value |
Posted By: Coke-in-MN
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2022 at 12:44pm
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First ting i did with the Craftsman tool box was remove the casters supplied and replace them with decent set of casters with a soft rubber tire on caster , the phenolic hard wheels are lousy - and the holes in the base of the cabinet will fit the pattern of many good casters . I have 4 - 12 drawer Craftsman boxes , one for machine tools and pullers , another for woodworking tools , 2 for mechanics tools and special automotive tools Just picked up 2 more rolling tool cabinets - one for putting metric tools in other for British Tools for working on motorcycles . If you buy a set of 4 casters / 2 swivel - 2 solid , you can mount them to a plywood base and then attach that to tool box . ------------- Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something. "Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 02 Jan 2022 at 6:47pm
| OMG Coke, have not dealt with British Standard Size for FOREVER!! |
Posted By: DonDittmar
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2022 at 6:06am
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If your tool box is in the corner and stays there then a HB cheap-o will probably do If you move your tool chest when it is loaded then thats a different story. When I first started wrenching 20 years ago the service manager had just bought a Craftsman "professional series" tool box. It was junk within a year. Even though a tool box has casters, a cheap-o tool box is not designed to roll across the shop floor LOADED. They will not take the twisting motion with the weight in the drawers. Believe it or not, there is a reason why the Snap-on's and MAC tool boxes are 3 times the money.... ------------- Experience is a fancy name for past mistakes. "Great moments are born from great opportunity" 1968 D15D,1962 D19D Also 1965 Cub Loboy and 1958 JD 720 Diesel Pony Start |
Posted By: Coke-in-MN
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2022 at 9:25am
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The 12 drawer Sears box I have I used when I was a millwright for a Mfg company that was in a 8 story building and had production on every floor , That tool box was moved several times a day for 20 years throughout the building - in fact it ended up the bought 3 more tool boxes the same type as I kept mine separate because of special tools I hoarded in mine . 2 of those tool boxes I now have in my shop but just for storage and not rolling around shop. Like all things they have needed a few repairs over the years with drawer slides being reattached and cleaned out . then these boxes were from 1971 - so quality might be worse now . ------------- Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something. "Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
Posted By: modirt
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2022 at 9:59am
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I'll wager the only thing a Sears box of then and now have in common today is the color and name on the box. Otherwise, not even related. |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2022 at 7:47pm
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Craftsman use to contract out the manufacturing of its tools / boxes/ etc to some large US MANUFACTURING FIRMS... I have a table saw from 1953 that says SEELEY on the tag.. New boxes probably say WUHAN CHINA on the bottom ! ---------------- Emerson Electric Company Many Craftsman bench and stationary power tools were manufactured by Emerson Electric Company under the "113" model prefix (previously under the "103" model prefix which was King-Seeley, but Emerson bought them out in the 1960s) and DeWalt. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: WF owner
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2022 at 6:32am
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I really like this Husky tool chest. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Heavy-Duty-80-in-W-10-Drawer-Deep-Combination-Tool-Chest-and-Rolling-Cabinet-Set-in-Matte-Black-3-Piece-HOTC8010BB1S/304589169" rel="nofollow - Husky Heavy-Duty 80 in. W 10-Drawer, Deep Combination Tool Chest and Rolling Cabinet Set in Matte Black (3-Piece)-HOTC8010BB1S - The Home Depot I know it's not a SNAP-ON, but it would certainly do what I need it to do. Our local Home Depot has two of them on the floor. My wife says I go visit it every time I am in the store!
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Posted By: DonDittmar
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2022 at 6:45am
Thats the key. My dad has his tool chest from Western Auto from the 60's. Not in too good of shape now, but it is still around and functional. You will not get that level of quality now from anyone unless its off a tool truck. Trust me on this guys. I have seen it happen first hand. If you are going to park it in the corner and leave it there then buy your Lowes or Home Depot box. If you are going to load each and every drawer full of tools AND move it back and forth, don't buy a cheap-o box. it wont last a year. I paid 4600.00 for my KRL1001 Snap-on box 20 years ago. I still have it. I have put exactly $0.00 in repairs/parts into it. Local dealer offered me the full 4600.00 in trade in value if I wish to upgrade. Quality tool storage is expensive, but if you buy quality you will only buy it once. ------------- Experience is a fancy name for past mistakes. "Great moments are born from great opportunity" 1968 D15D,1962 D19D Also 1965 Cub Loboy and 1958 JD 720 Diesel Pony Start |
Posted By: DonDittmar
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2022 at 6:52am
Even though it goes against my grain so to speak LOL, thats not a bad looking box for the price. I am pretty set in my ways when it comes to tool storage. Maybe its a pride thing, I dont really know, its hard to explain. I enjoy tools and I like a damn nice garage to park them in. You think having a tractor habit is expensive, have a tool habit and step on a Snap-on truck LOL ------------- Experience is a fancy name for past mistakes. "Great moments are born from great opportunity" 1968 D15D,1962 D19D Also 1965 Cub Loboy and 1958 JD 720 Diesel Pony Start |
Posted By: modirt
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2022 at 10:11am
Kinda like a pretty women. As long as you just look, probably no harm done. But start fondling them and leaving flowers and candy......gonna get you in trouble!
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Posted By: modirt
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2022 at 10:12am
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Was out yesterday and saw a MATCO truck. He was going one way.....me the other.....and couldn't get turned around to follow. Ships passing in the night. |