US General Pro @ HF

[econoaddict]

Stopped in at HF today to look at the boxes and see they now have a US General Pro line of boxes. Everything felt good on it, much better than the standard US General box next to it, also had a nicer finish.
Anyone buy one of these yet?

US General Pro Tool Box

Looking for a second box to put some specialty tools in, things that don't get used often.

Any comments on it?

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82726

 

[econoaddict]

Thanks, seem to have missed that thread.
Tried searching us general pro.
Looks like that box hit everywhere but here early, the guy I was talking to said they just got them in last week.

 

[rsanter]

just saw that box today
I was kind of suprised at how decent a box it is for the price

bob

 

[williaty]

I just looked at one of these in the store tonight. Looks nice, works crappy. I put a typical amount of weight in one of the drawers and the drawer slides don't work well at all when loaded. For the money, the 13 drawer 41" red roller cabinet is a MUCH better built tool box.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

How did you put a "typical amount of weight" in the drawer? Did you collect a bunch of tools off of the shelf and stick them in the drawer?

 

[lwlobo]

How did you put a "typical amount of weight" in the drawer? Did you collect a bunch of tools off of the shelf and stick them in the drawer?

I've done this at Sears. It would also be easy at HF. Grab 3 or 4 sets of 1/2 inch deep impact sockets and set in there. Only certain types of people (aka Tool Dorks) do these type of things, but I suspect a lot of GJ regulars qualify.

That box seems comparable to the bigger US General box in quality. Not sure what makes it "Pro". Seems like a good box, would be more than enough for occasional use, and for anything except a auto tech's main box, would be fine.

 

[williaty]

How did you put a "typical amount of weight" in the drawer? Did you collect a bunch of tools off of the shelf and stick them in the drawer?

Yup Loaded it up with metal.

That box seems comparable to the bigger US General box in quality. Not sure what makes it "Pro". Seems like a good box, would be more than enough for occasional use, and for anything except a auto tech's main box, would be fine.

I assume that you're talking about the 26" USGPro in comparison to the 41" USG box?

I own the 41" USG box. The drawer sliders in the 41" box are VASTLY superior to the drawer sliders in the 26" box. I would say the sliders in the 26" box are comparable to the sliders in the Craftsman Homeowner and Heavy Duty Quiet Glide 26" boxes which I also own. That's not a good thing. On the plus side, the sheetmetal and overall construction of the 26" USGPro box are considerably better than the Craftsman Homeowner, Heavy Duty, and Premium Heavy Duty lines.

For the money, the 41" USG roller cab is a much better value than the 26" USGPro 26" stack.

 

[bikepoet]

I've been contemplating buying this 26" at $349 versus the 41" 13 drawer box for $359 or the 11-drawer 3 cabinet roller cabinet with regular drawer slides for $139.

Problem is... I only own cars, and I think I would have to borrow a truck to get the 41" box home. Any idea if the 26" would fit into the back of an Impreza hatch?

I don't have a lot of tools and I only use the tools for car work mainly. That's why I've thought the cheap one would be ok, but my wife thinks I should buy the higher quality one. Weird, a woman wanting me to spend more money on tool stuff?

I wonder what the cheapest price for this 8+8 26" will be...

 

[ibedayank]

13 Drawer Red Industrial Quality Roller Cabinet
Item # 90320 Manufacturer: U.S. General

Store and transport up to 2900 lbs. of tools and other equipment

26" 8 Drawer Roller Cabinet with 8 Drawer Top Chest
Item # 67831 Manufacturer: US General Pro

830 Lb. Capacity

That tells me all i need to know...

 

[greasemonkey44]

i bought it last weekend, fantastic deal
wait a lil while tho its coming up for 300 $ soon, i think the ad is in my box at work
ill post the dates when i can
i was hemming and hawing about it since it showed up in the store a few months back
we have a 3 bay and it could get cramped with a 13 drawer monster box
also this has deep wide shallow drawers, i greatly prefer this to the deep wide deep style because you can lay out more stuff without piling and reaching in
right now its abt 1/2 full, i dunno what they are talking abt it not taking any weight, when i was at the store finding problems with it i tried leaning on it and loading the piss out of it. it has a lil hitch but really nothing, even a full 3/4 set doesnt make it feel crummy
anyway im very happy with it, fucker is heavy tho make sure you ogt a freind to help you load and unload it
you could prolly fit it in your car, but like i said its heavy 142 lbs total
edit: dont do what i did and bring the whole thing out to work w/o stripping off the box, rip off all the packaging in the parking lot and look it over well; the cardboard on mine looked brand new but the box didnt
it was dented good. had to return it, seems the top cabs at my store got rolled or something
the replacement was good and they didnt even blink at swapping it
anyway good luck

 

[LawnDart79]

I have a flyer from HF that contains a $299 coupon for this 26" combo. The coupon expires at the end of April.

From what I gather, that's a steal. I'd definitely buy one if I needed another toolbox.

 

[greasemonkey44]

valid 4/14 to 4/24
coupons are in the upcoming sale april supersavings events

 

[toolnut]

A lot more box than the Craftsman ones at the same price. Ball bearing sliders and thicker metal. Sold me.

 

[LawnDart79]

A lot more box than the Craftsman ones at the same price. Ball bearing sliders and thicker metal. Sold me.

I agree 100%

If I were a guy just starting out or a weekend warrior looking for good, inexpensive tool storage, I'd jump all over this box, especially at $299.

I was pretty impressed with it when I looked a few months back. Waaaaay better than the Craftsman homeowner box I started out with way back when.

 

[bikepoet]

Thanks for all of the comments.

I definitely don't have 2900lbs of ****, as I am just a lightweight (I don't even own a truck). That's why the 13 drawer would be nice, but overkill.

At the $300 price point, the 16 drawer combo would fit the bill, I think. I was even thinking, I probably would unbox it in the parking lot and take out a lot of the drawers to lighten it up so my wife and I could load it into the hatchback. That way, I could look at it and make sure it's in good condition before carting it home.

I'll be watching for the $299 coupon.

Thanks for all of the responses!

 

[ibedayank]

Bikepoet Tools are like rats when your back is turned they multiply

 

[LawnDart79]

Bikepoet,

the coupon is in the spring clean-up sale flyer. Here's a link.

http://www.harborfreight.com/retail-flyer

You should also be able to get the flyer in the store; that's where I got mine. In my opinion, $299 is an awesome deal for that box. $299 is also the cheapest I've ever seen the price of it.

Edit: looks like the $299 coupon is good from 4/14/11 - 4/24/11

 

[bikepoet]

I saw these threads:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80851
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82726
And a lot of people that have the 41" roller cabinets really beat down on the 26" cabinets. I'll have to stop by and inspect them a little closer and then contemplate whether it will be worth my hassle trying to arrange getting the 41" at $350 to my house or going with the 26" cabinet combo at $300.

Anyone know the cubic inchage of the 41" cabinet? The top section lists at ~8000, and the 26" has 4100+10500 = 14600 total, so I'm guessing the 41" would be similar in terms of storage space. I did notice the 41" has the double sliders on the large drawers, where the 26" stays with single sliders.

Thanks for the flyer info, too!

 

[Butters]

I have the 41" but have looked at the glossy red 26" recently. I thought the quality looked similar to the 41", but I did notice the 26" only had single slides on the deeper drawers. The 26" is certainly as good or better than what you would get from Craftsman at that price.

Now the flat black 26" is pretty bad IMHO. I think that one is like $199 and I wouldn't touch it.

As slight hijack, did anybody notice they sell a black 41" on the HF website? Looks the same but priced at like $600! You really have to hate the red to shell out that much.

 

[TARR CHEVY TECH]

I have used the US GENERAL PRO 26in box all the way through auto college and now I'm in a dealership with it. Its a great box for the money. I have put the box through hell and back. Its a strong durable box and has never give me any problems. Just last night I bought a US GENERAL PRO 30 in roll cart. So here in a few weeks ill tell y'all how it's doing. I already have high expectations for it.

 

[ATC]

Well there's a 3-4 year old thread revived...

 

[flying eyeball]

better than a new thread

 

[BDT/NWMN]

better than a new thread

I do agree,,,, post to an existing thread, it is like keeping track of one spool of sewing thread rather than a bunch of little pieces,,,,


TARR CHEVY TECH Welcome to GJ