My new Stanley vidmar cabinet.

[Bottlecapdigger]

I just got this cabinet and I'm cleaning in up getting all the old labels off cleaning and regreasing the ball bearings. I was wondering if it's a good idea to put a set of casters under it, has anyone else done this? Would it be stable enough? It's not wide enough to get the pallet cart under it. So it would be hard to move around if I ever wanted too later on. Right now it's on a skid and it's almost too high to look in the top drawer.

 

[bigredmf]

Here is why you don't put casters on a Vidmar

Red


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[Bottlecapdigger]

That's what I'm afraid of. Better find a spot and leave it there. They even recommend to lag it or fasten it to the wall. BCD.

 

[slodat]

I would recommend putting it in its home and leaving it there. I have four of these.


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[1982fxr]

Did the one in that pic buckle? I can't tell

I thought some of the 59" tall actually came with factory casters?

 

[Mohawk Dave]

I have like 16 cabinets. Some are 4' and 5' wide. Some short, some tall.

I run casters even though they are not moving anywhere. It does two things for me. It makes it high enough off the ground that I can slide stuff under them, and also high enough off the ground where mice and lizards don't want to stop and hide from the dog.

I take a small piece of 3/8 plywood, and then take a 4.5" flap disc on an angle grinder and make a swoopy indent for the front casters to sit in (only the fronts). At this point it is about 1/4" higher than the rear, and this also persuades the drawers to close if anything, and not open.

My cabinets don't just fall over....

 

[t.ruckus.rex]

You can pull out the (loaded, if you can get your friends to help) drawers and then move the drawerless cabinet around. I've done it many times.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I have two Equipto cabinets, I love that style of cabinet, and If I ever see more at a decent price I will jump on them and then make room for them.
You didn't say what you had to pay for it.
Richard D.

 

[Bottlecapdigger]

I have two Equipto cabinets, I love that style of cabinet, and If I ever see more at a decent price I will jump on them and then make room for them.
You didn't say what you had to pay for it.
Richard D.

I payed 650$ cash. But had to drive 2 hours to pick it up. Did I do ok? I think I did. Bcd

 

[Carquest]

I would say you did pretty well, I have 5 of these cabinets, and the only one I paid less for than that was purchased 20 odd years ago. I do not have casters on mine,would think they would be top heavy. One of the things I love about these, you can load the top drawers down and still open them all the way and mine have never even given a hint of tipping over. Enjoy your lifetime cabinet!

 

[cbacres]

I have casters on all of mine, they don't moved around on a regular basis, it's just for convenience and like beena mentioned, clear area underneath. You just have to use common sense when using.

The bottom runners have bolt holes for caster base plates.

As to the bearings, don't use grease, use a light oil or Vidmar recommends Super Slick spray. I use ATF/Aceton mix or brake clean to remove old gunk.

I greased one on mine and you can tell the diffrence, it works, but is sluggish .

The price is fair for what you bought, I think there's a avg cost of $100 per drawer on the forum somewhere.

I paid on avg about $38 per for all of mine combined.

 

[bigredmf]

The bases have caster holes for cabinets that have latching drawers. Stanley does not recommend casters on these cabinets.

Proper installation would include lagging these to the floor or bolted to a cabinet that is mounted back to back.

I'm not typically the safety police but feel these need to be installed properly to avoid potential tragedy to your kids, grandkids, neighbors children or yourself.

Red


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[pcmeiners]

Have casters on 9 Vidmars, they can be dangerous if you open too many drawers at a time. They should be anchored to a wall if you have kids around or at least secure them with a temporary chain mounted on the top.

"Right now it's on a skid and it's almost too high to look in the top drawer. "
I am 6'6", yes the top drawer is tough to view. I use larger bins/ larger items in that drawer.

 

[Bottlecapdigger]

I've used "honey gue" I think that's what it's called. Comes in a read spray can. Goes on as a light spray and drys as a light grease. BCD

 

[Trey T]

I wouldn't recommend casters on Vidmar, but okay on Lista cabinets. Lista cabinets, at least the last 3gen designs, allow only one drawer to be open while locking other drawers.

These types of cabinet falls ALWAYS fall over if you open all the drawers w/ enough loads on each drawers - ALWAYS!!!! It happens to SO guys too.

The SIMPLE solution and safer solution is to get a proper pallet jack, the mini one from Northern Tools. It fits under the cabinet w/ a little persuasion. Make sure to keep the drawers closed (100%) when moving.

 

[tool_scrounge]

I wouldn't recommend casters on Vidmar, but okay on Lista cabinets. Lista cabinets, at least the last 3gen designs, allow only one drawer to be open while locking other drawers.

These types of cabinet falls ALWAYS fall over if you open all the drawers w/ enough loads on each drawers - ALWAYS!!!! It happens to SO guys too.

The SIMPLE solution and safer solution is to get a proper pallet jack, the mini one from Northern Tools. It fits under the cabinet w/ a little persuasion. Make sure to keep the drawers closed (100%) when moving.

On the latest Lista's I have used you can open more than one drawer if they are pulled out at the same time. But Lista is nice in that drawer latches are easy and cheap to retrofit (~$4 a drawer last I looked). They also can be opened one handed presuming you installed latches on one side only. You can install latches on both sides but that would require two handed operation.

 

[shortykorte]

Safety and common sense rules.
I have 4 cabinets on casters. Actually rearranged them this weekend. A long stick and a tie down strap keeps drawers from opening while moving. I will admit that I don't have 2000 lbs of stuff in each cabinet.

Even moving with a pallet jack, not following good practices, a load can spill.

 

[Trey T]

On the latest Lista's I have used you can open more than one drawer if they are pulled out at the same time. But Lista is nice in that drawer latches are easy and cheap to retrofit (~$4 a drawer last I looked). They also can be opened one handed presuming you installed latches on one side only. You can install latches on both sides but that would require two handed operation.

That's the trick to open more than one drawers but on a normal operation, one drawer can only be opened at a time.

 

[taumac]

Here is why you don't put casters on a Vidmar

Red


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Can you please entertain my curiosity and tell me how that cabinet ended up on its back? And are those four swivel casters you have on the cabinet? If so then it would have been safer to put 2 rigid in the back and 2 swivel in front.

 

[davethorik]

Can you please entertain my curiosity and tell me how that cabinet ended up on its back? And are those for a swivel casters you have on the cabinet? If so then it would have been safer to put 2 rigid in the back and 2 swivel in front.

Agreed, plus typically if multiple drawers pop open, they fall forward not backward. I have been using a small scaffold with 4 swivel casters lately and it's damn near impossible to easily put it where you want it, it tends to crab walk.

I think a lot of times the people who preach safety on here do so because they had an accident caused by not knowing how to properly respond to a situation, or lack of common sense, or both. It's not like there's an epidemic of Vidmar cabinets crushing children or pets.

 

[bigredmf]

Drawers were held shut with the cargo strap. It actually fell off the back of a lift gate on its way up.

The bottom drawer had about 250 pounds of hydraulic pumps and the balance of drawers had maybe 50# of material in them.

I guess I defer to manufacturers instructions and Stanley Vidmar says no casters. The naysayers may be the same people who reference 2017 NEC codes in areas working under previous versions or who stand on or above the marked step on their ladders.

Red




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[taumac]

Drawers were held shut with the cargo strap. It actually fell off the back of a lift gate on its way up.

So this was a case of mis handling or letting the cabinet get away from you or whoever was in the process of moving it. Any toolbox can't be flipped on its side. My 44s or traditional tall stack probably have a better chance of tipping over then those Vidmar's ever would and those come with casters. Accidents happen just got to be careful what you doing.

 

[bigredmf]

Mis handling a Vidmar starts once you put casters on it.
Red


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[turbodave]

I've got a Vidmar almost identical to the orginal poster's and a previous owner added casters. It has two at the rear that are fixed and two swiveling at the front. They were oriented so when moving the cabinet it rolls in the direction the drawers open (not like a typical tool chest that has the fixed casters oriented to roll pependicular to how the drawers open)

On mine there is no drawer lock and you can open them all at once. Which is pretty much what happened when first getting it home and rolling it up the apron into the garage. I was pushing from behind, drawers facing forward because I was going uphill into the garage. There was enough of a bump at the transition from the driveway to the garage that the cabinet stopped, all the drawers kept going and the cabinet tipped forward, catching itself on the bottom drawer, then went over. I had to get it on it's side and remove all the drawers to get it upright again. Fortunately nobody got hurt and only damage was an easily repaired bend on the corner of the bottom drawer.

In summary, the casters do make it easy to move around, but the danger factor goes way up with that.

 

[cbacres]

Mis handling a Vidmar starts once you put casters on it.
Red


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Sorry to hear about your mishap and glad no one was hurt. It looks like you took precautions by putting a ratchet ******** the drawers.

But I disagree with your comment about mishandling starts with casters, being on a lift gate is vastly diffrent from being on the shop floor. One benifit for myself using castors is I know Ill be moving this shop and want to have most everything inside my boxes when I do. I figuired I'd be loading a truck with a lift gate or rent a forklift when I do. In the meantime, sure is nice to be able to move with just a little grunting. I'm planning on making a tounge of sorts that will ingage at front button that will give me a lot more leverage and control when moving, but again, the tall ones don't move much.

My 45" and 60" wide have factory castors, both have drawer catches.

This site is great place to see everyone's opinions, trials and errors, not completly right or wrong answers. I'm sure the OP has a good feel for these great boxes by now.

 

[shortykorte]

To use a term that's too prevalent in today's world, fake news.

The screen shot is directly from Stanley/Vidmar. You can make a cabinet mobile if it as the locking drawers.

Cars have casters. Idiots, careless or clueless individuals sometimes flip cars over. Will you be taking your casters of your car? As stated earlier, proper, safe material handling practices are a must. Trust me I know after dropping a 1000 lb battery box on my leg. I didn't use common sense nor proper material handling equipment or practices. I do have proper casters on my Vidmar.

 

[pcmeiners]

"Drawers were held shut with the cargo strap. "
Once I had a 59" on my truck, and trusted the lock. The locking mechanism was weaker then I thought, no less I had drawers fly onto the road, luckily there was no traffic behind me, or major drawer damage, so a cargo strap is a definite when moving them.

 

[bigredmf]

Notice the drawer latches which are not something you can add to a existing cabinet.

 

[shortykorte]

I got a new-to-me Vidmar 59" tall cabinet Tuesday. The holes are there for casters so like all my others, casters went on this one. These casters are a couple of inches taller. Remembering this thread I saw this and thought I'd get a picture.
This cabinet doesn't have drawers so weight is different. When checking the tipping point on this cabinet, I found it to be probably 50-60 degrees to the ground.

 

[taumac]

Today he had a empty Vidmar on casters with someone standing on it. Hmmm it didn't tip over.

 

[slodat]

That is not what people mean when they voice concern...


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[taumac]

That is not what people mean when they voice concern...


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Hmmmmm

From the OP first post.

I just got this cabinet and I'm cleaning in up getting all the old labels off cleaning and regreasing the ball bearings. I was wondering if it's a good idea put a set of casters under it, has anyone else done this? Would it be stable enough?

How is what I posted not what the OP concern was?

 

[jakemac]

I think the issue he's thinking of is stability with a loaded drawer open. Most concerning would be the top drawers.

 

[Al Borland]

Here is why you don't put casters on a Vidmar

Red


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And I have a Kennedy I did the same thing to...
Full of machinist/rigging stuff.
That was loud.

 

[matt_i]

Im pretty sure you can get a vidmar cabinet close to 3000 lbs if you load every drawer with steel offcuts or the like.

That means a 750# caster...

Which is around a 5-6" caster. Swivel is going to be 6-7" from the base to the mounting plate.

Pretty tall for a 59" cabinet.

The danger is that you send the 3000# crashing onto you, or even half of it and your life is going to change in a big way. Not worth the potential in my book as I pack them like a rat. I crashed a Craftsman base once when I was rolling it and a caster stoppped on something like a pea gravel or a nut which caused the sheetmetal attaching screws to pull out. It didn't balance well on 3 casters and crashed dramatically, destroying a couple of drawer slides. That's the first and last one I want to tip!

My solution is to build a base from 2x4s on edge and 3/4 plywood deck, deck screw. Then I can easily use a pallet jack or forklift to relocate them. Only need 1/2" lift off the ground to move it if the concrete is smooth, use forklift if its any rougher. Have not been able to crush a 2x4 with them yet

 

[Trey T]

The danger isn't when the Vidmar cabinet is stationary, it's when it's being rolled. The risk is when you roll it and the cabinet vibrate, the drawers will roll out causing it to tip over.

Vidmar faq:
Can I add wheels/casters to a cabinet?

Stanley Vidmar does not recommend adding wheels/casters to existing cabinets unless the cabinet has lock-in/lock-out latches.

 

[Trey T]

The drawer capacity design goal can be different from manufacturers. Vidmar may design their drawer based on cabinet overturning (tipping forward) if the top drawer is loaded w/ 400lbs (derated) and the rest empty and closed. And I think that's their design because just the look of their drawer sliding components, it can handle much higher load.

Given a 30"x30"x60" cabinet w/ 7drawer, you can load ~550lbs on top drawer (all lower drawers empty and closed) before it tips over. Assumptions:
-300lbs bare cabinet
-50lbs each drawer

If you derate it by 20%, you'll end w/ ~400lbs/drawer which is the advertised drawer capacity.

 

[pcmeiners]

Have these individually rated 1000lb rated casters on my Vidmars...
They do not flatten/mis-shape over time, adds minimal height.

http://apollocaster.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=65513

Lucked out, a client gave me steel plates (>120lbs) I place them in the rear bottom of the cabinets as a counterweights to opening multiple draws.

"Given a 30"x30"x60" cabinet w/ 7drawer, you can load ~550lbs on top drawer (all lower drawers empty and closed) before it tips over."

500lbs is a bit much. I have picked up and lower 59" 30x30 cabinets alone, I would say that is about a 200-250 lbs lift; definite hernia weight. I would say 200-250lbs in the top draw extended(evenly placed objects) will tip a 59" cabinet(without casters, less with casters). Personally I load up the bottom draws with the heaviest objects, I never place major weight in the top half of the cabinets.

Had a 59" tip while moving ( it was close to it's wall position), caught it, most draws extended half way, but I up righted it again.. a definite learning experience. I have no fear of Vidmars on casters, but again I would not have un-anchored cabinets with young ones around.

 

[xin]

Here is why you don't put casters on a Vidmar

Red


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Where you get it at?