Chris Adams
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2007
- Messages
- 2,117
While killing time at Harbor Freight the other day I came across a special order toolbox that looked interesting.
I was looking for a top chest for a Matco 4725 box.
I had pretty much completed my toolbox quest, and I have most brands of toolbox, (And I mean most brands) and have had probably all the known brands, plus a lot that no one seems to have ever heard of.
But oddly, I have never bought any HF boxes.
Most of their boxes are pretty thin stuff, not very useful, in my opinion. The exception is the General 41 (?) inch setup.
I have seen those get better over the last few years, till it looks like a useful box. Frankly, the quality on the ones at my local HF are definitely in the better Craftsman range.
Better built than some of the Pro Craftsman stuff.
And I have lots of Craftsman Pro boxes for comparison, and have had lots of others.
The older CP stuff was better, but that applies to lots of tools out there.
Anyway, I had decided I needed a 56 inch top box. I had tried Craig’s List for a chest, but the prices were pretty high, and all the chests were smaller than I wanted. Best deal I found was 48 inch used Craftsman Industrial for 600 bucks. A good box, but enough shorter that I passed on it.
So when I found the 56 inch HF chest (normally 599) at their special order desk for 349, I was interested. They were willing to take a 20% off coupon, and no shipping as it would come on their regular truck.
So that brought the price down to a decent 280 bucks.
Now the box weighs 275 lbs so thus ‘a buck a pound’.
I figured for that little money, I could always sell it on CL, or even give it away if I didn’t want it.
I tried to get a review online but nothing for that box that actually applied to the box. I found several guys discussing it, (they obviously had never seen one) and three places that had measurements, insisting the box was 52 inches long, the extra four inches was in the handles.
That seemed logical because their 41 is listed as 44.
I was comfortable with 52, so that was no problem.
Unlike many of their products no owner’s manual or dimensions were available online. I found a similar box, but not exact enough to trust the numbers.
I ordered it and a week later (they had just got their truck, so it was a full week) it arrived.
They called as soon as they had it off the truck, so I drove up and picked it up.
Fork lift had no problem putting it in the bed. Shipping weight is supposed to be about 275, but the weight on the box said 279.
Frankly, I think the shipping weight is closer to 300 lbs.
So here it is in the box;
And sitting on the Matco;
Here is the whole herd, for scale. The Craftsman Pro’s at the end are 41 inches wide, the SnapOn/Blue Point at the other end is 40 inches width.
The chest itself is NOT 52 inches. It is 56 and ¼ inches. Or half an inch wider than the Matco.
The legs under the box, two standard pieces of rectangular tubing, are longer than the Matco allows for.
I intend to trim about a quarter inch off each of the ends of both legs, but for now, it’s sitting on a piece of half inch OSB.
I wanted to live with the box a week or so before doing any modifications.
The longest two drawers are 37.3 long, all drawers are 19.6 deep.
I did not put the three handles (front, each side) on the box because in my application they would just be in the way.
So the Good, the bad, the ugly.
Good;
Price was darn good. A buck a pound for a big box ain’t bad.
The box is BIG. 56.25 (not including handles) by 22 deep by 25 tall.
Decent depth on the drawers.
The two biggest drawers are also deep. At 37 plus inches they hold a lot.;
The three biggest drawers have double slides. That’s the two 37 inchers and that strange end drawer.
I tested it with 100 lbs in a drawer, no problem.
The top are is large, here it is with a few hammers;
All the drawers slide in and out with heavy loads.
The lock works well.
The top does NOT have to be open to use the drawers. Something I loathe in a tool box. Having the top always open means more dirt, more time to get a tool, just plain a pain. On a Craftsman Griplatch you can lock it on the second lock, on some Waterloo boxes you can just close the top and use the drawers, but on a SnapOn, for example, if the top isn’t standing open, the drawers will lock when you close them.
Anyway, I find it is much more convenient to be able to leave the huge lid shut.
Bad;
It’s so darn big. Too long for most bottom chests. This would be a nice chest on a triple.
The top is too low. They list it at 4.4 inches. That means a Hanson or clone with a tall socket will bump the lid. Wrenches or something might work well. It is 1233 square inches so that is a LOT of space.
The silly ‘main door’ as they refer to the big square thing;
Right now I have it full of body hammers and dollies. It handles the weight (about 75 lbs) with ease, but it is just not a good use of that much space. Three little drawers, heck, one big deep drawer, would be much more effective.
It has a drawer in the top, and two’ half drawers’ in the bottom, but then there is that big square hole thing. I presently have bolts through them, making big thick ‘peg hooks’ and have tools hanging on them, but there must be a better use for them. There are no hooks, suggestions, whatever with the box.
Paint color is not my favorite. OK, that’s a nitpick.
The ugly;
Ok, the general sticker is ugly, but it will go away when I get time and the heat gun.
Really ugly, there were two drops of oil, one under each piston. I have seen that on new pistons before and it didn’t necessarily mean anything. They like to oil them before shipping. But it would not surprise me if the pistons (which work great now) had a short life. But then, I just replaced the ones in my SnapOn chest with car ones, for less than seven bucks, so that’s not a real worry.
Fit and finish was at best, OK. Most noticeable was a poorly aligned beam in the left side;
As opposed to the correct right side;
This seems to have no effect on the function, it just isn’t ‘nice’.
Overall, I'm pleased with the box.
For the price it holds a LOT of tools, fills the top of the Matco, and will lock up nicely.
The part number is 94497.
I was looking for a top chest for a Matco 4725 box.
I had pretty much completed my toolbox quest, and I have most brands of toolbox, (And I mean most brands) and have had probably all the known brands, plus a lot that no one seems to have ever heard of.
But oddly, I have never bought any HF boxes.
Most of their boxes are pretty thin stuff, not very useful, in my opinion. The exception is the General 41 (?) inch setup.
I have seen those get better over the last few years, till it looks like a useful box. Frankly, the quality on the ones at my local HF are definitely in the better Craftsman range.
Better built than some of the Pro Craftsman stuff.
And I have lots of Craftsman Pro boxes for comparison, and have had lots of others.
The older CP stuff was better, but that applies to lots of tools out there.
Anyway, I had decided I needed a 56 inch top box. I had tried Craig’s List for a chest, but the prices were pretty high, and all the chests were smaller than I wanted. Best deal I found was 48 inch used Craftsman Industrial for 600 bucks. A good box, but enough shorter that I passed on it.
So when I found the 56 inch HF chest (normally 599) at their special order desk for 349, I was interested. They were willing to take a 20% off coupon, and no shipping as it would come on their regular truck.
So that brought the price down to a decent 280 bucks.
Now the box weighs 275 lbs so thus ‘a buck a pound’.
I figured for that little money, I could always sell it on CL, or even give it away if I didn’t want it.
I tried to get a review online but nothing for that box that actually applied to the box. I found several guys discussing it, (they obviously had never seen one) and three places that had measurements, insisting the box was 52 inches long, the extra four inches was in the handles.
That seemed logical because their 41 is listed as 44.
I was comfortable with 52, so that was no problem.
Unlike many of their products no owner’s manual or dimensions were available online. I found a similar box, but not exact enough to trust the numbers.
I ordered it and a week later (they had just got their truck, so it was a full week) it arrived.
They called as soon as they had it off the truck, so I drove up and picked it up.
Fork lift had no problem putting it in the bed. Shipping weight is supposed to be about 275, but the weight on the box said 279.
Frankly, I think the shipping weight is closer to 300 lbs.
So here it is in the box;
And sitting on the Matco;
Here is the whole herd, for scale. The Craftsman Pro’s at the end are 41 inches wide, the SnapOn/Blue Point at the other end is 40 inches width.
The chest itself is NOT 52 inches. It is 56 and ¼ inches. Or half an inch wider than the Matco.
The legs under the box, two standard pieces of rectangular tubing, are longer than the Matco allows for.
I intend to trim about a quarter inch off each of the ends of both legs, but for now, it’s sitting on a piece of half inch OSB.
I wanted to live with the box a week or so before doing any modifications.
The longest two drawers are 37.3 long, all drawers are 19.6 deep.
I did not put the three handles (front, each side) on the box because in my application they would just be in the way.
So the Good, the bad, the ugly.
Good;
Price was darn good. A buck a pound for a big box ain’t bad.
The box is BIG. 56.25 (not including handles) by 22 deep by 25 tall.
Decent depth on the drawers.
The two biggest drawers are also deep. At 37 plus inches they hold a lot.;
The three biggest drawers have double slides. That’s the two 37 inchers and that strange end drawer.
I tested it with 100 lbs in a drawer, no problem.
The top are is large, here it is with a few hammers;
All the drawers slide in and out with heavy loads.
The lock works well.
The top does NOT have to be open to use the drawers. Something I loathe in a tool box. Having the top always open means more dirt, more time to get a tool, just plain a pain. On a Craftsman Griplatch you can lock it on the second lock, on some Waterloo boxes you can just close the top and use the drawers, but on a SnapOn, for example, if the top isn’t standing open, the drawers will lock when you close them.
Anyway, I find it is much more convenient to be able to leave the huge lid shut.
Bad;
It’s so darn big. Too long for most bottom chests. This would be a nice chest on a triple.
The top is too low. They list it at 4.4 inches. That means a Hanson or clone with a tall socket will bump the lid. Wrenches or something might work well. It is 1233 square inches so that is a LOT of space.
The silly ‘main door’ as they refer to the big square thing;
Right now I have it full of body hammers and dollies. It handles the weight (about 75 lbs) with ease, but it is just not a good use of that much space. Three little drawers, heck, one big deep drawer, would be much more effective.
It has a drawer in the top, and two’ half drawers’ in the bottom, but then there is that big square hole thing. I presently have bolts through them, making big thick ‘peg hooks’ and have tools hanging on them, but there must be a better use for them. There are no hooks, suggestions, whatever with the box.
Paint color is not my favorite. OK, that’s a nitpick.
The ugly;
Ok, the general sticker is ugly, but it will go away when I get time and the heat gun.
Really ugly, there were two drops of oil, one under each piston. I have seen that on new pistons before and it didn’t necessarily mean anything. They like to oil them before shipping. But it would not surprise me if the pistons (which work great now) had a short life. But then, I just replaced the ones in my SnapOn chest with car ones, for less than seven bucks, so that’s not a real worry.
Fit and finish was at best, OK. Most noticeable was a poorly aligned beam in the left side;
As opposed to the correct right side;
This seems to have no effect on the function, it just isn’t ‘nice’.
Overall, I'm pleased with the box.
For the price it holds a LOT of tools, fills the top of the Matco, and will lock up nicely.
The part number is 94497.
. Whenever my wife ******* at me for my tools I'm going to show her these pics, I'm a peasant compared to your collection. I am in the market for a new top chest, was looking at Montezuma, now I'll have to check harbor freight. MY little Snappie roller is only 36 inches though so I'm limited in selection.
. 
