KnurledNut
Well-known member
Ive seen drawers fail, but anyone know of casters giving out and a whole box falling over, etc?
Anyone ever see a toolbox collapse from too much weight?
- Thread starter KnurledNut
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redidbull
Well-known member
I saw a cheap Harbor Freight cart disintegrate because of and over loaded tool box on it. Very loud. Jim
BlakeTheCarGuy
ALLIANCE MEMBER
No never have seen that. Seen a box get knocked over because someone left the drawer open too close to the lift so it knocked it over.
redwrench60
Well-known member
A co workers HF 44” box had the castors tread crumble apart and make the box tippy. He had to replace all the wheels on that box.
I had a drawer slide break on an older Craftsman box along with a couple failed spot welds. More recently my newer HF 44” box had a slide fail. It came apart internally and locked up. I’ve worked with some mechanics with boxes in pretty sad shape.
I had a drawer slide break on an older Craftsman box along with a couple failed spot welds. More recently my newer HF 44” box had a slide fail. It came apart internally and locked up. I’ve worked with some mechanics with boxes in pretty sad shape.
vavet
Well-known member
I lowered my lift with a car on it onto my HF tool cart several years ago when I worked as a tech. It bent the legs. That was embarrassing.
Ton ton
Well-known member
My snappy rep told a story about a young boy that using a snap on tool box for a dresser. He climbed up the open drawers and tipped it over and killed himself.
Bogie1632
Well-known member
I've seen a couple stacked models tip over when a caster failed. In a typical USAF vehicle maintenance shop the boxes get moved a lot. Not many technicians have a designated work spot where the box gets parked for years. The only ones I've seen fail were from non-suspension (cheapo stamped casters like you see on older CM or HF style boxes) boxes, loaded too top heavy, moving, and catching a crack or hitting an object just right. Even better when the box isn't locked so the drawers start sliding out on the way over and get f'd up too. A couple single rollers have also had casters fall apart in similar fashion, but not tip over...mainly because they're too deep, too close to the floor, and not enough mass to keep them tipping.
Edit: I should also mention many shops back in the day had 25" CM triple stacks. They were not the most stable boxes to begin with, let alone drag all over a shop day in day out.
I also saw many boxes tipped over, backed in to, and smashed by careless knuckleheads over the years. I don't have the pic anymore, but one shop a friend was assigned at had a toolbox speared by a hydraulic ram.
V/R
Bogie
Edit: I should also mention many shops back in the day had 25" CM triple stacks. They were not the most stable boxes to begin with, let alone drag all over a shop day in day out.
I also saw many boxes tipped over, backed in to, and smashed by careless knuckleheads over the years. I don't have the pic anymore, but one shop a friend was assigned at had a toolbox speared by a hydraulic ram.
V/R
Bogie
Visited a buddy last year and asked him why the bottle Jack was under the front of his huge SO box.
I was laughing too hard to remember the fine details but synopsis is that something broke, drawers started rolling open one by one till it just tipped over.
Pics were priceless...
Think it was a combination of floor not flat against the wall he recently moved it to, bad wheel load spring and possibly broken or disabled drawer catches.
Think only a couple slides were injured, box looked fine and no tools broken.
I was laughing too hard to remember the fine details but synopsis is that something broke, drawers started rolling open one by one till it just tipped over.
Pics were priceless...
Think it was a combination of floor not flat against the wall he recently moved it to, bad wheel load spring and possibly broken or disabled drawer catches.
Think only a couple slides were injured, box looked fine and no tools broken.
Firebrick43
Well-known member
Yes, a machinist bottom kennedy, the owner had probably 800 lbs of steel and brass offcuts in the bottom 3 drawers.
ZRX61
Well-known member
I was in Horrible Fright one day & a guy coming towards me had his entire shopping cart collapse. I mentioned that they probably bought the shopping carts of Horrible Fright....
Al Borland
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- Jan 20, 2016
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- 1,598
I didn't get to see the failure happen, but I saw the aftermath. My old Matco box tipped forward after the wheel mounting area rusted thru and the wheel collapsed. 2:00-2:30 in the morning and it set off the alarm in the shop. The box had sat in the same spot, in the same damp shop for about 30 years and wasn't new when it went there. Top chest flew off and blew apart/open and shot sockets and wrenches everywhere. The lower was full of stuff like chainfalls, come-alongs and clamps. The box/stack was one size lager than a 26", maybe 32-34" and about 5 1/2 feet tall.
On closer examination, it appears that the interior of the caster mount wasn't accessable to paint, and the shop was marginally heated. Condensation and time ate it away.
On closer examination, it appears that the interior of the caster mount wasn't accessable to paint, and the shop was marginally heated. Condensation and time ate it away.
OP
KnurledNut
Well-known member
I started this thread -in part- because of this very same box!
I recently passed on buying one because the casters were not very convincing. (And the key was missing.) It was hard to pass up otherwise, as it was a great deal.
Edit: Hey Firebrick, he didnt happen to sell this box recently, did he???
OP
KnurledNut
Well-known member
Firebrick43
Well-known member
No it was years ago, pretty sure its now resides in a chinese ratchet or somethingI started this thread -in part- because of this very same box!
I recently passed on buying one because the casters were not very convincing. (And the key was missing.) It was hard to pass up otherwise, as it was a great deal.
Edit: Hey Firebrick, he didnt happen to sell this box recently, did he???
2ndGearRubber
Well-known member
Casters crushing into the base of cheap metal carts isnt uncommon. The metal of the cart is 20% as thick as the caster flange, so it isnt surprising. Tipping of.entire boxes is a use issue, too many drawers open vs the total weight of the contents. Add unstable base, improper drawer opening, and one can dump a box.
I see them dumped most often when moving. Drawers arent locked, one drawer swings open, unsettles the chassis, which allows either enough shell flex or vibration to let another drawer open, and so on. In my opinion, heavily loaded boxes should have something like a 2x4 ratchet strapped in front of the drawers to prevent opening in the event of latch or locking mechanism failure when moving. Just pushing around the shop isnt a big deal, but if one is moving a loaded box on ramps and similar it doesnt hurt to have insurance.
I have seen multiple drawer failures causing a domino effect. Mostly on overloaded cheap boxes, they sag severely, interfering with lower drawers, spots welds and slides fatigue, etc.
All the exciting stuff seems to happen when moving them.
I see them dumped most often when moving. Drawers arent locked, one drawer swings open, unsettles the chassis, which allows either enough shell flex or vibration to let another drawer open, and so on. In my opinion, heavily loaded boxes should have something like a 2x4 ratchet strapped in front of the drawers to prevent opening in the event of latch or locking mechanism failure when moving. Just pushing around the shop isnt a big deal, but if one is moving a loaded box on ramps and similar it doesnt hurt to have insurance.
I have seen multiple drawer failures causing a domino effect. Mostly on overloaded cheap boxes, they sag severely, interfering with lower drawers, spots welds and slides fatigue, etc.
All the exciting stuff seems to happen when moving them.
redwrench60
Well-known member
I don’t worry about my Snap on boxes being able to carry their weight. 
Firebrick43
Well-known member
jack or well cut 2x4s under that drawer that we cant see? Or do you weight under a buck fifty?I don’t worry about my Snap on boxes being able to carry their weight.
redwrench60
Well-known member
No shenanigans. I’m 6’0” and a little under 200lbs.
2ndGearRubber
Well-known member
Nah, those boxes can just do that. Wouldn't bounce on it. I've stood in my single drawer slide drawers. There's not crazy weight in that drawer, from what is visible. I keep all my bearing races in a 5 gallon bucket next to the press.
I had a Lowes plastic cart blow through with 800lbs of concrete.
They didn't have the metal trolley carts available and refused to help me.
Dumber than lumber
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I know a really large guy - we call him Slim. He sat on a tool cabinet and ker-blam! Down she goes. It was a Craftsman box.
So there is a limit to what those things can handle.
seber
Well-known member
It hasn't happened to me but I've bought and sold a whole lot of Kennedy boxes that had collapsed bottoms from too much weight. I always add a plate or 3/4 plywood and new casters before I sell them. My welding cart is a Red Kennedy mechanics box with 1/4" plate reinforcement. My rope and chain box is a Kennnedy machinist box with 3/4" plywood. However, it does have the original casters. Both of them were super cheap because they had collapsed.
I have a JET Brand box which amuses me, haven't seen another in the wild in the 10 years I've owned it. Bought it warehouse direct scratch and dent due to a primo forklift operator.
My 1-5/16" - 2" Sunex Combi/Angle head wrenches, and my SO 1" - 1-1/2" wrenches all live in one drawer with single friction slides. Pulls in and out without racking, box locks and unlocks without drama.
The frame is cooked from the cabinet falling over in my truck moving it, and it measures out of square...but it's paid for.
My 1-5/16" - 2" Sunex Combi/Angle head wrenches, and my SO 1" - 1-1/2" wrenches all live in one drawer with single friction slides. Pulls in and out without racking, box locks and unlocks without drama.
The frame is cooked from the cabinet falling over in my truck moving it, and it measures out of square...but it's paid for.
boom10ful
Well-known member
My US General 5 drawer cart has bent at the caster mounting points and is starting to tear in that area. It's very overloaded so that's my fault. I think it would have done better had it spring loaded casters.
Downwindtracker 2
Well-known member
The mill I worked in had very uneven floor. The machines were on concrete, but between the old machines, they had merely blacktopped. Unless you put a real cart with 8" casters under them, the tool boxes lasted only a few months. Even so, with all the twisting, a couple of my boxes broke the corners. Company replaced them. Most often the tool boxes rode around on the forks of one of the maintenance forklifts. A few were spilled. Those ball bearing slides are very repairable.
nadogail
Well-known member
I have had a Craftsman dump over while moving it from the alley across the joint in the slab and up the ramp into a garage.
OP
KnurledNut
Well-known member
Tipping a toolbox over is only a fail if you arent able to get the tool you were originally after.
OP
KnurledNut
Well-known member
30,000 caster fail. "Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no..."
Bogie1632
Well-known member
Looks like a problem for later. Haha.
30,000 caster fail. "Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no..."
I had an Airman pulling a triple stack CM box out of our shop using a rope. Just outside the door I watched it tip just like the video. Missed my Silverado by about an inch. Never parked my truck near the doors again.
V/R
Bogie
I came close to tipping my Williams roll box when I was initially filling it. I wasn't paying quite enough attention and started to open the top drawer with one already opened just below it. I felt it starting to tip and luckily I was able to slide the drawer back that I had started to open. It was close though.
As far as a structural collapse. Not that I have one or six BUT... Lets try this short video:
As far as a structural collapse. Not that I have one or six BUT... Lets try this short video:
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
They should do that with six US General boxes! 
redwrench60
Well-known member
I’d hate to **** up a perfectly good dump truck.They should do that with six US General boxes!
racecougar
Well-known member
A good friend heard a loud crash, then came around the corner to find his 10-year old Kobalt stack had tipped due to a failed caster.
Junkdrawer Dog
Well-known member
RTM
Well-known member
I've seen many rusted out hulks that used to be tool boxes, casters poking into their bottom section, but never one collapse in active use.
Ricky Joe
Well-known member
Back in the early 1980s I worked at a garage that had two levels. When you had to change levels they moved your box with a forklift. I had a Snap-On Taco box with a top box. It slid off of the forks to the side, balanced for a second, came down on the wheels, spun 180 degrees, and rolled down the hill square into the grill of a Freightliner. It racked the top box and severely damaged the bottom box. The company bought me another box.
ArcReactorKC
Well-known member
Working industrial maintenance I bought a stainless husky box. The one with 5 drawers and the side door cabinet. I don't recall what it was rated for but after putting all of my 3/4 drive stuff in it you could tell it was crying. A month later after being pushed around the shop on of the rotating casters gave up the ghost. It's now in my garage with some industrial casters on it. Still crying from being full of tools but it's still much less weight. To be fair to the box I am 100% certain nobody at the home depot thought a 5" 3/4 drive socket was going to grace the drawers of this box, much less fill the box with those size of tools.
OP
KnurledNut
Well-known member
Ouch! What was the replacement box?
How did the drawer slides hold up? Ball bearing i assume?