Tool Cart vs Tool Box/Chest

hey all-new guy here. I just purchased a 5 drawer HF Tool cart, and am happy with it, but it is a little small. I dont have enough tools to fill it YET, but am sure with the help of GJ...thats going to change here soon.

I dont have a garage, so it sits in my office, and is out of the way.

My question-with all the deals right now on tool chests/boxes...would it be wise to return the cart and get the HF 44 and topper, or that Milwaukee box (its ****)....or just keep the cart and grow with it? Like i said, i dont have the tools to fill the cart yet, but am getting there pretty quickly.


Thanks all!

Grow with it.......get a garage and go from there. If you have no place to "Store" your tools then work on that first and the deals will follow.

77Ford said:

Grow with it.......get a garage and go from there. If you have no place to "Store" your tools then work on that first and the deals will follow.

Click to expand...

Definitely need a garage. We are in the process of getting this house ready to sell, but it will be a bit. Wasnt thinking about that when I bought my house when I was 20.

Was like "Meh, ill never need one".

Yeah...my two project cars say otherwise.

You learn a lot through out the years......a nice tool box is a toy unless you are making "Money" with it.

Stay out of debt and buy the "Best" tools you "Need" other wise just set
back and learn.......[emoji6]

Keep the cart and when you grow... snag a 44.

My 5 drawer cart holds every pair of pliers I own, in the bottom drawer. All my SAE wrenches and all my ratchets, in the other drawers. The top has a complete set of sockets and several sets of screwdrivers that are hanging in racks along the left side that I rivet'd on. It may look small but holds a lot. I modified my cart to get better use out of the open bottom, where I store 8 metal tool boxes that easily slide in and out.

Fair enough. Thanks all!

I similarly had a hf 5 drawer (still do), and had it about packed to the gills, and decided it was time to upgrade. I bought a hf 44 that was in the clearance section and brought it home, and am quite happy with that as well. At one point I put all of my tools in the 44, and I was surprised to find that it was also quite full. Not completely full mind you, but more full than I expected it to be.

Here's the conclusion I arrived at.. The 44 has more drawers, but they aren't as deep front to back, so they fill up quickly. I was wasting a lot of space in the 44 storing screwdrivers, picks, ect. These I put in the top of the 5 drawer, it is a more efficient way to store them. Also, the 5 drawer is much easier to move, being a third the weight. In the end I put my commonly used tools back in the 5 drawer and keep the 44 for oddball tools and things I don't always need.



Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

I started with a craftsman 4 drawer bottom and 12" deep top and took two years to fill it. I upgraded to a 52" rollaway with the matching top and side chest. I have had the craftsman equivalent to your HF cart. I find myself using an old rollaway 3 drawer with bulk storage on the bottom that I found in the trash more than my big box. I worked on filling my chest and using the cart as a tool jockey. Nothing works better than filling a cart with the tools for your job and rolling it close by. The true is the same for my mechanic. He has the typical 46" snap on set and side locker, but all his normal stuff is in his Cornwell cart between his projects. Best to have both.

Milwaukee box is only good if you can get it under $300 bucks as a scratch and dent or something. Otherwise the HF44 blows it out of the water in every metric.

First of all, welcome to The Garage and yes, it will all change now that you've bit the forbidden fruit, that being Garage Journal (in other words...,your screwed. Better let the wife manage the kids college fund, before it turns into your tool fund) As far as the cart goes, return it and find something American made, anything but Harbor Fright. There are still American made boxes out there, Waterloo being one. You may pay a little more, but it will still be around a lot longer than that cheap Chinese **** HF sells. And yes, stick with a cart for now, grow into it, shouldn't take long now that your a fellow addict.

Derek1387 said:

hey all-new guy here. I just purchased a 5 drawer HF Tool cart, and am happy with it, but it is a little small. I dont have enough tools to fill it YET, but am sure with the help of GJ...thats going to change here soon.

I dont have a garage, so it sits in my office, and is out of the way.

My question-with all the deals right now on tool chests/boxes...would it be wise to return the cart and get the HF 44 and topper, or that Milwaukee box (its ****)....or just keep the cart and grow with it? Like i said, i dont have the tools to fill the cart yet, but am getting there pretty quickly.


Thanks all!

Click to expand...

if youre a hobbyist ,tinkerer etc , i still say buy the best you can afford ! ,the old adage used by our elders was" buy once ,cry once" ,,i try to stay with usa built or euro tools ,look at them as an investment ,and by the way tools are an addiction ,you can never quit once you start ! enjoy , i just bought a matco service cart , really handy , have and older snap on lower cab ,proto pro top box ive used since the 80 ,s the chinese stuff just doesnt have the long term durability to be honest

Don't stress it. You can always find a deal on a larger cab when you need it.
I had the black cart. I think that was a 5-drawer. If not, it was the 4 drawer. Organized right, it would hold enough hand tools to get a good start (almost) anywhere in the automotive industry. With a little modding, it could grow quite a bit. Those HF carts are tougher than their price tags. I sold mine, because I got in at a fleet shop, and most gear is issued. This includes tool boxes. At home I have a (junky) plastic hand box, that the handle broke off of years ago. I can't fit all my personal tools in there and close it, but have no room for a cart at home. I've been debating storage options on the home front, because it seriously begs for organization. I digress however.

At work I have a pair of Flightline boxes (I still don't know who OEM'd them). I also have a plastic utility cart. My most used stuff lives on that cart. I have a smaller Craftsman metal hand box that I use for road calls. I use that cart waaaaay more than my cabs. Being able to wheel yourself to the work matters. Don't ditch your cart. Between those two pieces of kit, and the tools they hold, I can probably do about 85% of stuff that comes my way. I hate running back and forth for stuff. Keep the cart. Expand it as you see fit. Don't get a larger cab until you need the storage.

in the 4 and 5 drawer mod thread you can find tips to add the 7 drawer side box to the cart and make it your own.
will add the space you are looking for and still be portable.

You could always just buy another 5 drawer cart.

I kind of like those things. Cheap and easy to move around. You can make an argument to segregate tools by use into multiple carts rather than some sort of monolithic approach.