Bull's Equipto Grab

[Bull]

I will be picking these up soon. I got pretty damn lucky and got them for $100 each. They are clearly older, have some dents, and one drawer is missing a slide, but the amount of heavy-duty storage this will give me is off the charts. I will be able to store just about everything (aside from big stuff) that I still have in a disorganized or hodge-podge state in my garage. I am also going to be able to rearrange the back corner of my garage to free up some much-needed floor space.

This little jobbie has 18 drawers. Drawer faces are 3" high, and I think there is 3-3/4" of clearance total. 85" tall, 36" wide, maybe 25" deep.

This unit has eleven drawers, and the seller communicated to me that there is about 6.5" of clearance in each drawer. Also 85" tall and 36.6" wide.

One of the deeper drawers was replaced with a shallower 3" tall drawer.

I've never owned Equipto stuff before, but I have Vidmar and Lista. I don't know what the drawer weight ratings are, but even though they are older they are still industrial quality with four roller bearings per side of each drawer; I imagine they hold a lot of stuff. I believe each drawer also has dividers, so organizing hardware and small parts should be pretty straightforward.

The plan is to clean them thoroughly with a pressure washer, cleaner, brush and sponge before it gets too cold. Then, get them into the garage to sand them, then paint them with gray Rustoleum Hammered. I might try to find some blue for the drawers to match my Lista box, but I am not sure yet.

 

[HOTFR8]

Nice score.

 

[Jarhead0408]

Wow, Congrats Bull. Major **** right there!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I LOVE the idea of painting them to match your other box. That would looks outstanding!

 

[luvit]

get out!
lol.
.

 

[akdiesel]

Those are huge. Nice score.
I've only read about Equipto and they make very nice looking cabinets. I believe they also have the same ratings as most of these types of cabinets (400#).

 

[Torque1st]

Very nice score there Bull!!!

 

[gatewaysysop]

Nice find Bull!

 

[uniballer]

Nice score, does the content come with?

 

[nine4gmc]

shallow and deep drawer set, those are nice!!!

 

[Jack Olsen]

That's an awesome score. My main bench is made with Equipto cabinets. The build quality is every bit as good as the Listas or Vidmars (at least the ones I own).

 

[Al Bundy]

You ****!

 

[lowbucktruck]

Wow Bull! That's a major score! Lots of storage. That would be cool if you painted them to match your Lista cabinet. I really like how that repaint of your Lista came out.

 

[Nighttrain]

Nice! Do you have to pay shipping or are you able to pick them up?

 

[rburke65]

Yep.....pretty much a big time "you ****". Good for you. Those are are a great find and and an even better buy!

 

[willymakeit]

Great find. Now you will have to build bigger.

 

[JC23]

So, how many drawers we talking?

 

[Vvmvbb]

Pretty sweet.
Definately match your Lista colors if you can.
Maybe leave a lower drawer empty for a step (85" H, sheesh).

 

[KEH]

Really nice. Now you will have room for your Buick parts, LOL.

KEH

 

[Richard Cranium]

Bull, my cabinets are Equipto and I believe the drawers will hold 400 lbs each. If you need any more dividers or parts hit me up, I may be able to help you out, I have a bunch of parts left from my two... Rich

 

[palmetto slim]

I'm jealous! Great score.

 

[Bull]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Being that these appear older, I am not sure if they are of the same quality that newer Equipto might be. I will find out when I pick them up.

How do you think I can match the color of blue that is on the Lista drawers? They are just a little too big to carry with me to the paint store and have them use their scanner thingy.

I'm also not sure how to fit both of these in my pickup. The length isn't an issue because in a worst case scenario I will just have the tailgate down. But the seller indicates they are about 26.5" overall dept, which is their narrowest measurement. So, if I put both of them on their sides, they will be too wide to fit between the wheel wells in the bed of my truck, which I believe are exactly 48" apart. So I guess one cabinet will lay flat, and the other will be sort of diagonally position, with one edge resting on the bed and the other edge up on top of the other cabinet.

The seller does have a forklift to assist with loading, so that's a relief!

Oh, and JC, we are talking 29 total drawers.

 

[930dreamer]

Someone's getting organized, nice score.

 

[akdiesel]

Use a trailer or borrow one from a friend. No reason to tear up your equipment to get these home.
You can get paint from Lista.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Load them both upright -- with the drawer-sides facing each other. Then secure with rope.

 

[EvilWelder]

Damn, I would have been in my truck driving there as I was on the phone. Nice score.

 

[Outlawmws]

Do you know how much you ****?​

Great score! I'm Jealous!

 

[TennesseeZ]

Yeah you used up some luck on that, looks like you've got all the small part storage you'll probably ever need. I'd love to have them.

 

[Bull]

Use a trailer or borrow one from a friend. No reason to tear up your equipment to get these home.
You can get paint from Lista.

Hmm, paint from Lista eh? I'll have to look into that. My dad has a large dump trailer that would fit these no problem. But, I think the tires are ancient and the drive is over 1.5 hours. I also don't feel very comfortable pulling a large trailer because I don't have the experience with one.

Load them both upright -- with the drawer-sides facing each other. Then secure with rope.

Hmm...you don't think that poses any problems in terms of their vertical reach? They'd be standing up 85" tall in the bed.

Damn, I would have been in my truck driving there as I was on the phone. Nice score.

I didn't even have to rush! I just watched them on eBay for a week while communicating with the seller. I was the only bidder on each!

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Know anyone with a 5x10 lawn service type trailer? stand them up and use some GOOD 2" wide ratchet straps both fore and aft and side to side. I have a collection of straps, about $15 at Home Depot or Northern, well worth having.

Charles

 

[OctoMan]

Nice score! Be careful with the locks. We have Equipto here at work and for the money we paid the cabinets the locks are el-cheapo pieces of ****! I usually have to insert key, fumble with it, insert key again cuss at lock then it opens. Replace them or don't lock 'em at all.

 

[Bull]

Oh, my, what have I done? This is A LOT of storage.

My buddy and fellow GJ member TAFTW picked these up for me with his massive Dodge Cummins truck, with the full length bed.

We used my lifesaving Escalera forklift truck to help get the boxes out of the Dodge. We removed all the drawers prior to this. Once the boxes were out of the bed and supported on the Escalera and a wheel barrow, we then each grabbed an end and carried them into the garage bay that I had cleared out for the purpose of storing these while I rejuvenate them.

There is a lot of flex in the cabinets when they are empty (no drawers) and you carry them, if you don't lift them straight. I'm not sure if all industrial cabinets that are this tall would do that...? I learned that on one of these at least, the top of the cabinet is simply riveted to the top of the side walls; there is a flange for the top and a flange for the side, and a rivet going through them. From flexing, at least one rivet on one cabinet is loose, so the side wall can be moved in an out. If I can get a drill in there, I'll make some new holes and use some small bolts and washers to tighetn things up.

These have some dents, which I knew about. I'm hoping that I can pound them out a bit, and that the dents towards the bottom lips don't prevent the bottom drawers from operating. Even if they do, I have so many drawers here for storage, it's insane.

 

[Helios]

You need more drawers.

 

[nine4gmc]

gonna be sick!!!!

 

[HOTFR8]

Great score Bull.

 

[luvit]

this brings a tear to my eye.. good you you, man.
i'm always looking for something cheap and close by and now i'll always think about your score.

.

 

[akdiesel]

Nice work and creative loading / unloading technique as well as side support. Good to see they are home now.

 

[Bull]

I don't have any big chunks of time to throw at these in the next couple days, so I am just going to peck away at the job as I can. I intend to refinish one cabinet at a time. I began by stripping the first one. The tracks, bearing assemblies, and lock has been removed.

Here you can see how much the side wall of the cabinet can flex, because of the poor attachment of the flanges for the top and the side itself.

Damaged rivet mounting area, and really not enough rivets. I am going to drill at least one hole, towards the front of the cabinet, to bolt these flanges together. I'll probably also drill out the rivet with the damaged flange around it and replace with a nut and bolt and washer.

But, how can I get in there to drill straight? My narrow little rotary tool can't do it.

I'd have to hold it at an angle, like this.

There is a piece of angle steel spanning the back of the cabinet, dead-center. It's attached at each end, but not attached in the middle, so if you press on the steel for the back of the cabinet, it flexes. I'll add one bolt/washer combo in the center to tighten things up.

Now, I need some advice. How the heck do I clean this much hardware efficiently? This is all the hardware from just one cabinet...the one with much fewer drawers.

The tracks are clean except for where the rollers have moved over the years; those areas are cakey and I want to get them clean. Most of the rollers are stiff. Some have grease that has just turned to glue, and even with light twisting with a pair of pliers, the rollers won't spin. There are too many to clean one-by-one with a can of carb cleaner and a brush! What would you guys do? I don't have a parts washer.

 

[Torque1st]

A bucket with gas in it could be used to soak one end of the tracks at a time. Some carb cleaner may work as a pretreatment. Once they are clean some white lithium spray lube may work or a drop or two of 30W oil.

There are metal hand punches that will get into tight spots. I have one #44060 from HF that might work. It takes about an inch of clearance behind the lip. Then forget the bolts and washers, just use more rivets. The steel rivets work fairly well.

Hmmmmm, I searched HF for that number and "hand punch" but it didn't come up. I have used my punch for years with no problems. I did find this one which is just like mine:
http://www.dkhardware.com/product-30237-hp8500-metal-hand-punch-set.html

 

[Outlawmws]

Do you have or can you borrow a Whitney Jr. #5 hand punch? The sheet metal may be too thick for it, but I think the reach is right.

And now would be a good time to take a pair of dead/chipped nippers weld a couple of pieces of small1/2" angle for "ironing"out kinks on the edges of the sheet metal. I've posted a couple of mine a couple of times in different toolbox threads.