Costco Whalen vs. Harbor Freight 44"

[alpinewhite]

Costco has this 6-ft SS rollaway for $500.

http://www.whalenstorage.com/category/Garage-Industrial/group/Carts/Stainless Steel Chest

Harbor Freight has their 44" for $389

I wanted to build storage a la Steevo

I figured that for an extra $110/box, the Whalen is 28 inches longer and is stainless steel. Height and depth are comparable. With 6-ft boxes, I may be able to get away with just two boxes (one per wing).

Any thoughts from someone who has used the Whalen other than a rollaway?

 

[KSwiss]

Haven't seen a review of this box, I'd make sure it's of comprable quality.

 

[Steevo]

I haven't seen the Whalen boxes in person at my local Costco.
They seem to offer a good amount of storage for the price.
Can you make good use of the large, deep drawers?
A bench made with all SS boxes would look very cool!

 

[reyna14]

I would have no problem using it as a based for a full workbench, but as my main toolbox I'd have to pass. I have the HF one and like the deep full width top drawer. The Whalen doesn't look like it can hold deep sockets standing up. I may consider it for my future workbench build.

 

[SMKS]

Well, a couple points to consider.

Have you seen the Whalen box in person? The HF boxes are pretty decent quality for the price. The Whalen may not measure up, but I don't know because I haven't seen one.

The HF has 3 more drawers. More drawers = better, IMO.

It looks like a lot of the extra space in the Whalen is taken up by the locker. I'm not a big fan of lockers on tool boxes. If you need lockable space, it may not be a bad thing, but I don't need mobile, lockable cabinets on my tool box. So, the actual drawer width may not be much more on the Whalen.

I guess I'd have to see them in person before deciding, but if it were me I'd lean towards the HF box. But it really all depends on what your needs are in a box. For me, I don't need a big lockable cabinet on my box. So in my case, I'd go with the HF box.

You can get it for $349 or $359 with coupon. I've been really happy with my HF box.

 

[Akfrostbyte]

I looked at one of these boxes ( Whalen ) at the local Costco and noticed that the butcher block top is part of the toolbox. If you open up the locker door and look inside at the top, you can see the bottom of the butcher block. The stainless steel isnt part of the top structure. I didnt pay too much attention as to how they fastened the butcher block top to the box once I noticed it doesnt have a metal top.

 

[Jay_mc1]

I have been trying to decide between the two as well. I do not have a costco within 300 miles of me so I have not been able to see it firsthand. I would really like the stainless whalen box, but may have to go with the HF box because of distance, or pay some high price for shipping it. Im curious as to what you will decided.

 

[wb2vsj]

dunno... small red flag goes up for me on this one. Their website has no specs as to weight capacities for the drawers, max weight the cabinet will support, etc.

 

[Engineer61]

One thing I notice about the description of the stainless steel cart is that it has "Full-extension heavyweight drawer slides", but nothing about them being ball-bearing drawer slides. The HF description does list ball-bearing drawer slides.

 

[1949 caddyman]

More drawers are better IMO.

 

[G2G]

Also consider seville classics. I love mine. Very sturdy and the fit and finish it top notch! Sams club sells them or you can buy it directly from Seville. Buying it at Sams club is $50 cheaper.


https://www.sevilleclassics.com/12_drawer_rolling_workbench_ultra_hd


http://www.samsclub.com/sams/ultra-heavy-duty-12-drawer-rolling-workbench/prod1480010.ip

Hee is a pic of mine

I ended up buying alot of Seville stuff for my garage.

 

[alpinewhite]

The Whalen has ball-bearing drawer guides.

 

[66HertzClone]

How does the depth of the cabinet/drawers, front to back compare? I have the Seville smaller cabinet, nice as it is, the cabinet is very shallow.

 

[G2G]

Its about 20 inches deep, front to back. Perfect for me.

 

[alpinewhite]

How does the depth of the cabinet/drawers, front to back compare? I have the Seville smaller cabinet, nice as it is, the cabinet is very shallow.

Whalen:
72" W* x 19.11" D x 37.5" H

HF:
44-3/4" L x 18-1/2" W x 40" H

Depth of drawers are comparable.

 

[ZAPPER68]

I bought the Whalen a few months ago...it is a well built unit and I couldn't be happier with it. Matter of fact, I just gave my buddy the cash to pick up another one for me while I'm away at work.

 

[John in OH]

IMHO, as others have said, the more drawers the better. And, again as others have said, I don't have need or desire of a "locker" storage section, so, without a doubt, the HF box is more desirable from my point of view.

 

[creativecars]

I would pay extra for the mag wheels...
I like the stainless look, but I dont like the lower drawers being so deep. I would like it better if they would have made two shallower drawers there that would have put them up to 12 drawers and the locker area. I like my 13 drawer, I would have liked it better if it were stainless, but thats just me.

 

[p_mori7]

I checked it out at Costco, seems to be built OK, don't think it had double slides. I found it way too low at 37.5"... but I am also 6'4"...

 

[Shocker]

I haven't seen the Whalen box at the local Costco's here for a long time.

 

[lowbucktruck]

I don't know... something about a "toolbox" that isn't a complete metal box. The top adds some stiffness/structural integrity. The wood top is nice, just would be nice if there were some metal under that top, tying the sides together. This is one of the reasons I have steered away from those Craftsman workbenches, lack of structural rigidity. Of course, if the storage you choose for your custom workbench isn't moving around, I suppose it will have less chance of flexing.

I guess it depends on what kind of gear you plan to store in your custom workbench. Probably fine for light duty, like a woodworking/general purpose workbench storage. You might want to consider weight of the stuff you plan to store in there.

I've got several pounds of power tools inside my workbench cabinet (used office storage cabinet, heavy duty with roll-out drawers)... and I still reinforced those cabinets when I built my workbench.

 

[alpinewhite]

The stainless steel isnt part of the top structure. I didnt pay too much attention as to how they fastened the butcher block top to the box once I noticed it doesnt have a metal top.

The wood top is fastened to the chassis by panhead screws along the perimeter about every 6 to 8 inches. This is true in the locker section as well as the drawer section.

I checked it out at Costco, seems to be built OK, don't think it had double slides.

The lowest (biggest) center drawer has dual slides. All others have single slides.

 

[ZAPPER68]

I haven't seen the Whalen box at the local Costco's here for a long time.

I received my Costco catalogue the last week of October. It mentioned the Whalen boxes would be available in November...so down I went on Nov 1st. No Whalen boxes in stock...however, a quick check in their computer indicated the boxes (744 of 'em) would arrive (in Canada) on the 24th of November and would be distributed by the 27th. We'll see....

 

[NewLogik]

Costco here in Lachenaie,QC have them back in stock now.

 

[ducktapeguy]

I've got the Whalen and am happy with it. There's a review posted somewhere on this site somewhere.

One thing I would add, mine doesn't have true full extension slides, at least not like the HF box. It's close, but still doesn't extend all the way out like you'd expect. Maybe they changed it recently. My biggest gripe is the workbench top ony overhangs the drawers by about an inch all around, so clamping stuff to the top is a pain. A couple inches on the front and side would have made a big difference.

I don't have the HF box,yet, but hopefully by this weekend I should have both side by side to compare.

 

[alpinewhite]

I decided to keep my Whalen and will use it as the base for one of my future work benches. I will probably bolt on a larger piece of wood on top of the butcher block that came with the unit.

 

[chrischew]

I checked out both boxes and I decided to go with option C the 56" HF. I didn't care for the layout on the Whalen box and I wanted more drawers. Also I'm pretty sure the HF uses thicker steel in their box.

 

[Hammer1963]

I checked out both boxes and I decided to go with option C the 56" HF. I didn't care for the layout on the Whalen box and I wanted more drawers. Also I'm pretty sure the HF uses thicker steel in their box.

I think this is the better choice. You have to consider that HF or whoever manufactures the box, copied a tried & true design when they built the 56" box.

 

[alpinewhite]

Today, I opted to return the Whalen SS box and I'll buy the HF 44" when it's on sale in March for $349. Too bad it didn't fit under the pallet rack which was where I was planning to put it. Its 72-inch width was exactly the same as the opening in the pallet rack.

 

[shocksandstrutz]

i have the HF44, but ive seen that COSTCO box, if it had all shallow drawers all the waty down i would have jumped on that instead. but for my use, the shallow drawers are key

 

[NJJer]

SS box drawers only hold 30lbs each? Fail.

 

[Shawn Alexander]

I couldn't be happier with my HF box.

 

[Rogue1987]

I looked at both before I bought my HF box, and the Costco box's drawers seemed much weaker than the HF box.

 

[ts3342]

How do you know they will be on sale for 349.00 in march? I want to buy 2 and thats about the best price i have seen . Is there a coupon out for that price?

 

[KPSquared]

I had my hands on both boxes inside of a week. The Whalen is not even close as far as feeling sturdy.

I've seen the $350 price in print somewhere for early March, just can't remember where. Wish I had more time. . .I'd be buying new HF boxes.

 

[alpinewhite]

I had my hands on both boxes inside of a week. The Whalen is not even close as far as feeling sturdy.

I've seen the $350 price in print somewhere for early March, just can't remember where. Wish I had more time. . .I'd be buying new HF boxes.

I couldn't find the $349 coupon but here's a $359 coupon I found from another thread.

 

[neblinc]

HF Parking Lot Sale, March 8-10 $349
According to my printed flyer I got today.

Randy

 

[kd4gij]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=240382&d=1361166116

 

[toolstools]

I like the drawer layout of the HF box. And not keen on them lcoker either. Plus my hand have crazy oil issues. SS=NO lol

 

[skulldrinker]

Sorry but with that top it looks like it belongs out back next to the BBQ grill. Even if it held 1000#'s I wouldn't buy it purely on that fact that I don't like that top.