HF 44" vs 56" questions and also "BACKORDERED"?

[5mall5nail5]

Hey guys - I know the HF 44" has been beaten to death but I am curious - is the 56" worth the near double price of the 44"? And, where the heck is the 44" top chest? I have scoured HF's site and it's not popping up. I'm not that stupid

Looking for a christmas gift and the 44" is in the scope but the 56" is not, but if it's worth it... I could splurge. Thoughts?

I current have a 26" craftsman that is waaaaaay overloaded with double middle chests and the top lol:


2nd Middle Chest by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

Thoughts guys? I would love to have one drawer of sockets, one drawer of wrenches. Right now I have to split up multiple drawers because of drawer width. 44" seems legit honestly and I like the add on cabinet on the side, but is there any value in the 56".. its so much more expensive.

Further, right now the 44" is backordered - is this common? How long does the backordered status usually last?

 

[AZ_Catskinner]

http://www.harborfreight.com/red-roller-cabinet-top-chest-68787.html

Harbor Freight's site organization ***** the big one.

I personally like the 44" better than the 56". The 56" is a nice unit but should have either a 3rd set of casters in the middle or a more rigid subframe with all that wheelbase.

 

[5mall5nail5]

Yeah I can see how the 56" might need more support.. I kind of like the 44" + side cab instead of going with a top cabinet. Does the 56" have a top cabinet or side add ons?

 

[AZ_Catskinner]

There aren't any addons specific to the 56" at this point.

I've got the 44" and just ordered the end cabinet for it last night.

 

[5mall5nail5]

There aren't any addons specific to the 56" at this point.

I've got the 44" and just ordered the end cabinet for it last night.

Yeah that's the direction I think I am going - it leaves a lot of "workbench" space. It's cheaper too to do that than the top chest.

 

[03protege]

Yeah I can see how the 56" might need more support.. I kind of like the 44" + side cab instead of going with a top cabinet. Does the 56" have a top cabinet or side add ons?

Supposedly the 56" cannot support a top box. There was a big debate I read half were going by what the manual said and the other have where using reasoning. Anyway there are people that have top boxes on them but apparently finding a top box that matches is a PITA.

 

[cgv69]

The thing to keep in mind with the 56 vs 44 is the 56's drawers are 19.5" deep vs. the 44's 16" deep drawers. I think you will find that drawer depth is just as import as drawer width when it comes to keeping all your sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. all together in their own drawers.

On the issue of draw width, the 44" model only has one 36" wide draw. The rest of the "wide" drawers are only 22" wide (probably close to the same as your CM box?). On the 56, you get 5 drawers that are over 37" wide. Basically, if you keep all your sockets, ratchets, ext.s etc together in the top drawer of the 44" box, I think you will find that your wrenches screwdrivers, pliers, etc. may still ended up getting scattered across multiple drawers?

Is the 56 worth 2x what the 44 sells for? Hard to say because it depends on your shop space, budget, amount of tools you have, how you like to organize your tools, etc..

My personally, when I was looking at the 2 of them I was leaning toward the 44 as well. I thought the overall size and drawer layout was a better for me and my shop and I had a CM top chest that would have fit on it very well. I also felt like it was the better deal.

That said, I ended up getting a good deal on a KRA series upper and lower which happens to have 37" wide by 17.5" deep drawers. Now that I have those larger drawers I love them (and actually they were a couple of inches deeper). So if I was buying one of those 2 HF boxes today, I would get the 56incher as I would not want to go back to the small drawers in the 44" model. The way I look at it is, a larger drawer can always be subdivided into smaller compartments if needed but small drawer can not be stretched to hold larger tools or tool sets.

 

[csp]

Where is everyone getting 44" from? The box is 42" wide as just measured. I guess people are including the handle in the 44" width.

 

[pipsters]

Where is everyone getting 44" from? The box is 42" wide as just measured. I guess people are including the handle in the 44" width.

The new one is sold as a 44"

I had the 42/44" model. It was good for a smaller amount of tools. I got a good deal on a 56" box with 24" deep drawers and the difference is huge. I just don't like splitting up my stuff and the 56" box allows it to all be there. The nice thing about the 44" is its size - you can move it around pretty easily.

 

[archirelic]

The only thing I dislike about the 56" box is the super deep drawers [not front to back, but vertical depth]. Then again, I like shorter drawers b/c obviously most everything in a box lays flat...with the exception being sockets and those are going in the full length drawer anyway. Anything that would require such a deep drawer that I see on a lot of boxes, goes in a storage cabinet right next to my box.

Then again, my ideal set-up is similar to what Lista & similar cohorts sell...lots of shallow drawers running the full-width of the cabinet.

 

[bcradio]

The only thing I dislike about the 56" box is the super deep drawers [not front to back, but vertical depth]. Then again, I like shorter drawers b/c obviously most everything in a box lays flat...with the exception being sockets and those are going in the full length drawer anyway. Anything that would require such a deep drawer that I see on a lot of boxes, goes in a storage cabinet right next to my box.

Then again, my ideal set-up is similar to what Lista & similar cohorts sell...lots of shallow drawers running the full-width of the cabinet.

I'm with you on this also for the most part. Lots of wide shallow drawers is my preference for organizing hand tools

 

[03protege]

There is clearly only 1 logical solution and that is to buy both of them

CGV59 brings up a good point about drawer depth, the 56" box is listed at 28k cubic inches where the 44" box is listed as 11.5k cubic inches.

 

[jdsac]

Instead of getting a top box- get another matching bottom box. These isn't much money difference & than you can bolt them together & put a top across them & gain a work bench. If you need some portability also get a service cart.

Find the closest store to you & call them. Backorder might not mean there isn't stock at the stores. Search here:
http://www.harborfreight.com//storelocator/location/map

 

[nit2wn]

I went a to purchase a 44'' back when they come in the dark red color that was a love it or hate it color. I hated it after seeing it in person and went for the 56'' on a push from a buddy I took with me to help inspect them since he turned wrenches for a living. Now that they both come in the bright red, it would have been a hard choice, but I do like my 56'' and I did put a top box on it, just not the same width.

 

[Subyroo651]

Subscribed.. I m on the fence about a 56" HF. If I could get one for ~$500 I d be all over it. But it seems the best is $699 w/ a specific coupon.

 

[mikeceli]

Where is everyone getting 44" from? The box is 42" wide as just measured. I guess people are including the handle in the 44" width.

44 chinese inches

 

[O_M_Jeep]

you can use the side cabnets made to fit the 44" on the 56"s, the depth of the side cabs will be different from the 56" but they look the same and mount perfectly well.

For what it's worth, my own opinion is unless your going to load every drawer within 20 or 30 lbs of their limits you wont have any trouble putting a couple 28" boxes on top.

 

[balane]

They're getting the 44" from Harbor Freight promotional material and that's just what people call it to make conversation easier. I doubt many have measured it themselves.

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-t...drawer-gloss-red-industrial-uality-68784.html

But it is a 42" box with a 2" handle.

 

[redwood]

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but has anyone added on the 44" side locker to the 56"? I really want the 56" but I also want a side locker...