How often do you move your giant toolboxes?

[ToddG]

I see a lot of these giant 73" boxes with side lockers, chests and overhead cabinets. I looked at the specs of some of these and the UNLOADED weight is approaching 1 ton! I can't imagine how much they weigh when fully loaded.

Does anyone ever move them after they are loaded up? I would think this would be harder than pushing a 68 Buick....

 

[ronr80]

Mine is about 5 feet high and it's full , but when I bought it I made a heavy frame with 4 big casters and I move it a few times a year to sweep up the dust and ****. I only move it 4-5 feet forward enough to get behind it .

 

[Sumboodie]

Twisted the wheel on my Snap On box when I moved it last. Slightly pushed against it with the Bobcat while I was lifting... like literally 1.5". Wheel folded over. Not impressed at all with this box, thankfully I bought it cheap ~15 years ago.

 

[CGarage]

In my opinion, multiple smaller boxes are better than one large box that ends up being a challenge to move.

 

[zmotorsports]

I've moved my large Snap-on KRL with side locker exactly twice since I purchased it in 2010. Once was in late 2016 from our old home shop to the new house's attached garage while I had the new shop built. Then the second time was in July 2017 when the new shop was completed in the back yard and I moved it from the house garage to the shop about 50'. Don't plan on ever moving it again.

For daily work I use a tool cart that I load up for various jobs/tasks but never move the large toolbox.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I like boxes up to around 54" width. Anything too heavy to push up ramps into my truck is too big for me.

 

[Professional Tool User]

Large tool boxes are almost never moved and are used to store tools that aren't used often. Tool carts are used to store frequently used tools.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I'm at the point I never move them. It isn't worth the time required to do so.

One of my 72" boxes has a locker on each side. Because the shop is slanted, I have one set of casters sitting on some pressure treated 2X4s I screwed into an "L" shape. It takes two floor jacks working together to lift the box up to move the wood in and out. At least it did before I added the second locker, and moved the heavier stuff to the locker on the wood supported side.

Compressed air can clear out cobwebs, toss mouse poison cube behind it, that's it. If I were to leave my current employer, I would expect a day required to move/transport the boxes.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

 

[xjfish]

/

 

[xjfish]

Towing company with a rollback moved my 6s Triple 80-90% loaded without issue. (86"x31x48h) Personally, I was nervous. Box held together fine without damage. It will have to be moved any time I switch jobs. Box was "full" but I removed several hundred pounds of "heavy stuff". I think if one had an attached side locker, I would want to remove it to prevent damage on anything of that size.

Edit: I realized i missed the point. My main box does not get pushed around the shop. It would be too much of a pain. Carts do that.

 

[Rick B.]

I move mine maybe once a year just to sweep out behind them.

 

[CS454]

Co-worker almost buckled the frame on his KRL1023 with hutch and lockers trying to change casters.

I still don't understand people willing to push around a 40x25 "roll cart" loaded top to bottom either. My 35x20" Matco 3 drawer deal is enough to lug around.

 

[CGarage]

I have a few friends who were cajoled into buying large boxes and, after paying it off and leaving the profession, it has become economically and spatially challenging to keep them in storage units, etc....it seems an American obsession to have a tool box, sized extra extra large.

 

[f121]

 

[cvairwerks]

My KRL-1023 gets moved several times a week. The single bay Craftsman with a big top box rarely moves more than once or twice a month.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Co-worker almost buckled the frame on his KRL1023 with hutch and lockers trying to change casters.

I still don't understand people willing to push around a 40x25 "roll cart" loaded top to bottom either. My 35x20" Matco 3 drawer deal is enough to lug around.

I got too much stuff. Mine is a 6 drawer 20x32. Gonna need to upgrade at some point, will probably go 20x40.

 

[Sumboodie]

Twisted the wheel on my Snap On box when I moved it last. Slightly pushed against it with the Bobcat while I was lifting... like literally 1.5". Wheel folded over. Not impressed at all with this box, thankfully I bought it cheap ~15 years ago.

Likely going to need to build a frame out of angle iron, it twisted the front rail of the box. Bottom drawer still clears, but it tweaked it a bit too.
I have 2 "cheap" Husqy boxes that I bought on sale at the Home Depot for about $300 each. They are better built than my Snap On box. My box is the "cheap" line... KRA?? but still was in the area of $8k when bought new. I paid $1k for it and got the matching side box years later for free from a throw away pile at work. (keys were lost)

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

I have a few friends who were cajoled into buying large boxes and, after paying it off and leaving the profession, it has become economically and spatially challenging to keep them in storage units, etc....it seems an American obsession to have a tool box, sized extra extra large.

I lean more toward multiple small boxes. One for all the plumbing tools. One for all the electrical stuff. Maybe a 3 or 4 drawer for mechanics tools. Moving and storing easier that way.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I lean more toward multiple small boxes. One for all the plumbing tools. One for all the electrical stuff. Maybe a 3 or 4 drawer for mechanics tools. Moving and storing easier that way.

If you have the floor space and the layouts work, this is a good path at home.

I have two 72" boxes and 2 lockers full of mechanics tools. And two cabinets for my BS. And my 6 drawer cart. And the stuff piled above and below, and my shop equipment in the back.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

If you have the floor space and the layouts work, this is a good path at home.

I have two 72" boxes and 2 lockers full of mechanics tools. And two cabinets for my BS. And my 6 drawer cart. And the stuff piled above and below, and my shop equipment in the back.

Yes, lol! My setup was for use at my old house. Mechanics box in the garage. Plumbing and electrical boxes in the utility/laundry room cos that's where I always seemed to need them.

 

[dr_clyde]

I don't move my boxes any more than I have to. Maybe once a year if that to clean around them or something.

When I worked industrial maintenance at a large brewery, I had a couple small "go boxes" I would take with me to a job. If I was going to be in a spot for more than a few hours, I'd forklift my KR1000 to the site. I also used a Knaack Jobmaster chest to store large stuff on the move.

When my dad worked tool and die in the 80's, they had to roll their boxes all over the shop to different machines. He made custom bases out of angle iron and upgraded the casters, the Kennedy rollers would fall apart otherwise.

 

[Lucid Moments]

I am like most others on here. My 72" gets moved maybe once a year when I clean out my shop.

 

[4 FN 27]

The master boxes never move except when I am moving from the old shop to the new shop. They are both pinned in on each side. I can get them out with a Pallet Jack if needed.

This spring I added a Mobile "Cart". Still adding Tools to it as I go.

 

[ItsNemo]

56" box with top...I move it probably once a year at most. There's one item stored under my tool bench that can only be taken out after moving the box, I almost never use it, hence why it's stored there...but otherwise I'd never move the box.

 

[CS454]

I got too much stuff. Mine is a 6 drawer 20x32. Gonna need to upgrade at some point, will probably go 20x40.

I work fleet environment which helps a ton, my 27x18 stack only seems to get unlocked every once in a blue moon after setting up the cart. Our shop is the size of a stadium so mobility helps.

 

[unslow1]

I haven't moved 4 of my boxes in years. The only ones I have are the ones I had to move last year when I sold a house. I like the multiple smaller boxes. My largest is a 56".

 

[Zewnten]

It's a pain in the ***. I had a KRL1003 when I worked at an equipment dealer we had to move all around from piece to piece and being 30" deep and 54" long and fairly top heavy it was a pain. Co-worker had a SO 72" with and end cabinet and a locker he puched around, I often played train sounds when he moved with all the grunting he did it sounded like an engine lugging up a hill. Another coworker had a 72" with 3 lockers on it, whole shop had to work around him as he couldn't move it or he'd be stuck walking all over with handfuls of tools. After that I switched to small bottom roller and a lista box and a cabinet in the corner for the heavy stuff but the roller is still heavy fully loaded.

I prefer a small roller or cart for each job type: electrical, hydraulic, fabrication and general tooling.

 

[CGarage]

I prefer a small roller or cart for each job type: electrical, hydraulic, fabrication and general tooling.

I am not a professional and I only tinker, but I agree and have done this as well. My boxes are setup for specific home / auto maintenance requirements.

Portable Toolbox 1- Interior disassembly tools
Toolbox 2- SAE Tools
Toolbox 3- Metric tools
3 drawer tool box- Electrical Automotive diagnostic tools / scanners
Small, multi drawer tool box- Electrical / micromechanics hand tools and Allen keys
Etc

 

[SteveH-CO]

My 56"? Harbor Freight box weighs 330# empty (clone of a Snap On of some sort). I can't imagine what it weighs full. So, 'never' is how often it gets moved.

 

[Al Borland]

All my current home boxes are 26" and sorta-movable. Had a bigger Matco box (36-42" or so) I left in a Friend's shop because it was too heavy to drag home.

 

[sparky 1971]

My 56" cabinet/chest combo doesn't move, but it's in my garage. I could move it if I wanted to, but don't have any reason to. My biggest and most important customer is a trucking company with 2500+ trucks on the road. The maintenance shops, both truck and trailer run 24/7. Those gargantuan boxes get moved every. single. day. The couple of times I've had to move one because it was in my way, I grabbed another mechanic to help, but we moved it fairly easily. There's definitely more than a name that's getting paid for when purchasing a Snap On or MAC box.

 

[mepstein]

I just moved my 56" HF box across my Race Deck free flow floor. It's not as loaded up as some peoples but it wasn't hard at all.

 

[MarkH]

This is where we learned to love despite the price the Snap on Utility vehicle. Tough and tolerates moves with bobcats fairly easily.

 

[jsaw]

My 3 bay box at work has not moved in 14 Or 1 5 years

 

[Lassen Forge]

Unload it as bext you can before you move it - I just folded the rear left wheel under my shop box moving it so I could unload it for moving...

I am NOT a happy camper tonight. Do I try to save the box, and buy a piece of plate to mount the casters into, or shitcan the box and replace it.

BTW the box is almost as old as I am, so don't tell me about warranties - they're long dead.

 

[crewchief888]

my boxes in the garage havnt been moved in 7 or 8 years. I'm a field mechanic, most of my "working" tools are in my service truck.
i dont have boxes at the shop anymore

 

[tool_scrounge]

Unload it as bext you can before you move it - I just folded the rear left wheel under my shop box moving it so I could unload it for moving...

I am NOT a happy camper tonight. Do I try to save the box, and buy a piece of plate to mount the casters into, or shitcan the box and replace it.

See if there are some local body shop folks who can straighten out the base if needed and build an angle iron cradle with casters on the corners. Or a big flat plate as proposed. But that is going to weight a bit.

Years ago I ended up with a quality toolbox that had shipping damage. The box looked like a parallelogram from the front and the drawers did not want to open. Probably got dropped from the truck on its side. I mentioned my dilemma to my mechanic and he commented that the body guys down the street moonlighted on the weekends. In the end they straightened the box out like new and welded to corners to make sure it did not move. Best $100 I ever spent.

 

[PhantomEB]

Biggest one I have here is the 42. Once a year, usually in the fall I will pull them all away from the garage to sweep up from under and behind.

 

[Sumboodie]

Likely going to need to build a frame out of angle iron, it twisted the front rail of the box. Bottom drawer still clears, but it tweaked it a bit too.
I have 2 "cheap" Husqy boxes that I bought on sale at the Home Depot for about $300 each. They are better built than my Snap On box. My box is the "cheap" line... KRA?? but still was in the area of $8k when bought new. I paid $1k for it and got the matching side box years later for free from a throw away pile at work. (keys were lost)

Not sure why it would be funny that my toolbox got screwed up. Thanks, I guess?