Husky 52” vs Milwaukee 56”

[RedSS454]

Anyone have either of these chests? Will be purchasing one in the next few months and looking for real world reviews. From what i find online, both cheats are good, but is there a better choice here? My gut tells me to go
Milwaukee, but that’s probably because my dad was a fan of their tools, and i still use a lot of his ~40 year old stuff, with no issues.

Looking to buy once, cry once. And hopefully pass the box along to my kids one day. Main purpose is homeowner grade automotive work, and general tool storage.

Thanks.

 

[Clcartagena89]

Then go to harbor freight and buy a green, black, yellow whatever flavor you’d like 56in tool box much nicer imo then anything else in the price range.

 

[Rabid Badger]

The Husky is junk, the wheel mounts are a joke. The Milwaukee is full of electronics that you won't be able to buy replacements for when they break, not to mention the single-slide full width drawers.

Pick up the HF 56" for $650:

http://www.hfqpdb.com/best_coupon/56"+X+22"+DOUBLE+BANK+EXTRA+DEEP+CABINETS

 

[KillNThrill24]

I picked this up last week on sale, then they knocked $50 off for "a scratch". Ended up paying $389 for it. Yeah, I'm sure the HF box is nicer, but for this price I'm very happy. The drawers pull out and roll in nice, and it feels pretty solid. I also have the 52" husky, and it's definitely nowhere near as nice as the craftsman, even tho they're both rated to 100lbs per drawer. I have it wedged under my workbench and that's helped stabilize it a lot, but it's still a little shaky and the drawers are a little wobbly.

I mean, I'm a home mechanic. My money is in my tools, and cars. As long as the box can hold my tools, I honestly don't care. I'll pick up a top for this craftsman box for under $400, and be in the whole setup for a tad more than the HF lower, and be damned happy about it. Just my thoughts from my experiences.

Sent from my Note 9 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[mackie232005]

Go with a US General box before going with a Husky or Milwaukee tool chest! Way better value for your money! Better quality all around!


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[jgromada]

I have the Husky 52" that i got a little more than a year ago. I am very happy with it. All the slides are very smooth. Finish quality is pretty good. I paid about $450 for it and it includes both the top chest and bottom cabinet. The layout worked pretty well for me also. I have it pretty loaded up in most of the drawers and I am glad there are 6 wheels to better spread the load. Wheels looked ok as I installed them, but then again I have zero plans to move this box as its the only place it can go. Your usage is just like mine, box is for home with almost entirely automotive tools.

At the time I had looked at a bunch of options Milwaukee, DeWalt, Craftsman and US General. At the time it was Gen 1 US General. At the time I was very unimpressed with the US General and the price was at least $150 or so more than I paid. Craftsman was impossible to deal with since it was Sears so that was out. So it was an easy decision as I had borrowed a truck for that day and HD had one in stock.

Good luck, your mileage may vary.

 

[Nineeightyone]

I've also got the 52" Husky, but just the bottom cabinet. The US General Series 2 weren't out when I bought, and just like jgromada said, for the money I wasn't impressed with the US General Series 1.

I don't roll it around or anything, it's just a stationary box to store tools and act as a "home base" for working on cars, but it's fine for what I need. I'm not sure how I feel about the latches on the US General Series 2 boxes, but other than that minor annoyance I'd definitely pick one up if I were in the market now.

 

[MrSurly]

I don't have the Milwaukee to compare; I have Snap-On/Craftsman/Kobalt and Husky boxes, the Kobalt set is 44" and the rest are larger. The Husky boxes, truly, are OK for a while but they are never going to be 'heritage' boxes handed down thru generations... The cracks, broken slides, peeling powder coat and collapsed bottom are going to limit their appeal after a bit. TBH I can't see the Milwaukee or the Kobalt fairing much better in the build quality area. The true bargain these days remains the HF boxes. The only reason I have the Husky and Kobalts is some ridiculous clearance sales and the fact that I got these for temporary use.
Here's one consideration that no one mentions but *I* find it important; the Husky box set I have features "soft close" drawers. While this is a cool thing to see in operation and is handy for impressing the neighbors because the drawers "self-close" somewhat, they have a down side.
if I'm working on a project that has me going repeatedly to the tool box opening drawers a bunch, the "feature" becomes a damned annoyance. The reason is that the soft-close, self-close mechanism adds significant drag when opening the drawer(s). The drag is the springs being loaded by pulling the drawer so the stored energy will be there to close the drawer later. It takes about three inches of opening to do this then the drawers rolls free. No, it's not a LOT of effort to open the drawers, but it's an annoying thing to me.

 

[ScottsGT]

I compared all closely with skepticism. I went with HF.

 

[RedSS454]

Thanks for the opinions all. I may take a ride to HF this weekend and play around with the USG. Unfortunately the Milwaukee isn’t in stock at HD, so i can’t get any hands on time with it. The Husky was nice and felt solid, but that isn’t hard when it’s on display and not full of anything.

 

[Ign]

Granted it's a different league price-wise but the 54" Homaks are still $1700 for the COMBO at NAPA.

Better than US General? Eh, maybe

If you do choose HF find the thread here on the differences in the 2 part numbers. HF considers them interchangeable but there are build differences worthy of note

 

[Ign]

Actually here's the Homak page. It's $100 more thru them but you'll actually receive it. And likely avoid sales tax so it winds up cheaper. The RS Pro is the series I'm speaking of
https://homak.com/54-56-60/

 

[JohnM45]

In doing some shopping over the past few months a big thing I've noticed is how many drawers some mfg's get in the same size outer cabinet. Keeping the tools and what you're storing in mind is important, otherwise, some of the boxes end up with lots of wasted space. Trays of screwdrivers and wrenches lay very flat, so a quarter inch here or there adds up to losing an extra drawer fairly quick.


Those Homak's look really good...very nice looking boxes.

 

[Yarpo]

Re: Husky 52” vs Milwaukee 56”

The Homak RS pro boxes are very nice, but unless you get them through Napa or on sale at Homak, the price is kinda high. Note from the link above the price of the regular 54" lower and the 54" combo on sale, very similar. The 72" lower is also on sale for a great price.

https://homak.com/sale-landing/ - They update this every few weeks.

I bought my box straight through them and didn't pay anything for shipping nor did I pay tax I don't think, tho I don't remember. Think I paid 1100 while napa was asking 999, but again free shipping and napa couldn't source me one anyway