Masterforce (Menards) 72" roller cab opinions

[powertrip]

Just to add to this thread I purchased the Masterforce 42" base cabinet. It was not in stock at my local store and I ordered it over Memorial day weekend with a original stated delivery date of July 11th. I received it yesterday Jun 22nd so it showed up a few weeks early. No real particular reason I went with the Masterforce but wanted to try something new and I do like the drawer latch system they use.
One odd thing with the 42" model is they don't offer wood or stainless work tops like they do for the 56" and 72" models. I bought a $10 Yoga Mat at Walmart to put on top of mine. They also 2 different side cabinets you can add, one being a 7 drawer and the other is pull out power drawer. If I add one in the future it will probably be the 7 drawer. I went with the blue color and will say I think it's a little odd they don't come in the traditional red or black.

Which cabinet has the pull out power drawer?

 

[1foxracing]

Which cabinet has the pull out power drawer?

Masterforce® 16" x 24" Blue Power Drawer Side Cabinet

The Masterforce® Power Drawer is an easy way to expand your power tool storage. It comes with the bracket and hardware needed to easily mount on any of the 24-inch deep Masterforce® roller cabinets. The full extension ball-bearing drawer slides will store up to 150 pounds. The patented Raise &...

www.menards.com

 

[Snapped-off]

...

I went with the blue color and will say I think it's a little odd they don't come in the traditional red or black.

They used to, my masterforce stack is red.

 

[Madjik Man]

A guy on a truck forum I frequent raised concerns about the 19 gauge steel on the full width drawers, saying that he can't put all his wrenches in one of those full length drawers because it sags.

Anyone with a 72" Masterforce experience this?

 

[MarineScott]

They are made by Quality Craft. Quality Craft also makes Montezuma boxes. Every so often you may see a Montezuma box in Menards. With the change to the series 3 US general happening, I am probably going to go with a Masterforce 72". The new series 3 US general has only 14 drawers while the series 2 had 18 drawers and a far better layout with less tall drawers in my opinion. The Masterforce 72" has a somewhat better layout than the series 3 with 15 drawers. I believe the steel is thicker on the Masterforce as well which is 19ga steel.

I think the Master Force box is taller. I was impressed by the boxes at Menards

 

[Lawdog]

I traveled again this last week and once again stopped in to go hands-on with the box and a Harbor Freight Series 3. My choice was cemented again for the Masterforce box. I much prefer the drawer layout, the 24" depth, the latches and the overall feel of the Menard's box.

Drawer handle slides: I was not able to get the drawer handle covers to slide off to the left and I didn't want to push any harder. I think I would take a tapping block that I have from a flooring install kit and **** that up against the latch and tap it with a mallet. That ought to free it up.

I placed an online order yesterday for a gunmetal box, but there are none shipping so Menard's tried to fulfill the order with a display box, offering me the option to cancel. I did... now I wait for them to come back in stock. Could be September.

In the meantime, I am looking at all options in the $2000 range, which is what I will be out of pocket with the shipping. I see HF lowered the prices of the 73" ICON boxes down to $2999 shipped for free, before any coupons. I might go look at those again.

 

[Lawdog]

A guy on a truck forum I frequent raised concerns about the 19 gauge steel on the full width drawers, saying that he can't put all his wrenches in one of those full length drawers because it sags.

Anyone with a 72" Masterforce experience this?

What kind of box was this guy talking about if you know? We already know this box has a lower weight rating than the USG Series 3, supposedly.

 

[Madjik Man]

What kind of box was this guy talking about if you know? We already know this box has a lower weight rating than the USG Series 3, supposedly.

He was talking about the Masterforce 72”

 

[kngelv]

I traveled again this last week and once again stopped in to go hands-on with the box and a Harbor Freight Series 3. My choice was cemented again for the Masterforce box. I much prefer the drawer layout, the 24" depth, the latches and the overall feel of the Menard's box.

Drawer handle slides: I was not able to get the drawer handle covers to slide off to the left and I didn't want to push any harder. I think I would take a tapping block that I have from a flooring install kit and **** that up against the latch and tap it with a mallet. That ought to free it up.

I placed an online order yesterday for a gunmetal box, but there are none shipping so Menard's tried to fulfill the order with a display box, offering me the option to cancel. I did... now I wait for them to come back in stock. Could be September.

In the meantime, I am looking at all options in the $2000 range, which is what I will be out of pocket with the shipping. I see HF lowered the prices of the 73" ICON boxes down to $2999 shipped for free, before any coupons. I might go look at those again.

In that price area you should look at the Tekton boxes. Made in Canada by Rousseau and way nicer than either the Menards or HF boxes. Plus you get free shipping and 10% back in points to get a bunch of tools for your new box.

James

 

[Lawdog]

In that price area you should look at the Tekton boxes. Made in Canada by Rousseau and way nicer than either the Menards or HF boxes. Plus you get free shipping and 10% back in points to get a bunch of tools for your new box.

James

Thanks for the suggestion. I have some Tekton tools and like them. But, I am not seeing a 72" from them and the smaller boxes are way above my budget in any event. $2000 for the cabinet is my ceiling. The Masterforce comes in at $2032*** before the rebate, so it's up there.

***Update on pricing: This price was because my order at that time pivoted over to a state with higher sales tax and had shipping to me factored in. That order ended up being canceled. I ordered mine to be delivered to a ND store for pickup. With the tax, it came in just over $1800. The following week, they went on sale by more than $100 off. I got price adjusted. Now, their everyday price has been lowered to $1599 before the 11% rebate. 10/20/23

 

[Madjik Man]

In that price area you should look at the Tekton boxes. Made in Canada by Rousseau and way nicer than either the Menards or HF boxes. Plus you get free shipping and 10% back in points to get a bunch of tools for your new box.

James

The cheapest Tekton box is $2450 and that's for a 36" x 27" 7 drawer cabinet. I'd love a Tekton box as much as the next guy but they're not even close to being in the same price range as a Masterforce.

 

[Lawdog]

He was talking about the Masterforce 72”

Do you have a link to this forum? You can shoot me a private message if you prefer.

 

[Lawdog]

Looks like they're delayed again, now it's October.

 

[Lawdog]

The 72" chests are on sale now until the 24th. Discount of $112, which makes it $1399 after the 11% rebate. I can't remember seeing them this low for a few years. Other Masterforce boxes are also discounted.

 

[Lawdog]

Waking this thread up with some good news. I placed my order a while ago on the Gunmetal 72" box. It is at the store for pickup now. It beat their estimate by 12 days, so that was a good surprise. A friend is going to transport it to me in a couple days. They price adjusted it for me as I bought it about 4 days before the sale hit. After the rebate, I'm in about $1399, plus a couple cases of Blue Moon for my driver and friends to get it out of his truck. I'll be painting the green pulls into a blue... I have a particular color I am attempting to match. I can't wait. Once I get it set up, I'll post up some pictures and give some impressions.

 

[Lawdog]

Also, they do sell different color options for the pulls on the cabinets and they sell the different color pulls as an option. I looked and it appears they are indeed designed to be pulled off and replaced easily. I see no difference between the tool cabinets and the wall cabinets. Here's a snip from the user manual.

 

[Lawdog]

Menards lowered the "Everyday Price" to $1599 before rebate. After rebate it's about $1424.

 

[ricky_bobby]

I am debating on the masterforce 72 vs USG3 72. I went to my local Menards to check it out and like the locking mechanism vs the USG3, but that's not a deal breaker. My concern is the masterforce is open at the bottom exposing the sliders to dust and dirt which maybe could lead to premature failure on the bottom drawers. The USG3 is covered and you can't see the sliders. I know the masterforce has a better warranty but this kind of bugs me and is pushing me towards the USG3.

Does anyone have a picture of the masterforce 72 with the top hutch?

 

[Lawdog]

Ricky_Bobby, first, awesome handle and welcome to the board!

I've had my box in my shop now for a few weeks. I am really happy with it. I looked very hard at the USG S3 option... that gray is pretty sweet, along with the blue and the green. I think they're good boxes overall and of course there's thousands of them out there in the world. My old box that this replaced was a first generation USG 44", which was kind of the holy grail of budget tool boxes here back in the day. In fact, my search for a tool box is what led me to the Garage Journal in the first place. I ended up selling it for basically what I paid for it. That's just crazy. I had exactly zero issues with that box during its life and when I sold it, it was in very good shape. My shop stays clean but cluttered, so neither dust nor moisture are things that I worry about too much

When I saw the new S3 boxes drop at SEMA a while ago and saw the gray, I had every intention of getting one.

But... I saw the Masterforce box in a Youtube video and was very intrigued. I don't have a local Menards and was eventually able to see one during a trip. As I said in a post above, the drawer layout and overall feel is what sold me. I really like the multiple shallow wide drawers--three on the MF and two on the USGS3. That's a very personal thing so you gotta go with what you want. I also love the drawer latches. Last but not least is the drawer depth. 24" drawers are awesome. This amounts to almost 9000 cubic inches of extra storage over the USG box. This last part sealed the deal for me.

As for the open bottom, I never really noticed it or thought much about it to be honest. Other than snow on vehicles during the winter, my shop floor stays pretty dry. I won't worry about it too much. I think you'd be happy with either box in the end.

 

[Lawdog]

Pic with their upper drawer chest.

 

[ricky_bobby]

Ricky_Bobby, first, awesome handle and welcome to the board!

I've had my box in my shop now for a few weeks. I am really happy with it. I looked very hard at the USG S3 option... that gray is pretty sweet, along with the blue and the green. I think they're good boxes overall and of course there's thousands of them out there in the world. My old box that this replaced was a first generation USG 44", which was kind of the holy grail of budget tool boxes here back in the day. In fact, my search for a tool box is what led me to the Garage Journal in the first place. I ended up selling it for basically what I paid for it. That's just crazy. I had exactly zero issues with that box during its life and when I sold it, it was in very good shape. My shop stays clean but cluttered, so neither dust nor moisture are things that I worry about too much

When I saw the new S3 boxes drop at SEMA a while ago and saw the gray, I had every intention of getting one.

But... I saw the Masterforce box in a Youtube video and was very intrigued. I don't have a local Menards and was eventually able to see one during a trip. As I said in a post above, the drawer layout and overall feel is what sold me. I really like the multiple shallow wide drawers--three on the MF and two on the USGS3. That's a very personal thing so you gotta go with what you want. I also love the drawer latches. Last but not least is the drawer depth. 24" drawers are awesome. This amounts to almost 9000 cubic inches of extra storage over the USG box. This last part sealed the deal for me.

As for the open bottom, I never really noticed it or thought much about it to be honest. Other than snow on vehicles during the winter, my shop floor stays pretty dry. I won't worry about it too much. I think you'd be happy with either box in the end.

Thanks for the input Lawdog. I did purchase the 72" gray USG3 the other day since I was able to get it for $1349 at my local HF. I really liked the MF drawer latch, but seems its doesnt seem to have as many options like HF. I like that they HF has a greater weight limit also, I think Im going to buy the top chest also when I can come across the 25% off coupon when ever that may be. I will have to get use to the drawer latches on the HF set up, but do like that it will help keep my little ones out of my box and if I have to move it keeps the drawers from opening as easy. Time will tell but the gray is really good looking. I did want the hutch but its again too low for me since I'm 6'3" so I think I'll just get a work bench to add to my garage set up.