Montezuma "portable" boxes?

[RedF]

I'm sure there's a few guys here with these boxes (or similar). https://www.montezumastorage.com/portable-toolboxes
How do you like them? I'm looking at a 36" model to use as a top chest, as I'm running out of room in my current setup.

Input?

 

[pi_guy]

I went for the 30 inch aluminum version as my track box.
Load the box with needed tools depending on car. Find it very functional in that role.

 

[kythri]

It's been a while, but I know there's more than a few threads here about this style of box. The general consensus of owners has been that they really like them.

 

[shoe1]

I have 2 of the original cpl standard boxes and 2 of the cpl small boxes. The small ones don't hold enough to really work out of but ok for good pickup boxes. The standard size ones I have had 30 years bought when I was sixteen and have been used hard and still great boxes. My son bought 2 of the new ones last summer and they seem ok I'm not sure I like the lay out as well. I haven't used any of the big ones that hold metric and std. We set up 1 box metric and 1 box std so you can still pick them up and move them other boxes are to heavy loaded. I think they are the best pickup box out there but not sure I would want one in the shop full time. I have work out of mine for years in the back of a pickup where ever and love them for that.

 

[dr_clyde]

I don't understand these things. They seem like a remarkable waste of space. They are a pyramid, so you lose space as you go up.

Why not use just a regular top chest?

Is it a sacrifice of space in exchange for being forced to keep things laid out and organized due to the design?

 

[jumbojak]

I don't understand these things. They seem like a remarkable waste of space. They are a pyramid, so you lose space as you go up.

Why not use just a regular top chest?

Is it a sacrifice of space in exchange for being forced to keep things laid out and organized due to the design?

They work great for a truck and pretty well in a hatchback. It's much nicer to have that extra bit of organization in exchange for the loss of space when compared to digging in a giant metal tub you have to climb up to get into.

 

[dr_clyde]

They work great for a truck and pretty well in a hatchback. It's much nicer to have that extra bit of organization in exchange for the loss of space when compared to digging in a giant metal tub you have to climb up to get into.

I mean, I can see some of the appeal. Everything is laid out and organized all the time. I just know what I can fit in one or two cantilever toolboxes, and I have no problem finding my tools on a jobsite.

I work out of my truck a lot. I fit just about every hand tool I need in a UT22K. What I can't fit in there just goes in a regular Proto hand box.

It just seems like you're sacrificing a lot of tool storage for not much gain.

I dunno. Whatever works for you guys. Different strokes and all that. I personally wouldn't buy one.

OP asked about in a shop, I infer. I would skip this in a shop for sure. No reason to not have full drawers.

 

[RedneckWelder]

I don't understand these things. They seem like a remarkable waste of space. They are a pyramid, so you lose space as you go up.

Why not use just a regular top chest?

Is it a sacrifice of space in exchange for being forced to keep things laid out and organized due to the design?

They are pretty much intended to throw in the back of a truck or on a farmers flatbed to hold the basics for farm equipment repair, keeping everything organized and in place for field service. That’s the largest customer base by far.

 

[shoe1]

I mean, I can see some of the appeal. Everything is laid out and organized all the time. I just know what I can fit in one or two cantilever toolboxes, and I have no problem finding my tools on a jobsite.

I work out of my truck a lot. I fit just about every hand tool I need in a UT22K. What I can't fit in there just goes in a regular Proto hand box.

It just seems like you're sacrificing a lot of tool storage for not much gain.

I dunno. Whatever works for you guys. Different strokes and all that. I personally wouldn't buy one.

OP asked about in a shop, I infer. I would skip this in a shop for sure. No reason to not have full drawers.

What I like most about them is when I out in the field or where ever I can look at a glance and know everything is there and what maybe missing to look for. When I used mine the most I worked out of my pickup even if working on something in a shop all my tools were in the pickup. They are pretty much weather tight my have rode in back of pickup for years. Every cantilever I have ever had if it rained got full of water.

 

[sk farmer]

I may be the resident expert. I have 4 of them. 2 small or junior boxes, a large or senior and a crossover.

The small boxes ride on tractors and combines. They have thousands of hours of offroad use. The large box rides on my truckqnd has had over150,000 miles on since i bought it and it was well used then. My crossover stays in the shop. The worst issue with any of them has been 1 broken peg and i welded it back on. They are nearly indestructible.

They are very weatherproof, store a lot in a small space, hold things in place very well and actually be tipped upside down with almost all items staying in place. Sight inventory is also very easy and they are easy to work out of. Most commonly used items are within easy reach.

My in shop storage is a mix of drawers and the crossover. It is much easier to find replace commonly usdd tools witbout having to open and close drawers or work from the top compartment of a chest.

 

[pi_guy]

OP asked about in a shop, I infer. I would skip this in a shop for sure. No reason to not have full drawers.

It weighs 51 lbs. I find it perfect for leaving at a shop if I am there for a few days or so. Plus as a track box so much easier to move then the SO one I used years ago. Plus I pick the tools depending on the car, box gets loaded different for position and car.
It is easy to see missing tools and makes everything relatively easy to find. A few of the guys have gone this way. But there are several teams that use TUV's.

 

[sk farmer]

It weighs 51 lbs. I find it perfect for leaving at a shop if I am there for a few days or so. Plus as a track box so much easier to move then the SO one I used years ago. Plus I pick the tools depending on the car, box gets loaded different for position and car.
It is easy to see missing tools and makes everything relatively easy to find. A few of the guys have gone this way. But there are several teams that use TUV's.

the small boxes can be easily moved by hand. the handles, while centered when the box is flat are close to the body when the box is tipped toward you and carried with both hands. hard to explain if you have never been around one. one of those things you just don't get until you experience it. way easier to move and more convenient to use than a cantilever box.

 

[sk farmer]

one of my small boxes mounted on a tractor in my avatar.

<------

 

[Pitalplace]

Working from a pickup for farm work, they are priceless. As stated sight inventory and the fact that the tools stay organized on rough ground are the best. My part time retirement job has one setting on a cart for shop use. I much prefer a regular top box for shop use. An example is that it is much easier to pull wrenches from a wrench rack in a drawer than to pull it off a hook in the back of the box.
That said I would not trade mine for any other box on the pickup.

 

[motofool33]

love mine in the RV things are where i left them not all piled up when i open them.

 

[GRB]

The 36” I bought last year is way below the quality of the one I bought 10 years ago. Seems manufacturing has moved to China. Former address in us is gone. I find them useful for my tools that are used by employees as you can see what’s missing.
No way is the 36” portable. It’s heavy empty.

 

[Bobioz1]

I'm sure there's a few guys here with these boxes (or similar). https://www.montezumastorage.com/portable-toolboxes
How do you like them? I'm looking at a 36" model to use as a top chest, as I'm running out of room in my current setup.

Input?

They make for a great top box. I wouldn’t have a top box if wasn’t for these. By the time I found them they were made offshore. It showed up a little warped. I took a hammer to it and got it pretty straight. It does it’s job perfectly and takes up little space.

 

[Bobioz1]

Forgot the pic.

 

[Bobioz1]

Bonus

 

[rustbucket5]

i want the 41" for a top box, the main reason id like one is the fact that all my most commonly used tools can be at a reach and be put away fast thus increasing my productivity

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I really like the Montezuma boxes also and have one in my PU for carry. In the shop I have an area where I wanted a full set of tools handy but no room for a traditional roller. The standard Montezuma wasn't quite right for my stationary use so I made a stadium style box similar but a little different. Love being able to grab anything out of the box with one hand and know exactly where it should be and no drawers to get in the way. Ed.

 

[48548]

I like mine...

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[48548]

A better pic.

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[w.hansen]

I purchased the small one I wish I would have gotten the other lay out but love the size. Fits in the trunk of the wifes car and I can pick it up by myself no problem.

 

[Farmall 1066]

Love mine. Best thing ever for a farm truck toolbox.
It sits on top of a WeatherGuard packrat with gas powered air compressor.
This has fork pockets underneath so I can set the whole thing in/out in minutes.

 

[RedF]

I wound up purchasing a lightly used 36" Montezuma box. Its the John Deer version, which is unfortunate as I would have preferred black. I'm not sure if I'm going to like it, but I'll give it a try.

If I don't like it at work, it may be good for home, forcing me to be a bit more organized!

 

[sk farmer]

I purchased the small one I wish I would have gotten the other lay out but love the size. Fits in the trunk of the wifes car and I can pick it up by myself no problem.

a montezuma on a taco cart?

 

[48548]

I must be the only who thinks the la-400 is the best layout.

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