toolfreak said:
Tnt you just answered my question of why people like hutches. I never could see spending the money for one.
They have a lot of other advantages:
They free up a lot of drawer space because you get quite a bit of pegboard on the sides to hang things from, but it can still be locked up. Two drawers worth of tools you grab all the time (3/8 and 1/2 drive metric impact sockets, 2 sets of wrenches, you impacts and air ratchet, etc) get hung up there, and they're out of your drawers.
You have a spot to stick a flourescent light directly above your work/writing area. All your loose paperwork won't blow around on a windy day with the shop doors open. Easy to have a small boom box at work, but still lock it up. At lunch, you drop what you're doing and lock up your current work order, parts, and tools... and just go to lunch. Come back and roll up the door.
I could probably cite a bunch of other reasons, but those are the highlights.
So what does a Matco 3 bay box cost new? I don't have a matco dealer and I can't find a price on their website.
The bigger boxes aren't even listed on their website. I've got all the boxes prices scribbled in the margins of my catalog at work, but don't expect a big discount compared to snap-on. They're pretty much toe-to-toe when it comes to pricing. I'll try to remember to post some prices Monday. I believe the one above is about $11K if you bought it new off the truck for list price. Without the hutch.
I actually prefer Matco boxes to Snappys. Pull all the drawers out of both, and the Snap-On is a bit shaky, since the drawers are a large part of it's structural support. Look at the matco I posted a pic of, and there's a 1" wide frame between the bays. It reduces drawer space slightly, but it makes for a very rigid box. I also think Matco's drawer slides are smoother.
Deafautotech said:
my tech friend had trade in his three bay Performance toolbox(matco) for four bay 86in wide and matco tool dealer said hutch is free if bought the bottom 86in wide toolbox. it was on matco flier before.
Yeah. They had a deal 3 months back where you got a free top hutch if you bought a box. I believe you couldn't mark down the price of the box to get that deal (no haggling)... but it still backed up their toolbox plant for three months. It was pretty popular.
I am 6'5" and will hit the top of hutch unless i bend my legs a little then no problem. i rather have chest as i can dump all my tools on top of chest and closed my snap on chest's lid and locked then go. i dont use any on my top of chest but only prybars..... so i can dump tools in and locked it.
To each his own. That's why they make so many different styles of box. One of the guys at work is 6'3" and has a Matco 7525 with a hutch. He had the same problem with the hutch being too short.
Now he's got 3" thick aluminum spacers between the casters and the bottom of the box to give it a bit of a lift. Works great. He just had to source some longer bolts.
