Stacking bottom tool chests. Can it be done?

[ARFLY]

Or rather should it be done? I have the HF 44" tool chests. Anyone tried stacking 2 bottoms on top of each other? I know there is a lip on top of the boxes to deal with and supports on the bottom to deal with. These would be stationary and could even be bolted to the wall. I did a search on here and on the web and found nothing. Anyone try this or have thoughts on it?

 

[Old Man Roger]

Can't imagine it would be an issue if it's bolted to a sturdy wall.

 

[lakeroadster]

It would be simple enough to build a spacer that attaches to the upper box, that fits the lip on the lower. Plywood would work.

As long as you don't overload the capacity of the casters.. seems doable.

Put the heavier items in the lower cabinet to ensure stability.

 

[tdkkart]

I'm thinking that even with the castors off, unless you're very tall, you're gonna have a tough time seeing in the top drawer?? Otherwise I see no issues.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

I did exactly what your talking about with two black friday lowes boxes I picked up, mostly just to store miscellaneous junk in out of sight, works great, in the future I may devise a way to bolt them together on the side using some flat stock. YMMV

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[Mr_B]

As above really, simple ply spacer between the 2 but thickness set so 2 metal edges almost touching and consider bolts for safety.
I would upgrade casters and add strengthening frame to the bottom cabinet to keep it rigid and bit more stable.
Wouldn't want move a box like that much as those 18" deep boxes tip over easy lol.
2 of those stacked would give good volume of storage but top cabinet long drawer would be difficult use to much full potential .

 

[ARFLY]

Ok that is the first time I have seen a picture of this done. Thanks for posting the pic. Those are much lighter than the HF boxes I have and looks like they are holding up fine. It also looks like you are rolling yours around. I would think you could bolt those Kobalt boxes together by running bolts through the top and bottom. You would just have to watch the clearance for the drawers which shouldn't be much of an issue.

As for the height issue, it will be tall. The 2 stacked together would be about 73" tall. To the top of the top drawer would be about 71". This is about the height of my 26" 3 tier Craftsman boxes. I'm 5' 8" so I use a step stool to get into the top now.

I am more concerned about safety. I don't want a box to collapse. I don't think it will be an issue as the HF website shows a working load of 2633 lbs for this box and a weight of 245 lbs for the box. Minus the weight of the casters, the weight of just the box that would be sitting on the bottom box would be around 235 lbs. I think the 2633 lbs working load is optimistic, but I should still be OK there. I don't think I would be loading 2000 lbs of tools in them.

 

[ARFLY]

As above really, simple ply spacer between the 2 but thickness set so 2 metal edges almost touching and consider bolts for safety.
I would upgrade casters and add strengthening frame to the bottom cabinet to keep it rigid and bit more stable.
Wouldn't want move a box like that much as those 18" deep boxes tip over easy lol.
2 of those stacked would give good volume of storage but top cabinet long drawer would be difficult use to much full potential .

Definitely won't be moving it. I may even remove the casters on the bottom box and put it on blocks.

 

[kythri]

Those are much lighter than the HF boxes I have and looks like they are holding up fine.

Holding up for the whole month he's had them...

 

[ARFLY]

At least they didn't collapse immediately.

 

[Mr_B]

If you remove casters you probably can reduce height by 2" which a bonus too .
Totally workable and loading top box sensibly it never be an issue .
Loading them heavy and moving a lot completely different ball game.

 

[crewchief888]

anything is possible...

i'm assuming you already have 2 of the roller cabs.

if i was going to try this i'd put at least 1/2" of plywood on top of the bottom box to help distribute the load of the top box, and add a couple 1/4" bolts to secure from shifting.

my biggest concern is the shallow depth of the boxes, they may be very "tippy"
depending on how they are loaded.

2 of my 4 sets of boxes are at least 6ft tall.

 

[Kaizen]

Think I would cut the lip off the bottom one and add a four inch piece of flat stock all around so you can bolt or zip screw into both boxes. Then bolt the top box to the wall. Def take wheels of bottom box as the height will be better


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[archirelic]

Why are you wanting to attempt this? If space is minimal, I can see exploring this idea...but it just doesn't seem like a great idea to me.

Seems more like an inconvenience to get into the top drawers of the unit that's on top, unless of course you're very tell

 

[jumpstart]

Did this with a couple Husky boxes. They come with the wood top which made it easy. Bolted together. I could have added a couple of the extra swivel casters to the center, but after doing some quick math, I can't see that I'd ever go over the max capacity of the bottom box anyway. I put my paint gun and other paint stuff in the top drawer, which I don't use that often. I'm tall so it works fine for me. Top drawer is only a couple inches taller than the top of my 3-piece leaning towers of Craftsman,anyway, so no big deal.

 

[ez-duzit]

...it will be tall. The 2 stacked together would be about 73" tall...

A ridiculous height for a drawer.

 

[ARFLY]

Thanks for posting the pic jumpstart. That gives me an idea of what they would look like. The reason I'm considering this is because I have a 10x12 shop and need to maximize every square inch.

 

[kctyphoon]

Word of advice, (I'd hope it's common sense) keep heavy items on the bottom...

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Did this with a couple Husky boxes. They come with the wood top which made it easy. Bolted together. I could have added a couple of the extra swivel casters to the center, but after doing some quick math, I can't see that I'd ever go over the max capacity of the bottom box anyway. I put my paint gun and other paint stuff in the top drawer, which I don't use that often. I'm tall so it works fine for me. Top drawer is only a couple inches taller than the top of my 3-piece leaning towers of Craftsman,anyway, so no big deal.

This is exactly what I was thinking about a week ago. Even the same Husky cabinet.

 

[kctyphoon]

I honestly don't see an advantage over just buying the HF top chest, and a locker if you really need the storage.. what exactly are you gaining here other then the step stool you'll need to buy?

If you lose the bottom wheels, that would help - but then you're never moving that thing..

 

[ARFLY]

Word of advice, (I'd hope it's common sense) keep heavy items on the bottom...

Absolutely good advise for everyone to remember. Thank you.

 

[machine_punk]

Also note that you can usually move the drawers around on the HF boxes. If you only put light stuff in the tall drawers, you can move all of those to the top of the top box and move all the shorter drawers to the bottom locations, where you are more likely to use them.

Generally, just don't think of the drawers as 'fixed' in their locations...think about where you really want the taller drawers and move them there.

Kev

 

[crewchief888]

A ridiculous height for a drawer.

my kr550/555b is every bit as tall i worked out of them for many years.

my snap-on harley edition boxes are even taller....

 

[kythri]

A ridiculous height for a drawer.

How do you figure?

http://www.strictlytoolboxes.com/to...te-30-drawer-tool-cabinet-with-top-chest.html <-- 72 3/4" high

A Snap-on KRL 1033 with a KRL 1203 top chest is 71 1/4" tall

What makes the extra 1/4" to 1 3/4" so ridiculous?

 

[Mr_B]

It a bad height for a top drawer of that size .
stilll doable and usable if that what OP needs .
I'd be inclined use 2 top boxes and cut and shut one into a middle box mainly as drawer layout and lid space at top would be preferable to me plus done well it looks like normal classic box layout . bit more expensive and more work that way (modding a working lock makes it harder), but nice drawer config

 

[ARFLY]

Merry Christmas y'all. I didn't know the drawers could be moved around on the HF boxes. Thanks for sharing that.