Strong Hold Cabinets on ebay

[GarageEnvy]

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. As Jack said, I lost about 50 auctions and won 3 of these. I bought a 4', 5' and a 6'. Jack, (or anyone else) is there a pick-up procedure with them. I'll take a truck and a small trailer The plan is to lay flat and double stack the 4' and 5' in the truck and trailer the 6'. Are they able to lay these things down or am I on my own? Is everything loading dock height? If so I'll bring a ramp.

Also, I am in Fresno so if any of you are between Fresno and Irwindale or are willing to drive to Fresno for pick-up, I can get your items for you if you're buying in the next week.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Pick up is between 1pm and 4:30 pm M-F. You go to the office with at least one of your ebay item numbers and the guy there will print out a pick-up sheet. You bring that over to the warehouse next door and one of the forklift guys will set out the cabinet for you. They do not have a loading dock, and if you want the thing loaded, there's a $35 forklift fee (per item, or per 1000 pounds, something like that). If you're hard-headed like me and don't want to pay the forklift fee, first confirm that it is not included in your ebay invoice (you might have to send them an email to get it removed), and they'll move it to a flat piece of concrete in the warehouse. It'll be your job to get it out to and onto your truck. For the 3' ones, I've been able to get a furniture dolly underneath, shimming with 2x4s and other lumber, and then slowly roll it out to my Jeep.

If you have them forklift them, it'll be easy to set them upright in your truck. I don't know if it would be possible to lay one on top of the other, with the handles and hinges protruding out. You could set two on their sides, which is what I did for the one on my Jeep, but I had to use a comealong to slowly tip the thing over and against the bed of my little truck. Rotating the 5' or 6' ones would be a huge job, I think -- and not very safe.

But if your truck could take two of them standing up, they can forklift them up, or you can use a comealong to get them up a ramp. I'm trying to remember how I did my 4' ones on a Home Depot truck, and I think it was just a very slow process with a comealong and helper ropes, and some luck and patience. Stood up, they're pretty table. You could use ratchet ties to hold them together and to secure them to the truck. Just take it easy in the corners, from that point.

If laying them out flat in the truck is the only option, the doors do come off. Just bring some blankets or plywood or something to keep the hinges from cutting into the paint of the next-door-neighbor cabinet. The hardware that holds the shelves uses a 9/16" nut. You can take shelves out and doors off to lighten them, somewhat.

But they're not light. It's something like:

3' = 500lb
4' = 700lb
5' = 9000lb
6' = 1,100lb

 

[Crizzle]

Just a heads up for anyone in Indy/Cincy:

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/tls/2031168814.html

Looks like they are in/near Greensburg. If I had the money available I'd already be driving down to pick these up.

 

[ersatzs2]

My delivery arrived: a Baldor Bench grinder and about a dozen C-clamps, a dozen vice grips, ~20 files, ~40 drill bits. Everything was great, and a great deal... If I could've picked them up. In fairness the shipping crate was a work of art, and they are clearly very organized and professional if you do need something shipped.
I was especially happy with the drill bits many of which appear new.

 

[ersatzs2]

Ok so I'm sort of addicted to these auctions, and just gotta say, for anyone who can pick them up, the sheer quantity of cabinets, as Jack says above, is just staggering. At some point folks will reach their point of 'diminishing marginal utility' and prices could really plunge. The new batch of cabinets they listed have interesting and useful looking door configurations. Don't anyone go bidding on the tap and die sets though

 

[Jack Olsen]

It's one of those hard-to-get-your-head-around things -- the size of the market for these cabinets. I've got 136 in an ebay list I'm keeping of ones that recently sold -- these are 3' to 6' wide, only non-ventilated and only the tall cabinets. Final auction prices range from my $143 one all the way up to a $910 cabinet.

Mine is primed and waiting for final paint -- and to have its legs cut off.

But I'm thinking if I got one of those 'manager's desks' cheap enough, I could go crazy with a saw and turn it into a sink and steel countertop where I currently have my wash tub.

 

[ersatzs2]

Got my grinder, and posted a photo on my gallery thread. The packing job they did at Reliable was amazing, and they included the dozen or so other items I bought (files, clamps, vicegrips, drills) although I continue to feel the shipping bill wasn't worth it. They forgot to include a dozen pony-size C clamps I bought and are sending them separately at their expense so passing grade for cust svce on that score...

 

[GarageEnvy]

Picked up my strong-hold cabinets yesterday at Reliable Tool. They definitely have a much grander virtual presence than physical presence. Very non-descript office and warehouse. There were 3 other people picking up cabinets while I was there and one delivery truck returning 7 cabinets because the driveway they were going to was too steep. At any rate I'd like to reiterate and confirm a lot of what Jack said about these cabinets. Heavy is an understatement. I bought a 3', a 4' two 5' and a 6' and the total weighed about 3200 pounds. I drove 242 miles to get them and rented a U-haul trailer. My savings over shipping was about $200. In retrospect I should have had them shipped. Very solid cabinets but most definitely used and in need of sanding and painting. I'd give Reliable about an A- on the description and about a A- on customer service. One or two of the cabinets I bought had some rust (nothing serious) that was not shown in the photos. One has a door that needs work and that wasn't mentioned. But hey, they're selling about 200 of these things and they probably can't be expected to right individual descriptions on each one. I wanted the cabinets back to back but on the last set the forklift operator refused to turn one around. I paid $105 for a loading fee and you'd think that would have bought more than 45 minutes worth of time but apparently not. In fairness they did allow me to keep a couple cabinets over 14 days with no charge since I was bidding on other auctions.

Bottom line on strong hold cabinets: Super heavy and tough but not flashy
Bottom line on Reliable Tool: Very good but could have been a little better in some respects.

 

[TLCDino]

Irwindale! Wow! I a, like 10 minutes from there and just three shipped Michigan. Darn!

 

[R6 Racer]

Anyone ever see these things for sale in the north east? I'm in Ontario Canada & I have never seen one anyware close.
I don't mind going to Detroit or Buffalo to get then either. Just cant see spending the $$$ to have one sent from the south west.
If anyone sees any please let me know!

Thanks
Steve

 

[Jayincali]

Jack, Does this company have a store front, and if so can you go in and buy, your is it just auctions only?

 

[Jack Olsen]

Auctions only. They don't maintain any standing inventory -- so you've got to bid when they get a batch.

I wish there were a better way to get these things, but I haven't found it yet.

 

[jmh21586]

Here's a site in the MN area. I drool over it on a daily basis.
http://www.hoffhilk.com/

 

[TLCDino]

Irwindale! Wow! I a, like 10 minutes from there and just three shipped Michigan. Darn!

Wow, that was typo landslide! Stupid fat fingers on iPad.

 

[R6 Racer]

Wow, that was typo landslide! Stupid fat fingers on iPad.

Ya but what did it mean?

Steve

 

[TLCDino]

Ya but what did it mean?

Steve

I was able to find three in Michigan and had them shipped. Cost of shipping nailed me and really stretched my budget. Even though i found the, pretty cheap.

Had I known they were in Irwindale, 10 minutes from my place, that would have been a score.

 

[TLCDino]

It's one of those hard-to-get-your-head-around things -- the size of the market for these cabinets. I've got 136 in an ebay list I'm keeping of ones that recently sold -- these are 3' to 6' wide, only non-ventilated and only the tall cabinets. Final auction prices range from my $143 one all the way up to a $910 cabinet.

Mine is primed and waiting for final paint -- and to have its legs cut off.

But I'm thinking if I got one of those 'manager's desks' cheap enough, I could go crazy with a saw and turn it into a sink and steel countertop where I currently have my wash tub.

Jack - any tips or guidance on how you prep and paint them? What type of paint? Yours look great.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks. But that's the magic of digital photography, mostly.

I sand down problem areas, use self-etching primer on the bare metal, then clean with acetone and paint with ordinary exterior latex house paint. Semi-gloss is more forgiving than something with a high sheen.

 

[TLCDino]

I found a solution for moving strongholds. I move mine around solo while getting them ready to paint and in my little shop I am shifting them around quite a bit.

Solution - HF motorcycle lift. I got it on sale and used the 20% coupon!

Check it out:

The pads are about 2 1/4" x 13". Does a great job spreading the weight safely and lifts them straight up.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I believe you, but your link doesn't work for the rest of us.

 

[swharris]

LOL at loading by yourself. I man handled a 6' drill press and the belt/disc sander into the back of my Astro van...not a pretty sight. One of the guys took pity on me and gave me a hand, though he wasn't supposed to

I drive down the 210 past the place almost every day. LMK if you need something checked out. Maybe I can help.

 

[TLCDino]

Let's try my pics again. Not sure why it worked for me for at first and then quit....

They look a little beat in this shot. I think they were stored outside. Air sander has them looking CHERRY.

 

[GarageEnvy]

That's a good solution. Like Jack, I used a lift cart to load/unload mine. The problem with my cart is that the lowered deck height was 9 1/2" so I had to use 4x wood blocking and then a floor jack to set each side down to get the cart out from underneath it. I had a 3', 4', 5' and 6' cabinet and my weight on a uhaul 6x12 trailer was close to 5500 pounds. A 3' and 4' I can tip enough to get something under it but the 5' and 6' there was no way. Great cabinets but definitely not something you want to move around very often.