Suggestions for making a tool chest forking cradle

[BreeStephany]

I have a US General 72" tool chest from Harbor Freight. I don't know the actual full weight of the chest as of yet, but I would estimate that when I have it filled, it will be over 5000lbs including the weight of the chest itself.

I want to build a steel pallet or forking cradle / skid that I can roll the chest onto and then jack it up and bolt a set of resting blocks on to rest the bottom of the chest on so that the wheels won't be touching.

My thought was then to take some heavy equipment straps and strap the chest to the skid.

The point of this would be to be able to safely fork the chest from its end in and out of an enclosed trailer for transportation.

I was thinking of using tube steel that could fit the forks of a forklift (6x3"x3/8" thick steel?) as skids for the length of the chest. I would cut the web (side) of the tube for the last 18~20" at an angle to make a ramp for the chest to come up onto the the skid. I planned on bending the top down to the bottom over the angled cut and to reweld the edges.

I was thinking of using 1x1" or 3/4" x 3/4" L steel welded to the top edges of the skids to keep the wheels on top of the skid.

My thought was then to weld tube steel between the skids, but I am unsure of what my spacing should be on these and what size I should use.

Once up on the skid, my plan would be to jack it up on each side and then have a steel block that would bolt onto the skid and allow the box to sit on the block so as to allow the wheels to not touch the skid.

My thought was to then just take some industrial straps and strap the box down to the skid.

I know that this is a little complicated and likely an expensive project, but seeing as I will likely be moving the box between shops, up to a few times a year pretty consistently, it would be used multiple times.

Would love some input on if I'm overthinking this or overdoing. I have just seen too many videos of guys dropping chests off of trucks when moving them so I want to make sure that I do it as easily and safely as possible.

 

[zkdiesel]

Y so much moving?
I just forklift them with 2x4 placed on the forks to not dent the box
Or I winch it on a rollback

 

[no704]

Find a pallet that fits between the wheels. Lift onto larger pallet so wheels do not touch. Strap down and go.

 

[LXCam]

I'd like to know what enclosed trailer you plan on being able to forklift it into? You sure won't be going up the ramp with a load like that.

 

[Katodog]

You're overthinking it way too much, they make lifting straps and slings for stuff like this. You put them around and under the box and slide the strap handles onto the forks. There's a lot of options, and the weight ratings can go up to the tens of thousands of pounds.

 

[red92s]

I feel like you might be overestimating the weight of this thing. I know that box has a published capacity of 4,500+ pounds, but I have a hard time seeing you fitting that much weight in there, unless most of your tools are bricks of solid steel. Maybe that's realistic in some industries (?). It just seems like with typical shop hand and power tools, you'd run out of room way before you ran out of total capacity.

I'd also give some thought to the fact that even if your estimates of weight are reasonable . . . you are talking about needing a ~3 ton forklift to move this setup around. Maybe that's common in the types of places you'll be working, but a lot of light industrial environments won't have that much lifting capacity, even if they've got a forklift on site. You'd be totally borked pulling up somewhere that didn't have enough machine to move it.

 

[lazer50]

Yep its probably not close to that heavy.plus if you didnt upgrade the casters,it probably won't roll at all with much weight.if you must move as you say and a enclosed trailer is your method.roll it up the ramps.i have a 3 bay matco 30 inch deep very heavy.it rolls easy!but if i move i either roll it on a trailer,or call a rollback! The fork truck/lifting straps will work too depending how sturdy it is.