Task Force vs Mac Economizer

[tman1898]

I spend all day turning wrenches in a factory, rather than a garage, but I've done some searching and a lot of tool box questions brought me here. I currently have the lowest priced Task Force upper/lower combo that I could find at Lowe's when I started out and didn't have a lot to spend. I've also seen responses that Economizers aren't as sturdy as "real" Mac boxes.

My question is, would an 11 drawer Economizer rolling box be enough of an upgrade over my current box to justify spending $125? I'm not sure yet if it has BB slides or not, but my current box does not. I have to move my box from machine to machine throughout the day, and the Task Force box isn't extremely sturdy, and the wheels are pretty cheap.

 

[American Locomotive]

You're definitely going to want something with ball bearing slides. Not that traditional slides can't be good, but cheap friction slides will get junky pretty fast.

 

[Mikeske]

See the toolbox on the left in my attachment. It does not have ball bearing slides just old fashion friction slides. I bought this box for work in 1980-1982 I forget when I actually bought it but it was right before I was hired at airline and took it home in 2008. In all the years I worked in either a airline or at Boeing. All I ever did was to take the box and put new large heavy duty casters and reinforced the bottom with a solid piece of 1/4" thick aluminum plate. I simply drilled the plate for the casters and used nut and bolts. Since 2008 that box has been my home box but I slowly outgrow it here at home.

You might just want to see since you are in a manufacturing environment to just reinforce the bottom grab some heavy duty casters and call it good.

 

[kctyphoon]

I spend all day turning wrenches in a factory, rather than a garage, but I've done some searching and a lot of tool box questions brought me here. I currently have the lowest priced Task Force upper/lower combo that I could find at Lowe's when I started out and didn't have a lot to spend. I've also seen responses that Economizers aren't as sturdy as "real" Mac boxes.

My question is, would an 11 drawer Economizer rolling box be enough of an upgrade over my current box to justify spending $125? I'm not sure yet if it has BB slides or not, but my current box does not. I have to move my box from machine to machine throughout the day, and the Task Force box isn't extremely sturdy, and the wheels are pretty cheap.

For the money, the harbor freight boxes are hard to beat. Many people on here, myself included, (the previous poster as well apparently), have gone with them and have nothing but good things to say about them. The 44" model (the bottom roller cabinet especially) seems to be one of the most popular, but they have a smaller model available as well.

 

[cja245]

Just a thought, but you may want to consider a roll cab. Most of the mechanics at the plant i work at use a 41" or larger roll cab with a plastic butcher board top on it. Main reason being it's basically a mobile workbench. I'd personally be looking for a roll cab in the 41"-55" range. The Harbor freight 44" box is good for the price. The masterforce (menards) boxes are also good. Several new guys also recently bought husky boxes.

 

[Mr_B]

Ball bearing slides get overrated, I use friction slides in my daily box for 2 and a half decades no hassle.
You either improve your box with some better castors or move onto something new but all low cost stuff have pretty poor castors so you likely need upgrade them after a year moving box a lot .

 

[Mikeske]

The primary reason I recommended that you just upgrade the caster and possible reenforce the bottom of the box is the fact I spent 29 years in a factory environment and all the boxes I seen are just battered to piece in a few years. This is true of all the truck brands and the el-cheapo ones.

My old box had seen over 20 years in this and yeah the locks wore out the slides sometimes did not slide well and the original casters were a joke until I did the caster replacement and the 1/4" plate across the bottom of the box.

I am also a cheap old guy. I fix it up enough to go as long as possible and it was the only tool box I ever had in the factory world. When my employer started to provide the tools, I took that old battered hunk of steel home. I lost the keys for the locks but I did not care as it was in my garage. I did out grow the box, because the tools I bought home from work plus all the tools I already had at home overwhelmed it.

Hence after I retired last month I was determined to buy a decent box, but the issue how much do I spend came to play. I did not need a power strip or a radio, what I wanted was a basic box and that is a good value. I could not find anything I liked that would handle all my tools until I went to Harbor Freight and found the 44" (actually 41.5 inches) and it fit my budgeted allowance of $1100.00 with all the side boxes, closet, and upper box.

I am happy with the selection and it really makes my life easier now when I work on projects the tool is precisely where I left it and I am not running around searching all over the garage to find where I left it.

 

[rsanter]

Which model economize?
If you are saying you can buy it in good shape for $125 that might be a deal.
If you are looking for a good bargain priced box it is hard to beat the HF 41" box
If you move the box around a lot then the bigger and better the casters are, the easier it will be to move around

Bob