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Tool Box Casters

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SteveCh

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Recently I bought a new toolbox, and I need to replace the two fixed casters with swivels. I am forever pushing my tool chest back into corners, etc., where it is a royal pain to maneuver without four swivel casters. The distributor of my chest [the Costco "Kubota" model] is not interested in selling me a pair. I find a bewildering array of casters listed at Graingers and some others here and there on the internet.

However, while I am slogging through the possibilities, does anyone have a good or favorite source for casters? These of mine are 5" with a large swivel plate, which knocks out of the running many of those I've found. I have looked at places like Tool King [which carries 3, 4, and 6" casters but no 5"]...my mechanic friends all have big-name boxes from Snap-On, etc., whose drivers cheerfully set their boxes up with four-corner swivels when they bought them.

Any recommendations? I could simply buy four new casters to match one another in size, but that's more money, and I can always shim one pair of caters with something if I cannot find the exact height, and I have no problem doing that. But any sources I can peruse?
 
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bobcatdan

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I would get four matched 6" geasable caster. If you move the box a lot, bigger is better and geasable is better.
 
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bimmerZ5

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SteveCh

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Thanks for the responses. I will store the sources for future needs, which I surely will have.

Since I posted, I found a phone number for customer svc, in Canada, of the distributor of the tool chest. They have said they'd order me in some casters with their next shipment from China. We'll see how that goes.

To answer another response, there is a thread on this forum regarding these tool chests, from a couple weeks back. The item is branded Kubota, but I am sure Kubota has nothing to do with the production except collecting some cash for letting the manufacturer badge them with the Kubota name. Well, Kubota might insist on some level of quality, I don't know. Someone said there are other co's, at least one in Europe, doing the same thing with the exact same tool chest.

It is possible that the Chinese are using a slightly different size caster. I don't have a US caster around in this size to check. I found US-made ones in "total height" sizes that are off a bit from these on the Kubota, a bit less and a bit more. Nothing I could not shim for, but this solution--getting a couple more from the mftr--is the least hassle for me right now.

Yes, the plate size is about a quarter-inch off [larger] in both directions anything I found, looking through many dozens of examples. However, I figured I could drill out the slots a bit, no big deal. And the slots on the Kubota caster plates are fairly long, so it is entirely possible they'd fit anyway. The plates are bolted on to channel steel that has threaded holes to receive the bolts [probably nuts welded to the inside of the channel where there is no access], so no way to reposition the bolts, not even a millimeter.

Thanks again for the info'.
 
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SteveCh

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I didn't find anything at HF, Graingers, or Tool King or any place else. Not that matched well enough.

The co. in Canada told me that they "regularly" have someone bring smallish parts back from China, every couple weeks, in a box or suitcase and they'd have these casters added next time. I'll have to wait and see if they come through in a reasonable length of time. With my luck, probably not, but it isn't costing me anything to wait a little while. I do not move my tool chests but a few times a year, so this isn't a bit deal. And, I can move them, it is just a bit of a chore to rock them back and forth twenty times to pull them out a half inch at a time. Thus my search....
 
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SteveCh

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Due to an email just now in, I am going back to square one. The Canadian distributor changed their mind and now says they will not provide me with swivel casters due to the fact that having four on a cabinet will cause the cabinet to fall over. This is perhaps some junk from the legal dep't. I see how instability can happen due to four swiveling wheels, but my other chest is fine set up this way and the numerous tool chests in my airplane mechanic's shop are also set up this way and nary a problem. Plus, this Kubota cabinet is pretty deep, front to back, compared with many others. I suppose that were I to fully extend all the drawers while they are filled with heavy tools and then tried to push the cabinet around the floor, it might tend to be unstable. Probably would, but that scenario is ridiculous.

Liability concerns, no doubt. Whatever, I will proceed as I did before I had the brain wave to contact the source. They were quite happy to facilitate my request until someone, somewhere decided to nix it.

Oh, well, only cost me a few bucks for the phone call. Worse things can happen in life.
 
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AL`

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You might try McMaster-Carr ==> http://www.mcmaster.com/#. I was looking online there briefly today and their search filter is pretty cool to specify the base type, etc. I didn't finish looking though nor compare pricing. But it's another place you can check out.
 
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tornadocaster

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;)
SteveCh said:
Due to an email just now in, I am going back to square one. The Canadian distributor changed their mind and now says they will not provide me with swivel casters due to the fact that having four on a cabinet will cause the cabinet to fall over. This is perhaps some junk from the legal dep't. I see how instability can happen due to four swiveling wheels, but my other chest is fine set up this way and the numerous tool chests in my airplane mechanic's shop are also set up this way and nary a problem. Plus, this Kubota cabinet is pretty deep, front to back, compared with many others. I suppose that were I to fully extend all the drawers while they are filled with heavy tools and then tried to push the cabinet around the floor, it might tend to be unstable. Probably would, but that scenario is ridiculous.

Liability concerns, no doubt. Whatever, I will proceed as I did before I had the brain wave to contact the source. They were quite happy to facilitate my request until someone, somewhere decided to nix it.

Oh, well, only cost me a few bucks for the phone call. Worse things can happen in life.
Click to expand...

Hi Steve
Where in Canada are you? I used to be a caster guy before I moved to Alberta.
I know a guy that knows a guy... ;)

Gio
 
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bimmerZ5

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SteveCh

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tornadocaster said:
;)

Hi Steve
Where in Canada are you? I used to be a caster guy before I moved to Alberta.
I know a guy that knows a guy... ;)

Gio
Click to expand...

I am not in Canada...but the co. that imports these and distributes them is. Or, that is who you get when you call cust. svc.

Thanks again to everyone for the advice. I will get some; it would just have been slick and easy to get the originals. But I am finding many sources and many hundreds of possibilities and I'll get it done.
 
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PT Doc

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You might get some help of you put the dimensions of the caster mount.
 
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SteveCh

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Plate is 4 7/16 x 3 7/8, overall height 6 5/16, which I am calling 6 3/8 due to what I am finding.....

I am just now sitting here perusing the web and I believe I have found several at Grainger's online catalogue that will work just fine. The bolt slots I think will actually work out without my doing any alteration. One of them is a closeout and less than $20 ea.
 
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TerryH

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SteveCh said:
Plate is 4 7/16 x 3 7/8, overall height 6 5/16, which I am calling 6 3/8 due to what I am finding.....

I am just now sitting here perusing the web and I believe I have found several at Grainger's online catalogue that will work just fine. The bolt slots I think will actually work out without my doing any alteration. One of them is a closeout and less than $20 ea.
Click to expand...

The Grizzly 5" casters that I linked in my first post have that same plate dimensions and they are $14.95 each.
 
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