US General 56"

[Nosman]

This may have been asked previously, but I didn't find any answers. Does anyone know the current specs on the drawer slides in the US General 56" roller? I was hoping it would be better than the 100lbs max that is in most of the budget boxes. I posted in the Tool forum but there was no action over there, so I figured I'd try here.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

The sum of its capacity, divided by the number of drawers= 400lbs./ea.

Now, this is probably not that realistic- due to the span of some drawers and the tensile strength of said metal- but, with that number in mind 100lbs. sure seems realistic!

 

[nolimits76]

At the very least you'd need to subtract the weight of the box from the 4,400# capacity. Also, I am sure some number is allotted to the top so that it can support a toolbox on top. Also, unless the wider drawers have reinforcement under them or thicker metal (unlikely) then the unsupported span will have less capacity than the smaller drawers. Same engineering principle applies to all circumstances -- to span longer distances, you upsize your supports.

So I'd be cautious just accepting 400lbs/ea as the answer.

This is from 2011 but has some good info:

Harbor Freight U.S. General Tool Boxes. 56" vs. 42"

Does anyone have both of these boxes? I was all set to buy two of the 42" boxes with the $349.00 coupon but then I looked at the 56" right next to it. My initial plan was to use the two 42" boxes as bases for a workbench similar to a Lista setup. The 56" is so nice and has deeper drawers so now...

www.garagejournal.com

Here is a quote from that thread, but you should continue to read the entire thread as there are some challenges.

Also, I am not sure if you are after maximum weight capacity or overall functionality. Owning dual 44's I can tell you they have been sufficient for my needs. But the ONE thing I sometimes find to be a pain is the drawers can be too shallow. Nothing worth crying about as most toolboxes have similar tradeoffs but obviously the 56 boxes have a different layout/functionality that you may be enjoy more.

I originally posted this in the 'HOT DEALS' thread, but I think it bears repeating here.

I have been wrestling with this comparison myself and researching this information, and I've found out that - while the Total Load Capacity quoted by HF is 1900 or so lbs for the 56" and 2900 or so lbs. for the 44" - it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. IN FACT, IT'S DOWNRIGHT MISLEADING!

I compared the boxes in the store, and it just didn't seem those numbers could be right. Well, it turns out that the 2900 lb rating for the 13 drawer box includes an allowance for 1473 pounds on the top of the cabinet (likely due to the availability of a matching top chest) while the 56" cabinet has no weight allowance listed for the top at all. This makes an "at-a-glance" comparison impossible.

I decided that the only fair comparison is to add up the weight capacity of each drawer...which I did. (If you'd like to research this on your own, simply download the manuals for each cabinet. All of the drawer weight info is in there. Also, I have used their alphabetical drawer designation, so if you want to know which drawer is which, well - download the manual.

So, without further ado, here is the accurate comparison:

44" 13 Drawer Cabinet
Drawer Qty Lbs Total
Drawer A 5 88 440
Drawer B 1 110 110
Drawer C 5 88 440
Drawer D 1 110 110
Drawer E 1 121 121
Total weight for all drawers - 1221 pounds

56" 11 Drawer Cabinet
Drawer Qty Lbs Total
Drawer A 1 220 220
Drawer B 2 154 308
Drawer C 1 154 154
Drawer D 1 220 220
Drawer E 1 220 220
Drawer F 1 154 154
Drawer G 2 154 308
Drawer H 1 154 154
Drawer I 1 220 220
Total weight for all drawers - 1958 pounds

What this says is that not only is the 56" cabinet capable of holding more weight, if you compare the two box sizes (44" to 56") the 56" cabinet is proportionally MUCH stronger. So much for that myth...

Obviously, weight will likely not be the ONLY consideration for most potential purchasers. Cabinet width, number of drawers, available accessories, and type of finish all come to mind.

Let me further muddy the waters for you. Even though I'd love to have 2 of the 44" roller cabinets, the krinkle finish on the 44" box is a non-starter for me, as it's just too hard to keep clean in a working (read 'greasy') environment. And I have a lot of heartburn with spending $700 on one box. So, I'm gonna go look at the MasterForce boxes at Menards. They are well regarded, and have a smooth finish that is easy to clean greasy fingerprints off of.

Let us know what you decide.

 

[Spud McGee]

The sum of its capacity, divided by the number of drawers= 400lbs./ea.

Not quite. Some of the drawers have multiple sets of slides.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

At the very least you'd need to subtract the weight of the box from the 4,400# capacity. Also, I am sure some number is allotted to the top so that it can support a toolbox on top. Also, unless the wider drawers have reinforcement under them or thicker metal (unlikely) then the unsupported span will have less capacity than the smaller drawers. Same engineering principle applies to all circumstances -- to span longer distances, you upsize your supports.

So I'd be cautious just accepting 400lbs/ea as the answer.

This is from 2011 but has some good info:

Harbor Freight U.S. General Tool Boxes. 56" vs. 42"

Does anyone have both of these boxes? I was all set to buy two of the 42" boxes with the $349.00 coupon but then I looked at the 56" right next to it. My initial plan was to use the two 42" boxes as bases for a workbench similar to a Lista setup. The 56" is so nice and has deeper drawers so now...

www.garagejournal.com

Here is a quote from that thread, but you should continue to read the entire thread as there are some challenges.

Also, I am not sure if you are after maximum weight capacity or overall functionality. Owning dual 44's I can tell you they have been sufficient for my needs. But the ONE thing I sometimes find to be a pain is the drawers can be too shallow. Nothing worth crying about as most toolboxes have similar tradeoffs but obviously the 56 boxes have a different layout/functionality that you may be enjoy more.

Understanding “capacity”???

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Not quite. Some of the drawers have multiple sets of slides.

That was not the “answer” to the question! The question was- greater than 100lbs.(?). My equation was just a comparative analysis to the question- doesn’t really matter if some drawers have multiple slides.

 

[iamhomeless]

Total Capacity includes top load, I highly doubt a HF box has 400lbs capacity drawers, that is industrial box (lista, roussea) territory, proto's new 560 half size boxes the new Macsimizer full size and Tekton are the only automotive tool boxes that are rated at 400/drawer.
Snappy,Williams, older prots and Matco are all at 250 or so.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Total Capacity includes top load…

Again, what part of “capacity” is not being understood? Nothing in HF’s description does it say anything about an additional box (“top load”).
“Capacity” would be “within” the cabinet- not including add-on’s.

I also didn’t say the drawers “would hold” 400lbs- it was just an analogy of a simple equation- as I previously stated, the question was about more than a 100lbs!

 

[whateg01]

Generally I find that most things are using 100# drawer slides. So if the drawer has double slides then it might be 200#. I can't imagine the size of a set of drawer slides that would support 400#. Not going to see them on an COTS tool box though.

 

[GypsyR]

I had to replace some of my slides in my 56". I found 100 pound rated slides at Lowe's that were all but identical. I would not be surprised if they came off the same factory assembly line. Therefore I'd like to think the OEM ones would also be 100 pound rated. So my double side top drawer should be theoretically rated at 200 pounds. I know I have north of 100 pounds of sockets in it and have had for years.
The slides I had to replace because a co-worker managed to accidentally flip the box over on its face with a hydraulic lift. Only the bottom most drawer and three of the smaller side drawers weren't damaged.

 

[whateg01]

Again, what part of “capacity” is not being understood? Nothing in HF’s description does it say anything about an additional box (“top load”).
“Capacity” would be “within” the cabinet- not including add-on’s.

I also didn’t say the drawers “would hold” 400lbs- it was just an analogy of a simple equation- as I previously stated, the question was about more than a 100lbs!

No, the capacity seems to be more related to the casters than the total drawer slides. So, what's on top would matter.

 

[iamhomeless]

I can't imagine the size of a set of drawer slides that would support 400#. Not going to see them on an COTS tool box though.

This isva #400 rated drawer system.

The slides don't attach to the sides of the drawer. The drawer rides on the slide carriage.

 

[Stelzer]

The full size top drawer as well as the bottom 2 full size drawers have 2 slides on each side, as does the bottom narrow drawer. I can only assume they are 100 lb slides, but I've never seen any documentation on this either. That's not to say I'd try to stuff 400 lbs in one of those drawers, but it does infer that the slides might not be the weakest link, (from a capacity standpoint at least).

 

[nolimits76]

If you re-read my initial response (post #3) you will see I linked a thread from 2011. In that thread one of the guys listed the weight capacity of both the 44 and 56 toolboxes using the HF owners manual (also quoted this data in my post #3). .

In short, the rated capacity of drawers in the 56 were 154# or 220# depending which specific drawer you looked at. This answers the OP’s question about 100# + capacity.

Things to note:

1. Data is from 2011. I’m not sure if anything has changed in that interim. There are rumblings in the linked thread and also other threads about the 44 feeling more stout than the 56 however the rated capacities of each drawer was less than the 56 in that same quoted analysis.

2. Apparently the older user manuals provided drawer capacities. I did not see that for either size on current models. Both current manuals look similar and provide a total rated capacity only. Unless there is a more detailed version I overlooked.

3. Apparently the older 44 manual disclosed some rating info about part of the total capacity being allotted for the top. The older 56 manual didn’t specify making it hard to draw a reasonable conclusion regarding capacity between the two. Hence the reason the prior poster listed drawer capacities of both the 44 and 56 toolboxes.

4. The current manuals (and I assume older ones as well) indicate capacities based on EVEN LOAD basis. Not sure about everyone else but all my stuff doesn’t weigh or is sized the same and consequently is not evenly distributed. This alone will change overall capacity.

5. The true capacity (not theoretical) is based on the weakest link rather that be tensile strength of drawer steel, slides, etc. There is a bunch of information not provided by the manufacturer in the current manuals to provide a better analysis, and that information is critical to accurately answering the asked question. Without it the rest is assumptions and guesses, some of which are better than others.