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Why tool carts?

Packard V8

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Because everyone else seems to have one and I don't, I've been looking at tool carts. The gooder ones seem to run between $200 and $450.

Then, I realized, I've got five roller cabs, better built, more drawers, paid for.

What am I missing? Other than being lighter weight, what will a tool cart do better than a three, four or five drawer roller box of the same dimensions?

jack vines
 
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countryroad82

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If packed right less walking. Other than that nothing really other than an excuse to buy more tools to help fill it.
 

Steven67fr

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Gilbert
Yup, you can roll the tool cart right to where you're working. They're not as heavy. And the tops of many can be set up as a mobile workbench. I know mine has a place to mount a vise, put a rack, hang stuff, etc.
 

Jayincali

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I'm no pro by any means, but I think people have tool carts so they aren't walking back and forth to the tool cab every 2 minutes to grab a tool. The tool cab is to store tools and keep them safe. Start of shift, they load the tool cart with the tools they will need for the day, and wheel the cart to their work station.
 

r6_cannibal

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Less walking back to the box and having a surface to put tools down on that isn't a customers car are the reasons I was given when I asked my friend the same question.

I couldn't justify the expense either. I have a small folding table i setup when I need a surface for tools. The folding table is nice because it doesn't take up much room. I might build a collapsing shop cart in the future so I have a mobile solution.
 

Stick

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What am I missing? Other than being lighter weight, what will a tool cart do better than a three, four or five drawer roller box of the same dimensions?

For a homeowner? Nothing.

For someone who works in a shop? Easier access to the stuff in the top, and more mobility is about it.

My cart is loaded up with all the tools I need for 90% of my day to day jobs. It's also easier to move around than a small toolbox because it has swivel casters on all four corners, which IMO is the defining characteristic of a "cart" vs. a "toolbox". It also has bumpers on all of the edges to protect the vehicles that I'm working on from chips and scratches.

Most big "carts" nowdays are pretty much the same as a small toolbox, with the exception of the casters and a top that is open so you can work out of it.
 

4x4gearhead

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I used a snap on KRA2007 as a service cart for a long time. Most people would call this a single bank tool box. screw it! Who needs the catch all at the bottom anyways?
 

PCO6

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I think what Jack is asking is why not use a tool cabinet that is similar in size to a tool cart instead of a tool cart? That's what I do. I like the extra drawers that most tool cabinets have and the work surface is pretty much the same as a tool cart. In fact, I prefer using the flat top of a tool cabinet as a work surface over the type of tool cart that has a flip up lid.
 
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Seanbev24

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Like Stick said, at work 80-90% of the tools I need are in my cart. It's easy and quick to roll to every car I work on, so I only have to walk to my box for less used and more specialized tools. There's no way I'm rolling my KRL box around the shop.

I also see no point to having a cart at home unless you have a huge shop.
 

dolphin233

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I like the tool cart at home for parts. I can load up everything I take off of my car then roll it to a bench are parts cleaner. I don't use mine to carry tools at all, just parts.
 

BigAl62

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It's basically a luxury so you don't have to walk as much (yes, I have one). You'd be surprised how much a mechanic walks during a normal day, I wore a pedometer one day and found I walked almost 20 miles! (I work at a large shop with a HUGE lot)
 

Rickster

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I also see no point to having a cart at home unless you have a huge shop.

Disagree. I use my cart all the time. Same principle, keeps all my go-to tools right at my side. No need to make frequent trips to the big toolboxes. Plus I can use the top for the parts I'm removing/installing.
 

2oolhound

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I wondered the same thing and can understand that if you work in a shop on similar jobs or car brands you could concentrate your commonly used tools in an easy to maneuver smaller cart and keep it right beside you. However I still couldn't get my head around the top has no work surface to put an altenator, distributor, manifold etc. on top because the top is flimsy and you need to keep it up to get at the bulk of the tools. My thinking is a small roller cabinet with a wood or stainless top would be more useful because even with parts on top you still have access to all the tools.
 

soob

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I like to use mine has a mobile workbench, a place to set tools when they're not being used, to store parts, that sort of thing. I've also used it around the house, to carry paint, wood stain when refinishing a floor, etc.
 

Racr350

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Rochester, NY
I use the drawers for tools, and the top compartment for parts I'm replacing/working on. I try to work out of my cart as much as possible because of how easily i can just move everything over to a different side of the car. Working on the rear of the car (brakes, bearings, struts/coils, canisters, exhaust, etc.) is where the cart really shines. I couldn't imagine not having one now.
 
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Seanbev24

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I wondered the same thing and can understand that if you work in a shop on similar jobs or car brands you could concentrate your commonly used tools in an easy to maneuver smaller cart and keep it right beside you. However I still couldn't get my head around the top has no work surface to put an altenator, distributor, manifold etc. on top because the top is flimsy and you need to keep it up to get at the bulk of the tools. My thinking is a small roller cabinet with a wood or stainless top would be more useful because even with parts on top you still have access to all the tools.

My tool cart is for tools. I use a simple 2 tier cart for parts.
 

APEowner

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I went through a variety of tool carts over the 30+ years I've been working in shops in a variety of industries and I now use a snap-on Aircraft Mechanics box as a cart.
CIMG0003.jpg
 

route246

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If you're old and your back is stiff you need the cart to have a handy place to grab tools and parts from to save your back. I have one around so that I have a movable surface where I can put stuff down and not have to bend over and pickup from the floor.
 
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Heavy Metal Doctor

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Working on equipment, I generally load the cart with everything for the job at hand. Anything else that is pulled from the tool box during the job also gets put on the cart as I go. Many jobs will require a handfull of tools used at one end of the machine, then wheel the cart around the side and work there for a while.....as others said allready- the cart just helps keep eveything in quick easy raech whil doinga particular repair without laying tools (an possibly forgetting them) on the vehicle. Ive gotten so used to it over the years I hardly know where to put tools while working on something at home where I don't have a cart. I find myself actually having to think about it so I can find the stuff as the job progresses...I hate laying stuff on the ground / floor...
 

j.c.whitney

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The right tool cart saves steps; for a professional mechanic that is more money in your pocket. Less trips back and forth to the main box is less fatigue on the body, either pro or homeowner. A cart without onboard storage for parts, supplies, rags, cores, etc, is a poor choice that costs you money each day you own it.
 

Danglerb

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"Gooder"?:shocking:

The ones that are more good than the less good, could also mean truck brand instead of a practical inexpensive one.

I have ONE toolbox with roll away, intermediate, and top box, no work surface. Its getting full, and I don't want to spend for another roll away. I have three folding tables, 4', 6', and 8', and a 3 tier OTC plastic and larger 2 tier HF (same as Rubbermaid) cart. Big projects one of the cars gets moved out of the two car drive way and the tables get set up as needed for work/storage space.

Practice at my friends shop is that each car that has parts pulled off gets a cart with the owners named on it (tape), but he might have 10 of the same model in the shop at the same time, so risk of several cars of the same model having the same parts off at the same time is too high otherwise.

Project on my list is to make a detail cart. Narrow and long (like 12x36 or 48), with a single sheet of maybe double pegboard about 40" tall in the middle, one side waterproof for wet after use stuff to hang and dry, but basically all my car detailing stuff hanging on it except the bulk supplies.
 

earlthegoat2

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Some of us dont need very many tools for our jobs and thus a tool cart with modest storage will work out just fine. I have my tool cart at work and no other tool storage. I dont even have it filled up yet either.

Another reason is I work at any given location throughout my shop. It is nice to be able to easily move all of my tools around the shop and not have to fight with one of the oversized (and underfilled) mega boxes.

I kind of pride myself on how small of a tool box I can get away with. All I have at home is a SO KRA 2107 which is roll cab a few of you probably dont even know existed on SOs site because it is smaller than what you find yourself looking at. It has all the storage I need for the projects I do.
 

ev2mopar

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woodbridge new jersey
I love my tool cart! It is a perfect accessory to my regular box. I work ar a rather large shop where the job can change in a moments notice. I keep a good selection of gearwrenches, a half dozen screwdrivers, light electrical test equipment,some small stuff like magnets, picks and a hammer. I just roll it to whatever bay I am working at is and there is usually enough to get stuff diagnosed. I never used one till I came to my present job. All my jobs always were in "my" bay in front of my tool box. Very helpful. Very handy.
 

Benji

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Taxis River N.B Canada
A cart for a professional mechanic saves alot of walking in the run of a day plus a place to put your tools other than on the floor or customers car where they might stay. And a place to put some parts and as you work around the vechicle it all goes with you so it saves evon more walking. I wouldn't work without one.
 

TheGrooveking

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An alternate reality in a parallel universe.
Disagree. I use my cart all the time. Same principle, keeps all my go-to tools right at my side. No need to make frequent trips to the big toolboxes. Plus I can use the top for the parts I'm removing/installing.


A big +1, my Ford Super Duty Crew Cab long bed doesn't fit into my garage height wise so the cart rolls out to the truck.

TheGrooveking
 

I can fix anything

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When I worked in large shops I always had a cart. Now in my humble little place it wasn't needed. I traded it to the snappy man.

This Mac was my favorite.
 

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Alchymist

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My "tool cart" is a 5 gallon bucket. :bounce: Might need some tools in the house 1 day, then out to the barn the next. Tool carts don't roll well across the field. ***** when I have to make extra trips back to the garage, but when I'm done, the tools all go into the bucket and back to the garage in one trip. :thumbup:
 

PT Doc

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I wondered the same thing and can understand that if you work in a shop on similar jobs or car brands you could concentrate your commonly used tools in an easy to maneuver smaller cart and keep it right beside you. However I still couldn't get my head around the top has no work surface to put an altenator, distributor, manifold etc. on top because the top is flimsy and you need to keep it up to get at the bulk of the tools. My thinking is a small roller cabinet with a wood or stainless top would be more useful because even with parts on top you still have access to all the tools.

Side shelves work great on a cart.
 

jjjrmx5

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Cincinnati, OH
Tool boxes and tool carts are a lot like luggage. Sometimes you only need your wallet. Sometimes you need a briefcase. Sometimes you need a backpack. Sometimes you need a Samsonite large carry-on and sometimes you need Zero-Halliburton kick *** huge-as-f&*^ security luggage.

In small shops where each employee needs personal tools but the shop supplies a lot of them, but you have limited space, then the tool cart is optimal. Same with jobs that require very few tools but you must bring your own and lock them down. If an emplyee showed up with a 72" Snap_On rolling cab for a tiny back-room tight quarter shop, i'd send him home and say buy a smaller box or find a different job.

If you have a medium sized shop where you can use a big box and not have to walk a lot from job to job to access your tools, then you likely do not need a tool cart.

If you work in a large facility where you have to move tools daily out of a larger main box or work in a place with many employees or tight quarters where box size limits are set and possibly tight quarters, then you may need a tool cart.

I've also seen carts used as lockable storage for "shared common shop" type tools like AC guages, alignment tools, bearing pullers, etc. and then the lower open area is used for shop supplies and clean up type stuff.

For home use, If you have a remote garage or keep most of your tools in the basement or house , a tool cart is nice for storing tools per job outside the house or for keeping select commonly used tools in without jeapordizing the safety of your main storage box if put outside the house or if you do not have room in a remote garage or workshop.

I find them useful and own several carts, but it's really a matter of how you work and what your work environment is set up for to achieve the best efficiency. If working at a job that pays by the hour and time wasted walking back and forth for tools counts against your bottom line, it's best to find teh most efficient set-up and carts often fill that need.
 
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2oolhound

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If you're old and your back is stiff you need the cart to have a handy place to grab tools and parts from to save your back. I have one around so that I have a movable surface where I can put stuff down and not have to bend over and pickup from the floor.

Yeah, OK, but just don't be using it for a walker now.:headscrat
 

Mr Ratchet

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Mar 3, 2011
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Michigan
I use my single drawer no lid cart at home all the time. My main box is in the basement and weighs close to 600 lbs empty. I don't store anything in it now that I have a bigger main box. When doing a job, I load it up with the tools I think I need and take it out the garage. The bottom shelf is where I put parts. I just had rotors and pads on there for the wifes car a few days ago. I also use it for construction. When I finished off my basement it worked great for drywall. It held tools like my Bosh Rotozip, Makita auto feed screw driver, cordless drill, calk gun, tubes of glue, etc.

I don't have any desire to have a bigger cart to keep tools in all the time. My small one that gets loade up from my main box works for whay I need. A smaller rool cab would not be as easier to get bigger parts in and out to wheel around but, could work just as well as a cart for some.
 

canuckian

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East coast of Canaaada
I use my cart all the time. I have an attached 2 bay and a detached shop. The main box and the cart are usually stored in the detached. If I have to work on something in the attached garage, I just make sure i have what I need in the cart and off I go. beats rolling a loaded KRL722 with no suspension 100+ feet to the other workspace! I also use a little plastic cart for detailing our cars. it's a rickety little thing but it serves its purpose. Thinking on upgrading it to something a little bigger and sturdier that can hold all the detailing gear permanently.

for pro's I'd say it's a definite necessity and time saver. though most of the diesel shops I've seen in my area just roll their big boxes around from job to job and wonder why they fall apart after a few years! the guy I bought my box from did that with the one he was using (2 bay KRA with smaller top box). it had tipped over once and got backed into by a loader. it was still functional but it was pretty beaten. the guys that used carts in that shop kept their big boxes against the wall and there wasn't a mark on either of them.
 

Brentocool

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Chicago.Il
If you do decide to get one I just bought 2 of these one for work and one for home. there really nice for the $$$$$$$$$$$$ Harbor freight $159,00 thats with a 20% off coupon u can print online,CART.jpg
 
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