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Harbor Freight Tool Chest?

105K views 127 replies 41 participants last post by  adamsautoadvice 
#1 ·
Does anyone have this Harbor Freight Tool Chest? How has it held up? Do you like it?

HF Tool Chest

I've been looking around for a nice reasonably priced tool chest, and can't find anything! It would just be for home use. I tried looking for something used, but everything I've seen is really used! I've looked at this in the store and was pretty impressed with the construction. I know it goes on sale a lot.
 
#2 ·
Big Red

Hey Friend, I got the whole setup for Christmas from my wife. The quality is great, ball bearing drawer slides(double slides on deep drawers), high weight ratings, way better than my antique Craftsman and Matco boxes. After talking to the store manager about a package deal, he gave me 15% discount on the whole setup. It's the best Christmas present I ever got. :thumbup: olnolan
 
#3 ·
I know a guy who has a large set and they are more than just decent, for the price I think they would be hard to beat. HF does have some good items and most of the "US General" stuff is really good for what they cost but be careful of any toolbox from HF that is "Storehouse" brand as those things are complete junk!
 
#6 · (Edited)
A buddy of mine has the same setup. He said he had the tool box loaded with tools and was going to move the entire box to another section of the garage. The front wheel collapsed due to the metal being thin on the bottom where the wheel attaches. The metal buckled from the weight causing his tool box to almost fall over. Harbor Freight would not honor it because they told him he had too many tools in the box. Take it for what it's worth? The toolboxes are not really that much cheaper than some name brands like Craftsman or Husky. Personally, for the money, I'd look for some sales on the name brands and go that route. But that's me... :thumbup:
 
#7 ·
Yep, you get all kinds of different opinions.

I work with these tools everyday. There is NO comparison what so ever with 90% of what Harbor Freight sells and REAL tools.

Let me say that again, There is NO comparison what so ever with 90% of what Harbor freight sells and REAL tools.

Go to Sears or Lowes and get MUCH higher quality tools for just a few more bucks.


Brian
 
#8 ·
By the way, I have a Mac tool box. I bought it around 1990 for $1200 as I remember, I may be wrong and it was $1500 or $1600 but as I remember it was $1200.

The other day the Snap On truck was by and he had my exact box on the back of his truck. He had taken it in as a trade in on a new Snap On box.

It was in about as good of condition as mine, and he was selling it for $2000! I understand the home hobbiest spending that kind of money on a tool box is nuts and I am not saying to go buy a Snap On box (many are more than I have ever paid for a CAR). What I am saying is quality tools are an investment. I have paid more for used quality tools many times than what they sold for new.

Try that with Harbor Frieght tools!

Brian
 
#9 ·
I bought The the big box at HF for the house I am to cheap to by a box from Mac for the house. Paid less than a 1000 for top bottom and two sides great deal I thought. after a little while the slides started to hang up. I took the top chest back and they told me the same thing I had it over loaded. You get what you pay for. Went to Sears and bought all most the same thing for about three hundred more. and I am very happy with the new box.
 
#10 ·
I have what Snap on used to call a Master Chest when I bought it in the early '60s. It wouldn't even be an add-on in today's world, size wise. It had held up fantastically well and weight wise, it can still be carried - empty :pain: . The steel I believe is 16 or 18 ga vs the much thinner stuff on the cheaper boxes. I also have a Craftsman low end roll cab - that's what supports the Snap On. I'm real careful what I put in it - it's thin stuff. Then there is the Husky (Home Depot) mid box, but I'm afraid to put it between the S-O and the Craftsman - it's heavily loaded.

What I'm saying - you get what you pay for. There are pro level Craftsman boxes that are great and probably wellworth their price. I'm no longer a pro, so I can 'make do' with the low end. For home - do you need pro box, probably not. For work, I sure would try to save for one of the better tool boxes, regardless of brand. Snap-on, not so sure that they really are that much better then Husky, Craftsman or Kobalt pro boxes tho a lot more money. Trade in - Snap-on, of course, but......and as usual, MHO :D

Dave W
 
#11 ·
As far as the HF box collapsing at one wheel I have seen that happen even on good boxes that were indeed overloaded, mostly just the wheel failing and not the metal on the box itself. Most of the guys at the mine shops had dollies made from angle iron and riding on heavy wheels and castors for their boxes, we made up a bunch of these at my shop.
 
#12 ·
Heavy you say?

No Bull, the HF top chest is so heavy EMPTY I couldn't lift it alone to put it on top the bottom chest. I had to use my engine hoist. I'll see if I still have the individual weight rating paper work to post. But it had big ratings with cautions to distribute tools evenly, etc. I am very pleased with mine. I don't think I've ever been able to move any of my chest/roller cabinet setups without taking out some of the load.olnolan
 
#13 ·
oldred said:
As far as the HF box collapsing at one wheel I have seen that happen even on good boxes that were indeed overloaded, mostly just the wheel failing and not the metal on the box itself. Most of the guys at the mine shops had dollies made from angle iron and riding on heavy wheels and castors for their boxes, we made up a bunch of these at my shop.
I couldn't imagine you could get enough tools into my box to do that if you wanted to! I believe you could set a V8 on top and it wouldn't happen!

But, it costs a few thousand bucks these days for one.

Brian
 
#14 ·
I have no doubt at all that you could safely haul the weight of a V8 on top of your box! :), I think my old Snap-On probably would too!

The point I was making is that even some "good" boxes can be overloaded to the point of failing, especially if used on a rough concrete floor which is very common for a heavy equipment shop. The HF boxes are in no way the same quality of a Snap-On or Mac, etc but then they don't cost nearly as much either. I don't know how they would compare to a top line Craftsman (I would bet they are better than the Craftsman economy boxes but that would not be a fair comparison) but most likely the Craftsman would have the advantage. Still the HF box I am familiar with looks to be a good one but then at least one here seems to be having some problems so I guess time will tell. :) Also it is important to consider that HF has the "Storehouse" line that is IMO too flimsy even for hobby use and the US General I have been referring to would probably not be a good choice for a professional shop.
 
#17 ·
Kevin45 said:
For home use, the US General will hold up for years. Everyone that I have talked to that has them like them really well. Are they the same as Matco, or Snap-On? NO!!! But for the money, you will get a very good box


That's the way these things need to be considered, telling everyone that they need Snap-On or Mac boxes and tools just don't make sense. For a pro who intends to make a living with them, sure they should invest in the best but for a home hobbyist or small shop to invest $20,000 for even basic tools just don't make sense. IMO if you are going to make a career out of using those tools then don't even consider less than the best but for the average user Sears is going to be hard to beat and yes even HF has some items worth considering. Just maybe people would think I am nuts for spending nearly $3,000 on just one item at HF but that's what I did! About a year ago we were discussing lathes and I mentioned I needed to replace my worn out Summitt so I bought a new 14x40 engine lathe from HF for a fraction of what a used "good" machine would cost. If I was still running my shop I would not have allowed a HF machine through the door but for a small shop these things are a bargain and I would defend that statement because the machine I have is holding up just fine after a year of everyday use, some of it quite demanding. What would have made the most sense for a hobbyist/simi-pro shop like I am doing, a well worn commercial machine that needs work for $5,000, a new commercial machine for $25,000 to $40,000 or a HF machine of the same size for $3,000? This thing has already paid for itself and the same goes for some other HF tools, the tool boxes are worth the cost if they fit the need and paying thousands for a "better" one of the same size just may not make sense. On the other hand some cheap tools, especially HF, should be avoided regardless of cost so it is a matter of determining what works and what don't but just dissing all things that come from HF may not be such a good idea. As far as those boxes go from what I have seen of them I would not at all be afraid to buy one especially at the sale price which is so often it would make little sense to pay full price.
 
#19 ·
#21 ·
oldred said:
Telling everyone that they need Snap-On or Mac boxes and tools just don't make sense.
I agree! I talk to a lot of pro's who can't settle for anything less than the best. Of course most of them are broke!

People should keep in mind that Home use vs. Professional use is going to be very different. I don't intend to overload this or use it throughout the day everyday!

Craftsman has good quality toolboxes, but even those new are expensive. I've heard good things about Kobalt (Lowes) and Husky (Home Depot) Tool Chests. Again those new are expensive for me right now! I know people suggest looking for used boxes, but the only ones I've found are very high-quality ones selling for big bucks! I know estate auctions are good places to look, but that is time consuming.

Thanks for all the Input!
 
#26 ·
tool box

88_mopar said:
Yea same here. The lowest it got here was $1550 but my mom works at lowes so i would get 10% off. :evil:
id stay far away from lowes tool boxes. i have taken the 1 ibought from them back toexchange so many times i finally demanded my money back and bought 1 from hf. the last 1 from lowes didnt even last a month without starting to have problems.
 
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