Tool box recomendations

[Avarice]

I am in the market for a tool box. I have narrowed it down to the 26" and 44" Harbor Freight models. $295 vs $650 with coupons, before tax.

http://www.harborfreight.com/26-in-1...mbo-61609.html

or

http://www.harborfreight.com/44-in-1...net-68784.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/44-in-8...est-68787.html

I know the bigger one is well, bigger, but what other compelling reasons would I go for the larger one?
The smaller one has smaller drawers, that would be good for sockets and wrenches. Would the smaller one be better for the garage mechanic?
Is the quality of the larger one that much better?

Thoughts?

[sammm]

My Craftsman that I've had for around 25 years is like the 1st link you posted. If that will hold all your stuff, go for it. You'll like the smaller footprint,
and the smaller drawers makes it easier to organize.

You can always add another 26" box to the stack.

[Robert]

I just got this one.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-52-...B1AD/205566603

Thinking it would hold all my tools easily, I was wrong. So I added some peg boards and that’s the way to go if you don’t need to lock up your tools. Holds lots of tools and cheap.

I mounted a vice on top of the tool chest and I think that it is going to come in handy. Don’t know how many times I have been trying to cut or drill something thinking a vice would be really nice. The work bench top comes in handy, if I can just keep it from getting covered with junk.

For the money I think the HD tool chest is nice and fits my needs. It is not as nice as the Lowes ones but a lot cheaper.

I also got this one (cheap crap) and mounted peg boards to the sides and inside the bottom shelf to hold the tools I use most to roll out to car when I am working on it. Does its job. The drawers do not have roller slides but they open and close without much force.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/381585853998...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[mattg43]

I think you will be hard pressed to find a better value than the HF 44" box, but you can spend a lot of time over at garagejournal.com looking for alternatives. I like mine, but I only have the base. The top is a craftsman 40" single drawer, topped by a craftsman 40" top box.

I already had the top box when I got the 40", but got the drawer. The only thing I would like better on the bottom is a couple more full width drawers, as my sockets take up the one that is there:


And no, the rest of the drawers are not that neat, nor is the rest of the garage...

Not as space efficient as it could be, but the foam orgainzer works for me. But I found I needed another full length draw for things like pry bars, breaker bars, etc. Were I buying again, I might have gone a bit bigger - if you have the space (56"), I would actually lean that direction, personally. Its not an ideal layout, but for me it might work better.

Also, I find the height of mine is not ideal, I dont really use the top of the top box anymore, and I have to be close to use the top drawer. Keep that in mind when choosing to go up, or wide.

[POS Racing]

My neighbor just got a couple of the Husky boxes Robert listed they are nice! He looked at HF but went with Husky he was a fan of the wood top and the black matched his Harley.

I have a 1950's Huot Box and a 1990's Craftsman box because I am too cheap to buy anything new.

[POS Racing]

I've seen this guy with what looks like a bunch of HD returns on Craigslist - http://dallas.craigslist.org/search/...erid=273573828

[POS Racing]

So what did you get??

[Jiggerachi]

Just adding to the discussion, I bought the 34" 7 drawer Husky from HD as a birthday present to myself this weekend.
It is nice. Oddly enough the 34" was 10 bucks cheaper than the 27" in the store, FYI.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-34-...47TR/205494688

It matches (a much cleaner version of) my miata.
Such nice guys ship it with this teeny little stamped wrench. You know, in case you don't have any tools.