Halfords tool drawer cabinets

[CornishPete]

Seems a lot of us have been in this situation at some point and most either go to Costco or Halfords! I got two sets of the Halfords industrial (black ones) and am very impressed with them. They were £400 for top,middle and bottom boxes in a deal. I can't imagine getting better value for money. Drawers are smooth even when full. They spend all their time in one place so can't comment on the castors etc but a professional mechanic friend of mine has a set at his mot garage and moves it round every day without issue. He reckons a similar snap on could be £2000 so he'd rather spend the money on tools, a glorified box earns nowt!

 

[R-D-R]

Had a Snapon KRL for years also had machine mart, Halfords industrial and currently just have Halfords Pro (the red ones). Obviously Snapon beats them all from a quality and space perspective but its ten times the cost. The Halfords Industrial are pretty good they are deeper than the Pro and a heavier gauge construction, my last pair of industrial cabs got stolen with all the tools in them i doubt they could have wheeled the KRL off so easily !

The red halfords pro range are great for the money if you get them in the sales, i would say if you have heavy or long/large tools carefully measure up as the draws are small compared to the snapon etc. I got the red ones as the insurance payout was tight, i may eventually sell them and move to something deeper again.

 

[eternal optimist]

The current Halfords Industrial range isn't a patch on the original Halfords Industrial range. I've got both in the garage. The old stuff is US made and has thin lips to the drawer pulls - the new stuff is Chinese made - it's a direct copy but significantly less well made. The new stuff has been built into a workbench, the original base and top box is still on wheels.

 

[Ton-up]

I have two Snap-on boxes and A Kennedy Pro box. The Kennedy is a far better box and I've been thinking of selling the Snap-on ones to buy more Kennedy ones!

https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/sto...12-drawer-extra-deep-tool-chest/p/KEN5945280K

 

[Kayos]

I have the red ones, top middle and bottom

They have been used, abused, bounced around the back of a van and now live in my shed

I broke one of the runners putting it back in but nothing has broken through normal use

Edit, mine are years old, Halfords pro so before the advanced stuff

 

[gaz1]

this is the one i have



its 26" width and 12" front to back by time you factor in the lid opening its 14"-15" which can be a pain to find somewhere for it to go

ive always wanted one of them and i got mine full of tools for free

i dont know how old it is either

now its been water damaged i believe in a flood as the place flooded out where it was stored in

the runners was a bit rusty when i got it so all ive done is oiled them up and got them running again they still move freely and nice to pull out

it has a bit of rust on it and also wants tidying up again and a bit of a respray on some parts

to be honest its the size of it i hate cant seem to find a place for it and the lift lid also has to be factored in as well

 

[Kayos]

this is the one i have

View attachment 122578

its 26" width and 12" front to back by time you factor in the lid opening its 14"-15" which can be a pain to find somewhere for it to go

ive always wanted one of them and i got mine full of tools for free

i dont know how old it is either

now its been water damaged i believe in a flood as the place flooded out where it was stored in

the runners was a bit rusty when i got it so all ive done is oiled them up and got them running again they still move freely and nice to pull out

it has a bit of rust on it and also wants tidying up again and a bit of a respray on some parts

to be honest its the size of it i hate cant seem to find a place for it and the lift lid also has to be factored in as well

Mines like that except I have 1 row of small drawers and a deeper draw at the bottom

If i sit it on the front edge of the roll cab the lid opens fine if the roll cab is flat to the wall

 

[gaz1]

yours look like this kayos

 

[Kayos]

yours look like this kayos

View attachment 122579

Yes it does

A good friend bought me the middle box for my 30th so five years ago and he actually called head office to get me a pro one rather than advance to match the other 2, came from the **** end of nowhere to our local store

 

[Revs1972]

Having looked at the new mechanic at my mates garages snap on tool box/chest/small house, i was a bit taken back when he said it cost the best part of £10k ! Now it's nice, very well made , but 10 large ??
Now I can spend money on tools / equipment like a good un, but I don't think I could spend that on something to put my tools in !
I reckon he had the same value of tools inside it too, looks like he was a snap on reps dream customer

 

[armalites]

I have the early Halfords Industrial stuff and as metioned earlier USA made and very good. I have roll cab and top box. I also have one of the big stainless roll cab and top box that Costco used to sell.

In my mind there is no doubt the money no object choice is a Snap On unit and one day I may treat myself once the mortgage is clear. Some of the boxes they make now are absolutelyy huge with stunning graphics(although I prefer a plain box) but you can you can easily kiss goodbye to £5-6K for a decent size box.

It's all down to priorities, there will be people here I'm sure who would never spend £5k on a tool box but spend £70-80 a week on fags.

 

[gordon stephenson]

I have Halfrauds Industrial boxes (black ), Very heavy good quality kit.

 

[gaz1]

at 5k for a tool box id build my own for that and it would be far superior than the boxes that are supplied

id rather have that in tools than a silly tool box with a name on it

 

[armalites]

I overthink things though, I've considered getting a rollcab or similar but I know I'd spend months trying to figure out the best way to organise the tools inside, then when I'm 30% happy I'd buy another tool and ruin the entire system

I totally get that, I recently spent ages retracing my movements looking for a particular spanner until I remembered I was trialling some less used spanners in a different draw and it was sitting there nice and clean ready to go

 

[Olderisbetter]

I totally get, I recently spent ages retracing my movements looking for a particular spanner until I remembered I was trialling some less used spanners in a different draw and it was sitting on nice and clean ready to go

I used to go help an old mechanic who lost so many spanners he had them on elastic attached to his overalls but on the inside so as he let go of them they disappeared back, He jingled a bit but it worked.

 

[MattF]

I'd not spend 5k on a toolbox at home

I overthink things though, I've considered getting a rollcab or similar but I know I'd spend months trying to figure out the best way to organise the tools inside, then when I'm 30% happy I'd buy another tool and ruin the entire system

Personally, the only thing I'd ever be happy with (from a storage perspective) is having every single drawer lined with allocated spaces - if you're just going to have a drawer full of randomised spanners how is that so different from a bucket?

Similar here. I got those drawer units a few months ago, and it still goes against the grain to just chuck stuff in. If you try laying everything out neatly though, drawer space is gone before you even start.

 

[8ob]

Roll cabs are ok if they dont end up so heavy that they cant be rolled about anymore, they also end up very top heavy . In these cases you are better off with the base draw units as static units and worktop over them. Just my take on it, I still have a few opinions left to use up this month according to swmbo

Bob

 

[Kayos]

I may post some pics of mine later if I have the energy after another 3 hour drive. They start organised and get worse the lower you go

 

[Agrismith]

I have one of the black ones its bolted into a steel frame so i can carry it around on a forklift it isnt overloaded as the frame is full of shelves for hammers bars powertools
So only hand tools go in the draws but they are full and it has survived well so far bouncing around and its very rough as i move it round the yard

 

[angellonewolf]

i got a halfords pro red set gets used loads (at least 3/4 times a week but not overloaded runs as good as when it got it and that was 2nd hand when i got it