Tool trolley recommendation

[JumbleDuck]

Vaguely boaty, this,and certainly practical.

I'm recommissioning my workshop after a prolonged period of junk buildup, and I need to get better tool storage. What I really want is a wheeled trolley with drawers, like this

but the cheaper ones on Amazon get very mixed reviews and the good ones are either expensive (Clarke) or hideously expensive (Snap-On). Can anyone from personal experience recommend a brand or model to me? I'd particularly like to here from anyone who has bought one of the cheaper ones (sub-£150, say) and found it well made.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Halfords might be a good place to start, their so-called "Professional" range of tools is excellent and well priced with a lifetime guarantee.

Or Screwfix also do a range.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Halfords might be a good place to start, their so-called "Professional" range of tools is excellent and well priced with a lifetime guarantee.

Or Screwfix also do a range.

Thanks - both good ideas. Alas my nearest Halfords and Screwfix are both 20 miles away and even if they were open I couldn't justify the journey, but I'll check mail order.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Halfords is open I believe but hard to see that a journey is justifiable at the moment, agreed

 

[RichardS]

I have a Halford's one on castors with large and small drawers at the top and a two door cupboard at the bottom. I don't think it's the professional range but it's good quality.

Richard

 

[Schuss39]

Aldi had them in a weekly specials last October for home delivery by AO for £146. Made in China and suspect the same quality as those elsewhere. Just had to fit the four wheels and handle. It is just like your photo with the draws. Managed to fill it up fairly quickly!

 

[lw395]

I bought a couple of these, different brands, same product, about 3 years ago:
Tool Chest 8 Drawer Roller 06197 Cabinet Roll Cab Tool box Trolley | eBay
One is branded Draper. The other 'Smoothmove' or something, I think it might have come via Germany.
You could criticise the paint if you wanted to find fault.
The pegboard big and the hooks are a joke.
The locking facility is a bar that goes in the front and a lock on the top drawer. Locking would be a faff, but what's the point in my garage when there's two angle grinders on the shelf?. I used the bar to make something IIRC.
So it's is not as nice as Snap On.
But the drawers work nicely and come out far enough to get at everything.
I paid about 80 or 90 quid for each trolley and chest combo.
At the time, the sort with more drawers in the trolley were less abundant.

The real problem with the sort I have is that stuff gets put on top of the lift-up lid and I forget what's in there.

Of course, it's been known for the metal to get thinner in certain products as the years go by, but mine have stood up to having lots of spanners, sockets, everything in them.

 

[xyachtdave]

I've got the HD machine mart roll cab and top box, it's certainly fit for purpose. Snap-On would have been about £5k for same sizes, I'd rather have the cash for the contents.

I bought the wider version and you can get a hook on cabinet to extend further.

 

[dgadee]

After Homebase were taken over by the Australians they got a whole lot of tool storage trolleys in. Beyond my purse, most of them:

Tool trolleys

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

If you do go for Halfords -

a) get a Trade Card - you only need a letterhead with your business's name on it.

b) Discounts can be substantial ~ 40%, but also can be small and importantly, less than normal promotions - which won't be applied. Check and be prepared to pay separately.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I have a Halford's one on castors with large and small drawers at the top and a two door cupboard at the bottom. I don't think it's the professional range but it's good quality.

Thanks. Halfords is looking like a definite possibility.

Aldi had them in a weekly specials last October for home delivery by AO for £146. Made in China and suspect the same quality as those elsewhere. Just had to fit the four wheels and handle. It is just like your photo with the draws. Managed to fill it up fairly quickly!

Normally I rely on the Cosmic Ordering Power of German Supermarkets which dictates that anything you really want appears in either Lidl or Aldi's central area (I think of it as the Aisle of Man) withn a week or two. Unfortunately my Lidl and Aldi haunting days are temporarily suspended - I could make a reasonable case for going, but it would be a faff and there are no queues at my local Co-Op.

I bought a couple of these, different brands, same product, about 3 years ago:
Tool Chest 8 Drawer Roller 06197 Cabinet Roll Cab Tool box Trolley | eBay

Thanks for that. For various reasons I want a trolley with lots of drawers and no top box, and though that seller has them, they are a bit pricey. I suspect in that "Bump up the price when stocks run low to maintain the listing and number sold" way ... especially the last one.

I've got the HD machine mart roll cab and top box, it's certainly fit for purpose. Snap-On would have been about £5k for same sizes, I'd rather have the cash for the contents.

And thanks to you too. I want to be able to park the trolley under a bench, and their 7-drawer one is a bit too high but the 5-drawer one looks good. Added to the shortlist!

After Homebase were taken over by the Australians they got a whole lot of tool storage trolleys in. Beyond my purse, most of them:

Tool trolleys

More thanks. This one looks quite tempting, although the handle looks rather puny.

So I think it's now between Halfords (£220 + £40 delivery), Homebase/Draper (£245 + £6 delivery) and Machine Mart / Clarke (£240 + £20 delivery. I need to some careful measuring ... tomorrow as I have just done a six hour stint there and I am on curry duty tonight.

If you do go for Halfords -

a) get a Trade Card - you only need a letterhead with your business's name on it.

b) Discounts can be substantial ~ 40%, but also can be small and importantly, less than normal promotions - which won't be applied. Check and be prepared to pay separately.

Unfortunately I am employed b a Large Organisation, but I shall investigate. Final thanks to you!

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Unfortunately I am employed b a Large Organisation, but I shall investigate. Final thanks to you!

That's as maybe, but I'll bet you have a printer you can use.

Apparently I work for 'Anoccasionalyachtsman Motors'.

 

[PhillM]

Nick a supermarket trolly and “adapt”.

 

[Boathook]

After Homebase were taken over by the Australians they got a whole lot of tool storage trolleys in. Beyond my purse, most of them:

Tool trolleys

Last year or before possibly the year before, I purchased a king chrome tool trolley from homebase as it was going half price. Really nice bit of kit imho especially as it was well reduced. It only just fitted in my estate car and it was in 'bits' as well.

 

[Poignard]

If you buy goods or services as a trader rather than as a private individual (a consumer) you do not have the protection of consumer law.

 

[lw395]

How about a toolmaker's chest lockdown project?
I made a small one once with very simple drawers, to take some particular tools.

Or even a mobile work bench with drawers under?

A lot of my smaller tools and some parts are in A4 multidrawer cabinets which sometimes turn up secondhand.
My power tools are in old filing cabinets.

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

If you buy goods or services as a trader rather than as a private individual (a consumer) you do not have the protection of consumer law.

You still get Halford's Warranty, and I've never had any trouble taking stuff back for refunds if not needed, so I don't really understand what I might be losing?

 

[JumbleDuck]

That's as maybe, but I'll bet you have a printer you can use.

Apparently I work for 'Anoccasionalyachtsman Motors'.

An intriguing idea ...

Nick a supermarket trolly and “adapt”.

Would the walk home with it count as an essential journey?

How about a toolmaker's chest lockdown project?

I have no shortage of lockdown project, he said. laughing mirthlessly. And to compound the problem, my beloved employers think it reasonable for me to work from home, just because I have been doing so for twenty years. They are sooooooo unreasonable.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Thanks. Halfords is looking like a definite possibility.



Normally I rely on the Cosmic Ordering Power of German Supermarkets which dictates that anything you really want appears in either Lidl or Aldi's central area (I think of it as the Aisle of Man) withn a week or two. Unfortunately my Lidl and Aldi haunting days are temporarily suspended - I could make a reasonable case for going, but it would be a faff and there are no queues at my local Co-Op.



Thanks for that. For various reasons I want a trolley with lots of drawers and no top box, and though that seller has them, they are a bit pricey. I suspect in that "Bump up the price when stocks run low to maintain the listing and number sold" way ... especially the last one.

And thanks to you too. I want to be able to park the trolley under a bench, and their 7-drawer one is a bit too high but the 5-drawer one looks good. Added to the shortlist!



More thanks. This one looks quite tempting, although the handle looks rather puny.

So I think it's now between Halfords (£220 + £40 delivery), Homebase/Draper (£245 + £6 delivery) and Machine Mart / Clarke (£240 + £20 delivery. I need to some careful measuring ... tomorrow as I have just done a six hour stint there and I am on curry duty tonight.



Unfortunately I am employed b a Large Organisation, but I shall investigate. Final thanks to you!

Wot, no spin-off companies that you are director offl?

 

[JumbleDuck]

Wot, no spin-off companies that you are director offl?

I turned down a doctoral research place in the project which went on to make my potential supervisor the richest academic in the UK. Not my greatest moment.