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Good morning people of Toolboxtrackworld, I'm looking for a large 'snap-on' mechanics style tool chest to try and sort out the boxes and boxes of tools I have kicking about, but unwilling to pay snap-on prices (just not worth it for home garage use, that's a large part of a new bike!).
I have looked at a few, Tesco online have some, screwfix, machine mart, amazon etc, but a recommendation based on use would be great. Basically I want drawers all the way down/no cabinet on the base, larger the better, and I don't want to spend more than £200.00.
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How you checked places like ebay?
I've heard that halfords have a good range and are often on offer, the better stuff have roller bearings for the drawers like the better brands too.
I have the Halfords ball bearing chest, which is a joy to use. But may be over your budget.
I also have a cheaper non-ball bearing chest from screwfix which does the job but is not as nice to slide open and shut.
If you've only got £200 then secondhand may be a good option. Halfords had a half price code a couple of weeks ago. I got a top box which seems pretty good. That was £100rrp for the professional (mid) range one. So £200 won't get you much new.
I got my Halfords tool chest when they had a bank holiday sale. Its a really good bit of kit. It might be worth looking at that or ebay.
Halfords website has a problem so can't check the code but it was HALFSTRG. Probably out of date now though.
No that code doesn't work. Not sure how often they do deals but at half price you could get a wheely chest and top box for £200.
I think they do deals every few months or so, saw the half price offer a couple times before getting the 200 piece socket set for a cracking price
If youre anywhere near Notts I have full set of BNIB halfords pros
I've got a set of the red Halfords pro stuff.
Pretty nice for the money and a proper steal when they're doing a bank holiday deal.
Get on the Machine Mart mailing list and you get "VAT free" offers through frequently on their own Clarke stuff - they do a range similar to the Halfords Pro.
Else as said, sit and wait for an offer on the Halfords ones.
If you can get in Costco seemingly do decent ones as well.
The Clarkes tool boxes from Machine Mart are really good and good value with the VAT free offer. I've had mine for over 15 years now just as good as new. It's much more heavy duty than the Halfords Pro toolboxes and so is the weight.
Take your pick!
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Its worth keeping an eye out for decent used boxes/chests , the older ones
were made of thicker steel - I have 15+ year old Halfords cheap set which is
more sturdy than the "pro" range today - and size wise its bigger .
I also have some much older chests and rollers by Beach (Canada) and Sykes Pickavent - these cost very little - cosmetic paint/age issues but they
are just in another league of sturdiness - the Beach top box I have needs two to lift it and a trolley to move - when empty..
There are loads of the old ones out there and they are a bit like vices
the old ones are the best.
^^That is a good point - I've got a 20+ year old Snap-on top box which is a bit scruffy, and has a broken lid-stay, but quality is in another league to the other Halfords boxes I've got.
Lots of slightly scruffy stuff on ebay, and loads of info on-line if you want to re-furb them.
Thanks for all the suggestions, it ended up being the Machine Marts own Clarke Premium range. I managed to save the VAT which helped, but it was still a bit over budget.
Had a good look around, the cheaper ones really do seem to be something of a waste, they are actually quite small inside, seem to be made of powder coated tin foil and use nasty runners that don't run nicely if you have a load on them.
Tools are about half way moved in (now sorting where to put what...), just got to cover it in stickers and grease now!
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