Review: Best Tool Carts

Mechanics and equipment repair technicians often need to be able to take their tools with them, right to the vehicle or piece of equipment that they are working on. The mechanic’s roll around tool chest was created with this in mind, allowing the mechanic to park his toolbox right next to the vehicle he’s working on. Of course, with some of the larger tool chests, that might be a little hard to do, unless the mechanic has a team of oxen to help them move their toolbox.

Best Tool carts in 2022 provide the same flexibility, without having the cost or weight of a full-blown roll around tool chest. They can vary from very simple units, which just consist of a work surface on wheels, where tools can be placed, to multi-drawer units, which provide both a place to set tools and some storage as well. Generally speaking, the ones with drawers are much more flexible, as they do have some on-board tool storage.

Of course, having a tool cart won’t eliminate the need for the mechanic’s roll-around. These are designed for those things that are being used at the moment, whereas a roll-around, especially the larger ones, is designed to store all of a mechanic’s tools in a secure, organized fashion.

The nice thing about tool carts is their flexibility and portability. The few drawers that they do have can be used to store the most commonly used tools, leaving the rest in the main tool chest. Having a way to lock them up when going off for lunch or break is nice as well, although not all have that capability. The other thing that a tool cart can do very well is provide an easy way to take parts along. Instead of using the drawers for tools, common parts can be stored in them. In that way, between the roll-around tool chest and the tool cart, everything is right at hand.

In this list, I’ve included all units with drawers, as I feel that the added storage space is definitely worth having. I’ve always said that you can’t have too much tool storage, as my personal workshop can attest to. Even with all the tool storage I have, I never have enough.

These are also all steel carts, although there are several plastic ones available. The plastic ones I’ve seen are all sturdy units, which will provide excellent service and carry quite a load. However, the best units I could find were all metal ones. My one concern with plastic tool carts is that lubricants are usually petroleum products, which could possibly be damaging to some plastics. I’m sure that the manufacturers have taken this into account in their materials selection, but I still tend to be suspicious.

A few of the tool carts I’ve looked at had problems with hardware. These pretty much all require some assembly by the purchaser. If the hardware that comes with the cart doesn’t’ work with the design of the cart, then all you’ve done is buy a box of headaches. None of these units have that problem, although some others that I’ve seen do.