# how do folks carry their tools



## oxygenrace (Jan 15, 2013)

I am a relatively new foreman with a small company. i carry a full toolkit with extras of some tools for workers. i have grinders, drills, lots of measurement tools, safety/first aid stuff, chisels hammers all that good stuff. i used to use a home made drawer system in the bed of my truck which kept stuff organized and i would just transfer stuff to my veto pro pac toolbag for the specific job. the drawer system took up too much bed height when i put the truck cap on in the winter. I now keep the cap on all year round (i had stuff stolen from the back of the truck) and built a bed slide which has been really handy. I have milk crates and tool boxes and tool bags cluttering up the truck now. I have been looking into a system of boxes that will keep stuff organized but also fit together so it takes less space and doesnt roll around in the back. bosch l-boxx, dewalt t-stak, dewalt tough system, tanos/festool t-box are some of the options. what do you guys use? am i over thinking things with too much free time with no work with the cold weather here in canada?


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## brickhook (May 8, 2012)

My equipment that we aren't using has it's place in my shop. Stuff that I don't use everyday, but sometimes need has it's own place in the truck, and the hand tools we use everyday goes in a five gallon bucket near the tail gate beside my saws and fuel jugs.

I have a shell on the back of my truck. When I bought it , I thought it was the ugliest thing I'd ever spent money on, but it sure is handy :thumbsup:


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

Big metal under bed boxes on dump trucks. Large poly tool boxes for pick ups and large Bon Tool canvas mason bag with shoulder straps for going on scaffolding,(shoulder straps keep both hands free for climbing :thumbsup


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

I had a couple of these boxes that I used last year. This Christmas they put them on sale for $39.00 .Bought four more .:thumbsup:



http://www.menards.com/main/tools-h...uff-bin-with-keyed-lock/p-1465508-c-12931.htm


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## oxygenrace (Jan 15, 2013)

fjn said:


> I had a couple of these boxes that I used last year. This Christmas they put them on sale for $39.00 .Bought four more .:thumbsup:
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.menards.com/main/tools-h...uff-bin-with-keyed-lock/p-1465508-c-12931.htm


do you make dividers for inside or do you have to dig through the bin?


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

I visit this site often

http://www.800toolbox.com/custom_toolboxes/custom_toolboxes.htm


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## Hiber (Jul 14, 2014)

The new rigid box system is a lot more durable and weather tight them other systems I've had. An a good 25% cheaper then the rest. Also the clip system they have is much stronger then the others. Now I'm just trying to organize small tools better within the boxes


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## oxygenrace (Jan 15, 2013)

Hiber said:


> The new rigid box system is a lot more durable and weather tight them other systems I've had. An a good 25% cheaper then the rest. Also the clip system they have is much stronger then the others. Now I'm just trying to organize small tools better within the boxes
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


i didnt know about those ones. they are as strong as the dewalt but latch together better. id rather the big one didnt have the wheel because it eats into the storage. is it handy as a cart on a job site, is it rugged or just for show?


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## Alldayrj (Oct 9, 2014)

Wow jbm what have you gotten from them and what did it run you?? I just bought a polished stainless buyers box, wish you posted that last week


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## Rock Headed (Nov 8, 2007)

Two 5 gallon buckets. One is full of hammers and chisels. The other one has a bucket belt on it, and is my general toolkit, screwdrivers, pliers, line level, drill bits, pencils, soapstone, anything small that's not a hammer or chisel...it's like a handy mans kit only it has feather and wedges/soapstone and other masonry specific tools.

Only power tool that's with me nearly always is an angle grinder...thus there is no special place for all my other power tools. Drills, saws, ect get placed on the truck as needed and simply brought out to the site. now, if my tools are going to be on a site for awhile, I'll sometimes bring my site tool box--this is one of those plastic bins that you see on the top of a car...










I did some volunteer work at a local public garden place a year or two ago. I was helping clear our some random brikabrac and there was this bin that no-one wanted that had been there for years and they let me keep it. Score. So this will just sit on my jobsite for a month or so, keep my gear dry....a step or two down from an enclosed trailer.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

oxygenrace said:


> do you make dividers for inside or do you have to dig through the bin?




I use a few of these http://www.menards.com/main/housewa...s-baskets/storage-crate/p-1766015-c-12666.htm


I try to place the tools in a certain category,grinders with appropriate disks,hammers with chisels. That way I can lift the crate out and have the tools grouped. Also,do not forget the good old 5 gal. bucket.:laughing:


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

I kind of do like John does,keep tools organized in shop when they will not be needed om job site. I keep them "lumped" in categories in separate tool boxes with type written on a piece of tape with a sharpie. 


One can never have to many tool boxes.:laughing:


I almost forgot about these guys,I think they started out making fishing tackle boxes years ago. They are somewhat local (100 miles)

https://www.google.com/search?q=pla...PQgwTso4GIDA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=643


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Alldayrj said:


> Wow jbm what have you gotten from them and what did it run you?? I just bought a polished stainless buyers box, wish you posted that last week


This company is 5 minutes down the road http://road-craft.com/flatbed.htm, im looking for a cab and chassis sometime around spring and ill have something like this made. Probably 5k-6k plus 3k to make it dump. 










or this 










It will have a 2x10 spruce sides on the flatbed instead of rails that there is. Im worried that the aluminum wont wear well though on the bottom though.


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## Alldayrj (Oct 9, 2014)

I know guys with aluminum dumps, you can get a heavy guage and/or you can do a plywood liner. That seems insanely cheap. The last one i heard was $30k for a 14' dump body with none of those boxes


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

No way. I can get a hillsboro flatbed for 4-5k. Add toolboxes maybe another 2k. 

http://hillsboroindustries.com/


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Search ebay

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...ody&_nkw=aluminum+flatbed+truck+body&_sacat=0


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

That'll be a sweet setup JBM

I just have 2 boxes in the back seat (crew cab not extended cab) and keep power tools in one (larger) box, and other stuff ( none masonry tools, claw hammers, hammer tacker, crowbars etc...)in the smaller box. Wall ties are in a box on the floor as is flashing and nails and a bag of various mortar dyes. Masonry hand tools are in a bag on the passanger seat or if i'm carrying another guy at theor feet on the floor. Anything large like compressor, scaffold, benches etc... go in the bed of the truck.

Before i had a crew cab I was lost. An extended cab is a very poor substitute. What I really should be working on during these slow months is under bed (flat bed) storage

BTW what company are you foreman for? Are you back with Keystone?


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## oxygenrace (Jan 15, 2013)

dom-mas said:


> That'll be a sweet setup JBM
> 
> I just have 2 boxes in the back seat (crew cab not extended cab) and keep power tools in one (larger) box, and other stuff ( none masonry tools, claw hammers, hammer tacker, crowbars etc...)in the smaller box. Wall ties are in a box on the floor as is flashing and nails and a bag of various mortar dyes. Masonry hand tools are in a bag on the passanger seat or if i'm carrying another guy at theor feet on the floor. Anything large like compressor, scaffold, benches etc... go in the bed of the truck.
> 
> ...


Yup still keystone. I get the sense guys here have a lot of experience so with respect to that I am a relatively young foreman, about 4 years now. I use the truck cab for family and try hard to keep masonry equip outside, however it's still filthy! I like the stacking system of boxes because it organizes and I can stack it in the garage with a small footprint when I need the bed of the truck for something else. I fear that a festool or Bosch l-boxx will not be rugged enough. I'm not always the one accessing tools from my truck. The rigid system looks good but it's not in Canada. Maybe a trip to ogdensburgh, they're in stock there at Home Depot or make my own system from wood.


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## Johnny_5 (Apr 24, 2014)

I've adopted the Lboxx for the majority of my tools. They work great, haven't had any problems in the past year or so. I don't baby them, but they aren't living an easy life either. They are super convenient, pretty easy to attach/detach, and can carry quite a bit. Plus, being well organized and efficient makes a great impression on customers. I have about a dozen in a couple different sizes. I'd have more, but I've recently bought a couple Festools and am trying to decide if I should continue with the Lboxx or switch everything over to systainers.


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

Hand tools? Back seat of the Silvarado !! :laughing:


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## Johnny_5 (Apr 24, 2014)

oxygenrace said:


> i like the l-boxx because they can be stacked but im unsure whether they would stand up to the abuse on the jobsite. ideally the box would be strong enough to be used as a step, a lunch seat, hoisted up a scaffold, deal with cold temperatures.


I've had some of mine for about a year now. They are all still functioning as designed, as tool boxes. They seem to have stood up to the cold just fine. I don't baby them, but I also don't use them for things they weren't designed to be used for. Ladders are for stepping on and upside down buckets are for lunch seats. :thumbsup: If you throw them off a scaffold, they will probably break. I dont expect tool boxes to withstand stresses they weren't designed for, just like I wouldn't expect my drill to last if it was being used as a hammer. :no:


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

To be fair mine was a tool box not one of those stackable boxes, but the bottom cracked when I dropped it a few inches, maybe 4 into the back of the box and it hit a chunk of ice. It was also 2 years old at that point and exposed to lots of sun. Plastics don't like sun or cold very much.


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## oxygenrace (Jan 15, 2013)

dom-mas said:


> To be fair mine was a tool box not one of those stackable boxes, but the bottom cracked when I dropped it a few inches, maybe 4 into the back of the box and it hit a chunk of ice. It was also 2 years old at that point and exposed to lots of sun. Plastics don't like sun or cold very much.


these ones are quite thick (like 3-4mm) and made of a plastic resin. we will see how it holds up, but im optimistic.


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

It looks the same. Mine was Stanley not Dewalt but they are the same company now


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