# Drawer-Based Trailer Project (Lots of Photos)



## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

For the past two weeks things have been really slow, which has been fine with me since I've been wanting to work on my new jobsite trailer. I didn't want to flood the trailer thread with a ton of photos, so I thought I'd post them here for anyone who's interested in a different kind of trailer.

Some background: In short, we're a small two-man remodeling company that wears way too many hats:whistling. In addition to remodels, we have to fill the gaps with handyman type work. This means we have to have a multitude of tools, and in the past we'd just load them up from the garage. We soon found that not only did loading / unloading tack on an hour to each day, but we would often forget "that one" tool or material. On the days we didn't forget something, we'd run into something unexpected and have to make a trip back to the garage. Hence the trailer.

Now some might ask, "Why the hell would you want to go to all the trouble of a drawer-based trailer when you could just order a covered trailer and build some shelves in it?" Well...

1. I'm not exactly rolling in money. I made this trailer for under $1300 including the cost of the trailer itself.
2. I'm not swamped with business which means I have the time to manufacture this.
3. Since they haven't invented a thief-proof trailer yet, I'd like to be able to lock it up in my garage at night for extra security, and a covered trailer would be far too tall.

I'll be making several posts in this thread so I can annotate the pictures.

First I'll start with the trailer we bought:

10' x 5' 3500lb axel trailer. 

Time spent: 4 hours replacing lights and leaf spring (and removing World's most seized bolt in the process)

Cost: $500 + $100 for a new leaf spring and new trailer lights.


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

That's the old man trying to act all smart and plan stuff while I'm off cutting boards too short

We took 3/4" CDX plywood and beefed it up with 2x4's so that we could run eyelets out the side (so that we could strap down materials to the top)

Then we added 2x2 runners into the frame for the drawers.


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

By the way, the last time we had a car in that garage (that wasn't being worked on) was 1990 I think. I could be wrong.

So the two side walls are very similar only with a difference in drawer heights. The center piece shown here ties to two sides together.

I've included a CAD representation on the framing to help you put it together in your heads.

Assembling this thing was quite a pain seeing as how the box without drawers easily weighs 350 lbs:blink:


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

So a few hours (and a pulled back muscle) later we managed to get it mounted onto the trailer. The bottom of the trailer has 2x2 ACQ runners that keep it elevated for moisture ventilation. In this photo you can see the drawer sides have already been cut.

We ran a dado down the sides and on the fronts and backs to tie the plywood together. It really cuts down on the screws splitting out the plys, also it looks much better.

The drawer fronts will (eventually) get filled and painted, but here they are in all their CDX glory. I think the pink factory markings had a nice bit of flash. Perhaps I should just poly it:w00t:


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

I have very little experience with sheet metal, and some day we might actually have a metal guy cover our tool box. For now, however, we stretched some roofing rubber across our box. This is the same stuff we use to line the bottoms of custom tiled shower basins. It's incredibly tough to cut or tear, and when stretched properly, actually doesn't look half bad as a covering.

We trimmed out the rubber edges with some old shluter strip we had laying around the garage. My father is a HUGE packrat (we have 3 12"x6"x8' redwood beams out back that we've had since 1987), but this time it really paid off and saved us $50:thumbsup:

We installed some heavy duty handels and our security system (a 1/2" galvanized pipe with the cap soldered on at one end and a hole for a padlock at the bottom. Basically it keeps an honest man honest.


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

And here are some shots of the drawers before we loaded them. Also, there's a shot of the back rubber finally trimed down. We installed some snaps and attached some 1/2" conduit to the base with some brackets to lock it down on the highway.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be adding a front compartment to the trailer that will be covered by stretched rubber. It will house miscelaneous items too big for the box.

I'll post a few photos tomorrow of what's actually in the drawers. Until then, thanks for checking out my photos. Hope it was somewhat interesting.


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## bert0168 (Jan 28, 2008)

Pretty slick work there. Looks good if you can keep it dry :thumbsup:

It's pretty cool when we're able to take something and "repurpose" it into something else thats very functional and well made.

Be proud of your work :clap:


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Nothing like being innovative....and economical. My only thought is how heavy the drawers will be, and do you think they might be prone to breaking out the side guides?


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## AustinDB (Sep 11, 2006)

you axle is too far back on the frame-unless you have enough weight up front you may end up with the trailer bouncing up against the pull vehicles ball....use those safety chains!

looks good fellows


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

Looks good. As long as you are going to stick some pretty good weight up front then you should be fine. Otherwise you may get some pretty scary trailer sway at time with all that weight behind the rear wheels of the trailer.


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

All the heavy stuff is at the front end of the drawers for balance and also to keep the drawers from ripping out. Right now, as it stands, the trailer actually falls forward (though during construction I had to keep it hitched to keep the ass end down). As for the drawers, you do have to be careful. I'll post some pictures tonight of some tricks as far as getting to the back side.


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## ARI001 (Jun 16, 2009)

I've seen used 6 x 12 trailers going for $1600.00. If you had looked around you probably could have bought a 5 x 8 or 5 x 10 for $1000-$1200. Once you add your time spent building that thing you probably could have purchased an enclosed trailer which would have given you a more professional appearance instead of the rag tag outfit that thing gives you.


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## Solar Control (Jan 27, 2009)

Instead of spending your time here posting an insult about a project a man did with his Dad, maybe you could have been working on your web site or finding more work.

Time with a parent is worth more than dollars.

No offense intended, but think before you type.


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## ARI001 (Jun 16, 2009)

Solar Control said:


> Instead of spending your time here posting an insult about a project a man did with his Dad, maybe you could have been working on your web site or finding more work.
> 
> Time with a parent is worth more than dollars.
> 
> No offense intended, but think before you type.


Reread it with an open mind instead of trying to read between the lines for insults when none exist or where intended. The point is that trailer represents his company to the customer. It looks like he tried to save money by rigging it together rather than investing in the equipment that he needed. If I was his client I would have to wonder what corners he might cut on the job to save money. 

When you add the labor invested into the project he could have easily purchased an enclosed trailer that would give him a more professional appearance. He then could have spent the time with his father doing any number of other activities. 

I'll give you a tip about websites also: I have never sold a job or lost a job due to a website. Even when I spent a lot of money on a fancy site, with articles, cost vs. value stats, extensive picture gallery of before and after shots, links to licensing authorities, and so on that was picked up on the first page of the search engines on a variety of tags. I have sold quite a few jobs based on word of mouth. More so than telephone book adds, newspaper adds, lead services, fliers, etc.

While time with a parent or a child may be worth more than dollars (I do not disagree with that statement at all) business is business. Dollars and poor image do matter in business.


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## Cole82 (Nov 22, 2008)

ARI001 said:


> Reread it with an open mind instead of trying to read between the lines for insults when none exist or where intended. The point is that trailer represents his company to the customer. It looks like he tried to save money by rigging it together rather than investing in the equipment that he needed. If I was his client I would have to wonder what corners he might cut on the job to save money.
> 
> When you add the labor invested into the project he could have easily purchased an enclosed trailer that would give him a more professional appearance. He then could have spent the time with his father doing any number of other activities.
> 
> ...


You are looking at it from one side.
Look at it from this angle. Customer see's he is rolling in a handmade tool box. Just like our old time carpentors made there tool boxes and saw horses. They think to them self's he is old school hard working guy that know what a buck is. He doesn't need to conform to modern contractor LOOKS.

I don't think there is anything wrong with it. 90% of people won't know there are tools in it. Just a tarped trailer. I made a similar setup when I first started.

Cole


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## bert0168 (Jan 28, 2008)

Maybe you thought of it or not yet.

How about a hinged leg that hides up under the buttom of the drawer to help support them when open. Figure out a latch to keep it up when closed and you can get rid of the prop sticks :thumbsup:

I still say good job and Cole hit on a good point. I have an enclosed trailer but get tons of compliments on how I outfitted the interior from both contractors and HO's alike. It is a way to show off your innovation, ability to solve problems creatively, and craftsmanship. Kudos to you.


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## genecarp (Mar 16, 2008)

Reminds me of a van i once had, i am 6'2'' always hitting my head, so i designed and built a van interior that put all my tools at the side and back door. All the shelving was hinged with slidbolts to lock the cabs into different posistions that would let me haul material, then convert back to tool mode, wish i still had it GMOD.


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## CJ21 (Aug 11, 2007)

Looks good to be, its a great trailer for starters!


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## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

Looks pretty cool:thumbup: Pretty inovative if you ask me, and it didn't empty your wallet:thumbsup:


Dave


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

ARI001 said:


> I've seen used 6 x 12 trailers going for $1600.00. If you had looked around you probably could have bought a 5 x 8 or 5 x 10 for $1000-$1200. Once you add your time spent building that thing you probably could have purchased an enclosed trailer which would have given you a more professional appearance instead of the rag tag outfit that thing gives you.


Seeing as how we haven't had any work this last week, I feel it was time spent productively. Granted, we are a tiny outfit. We don't have trucks with custom decals or a giant dual axel trailer that we can use as a portable shop (although I envy those contractors that do have them:w00t We worked out of trucks for years which is far more rag tag than this tool box, and yet we managed to bring in some great jobs when times were good. Why? Because we weren't concerned with decals, uniforms or conformity. We were concerned with communicating with the customer and turning their vision into reality.

Now granted, I want to eventually get to the point where we have great looking uniforms, decals and a strong website, but we're just starting back up after a long hiatus doing other things. I think (and hope) the important thing people will see when we're performing work for them is that we're organized. In my opinion, rag tag would be more like someone hauling around a bunch of tools that were obviously thrown into the back of a rusty old truck, but I respect your opinion and expected such responses.


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## Five Star (Jan 15, 2009)

about a year or 2 ago there was a guy on jlc magazine who did this, but he made the trailor as a cutting station too, it was a 6x10 i believe, and he made suports from that back that can hold a table saw and the top of the trailor was an outfeed table.:thumbsup:
on the fron of the trailor was a 30 gal compressor,and generator enclosed,on the side was a mitersaw station and supports, and the top doubled as a material storage and hauling to the job site!:thumbsup:
im wondering if you saw this and it was your inspiration, If not you should check the archives at jlc mag and i think you will redo yours and get some better ideas!! Although your works too!!

i personally would of bought a 6x12 enclosed and set it up like cole82 and took pops out to lunch,and called it a day!!:laughing:

GREAT JOB!!


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## NjNick (Jan 14, 2009)

Builders -- the trailer set up looks great. Dont pay any attention to some of the comments your going to hear whether it be here or on a job site. Like you said, not everyone can drive around a king ranch dully with a custom trailer behind. When my uncle first started our business he was carrying 20' lengths of pipe on a ford ranger. Now our company is prequalified and bonded for nearly 50 million. Everyone starts somewhere. 

Your quality of work and reputation will precede you and your trailer before you arrive to any job. 

Good luck with the new rig and once the jobs start rolling in im sure you will put it to good use.


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

Five Star said:


> about a year or 2 ago there was a guy on jlc magazine who did this, but he made the trailor as a cutting station too, it was a 6x10 i believe, and he made suports from that back that can hold a table saw and the top of the trailor was an outfeed table.:thumbsup:
> on the fron of the trailor was a 30 gal compressor,and generator enclosed,on the side was a mitersaw station and supports, and the top doubled as a material storage and hauling to the job site!:thumbsup:
> im wondering if you saw this and it was your inspiration, If not you should check the archives at jlc mag and i think you will redo yours and get some better ideas!! Although your works too!!
> 
> ...


I'm going to enclose and cover the front portion too soon. I figure I can fit a large shop vac, a 40 gal trash can and a 20 gal compressor onboard. Hopefully the compressor can anchor down the front:laughing:

I appreciate all the positive comments from everyone, we really are just starting out. I'll get pics of the finished project tomorrow with loaded drawers. It looks so much nicer now that the rubber is trimmed up


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## Renegade 1 LI (Oct 2, 2008)

I say good job:thumbsup: I love to see economy, versatility & innovation merge. I think most people today will appreciate seeing a contractor who is concerned about overhead costs, might mean a little savings for the HO.


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## ARI001 (Jun 16, 2009)

BuildersII said:


> Seeing as how we haven't had any work this last week, I feel it was time spent productively. Granted, we are a tiny outfit. We don't have trucks with custom decals or a giant dual axel trailer that we can use as a portable shop (although I envy those contractors that do have them:w00t We worked out of trucks for years which is far more rag tag than this tool box, and yet we managed to bring in some great jobs when times were good. Why? Because we weren't concerned with decals, uniforms or conformity. We were concerned with communicating with the customer and turning their vision into reality.
> 
> Now granted, I want to eventually get to the point where we have great looking uniforms, decals and a strong website, but we're just starting back up after a long hiatus doing other things. I think (and hope) the important thing people will see when we're performing work for them is that we're organized. In my opinion, rag tag would be more like someone hauling around a bunch of tools that were obviously thrown into the back of a rusty old truck, but I respect your opinion and expected such responses.


I appreciate that you where able to take my post for what it was. I was trying to point out that you could have got more for your money and a better image then what you ended up with. 

I don't consider a well kept truck to be rag tag. You can have very nice professional signs made for under a $100 if you look around. You can get shirts done with your company name, number and logo done for $100-$200 dollars. Hats for around $20 a piece. Image is very important and should not be overlooked. I have sold many a job where I was the highest bidder because I looked professional and presented myself that way where as my competition did not. Communication is a must in this business and invalid in this discussion due to if you can not communicate well with your clients you won't be in business long anyway. The same can be said for vision. 

Those that want to tell you this is innovative and a throw back to when carpenters built their own tool boxes are full of it. They full well know image is important in today's market. Other tradesman may or may not appreciate it, but your concern should be how your clients may view it. I understand that you where slow but you would have been better served searching for a deal on a better product that would have served a broader picture.


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## jlhaslip (Dec 31, 2009)

Looks good, but the way I work (one man show), those boxes would be too heavy to slide out once the tools got in there. 

I have a habit of taking tools to the truck and not putting them back in the shop, so the boxes are always full.

Spray paint the bottom of the boxes and the top of the shelves with good melamine paint and they will slide easier.


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## Cole82 (Nov 22, 2008)

ARI001 said:


> I appreciate that you where able to take my post for what it was. I was trying to point out that you could have got more for your money and a better image then what you ended up with.
> 
> I don't consider a well kept truck to be rag tag. You can have very nice professional signs made for under a $100 if you look around. You can get shirts done with your company name, number and logo done for $100-$200 dollars. Hats for around $20 a piece. Image is very important and should not be overlooked. I have sold many a job where I was the highest bidder because I looked professional and presented myself that way where as my competition did not. Communication is a must in this business and invalid in this discussion due to if you can not communicate well with your clients you won't be in business long anyway. The same can be said for vision.
> 
> Those that want to tell you this is innovative and a throw back to when carpenters built their own tool boxes are full of it. They full well know image is important in today's market. Other tradesman may or may not appreciate it, but your concern should be how your clients may view it. I understand that you where slow but you would have been better served searching for a deal on a better product that would have served a broader picture.


Let me get this right, you want him to go out and spend $1600 on a used trailer. For that price it is going to have some problems, wich will need fixed. So he will either pay some one else to fix the trailer or do it him self. He will have to deliver the trailer and pick it up plus maybe new lights, tounge jack bearing what else is your cheap trailer going to need. Then when done pick it up that is more time he is out. Plus new title and new registration. More money, plus build or buy shelfs or cabinets. Oh wait that takes more money or time. Sounds like your idea is far fetched at breaking even. Also the time he spent research a good cheap trailer.


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## A.B.Hardesty (Dec 14, 2009)

Historicly, Good men with poor ships are better than poor men with good ships"


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## ARI001 (Jun 16, 2009)

Cole82 said:


> Let me get this right, you want him to go out and spend $1600 on a used trailer. For that price it is going to have some problems, wich will need fixed. So he will either pay some one else to fix the trailer or do it him self. He will have to deliver the trailer and pick it up plus maybe new lights, tounge jack bearing what else is your cheap trailer going to need. Then when done pick it up that is more time he is out. Plus new title and new registration. More money, plus build or buy shelfs or cabinets. Oh wait that takes more money or time. Sounds like your idea is far fetched at breaking even. Also the time he spent research a good cheap trailer.


First off title and registration are a moot point since he had to do that anyway with the trailer that he converted, which appears to be used. If you search around you can find good deals on trailers both new and used some may already have shelves. He had to pick-up the trailer he converted so again that point is also moot. Five minutes of searching online this morning turned up these:
www.equipmenttraderonline.com/find/listing/2004-CARRY-ON-Single-5X8-96296903
www.equipmenttraderonline.com/find/...sed-Cargo-Motorcycle-Utility-Trailer-93830570


One is new at $1795
one is used at $999


Imagine if I had spent an hour or two searching what I might have been able to find.


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

Sorry for the late post, I left my micro USB cable in town for the weekend. Here are the final photos of the trailer (for now). I'll eventually frame in the front and have it covered with our compressor and shopvac on board.

The trailer contains all the tools you'd need for a full scale remodel of just about any room of the house.


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

And the big reason I didn't want a monster covered trailer: it fits in the garage and is about as safe as it gets.:thumbsup: (Oh yeah, and it's about as perfectly balanced as any trailer I've ever used because we've loaded all the heavy stuff at the back of the drawers)


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## Cole82 (Nov 22, 2008)

Looks good.

Might want to prime paint the drawer fronts incase some water gets by the rear flap door.


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## BuildersII (Dec 20, 2009)

Definately something on the to do list. Going to fill the drawer front screws, prime and paint for protection and aesthetics.


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## CJ21 (Aug 11, 2007)

The trailer looks great!


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## mikeswoods (Oct 11, 2008)

Nice use of a few slow days,should speed up your work and make you some money!--MIKE--


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## platinumLLC (Nov 18, 2008)

I think the trailer lloks nice and professional with the cover you used. it's not a nice new 24 foot enclosed but it is far from some trash you threw together. I have seen some homemade trailers made from plywood that look like the guys were drunk and peiced a bunch of scraps together with duct tape. As others mentioned your apperance does show to the customers and I believe that your trailer shows quality and proffesional by it being so clean looking. One thing I would have done is to sandblast and paint the frame before I started this. Good job.


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## StarConst. LLC (Feb 15, 2010)

I like this idea. I've been searching the web to see if anybody else has thought of this idea. I have a small 4x8 open trailer that I'm considering using for hauling tools. I was thinking of either buying a metal job box or building a rolling cabinet that I can put in my trailer. 

I don't want an enclosed trailer either. I've hauled enough junk, stone and debris to know that an enclosed trailer wouldn't work for me, plus it won't fit in my garage and I only paid $600 for my trailer new. My vehicle is a Ford Explorer and it's hard to fit everything inside.


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## RCT (Jan 5, 2010)

Your trailer turned out nice! If lack of tongue weight becomes an issue I've found that storing things like bulk nails, sledge hammers, and compressors (as you mentioned) up front works well. 
Good job!


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

StarConst. LLC said:


> My vehicle is a Ford Explorer and it's hard to fit everything inside.


I drove an extended cab F150 and it was hard to fit everything inside. Now I drive an extended body E250 cargo van and it's hard to fit everything inside.

I can't imagine cramming all of that stuff into a job box or any practical rolling cabinet. I honestly think you'll outgrow anything you put on that trailer very quickly, if you're really trying to be well-outfitted for general remodeling.

Some guys find that a truck and a fair-sized enclosed trailer does the trick for them. My best combination at this particular point in evolution is the van with an open 6x10 trailer for bulky stuff--though if I had it to do over again, the trailer would be 12'.

Everyone's needs are different. I just wanted to point out that what you think will work just fine for you now may well be insufficient six months or a year down the road.


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## Cole82 (Nov 22, 2008)

Tinstaafl said:


> I just wanted to point out that what you think will work just fine for you now may well be insufficient six months or a year down the road.


This is so true I went through 3 trucks and 3 trailers in about 1.5 years. I think I have finally found the setup I like.

Cole


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