Festool quality racks/shelving for systainer transport

[Norm St.Onge]

Slick organization and storage is one of the hallmarks of Festool. I'd like to see some sort of van rack/shelving systainer solution that's worthy of the Festool name for those of us that take our Festools on the road to make a living.

Someone posted eurovan solutions on another thread but after a bunch of emails it appears they're either not available stateside or they won't fit the GM/Chevy/Ford full size vans most trades use.

Any ideas?

Thanks, -Norm

 

[jonny round boy]

OK, this reply's only around 6 months too late, but what the hell ;D

Someone posted eurovan solutions on another thread

Don't know if it's the same product as that one, but Tanos (who make the systainers) do vehicle racking - seehttp://www.tanos.de/ and it's on the front page. It's all in German, but it seems you can buy the extruded parts seperately & make it fit whatever you want. Whether you can get it over there or not is an entirely different matter....

 

[brandon.nickel]

I'm starting to see a huge proliferation of the high-roofed Dodge "Sprinter" in the local trades.  That model came from Mercedes in Europe, and Tanos has a pre-packaged solution.  Check out the brochure at:
Tanos Brochure

Are you sure you don't want to trade in your vehicle to accommodate your racking system?

 

[Norm St.Onge]

Brandon - I salivated over a Sprinter but not over the $40k price tag. The Spinters have become popular with plumbers in my area, which empowers the local dealer (50 miles away) with a 'take it or leave it' attitude. Plumbers don't use Festool so I guess there's no demand for Systainer transport.

I've checked out the Tanos stuff but have yet to find a stateside source.

-Norm

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

My intention is to purchase a 8x16 v-nose, tandem axel trailer, and have the entire drivers-side of the trailer be a long bank of cabinets to store systainers. My plan, in it's current preliminary (and very simple, rough) form is to use pre-drilled melamine shelving parts (I don't own the hole drilling set yet, maybe an excuse to?), and size individual cabinetscubbies to match the width and depth of standard systainers (I'd make bigger cubbies for Systainer Maxis). For the shelves I'd cut half-moons in them so you can get your fingers underneath the systainer you want to remove. And, to keep each cubbie full of systainers from dumping them every time I went around a corner, I'd take some 3/4" copper pipe, have a 1" hole for it to sit in at the bottom of the face of the cubbie, and a simple notch and latch at the top.

I realize this isn't nearly as elegent as a bank of Sys-Ports, but this way I can have cubbies 6 1/2' to 7' tall, and the cost of all of those sys-ports would be almost as much as the trailer.

 

[Norm St.Onge]

Tom - due to the type of work I do - mostly smaller in/out jobs  - I switched from a trailer/pick-up to a van. Working out of a trailer was always a hassle parking in town, running for odd ball parts, etc. If you're on site for any length of time a trailer is great, you'll have to post some pics when you get it set up.

-Norm

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi Norm! Yeah, I've gone back and forth inumerable times between a truck/trailer configuration, Sprinter, or truck/service body configuration. Often the direction I'm leaning is determined by the type of work I happen to be doing. I work for a residential remodeling business (www.plekkenpol.com), and we do everything from tiny little bathroom "fluff and buff" projects to huge whole-house remodels. Right now my crewmate and myself are in the midst of a whole-house remodel, including a two story, 12'x28' addition on either end of the house and a big deck. The house is way out in the suburbs, and is about 45 miles from my place, so right now I'm thinking REALLY hard about a trailer. However, sometimes we're in and out of three or four houses in one week, in which case I find myself pining for a Sprinter van or a 1-ton truck with a Spacekap Max (http://www.spacekap.com/products.details.php?lang=en&section=products&prodid=1).

Right now I'm rolling around in a '06 Tundra, and recently bought a little trailer (I call it my buggy) that used to be a large tow-behind air compressor or generator. I'll try to take some pics of my current setup soon, and when I upgrade I'll definitely be posting some pics!!

Here are the configurations I'm choosing from:

 

[Eli]

A friend of mine recently went to a Dodge Sprinter from an F-250 and loves it. I have to make similar choices here soon. I hope to go with a Mercedes Vito 108, which is a bit bigger than a minivan. The majority of trades here use a ute (el camino type sedan truck, up to 1 ton) towing an A-frame trailer. It helps that the systainers keep everything pretty compact.

 

[Frank-Jan]

Another eurovan solution that might have been posted on the previous thread you mentioned: link (Text is in Dutch, but if you click a picture, you get a bigger one)

The company that makes them also makes a cart with a mft as top to be used as test center for festool dealers link

Prices ar by request, but they have a listed price for the cart, that shows me this system is "not for me". (? 1750, now on special for ?1495)

Tanos is a division of the same company festool is part of, and I don't see why it wouldn't fit other style vans (the system with the telescopic arms), if there's enough interest it might become available through the festool dealernet.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Frank, I really like that MFT cart, thanks for posting it.

 

[Corwin]

Oh, now I'm in love   

Nice cart!

 

[Ned]

The Dutch carts are great.  It's a simple idea, and I'm embarassed I didn't think of it.

Ned

 

[semenza]

Hi,

    Did I miss something?  What are the Dutch carts?

Seth

 

[Eli]

A rolling cart with the MFT top and extrusions and a base made from 80/20 or similar. Link is a few posts up.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Hi,

    Did I miss something?  What are the Dutch carts?

Seth

Cart!

  Now we know how to make the old MFTs the same height as the MFT3, make it a cart! If I could only figure out how to make the legs collapse like a paramedics stretcher.

 

[Gene Howerton]

Wish we could buy the carts here.  That one with the draws and wheels is just what I need.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I agree with Gene.  Thanks, Brice, for bringing the link down to make it easy to locate.

Dave R.