Making systainer/sortainer drawers for tool trailer with specific requirements

[a_remodeler]

Brief Intro:
I'm a new member. First, thank you FOG members for the incredible knowledge base and ideas the forum offers! I would like to be more involved in the discussion and hopefully bring creative content to the forum.

I'm a general contractor working in Big Sky, MT. I have a new 16'x7'x7' v-nose aluminum trailer I'm building out. I will start a different thread regarding the build when it happens. I do many different trades and have a need to have a meticulously organized trailer to accommodate all of my tools in efficient way. Currently I'm in the planning phase. Refining tool storage/system philosophy that will be utilized.
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This thread:
I am looking for a way to fabricate built-in sysports with drawers for my trailer. The goal is to have full extension drawers that lock in the closed position. I would like to have one fluid motion to "unlock" and pull out the drawers, very similar to the sys-az drawers.

The catch is Big Sky gets extremely cold (as low as -35), and I'm afraid the sys-az drawers will be too brittle and could break in transport. The trailer will be fully insulated and kept above freezing 99% of the time. Are there people on the forum who have experience using the az-drawers in a mobile situation with extreme temperatures? Maybe it's a non-issue?

However until I hear otherwise, I don't want to run the risk of breaking thousands of dollars in the sys-az drawers during transport at times when the trailer is not heated. Do you guys (and gals) have ideas of how to build a drawer with an integrated locking mechanism to facilitate unlocking and opening the drawer in one motion? I don't want to have to unlock a clasp for each box or even one clasp for each sysport. That way when I close or return a systainer to a drawer and close it, it eliminates the task of "securing" the sysports before transport and unlocking after.

Using a push-to-close latch on one side of each drawer to achieve my goals is the best I can come up with so far. To open, grab latch handle to unlock and pull drawer out in one motion. Push drawer back to closed position and it locks in one motion. I think I was hoping for a more refined option than this and that's why I'm not totally satisfied. I think a tool trailer is a big part of your image as a contractor. My philosophies are different but Ron Paulk's newest trailer is a good example of an organized trailer that will impress a customer and reflect positively on your image to customers. It needs to work well and I hope it looks professional..

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel and can't wait to build it out and start using it!!

 

[nclemmons]

Welcome to the FOG!

You might want to check out Ron Paulk's channel on Youtube.  He has a very similar trailer to what you are considering and has fully built out the interior.  Here's the playlist -https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB1ATCukiUGRWcPQFFI0CBXaoniyBXRMz

Just a warning that Ron is NOT a fan of Systainers as he prefers to maximize storage density, but he has a lot of organizational tips you might find of use.  He has an entire series on drawing up the layout in Sketchup that could also be of interest to you.

For the Systainer storage, you could use full-extension drawer slides with plywood bottoms - plenty of examples on the FOG for SysPorts you can review that would not give you worries about cold temps and the Sys-Az brittleness potentially being an issue.  I know Festool does not recommend Sys-Az for mobile uses, but think it's more concern about them not being secure than fragile. 

As for locking the full-extension drawers closed, you could do a simple hinged 'flip stop' that is the height of the sys port that folds over and secures at the top or bottom.  I'm thinking a strip of 1x3 that is hinged to one side and to swing out, letting you open whatever drawers you want and then close them. 

Look forward to hearing more about your buildout.

neil

 

[rljatl]

Ron switched from a truck to a trailer.  You should watch this whole series, if you haven't already. 

Also, you could use push to open drawer slides.

BUILDING A MOBILE WOODSHOP

 

[a_remodeler]

Thanks for the responses, I'm a fan and have watched the entire series of his various builds. Just doesn't suit what works for me. I will adopt some of his ideas that do. But to have no cases does not. Also I have issues with the amount of plywood that goes into his builds. One of my goals is to reduce the weight of the building materials considerably from how he did his.

Tools with no case or "kit box":
worm drives, framing nailers, jobsite routers, wide crown staplers, etc. I agree with him and make no sense to put in cases. I will use open modular shelves for these things.

However for me doing a lot of remodels, I will typically do one trade for a day to a few days or multiple trades a day. The idea of using his philosophy for something like a plumbing trim out is far less efficient to have no cases. Grabbing all the small tools required and loading into a tool tote and reversing the process after a two hours? Way faster to have a kit that has all the required tools. Different businesses and different needs.. Also, I want to be able to quickly get tools onsite and offsite (sys-roll), when working in smaller remodel spaces it saves a lot of time having everything on wheels because it gets moved often (sys-cart and sys-roll) as well as stackable for a small tool footprint onsite, and finally having drawers is quicker than moving boxes to get to stuff- one stack and access as much as possible without rearranging the stack (sys-combi and sortainers). The festool system meets all my goals for tool management and as far as an efficient use of space in my trailer I think with good planning I won't have space issues.

Another note with his "lean" build.. viewtainers compared to other storage options are a very inefficient means of storage and organization. When you look at the volume of space the containers take up compared to the volume of the materials stored sortainers or other modular fastener storage options win every time. I think people fail to give some of his ideas a fair critique and take what he says as fact. Some things are great, some could be done better. Viewtainers are just one example.

As for the hinged 1x3, unlock, open, close, lock. I want to eliminate the additional steps of unlocking and locking. Also building the sysport boxes I'm good with, just looking for ideas to secure them with clever hardware. Are there push to open drawer slides that would be strong enough to keep them closed in transit?

 

[pettyconstruction]

Remodler,
I agree with you on the Use of "kits",and also think Paulk has to much plywood weight in his trailer.
One persons setup may not be right for another.

Having said that, I'm thinking a ply bottom and a domino protruding up to hold the drawer closed.Raise the drawer to pull out,and slide it back to the domino and down to latch. You still would need some sort of side support , but it should work.

Maybe a mortise on the bottom back also , to hold it open?

Great first post btw.
Charlie

 

[Offshoreman69]

We've built out rolling towers for systainers and T-Loc units as well as trays for trucks and trailers with a rack slide designed for the IT industry. The beauty of these is they have a positive locked close position and while they have a locked open position there is an open position that is also not locked. Here's the link for the product we've used.
https://www.accuride.com/en-us/products/3357-ie

As for controlling the weight in a trailer, full drawers are not required in our experience. A simple open tray is how we build them with an 'L' shaped side that allows a mounting rail for the slide as well as a shelf strip for the T-Loc to sit on. A short strip at the front and back of the drawer completes the tray and you can get away with very light construction on the carcase unless the contents of the drawers are quite heavy. Most cabinet carcase design is for the appearance of the box as opposed to engineering requirements. Make it as skeletal as you can to save weight and money too.

This was discussed a little while back in this thread;
http://festoolownersgroup.com/workshops-and-mobile-vehicle-based-shops/drawers-in-the-van/?topicseen

 

[kevin clifford]

I added a piece of conduit that I can slide up and out of the way in front of the systainers on shelves in my trailer, thusfar has worked quite well.