I have owned 2 Sport lockers. They worked but they are not durable, they leak and they have poor ventilation. I reccomend having an aluminum box made. Make sure the lid has a lip and is strong enough to stand on.
If you need a design I can send you pictures of the one Doug Graf made. It is the best thing I have ever seen. I keep my sails in it because it is drier than my garage.
If you want a sail tube, I have some 10" ID high pressure fiberglass pipe. It's heavy probably ~100 lbs
Carl
Re: SPORT LOCKER AND SPORT LOCKER MAX
[Re: carlbohannon]
#93843 01/04/0709:58 PM01/04/0709:58 PM
The Sport Locker is great. It is close to being air tight. Not good. I left my daggers in the locker in wet covers and the paint bubbled from the heat......... My fault. I just bought some stainless vents at West Marine for installation. I gotta keep postin to stay ahead of JW. See ya'll at Tradewinds! See me if you need a cigar.
Hang loose there, Bob
[Re: Acat230]
#93845 01/05/0709:52 AM01/05/0709:52 AM
There is an Ebay store that's selling some very reasonably priced aluminum truck boxes. I've emailed this guy with some dimensions and he's working on quoting me a price. If the rest of his stock is any indication, we're gonna come in at the same or less for an aluminum box than for that shitty fibreglass one.
that said, I'm also gonna call my friend who stitches together two truck boxes. He bought his tool boxes somewhere in Pascagoula for like $80 each (so Jay recalls) and spent $35 having them welded together. Something like that, according to Jay.
So hold on for a couple days until I get more info.
Imagine... a rust free, hassle free aluminum box for the same price or less than the wonky fibreglass. And no time and trouble involved to build your own (yeah, y'all can do it for $100, but how much is your TIME worth, huh?)
ah yesssss...
This sig would be something witty, but the censors are against that.
Re: Hang loose there, Bob
[Re: Boudicca]
#93846 01/05/0701:56 PM01/05/0701:56 PM
I will try to make some pictures ASAP. I will be able to make some better pictures when I remove the tramp for repair.
The sailbox is really nothing more than a great big toolbox like the one shown in the attached picture, with a extra door in the rear. The box was made by bending ~1/10" aluminium and pop riveting it togather at the corners. The bends, seams and extra metal are just like a good metal tool box. The top and bottom has creases along the diagonals for rigidity. (Think of a 1/2" high piramid)
There is a piano hinge in the back and 3 padlock hasps on the front.
The dimensions are based on the biggest sheet of aluminium available.
The box could be built by welding. It just depends what the builder is familiar with.
Jake, unless your math is way fuzzier than mine, you're still into it for $600, which is $200 less than the POS fibreglass.
If you can't find someone to weld the boxes together for less than $200, then you can poprivet 'a la Bohannon's suggestion. And comps to Carl, for it shouldn't be hard to find someone with a metal brake at least down here in the Oil Patch. Maybe we're just lucky, Carl. BTW, say hi to Cyndi...
Think about it... if the POS fibreglass is going for $800 plus shipping, it's certainly worth $800 for a nice aluminum box that will last effectively forever, yes?
In any case, we talked to the guy with the 2-box rig, and the place was in Picayune, and the Picayune guy is not there anymore. But, our friend did suggest that we call Topper World in Gulfport.
The Ebay store that I was looking at is called 'Closer to Wholesale' BTW. I haven't heard from him of yet, but I figured it'd be at least a week. His response to my dimensions was 'wow, that's simple' so it did sound as though the guy was interested...
Trying not to pick flysh!t outta pepper, Miz B.
This sig would be something witty, but the censors are against that.
Eric is lucky on this one! I got the larger box abouut 7 years ago. It was expensive even then! The worst of it, was it had to be "assembled", riveted together. The pieces are all numbered so they're supposed to match. I got mine from Hobie, and Matt Miller was very nice in helping me figure out what to do over the phone. I had to cinch belts around the boxes, and torture them into a position where they could be rivited. They were off by way more than an inch in opposite dimentions. Never had a more frustrating time. Would've been much easier to build from scratch with plywood, and I could've bought a table saw too, and still had a lot of $ left over. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />
Jake, unless your math is way fuzzier than mine, you're still into it for $600, which is $200 less than the POS fibreglass.
If you can't find someone to weld the boxes together for less than $200, then you can poprivet 'a la Bohannon's suggestion. And comps to Carl, for it shouldn't be hard to find someone with a metal brake at least down here in the Oil Patch. Maybe we're just lucky, Carl. BTW, say hi to Cyndi...
Think about it... if the POS fibreglass is going for $800 plus shipping, it's certainly worth $800 for a nice aluminum box that will last effectively forever, yes?
In any case, we talked to the guy with the 2-box rig, and the place was in Picayune, and the Picayune guy is not there anymore. But, our friend did suggest that we call Topper World in Gulfport.
The Ebay store that I was looking at is called 'Closer to Wholesale' BTW. I haven't heard from him of yet, but I figured it'd be at least a week. His response to my dimensions was 'wow, that's simple' so it did sound as though the guy was interested...
Trying not to pick flysh!t outta pepper, Miz B.
My poorly made point is that you should be able to get a flat plate (not diamond plate) aluminum box with .090" wall (moderately sufficient) made locally at 10'X(22"-24") for $600. The sheet aluminum I used to build the last two I did was a little less than $200 per box (it was the welder that cost me). I would not be surprised if you could have one custom fabricated for around $600 and you can probably do much better if you by multiple units at once.
Don't bother with the diamond plate unless someone has a source for reduced cost. I have a .060 thick diamond plate box that I inherited on my trailer and I personally believe it is too thin. When I priced diamond plate material for my last box project I was shocked that it more than tripled the material price (I get it wholesale through work).
For a low cost alternative, we built our sail box from wood. It has served our two Cat's and all their sails, booms, rudders, and all sailing gear for over 25 years. Only maintenance is exterior gloss white paint every couple of years.
Top lid and box bottom are 1/2 in exterior plywood. Sides and ends are 1 by 12 wood. Top is 25 in wide, with 1 by 2 framing. Bottom is 23 in wide to allow construction from single 4 by 10 sheet of plywood. Box is braced at end, and where it bolts to trailer with 2 by 2's. All screws and nails are galvanized. Galvanized bolts connect box to trailer frame. Box is heavier than factory boxes, but the price is right
Box lid provides excellent work area. It is also strong enough to stand on while rigging the boat. Lock system is cable locks through holes in top and box at both ends.
Cable locks are usually used on bikes. It is just a metal cable, usually with plastic coating. You can buy with combo lock, or loops at end that can use any lock. We have used both. Combo locks are better, no keys to loose. We tried metal hasps at first, but they are prone to breaking off.
Mark, 1/2in hole in lid is large enough, so two, one at each end. The 1/2in hole in the box, goes thru the bottom of the box. Actually we have added some additional holes in the bottom for ventilation and draining. You do want the box to have some ventilation. With the lid off, you can get some water in the box while loading in our occasional rain .
For those that are interested, I can have a run of diamond plate aluminum boxes done for less than $530 each. Dimensions roughy are 10'L x 20"W x 14"D. I'll post a pic of mine sometime soon, or you can see it at Tradewinds this weekend.
Trey
Aluminum box from NC
[Re: NCSUtrey]
#93858 01/10/0710:19 AM01/10/0710:19 AM
