Stackable/portable jobsite tool storage.

[Tim Bueler]

I'm looking to organize my cabinet install tools, screws, etc., into one cohesive, easy to move package. There are a lot of choices now a days! I like the choices of Milwaukee's Packout sytem. Dewalt's Toughsystem has the advantage that the stack doesn't have to be unstacked to access any container. Both stack/mount on their own proprietary hand truck, that seems very handy!

I'm curious what other's are using, how well you like it and the advantages or disadvantages of one of these systems.

[Mike Wilkins]

Not familiar with either one of those, but I got a roll-around tool chest from the orange big box store that I sometimes take on site work.
If you really want some options, check out the Festool catalog and prepare for some major droolage.

[Jim Becker]

Tanos Systainers. Not inexpensive but a really well designed system. Same setup that Festool uses. Available from Lee Valley and some other suppliers.

[Van Huskey]

Both the Milwaukee and Dewalt are based very loosely on the Tanos Systainer system which Festool and others use in Europe. The Systainer system is by far the most complete and well thought out of any system. The ability to access lower boxes when stacked as well as the stacking/locking and rolling systems all originated with Tanos. I use the Tanos system in my shop (mostly Festool systainers) and have accumulated over 50 of them. I love it.

That said if you or others will abuse the containers then get Milwaukee or Dewalt, they are built in a way to take the abuse of the typical American tradesman.

One other thing is we have seen a lot of these attempts to bring containerized tool systems to the US BUT they have all stayed in infancy or been changed or killed off. So the chances of them continuing and growing for years is pretty low IMO. The Tanos system has been around a long time and has grown and developed constantly. They did switch locking mechnisms but although not 100% backwards compatible new and old does still stack and function.

[Martin Wasner]

I've got a dewalt boxes for miscellaneous things and hand tools. They're okay, not stellar though.

I've got a handful of power tools that came in Systainers, the biggest advantage with Tanos is they're all modular and made to work together, which is sweet. The Mafell box stacks on the Mirka, which stacks on the Festool, which stacks on the Lamello, etc.

I think they're horrifically overpriced if you buy just a bare box though. They're nothing special, and not an overly rugged kind of plastic. Though I haven't broken one yet, they seem like the kind of plastic that cracks up pretty easily.

[Dick Mahany]

I adopted the Tanos system and like it. As said earlier, it's not inexpensive and the DeWalt and Milwaukee boxes will handle rougher treatment than the Systainers. Since space is at a premium in my shop and I had a few Festools, I just decided to go with that system. The containers are extremely well thought out and versatile. The organization that they have afforded me has been a welcome improvement. Some Kaizen foam from Fastcap that I cut to to fit in the systainers offers an excellent degree of protection to the contents.
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[Warren Lake]

labelled Rubber maid containers, not pretty or fancy like you guys. Good handles they stack and work fine. Had one guy trying to convince me he got more work cause of the festool stuff and the 65k truck. Sad if that is accurate ive always looked at the work.

[Dino Achilleos]

labelled Rubber maid containers, not pretty or fancy like you guys. Good handles they stack and work fine. Had one guy trying to convince me he got more work cause of the festool stuff and the 65k truck. Sad if that is accurate ive always looked at the work.

You are absolutely right it's sad, but many folks that don't know a thing about what they are looking at look at how "accomplished" or "successful" one looks to make their decision on who to hire. Sorry to say it but you, and I are part of the minority Warren.

[Mike Kreinhop]

When my Bosch equipment started shipping in the Sortimo L-Boxx containers, I bought more of the empty Bosch containers for my other tools. With an inexpensive cart and two sets of 3D printed Bosch cleats from an eBay seller, I had a nice cart to use when I'm going from job to job. I thought I would have to strap the boxes down to keep them stable, but they were fine even on the roughest parking lot.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/749/33116029261_aff94f34eb_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/SsmiKK)
Cart-6 (https://flic.kr/p/SsmiKK) by Mike66GE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/42211292@N04/), on Flickr


https://farm1.staticflickr.com/646/33202704126_9ac8accc93_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/SA1xaY)
Cart-1 (https://flic.kr/p/SA1xaY) by Mike66GE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/42211292@N04/), on Flickr


I put my Wabeco B1230 portable drill stand in one L-Boxx and cut the Sortimo inserts so everything fits. I had to cut 30mm from the solid steel shaft so it would fit diagonally in the box.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2849/33986746172_7db7c970b6_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/TMhXyh)
Wabeco_B1230-01 (https://flic.kr/p/TMhXyh) by Mike66GE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/42211292@N04/), on Flickr

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2899/33301521204_57f3f2aca7.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/SJK13G)
Wabeco_B1230-02 (https://flic.kr/p/SJK13G) by Mike66GE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/42211292@N04/), on Flickr

At the time, I didn't have source for Kaizen inserts or anyone who would take the time to cut up full sheets so they could be mailed, but now I do. Brian Way, at Kaizen Inserts (https://kaizeninserts.com/) makes custom blank inserts for all of the popular system containers. He even sells partial sheets of each thickness if you don't need a full sheet, or box of full sheets.

[Mike Cutler]

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Nice Quad receptacle breakout solution on that top box. That's pretty slick.:cool:

[Van Huskey]

Nice Quad receptacle breakout solution on that top box. That's pretty slick.:cool:

In Europe Festool makes the Powerhub Systainer but they don't have a US version

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Festool also makes a vacuum in a Systainer

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More than one company makes an air compressor in a Systainer

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[Greg R Bradley]

Lots of choices and each seems to have big advantages and disadvantages. No universal solution.

The old Festool tools came in the original Tanos systainers and those stacked well and locked together. 4 clips and cussing gets them apart. But they are strong and completely rectangular so have the best use of space. Not so useful that I was tempted to buy more especially at the price.

I then got a few Bosch tools in their L-boxxes, which are actually the Sortimo system who pay royalties to Tanos. My local tools store kept putting them on special so I added a few. Eventually they had a sale and when they had their annual sale put them on blowout at $12-14 depending on size. I bought them all and have around 30. You need two hands and have to set each on on top of the one below to get them to lock together. Better than the original Tanos.

Then Tanos came out with the T-Locks. They go together and come apart like magic. Not as strong and not as efficient storage. Harder to make efficient drawer units in that system. Then they came out with the Midi size, which will stack above or below the original size. Now we can hold longer tools.

Now Dewalt, Milwaukee, Ridgid have their systems. Mostly useful for larger stuff. They're all wasteful of space but I can see some advantages for the rougher trades.

Tanos stacks with Festool, Fein, Mafel, and Midi size units on top with bulky stuff and Festools magic cart:
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Sortimo (Bosch) does hardware bins better than the others, although light stuff works well in Tanos drawers if you want to spend big bucks. If you want to get into the big box on bottom, you have to close the lid, push one clip in with each hand and lift the top box off:
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Other useful Sortimo mod using saved LED lamp foam packing:
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The Uline or others Plastic Bin Cups work well in the Sortimo boxes:
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Bin cups here:
https://www.uline.com/BL_8820/Plastic-Bin-Cups?keywords=plastic+bin+cups

[Tim Bueler]

Thanks for all the replies! As I knew, there are a ton of options.

Mike Wilkins, I have a nice roll around tool box with a laminated maple top. It's stainless steel, my wife's favorite color, and was almost commandeered for service in her crafts shop...we barely escaped with our lives. :D That box works great in the shop but I've recently had a couple jobs that had, shall we say, challenging access. Thus the "portable" part of my question.

I will definitely give Tanos another look. I have some Festool that came in the t-loc systainers. I gotta say, a cost/benefit analysis of Festool products has always left me a bit underwhelmed. Still, they sometimes have exactly what I need that no one else is offering. I like that there are air compressors that fit the Tanos system. I suspect my 20ish YO Emglo compressor won't be my last job site compressor.

One thing I don't like about Tanos/systainer is the small footprint. I HATE digging for tools (or anything really) so I prefer shallower and wider rather than shorter and deeper. That's one appeal of Milwaukee's version. Durability isn't usually an issue for me. I'm a one man shop, I buy quality tools, once, and take care of them.

Van, your comment on long term availability is not lost on my...I can't tell you how many times I've seen the end-all-cure-all solution...over and over and over.:rolleyes:

Again, thank you all for your insights!
Tim

[Jim Becker]

Tanos does have the wider containers...Lee Valley carries them and they work with the smaller ones, too.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=70167&cat=1,43326,64664,70167

http://www.leevalley.com/us/images/item/Woodworking/Assorted/68k4590s1.jpg

[Tim Bueler]

Tanos does have the wider containers...Lee Valley carries them and they work with the smaller ones, too.

Thanks Jim. I finally did come across those yesterday while searching. Lot's of choices!

[William Adams]

I've been considering this myself --- currently considering:

- Festool 498660 Sys-Roll Systainer Cart
- Festool 500076 SYS-MFT Tabletop Systainer

and an assortment of Systainers organized by tool / job type to bring that up to a reasonable working height.

It's a big investment though, and I share your concerns about digging through the stack, but I'm hoping that organization will ameliorate that as an issue.

[johnny means]

You are absolutely right it's sad, but many folks that don't know a thing about what they are looking at look at how "accomplished" or "successful" one looks to make their decision on who to hire. Sorry to say it but you, and I are part of the minority Warren.

There is something to be said about investment. I often tell young guys on the job the story of my first hammer. An older gentleman hired a bunch of us young guys to build chicken houses. For those who don't know chicken houses are quarter mile long barns built in places with no access to electricity, so it's pounding nails all day long. The one requirement for work was that we bring a hammer. So me and the crew stop by a Sears and all purchase hammers. I looked through the offerings and having, some experience with tools, the biggest, solid steel 22 oz framer they had seemed right. I think it cost me about 25 dollars. One of my buds chooses the cheapest thing on the rack labeled "hammer". The rest of the crew all choose some option in between the two.
When we all show up at the jobsite the next day the boss man spies my thrifty froend's hammer and asks to see it. Mind you, this guy had maws like two well worn catcher's mitts. He takes up the toy of a hammer like he's holding a teacup, pinky out. Immediately he smacks it on a stud, splintering into pieces. He then looks up at my buddy and says, 'Looks like you're not ready for work today." He did, however, get to work that day, schlepping 2x4s all day long.
I, on the other hand, was sinking 3" nails with a couple of blows by the end of the first day, looking like I actually lnew a thing or two. I learned a lot at that job and was definitely taken underwing.
24 years later, that hammer is still in my tool bag.

[Van Huskey]

and an assortment of Systainers organized by tool / job type to bring that up to a reasonable working height.

It's a big investment though,

Amazon.de is your friend.

[Tom M King]

I'm sure this doesn't fit the original request, but this is my version. My jobsites typically last from a year, to two plus, so portability includes a couple of days of moving in, and out, but I do have everything organized in a "stackable/portable" system. I have somewhere over 120 of these waterproof toolboxes, each in their own cubby, so we can get to whatever we need without searching time.

We might be doing stonework for six months before we get to woodwork, but any tool, of any type, waits patiently until it needs to be called on with no worry of rust. That's my jobsite tablesaw in the foreground.

[Dave Sabo]

Sortimo (Bosch) does hardware bins better than the others, although light stuff works well in Tanos drawers if you want to spend big bucks. If you want to get into the big box on bottom, you have to close the lid, push one clip in with each hand and lift the top box off:


This issue has been solved with the new sortimo boxes now released in Europe. Nicknamed “stealth” - you can now open any box in the stack without removing those above. They are backward compatible with current models except for the mid stack opening feature. Meaning an old style box placed below a stealth box will still not be able to be opened without removing the boxes above.

I have not heard whether (or if) Bosch will be bringing these to the U.S. I will assume so, since at some point production of the old style will cease by Sortimo and current inventory will be depleted. Bosch USA is mum about the whole thing.

[John Sanford]

I know of 6 systems out there, available in the USA. They can be broken down into two broad categories. Category 1 is "designed for CONSTRUCTION, i.e. the carpenter", Category 2 is "designed for CABINET MAKER". The essential difference is how robust they are, and whether or not they are watertight. Cat 1 are the ones that you can toss into the back of your uncovered pickup and drive through a tropical storm.

The easiest to find of Cat 1 and most modest in price is the Rigid system, available at Home Depot. It's also the most limited.
The other two Cat 1 systems are the DeWalt Toughsystem and the Milwaukee Packout. Choose based on the features you need.

Category 2 also has 3 systems available. The least expensive of the 3 is the DeWalt T-Stak. It's also the easiest to find locally. Then there's the Tanos Systainers (Festool, Tanos, Mirka, Makita and others) and the Bosch L-Boxx.

I have boxes from 4 of the 6. I don't have any Packout or T-Stak. The use of modular systems is big in Europe, so I'd suggest crawling YouTube to see what installers there have adopted. Keep in mind the transport of the boxes from vehicle to worksite. Each system has integrated options, or you can roll your own.

[Tim Bueler]

I was able to visit a couple stores this week where I was able to get hands on with Milaukee's Packout, Dewalt's Toughsystem and versions from Rigid, Stanley, Husky and a couple others. Packout had the sturdiest system, hands down. LOML was with and every brand we'd pick up and look at she'd say "you won't be happy with that", until we got to the Packout. I really like that the Toughsystem boxes could be removed from the proprietary handtruck individually, but that was the only redeeming quality of that system. No Sortimo/L-Boxx without driving less than 4 hrs one way, so...:(

I'm still undecided but a whole bunch of stuff got eliminated this week. I'm not opposed to mixing brands either. Perhaps I could have an easily moveable stack of Packout and another easily moving stack of what I already have some of, Tanos/Systainer. Might get the best of both worlds that way. I'm in no hurry and it's fun doing the research and hearing about others experiences!:)

Thank you all!

[Peter Kelly]

Peter Millard did an episode on how he organises his installation kit in Systainers. Some good ideas there.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufNLh3w5ZgY

Dictum also has some really nice inserts which look to be an improvement on the Festool SYS-HWZ system.

https://cdn.dictum.com/media/image/50/b4/b3/718813_01_P_WE_8_Systainer_T_LOC_mit_DICTUM_Werkze ugtr_ger_Schreinerei_Innenausbau_best_ckt_44_teili g_WZ_jpg_600x600.jpg

https://www.dictum.com/de/werkzeugsaetze-baod

[johnny means]

A better Systainer?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdhI4al8P3w

[Peter Kuhlman]

Think long and hard about how you will access storage boxes in a stack. It is time consuming and irritating trying to do so if you have to remove the upper boxes. This is my personal pet peeve with stacks of Festool/Tanos boxes in a shop. Yes they are handy for traveling and storing tools in an organized way but once you need to get that power tool out of a heavy stack you will likely loose patience with it. The only boxes Tanos and Festool offer of use to me are the ones with the larger drawers and I have 2 of them for my jigsaws and other items.

I wish that Tanos/Festool would offer the large boxes with the guts being all 1 drawer so that the stack can stay intact even with heavy items yet still offer full access to the contents. Would cost more as more plastic involved but the usefulness would improve dramatically.

In my shop NONE of my Festool tools reside in the boxes as I want to be able to use it quickly. Everything on shelves.

[johnny means]

I put this "system" together over a decade ago and it has served me well. I like that the bags have lots of small part storage and that a tumble or rough treatment can't break a soft bag. IMO, most of the Tanos type systems amount to a stack of boxes without a lot of organizational function.

[Tim Bueler]

Think long and hard about how you will access storage boxes in a stack. It is time consuming and irritating trying to do so if you have to remove the upper boxes.

I agree Peter, as I said earlier I detest digging for things and for the exact reasons you state. My tool storage in the shop is a rolling tool box that I've modified to fit my needs. Lot's of shallow drawers and just a couple deeper ones that I can place my tooling only 1 layer deep...NO DIGGING! But, it's just not practical, or even possible to get that monster onto a difficult access job site.

The appeal of the Toughsystem, any box could be accessed w/o unstacking, but it is too cheaply built for my tastes. I like the sturdy construction of Milwaukee's Packout, and the wider, longer footprint, but one still has to unstack the stack. And then what do I do with them in the shop? The few systainers I have, that tools came in, sit unused under my outfeed table taking up space because they're just too much hassle in the shop.

The video link johnny means provided was interesting in that for the last couple days I've been wondering why I don't just build my own...I am a cabinet maker after all. What better way to showcase my skills?!?! It could be built with properly sized drawers that don't have to be dug through to find the right tool nor unstacked for access. I'd also been thinking my professionally (that would be me :cool:) built system could simply slide into an existing space next to my workbench for access in the shop. That would eliminate a lot of stacking/unstacking and transferring to/from job site storage. I can think of a ton of possibilities!

Maybe a good wintertime project! Thanks for your input, it reinforces what I've already been pondering.

[Jamie Buxton]

Boy, you guys put a lot of money in boxes. I'm almost entirely shop-based. I build furniture and cabinets in the shop, and tools have spots in drawers and on shelves. When I work out of the shop, I pull whatever tools I'm going to need, and put them in boxes to carry. The boxes are those $10 plastic totes from any big box store. They're big enough to carry a bunch of stuff. It usually takes two boxes to carry the tools to do an install. When I'm done with the install, I take the tools out and put them back in their locations in the shop. The boxes last perhaps five years; $10 for five years is my kind of economy. A key feature is that they nest together for storage; space efficiency is important in a small shop.

[johnny means]

I've been working in a Penthouse office install for the last few weeks. It's been painfully heavy on on-site modification. A good tool organization system is an invaluable way of knowing that I'll be equipped for what ever comes my way. Meanwhile, the tile contractor with his messy totes is asking me for relatively basic tools all day long.