SPORT LOCKER AND SPORT LOCKER MAX

I used to have one of those 'beach chair' fibreglass boxes, and it really sucked. I had to install louvres because it stayed damp inside. The lid wasn't well thought out and I had to tie it to keep it from flying off. The whole thing was flimsy.

There's a guy here who goes and picks up two aluminium truck-bed-style tool boxes, cuts off one end of each, and has them welded together. Prolly the same price or less, if you're connected to someone in fabrication, and I think you are, yes?

Bob:

They are $800 now. I have one. As Tami says, stuff will stay wet unless you dry it before storage and you must lock lid. I pick mine up off highway once already. I would build this and go to construction site and get scrap black drain pipe for sail. Good luck. This should be about the same size as $800 one and just glass it.

http://www.thebeachcats.com/modules.php?...r=0&thold=0

Doug

You'll be better off just going to a metal shop and having a box built. I've had boxes built for me for less than $350 out of galvanized steel, and less than $500 for aluminum. They will last longer, and are much more sturdy.

Hi Bob -

I picked up a Sport Locker used for about $200 a year ago. Despite securing the forward lid with something I was sure would hold, it blew off anyway. A new one is $170 - for just the freakin' lid. Kirk and I both ordered one, so I know he had the problem as well. I like my older, locking, vented diamondplate aluminum box much better - I think at $800 and shipping, you can get a good metal box made. <img src=

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ahhhh, but the price of steel and aluminum have sky rocketed in the last couple of years.

His latest box is about a year old.

Granted, I did the fabrication myself and paid a welder to stitch it together, but I put together a couple 10'X22

X12

Aluminum boxes for about $375 each (my cost for material and paying the welder). Before you guys get any ideas, it was a pain in the butt and I really don't care to do it again.

I had a Sport Locker on the Mainland that I stored all my non-sailing stuff in. It held up fine. I never lost a lid as I always locked it before travel. If I had to do it again I'd get the Max as the Sport Locker has to be assembled.

Reading some of the other posts an even better solution would be to fabricate one out of aluminum. It'll last for ever and it's much lighter than steel. Plus, when the angle of the sun is right you can blind the tailgater behind you.

I'm still of the opinion that building a framework of 1

x1

(or 1

X2

), skinning with luan plywood, and then giving a coat of glass will give you a light, highly customizable, storage box. Next one I build will probably be done this way.

How much weight would it support?

I had a pure wooden box on my old cat trailer, and while it began life as sturdy enough for me to stand on, left out to the elements for a season made the top soft, and the whole thing weighted a metric butt-ton. Make sure if you do go wood, you only use it as a light frame that will be covered with glass.

Was it glassed and painted on the outside and, at least, epoxy coated on the inside? You should be able to expect it to last almost as long as the boat if built properly.

How much weight can it handle? Considerably more than the sturdy (as far aluminum boxes go) .090in wall thickness aluminum boxes I built.

I have the large Sport Locker. It stays damp inside, the flap at one end doesn't seal tightly, and the top lid leaks. Draw your own conclusion.
PS It was Free.

I've got some core cell in the basement, I was planning on building a core cell, fiberglass, epoxy sandwich trailor box. Now I'm worried all the hard edges on the stuff inside will poke holes in the laminate. So, I'm thinking about adding Kevlar to the mix. I originally was going to add thin strips of Black Locust (hard, strong and water/rot resistant) to the bottom. Has anyone worked with Kevlar Veil?
http://www.fibreglast.com/showproducts-category-category-14.html
Kevlar fabric is a little pricy at $49 a yard. How about a wood skin? Can any of the engineers on this forum help me with this?

Sorry for hyjacking your thread Bob.

By the way, the vision is a box painted the same color as the boat.
Bill

.25oz veil? Wow...that's whisper light - not much meat in there. It might have some use in the model boat we're constructing but that's pretty thin to consider it 'structural' in anything human-sized. I've got some 1.5oz e-glass cloth that is like silk.

Seriously, what I said before, build a stud based wall with 1X's flat. Connect the ends, sides, and bottom (perhaps build the top with the 1X's on end on the inside of the side walls thereby forming an inset lip for a lid). Horizontally knee brace the major corners up high and down low with small triangle pieces of plywood. Skin that structure with thin plywood (luan is fine). Fiberglass the exterior with 5oz cloth or better (polyester resin is fine if you are going to paint).

paint

the inside with epoxy resin (better moisture resistance if you are not going to paint the inside). Then sand and fair (if you care) the exterior and paint with a decent urethane.

I would consider building an entire trailer wide box under the cat with two lengthwise top lids and maybe one rear access hatch. Maybe even seal up one side / 2/3's of the box with a drain for stowing wet gear for the ride home.

It would weigh a little more than an aluminum box but it will cost a little less and be highly customizable.

Jake,

I don't know much about it since I inherited the box from the boat's previous owner. I know it was huge, wood, painted and thats about it.

Now that I've got some creative juices flowing, I'm feeling like putting together a box using all that 2" structural foam I've got in the garage. Kate would kill me.

I've had the sport locker box for years. I've been very happy with it. I've never lost my lid since I always lock it. If you forget to lock it you would lose the lid.

The Max is only slightly bigger. The freight to get the one piece box was outragous and that is why I bought the one that you put together. For your Acat I'd expect the regular box to be plenty. However, if the Max is not much more money I'd go ahead and buy it.

I like the Sport Locker because it never rusts or deteriates. I did have to patch it a couple times with some fibreglass but that was easy.

If you get the assemble yourself box make sure you use the backing washers for the rivots. The washers help spread the load. I've seen lots of people have problems that just used the rivots without the washers. The rivots will pull right through the fiberglass.

Mike Hill
www.stlouiscats.com

oh yeah, I meant to mention that I've found the fiberglast site to be chock full of information but also full of very high prices. For more reasonable supplies, try www.aircraftspruce.com or US Composites at http://www.shopmaninc.com/index.html

Jake - you're right on. That's what I did, and despite my amatureish woodworking skills, I had a sizeable, lightweight, box I could stand on that held up very well for two seasons. Cost was under $100

1

x1

frame covered in doorskin (1/8"?). I rounded the edges with a router, laid up a bit of glass on the edges, and coated the whole thing with polyester.

The only spots that got ugly were the drop doors on the ends because I didn't glass them right.

Where did you get the doorskin? Off a door? I can find 1/8 ply. Home depot has 1/4 inch, which is ok, but probably overkill

Bill

Bill,

I found some 3/16" luan plywood at Home Depot or Lowes. I can't recall which, but I do recall that one had it and the other did not.

Bob

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

Carl,

If you have pictures, please e-mail me. My AHPC

box

is starting to die!

Bob

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.

Since we're in the same box, as it were...

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...

I've searched in depth for aluminum truck boxes and you'll be doing well to find one (retail) for less than $299.

Bob

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.

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=

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