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.
Caleb Tarleton
Caleb
What is a cable lock?
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.
Caleb
By the way, I did find 1/8" door skin plywood at Home Depot the other night.
OK
Holes in the lid and box... How does it not leak??
Seems like any fitting is easy to break off as well.
I have not found a hasp that survives either.
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 .
Caleb
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.
OK, I'll bite
only I need it to be 11 feet long if you can get it. Send pix, I'm interested
10' is it, otherwise price will jump significantly.
How you ask? Easy! I went by a construction site and found a scrap piece of 24-inches diameter, 3/4-inch thick, white, smooth, PVC sewar pipe. It was about 9-feet long. I cut some old acrylic into circles that fit over the ends (no manufactured caps available and they would've been too expensive anyway), used L-brackets as inner guides, lined it with insulated tubing and added hasps and padlocks to make the end covers. Painted them white to match the tube. I also cut some plywood into two cradles which are bolted to the trailer frame to hold it in place and support it. Multiple coats of outdoor heavy-duty white paint on them.
And voila! A 7-foot long storage tube, big enough to hold everything from boom to tiller to sails to PFD's - everything! <img src=
alt=
/> It's so sturdy you can stand on it and it cost me practically nothing! Just the cost of the mounting hardware and end-cap hardware.
But he said 7-foot long storage tube. I thought the tube was 9-feet? What happened to the other two feet?
Ah! I cut a foot off of each end and then cut them in half. Lined the insides with foam and outdoor carpeting and mounted brackets to the bottom. Ditched the rollers on the trailer which could put dents in the hulls over time and made four foot long hull cradles to baby-soft support the huls. Even added upright pvc tubes with refelective tape the back ones to help guide the boat into the trailer at steep ramps when the trailer goes under.
Storage tube and hull cradles all for under a hundred bucks! I'm rather proud of my home-made ingenuity. <img src=
alt=
/>
The whole system works great except for one thing: If you launch the boat down a ramp off the trailer and dunk the trailer, make sure to remove BOTH end caps (not just the rear one) which with their insulated tubing forming nearly airtight seals... you wind up getting a 7-foot long by 2-foot wide floatation device. Enough to float the boat, trailer, rigging, and screaming crewman clinging to the trampoline! Found that one out the hard way the first time. <img src=
alt=
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Yeah - I know what you're all thinking,
let's see some pics of this thing!
I've got them. They're just on the PC at home, so ya'll have to wait until tonight if I get any requests to post them. <img src=
alt=
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our bending breaks and shears stop at 10' as does most material supply. you can special order 12' stuff but it's mucho expensive.
. . . But officer, it's scrap, I tell you!
<img src=
alt=
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Yeah, my first sailbox was made of
scrap
2x4's and plywood I
found
at a construction site, too. Luckily, that was about 25 years ago. I think the statute of limitations has expired by now. <img src=
alt=
/>
I wondered who was taking all my building materials off my job sites. I have made the sail tube out of pvc but it is real heavy and cost a lot around 100.00 for 12' ( getting it from a construction site is steeling unless you ask first). I have had a sheet metal shop make about 16 boxes at a good price out of galvanized sheet metal 10'x 22
x14
. The first one's I made about 6 years ago were 125.00 each and have lasted great. The newer one's were around 250.00 each. I have added a 4" piece of pvc to one end to hold the spin pole. The drops from the pvc pipe do make great hull cradles. I put mine on the grill on a piece of foil at 250 deg and then shaped them with a piece of wood cut to the shape I wanted.
For the record - I DID ask permission for that piece of pvc so it wasn't stolen. And yes, it's heavy. Very heavy. About 100-pounds heavy. But it's on the trailer which can handle it. <img src=
alt=
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