Scavetta Renovation and Design's Giant Rolling DeWalt Tool Box

About the Trailer

This trailer is a 7'x14' 2016 Pace American with a 6'6" interior height, a massive upgrade from the previous 6'x12'.

It has 3500 lb. tandem axles and a rear ramp door.

At a 7000 lb. weight rating, it's quite a bit lighter than many tool trailers. Tool trailers can get very heavy very quickly. However, since it's not used for material hauling, they can bump up against that 7000 lb. rating without too much worry.

How They Use Their Tool Trailer

Scavetta's tool trailers have a clear purpose: hauling tools, and as many of them as possible.

This trailer is not used for hauling materials, as many contractors do. That means that space that's often used for material storage on other trailers (like large slots for hauling plywood) can be used for more and better tool organization.

This trailer is meant to be left on the job site for long periods of time while a job is completed.

More of a Mobile Workshop

For a 7' wide trailer, this one has a very open feel that you might mistake for an 8 1/2' wide one. There is lots of open space, excellent lighting, and a long worktop that makes the inside feel more like a workshop than an enclosed cargo trailer.

Despite the open feel, a lot of tools are neatly packed into the trailer. Vito made an excellent use of space in this build.

The Big Workbench

One of the standout features of this trailer is the long workbench on the passenger side. Vito wanted a long countertop so that he'd have working space to organize and stage for projects, lay out drawings, and do quick jobs.

Many contractors use:

• A portable work table setup that they bring on site.
• Possibly a short workbench in their trailer.

If they need a larger work area, they need to grab sawhorses or a Centipede and their table top.

Vito's setup probably covers a lot of jobs where he might need to do work outside, but can do it the trailer without any additional setup. An inside work area is also protected from cold and bad weather.

Permanent Mount Chopsaw

A 7 1/4" DeWalt chopsaw is located in the middle of the workbench. The saw is permanently mounted to the benchtop, and sunk so that the benchtop on either side can act as an extension table. It's perfect for making quick cuts during a job.

Like most of the tools on this trailer, the chopsaw is cordless, but it does have one connection: the dust port. Dust is routed through a hose in the wall to a shop vac that is set up outside of the trailer.

Gone Cordless

Like lots of tradespeople, Vito has gone cordless on most of his tools all of his tools, except his air compressors. Even his nailers are cordless, which still seems to be a hangup for those that do framing.

Going all battery is a large investment, especially for things like the large DeWalt table saws, miter saw, and drills that Vito has, but setup time is drastically reduced without the need to run extension cords.

On a job where there is no grid power, cordless tools can still run all day.

Electrical

The electrical system is pretty simple right now, but since he seems to get a new trailer every 8 months, Vito will probably change that up soon!

The trailer plugs in to the grid with an exterior shore power plug and an extension cord. Even though he doesn't have an onboard battery or inverter, he has a well-thought out electrical system that provides power throughout the trailer. He used MC cable to run wire to various outlets that power a space heater, battery charging station, and lights.

Battery Charging

Batteries and a DeWalt fast charger are located in a shelf above the workbench. The setup is tightly packed and doesn't waste any space.

Generator Backup

Some jobs end up not having power available that would be used to power lights and charge batteries. In that event, Vito pulls out a 3500 watt generator to power the trailer.

Some contractors use onboard deep cycle batteries to power an inverter, but a generator can be lighter and usually less expensive than a good battery setup.

Alarm System

When you have a tool trailer with lots of tools, theft can be a real problem! To deal with this, this trailer has an alarm system that will sound if it's broken into. Normally, it runs off grid power, but if the shore power is disconnected, the alarm system will continue to run off a backup battery.

No More Job Boxes!

There are generally two ways a tradesperson can pull tools out and get them on the job site:

1. Put together Grab 'N Go job kits that are assembled into a cart or carried individually on to the job site.
2. Assemble the necessary tools from your work van or trailer into a tool crate and tote them on to the job site.

Vito used to use the DeWalt Tough Systems tool boxes to bring tools on the job. These tool boxes stack and assemble together to form a cart that you can roll on to the job site. He says he has two complete systems that he doesn't use anymore.

These systems are designed to give you lots of configuration options:

You can snap together almost any organizer and tool box that you want into a tower. You can attach organizers to walls and carts. You can attach tools to their related fastener cases.

Vito didn't like having to remove multiple kits in order to simply open a lid. This probably means he kept his "carts" assembled in the trailer and brought the whole shebang on the job.

These systems are usually more effective when job kits are kept separate on the trailer and then you grab only the ones you need. This keeps you from hauling dead weight onto the job and speeds you up since you're only opening the exact boxes you need.

These systems are also successful when you need to go a long distance with your tools and materials. If you do commercial HVAC where you need to tote your tools long distances, a job kit setup with a cart is ideal. If you install cabinetry in urban apartment buildings, you don't want to be making multiple trips back to your work vehicle.

What did Vito do?

He switched to using a tool crate that he can fill with whatever tools he needs. In residential contracting situations, this is a great method since you usually don't need to travel far to get to the job. If you forget a tool or part, it isn't devastating to your time efficiency as it is when your work van is a 10 minute walk from the job site.

Personal Station

At the front of the trailer is a compact set of shelves that hold a microwave, coffee maker, coffee supplies, bottled water, and paper towels and rags. Microwaves are often thrown in a corner or hang out on a shelf, but Vito's setup is space-conserving and puts all the things you need to eat or drink in a single small space.

Vito's Tips

Vito's got a few cool things that are helpful for organization:

Caulk Tube Slot

A long narrow gap near the front of the trailer is used for tubes of caulk. Caulk tubes rest in a rear tilt so that they don't fall out.

Use a Whiteboard

A whiteboard gets pulled out for doing the figuring on trim layout. It's also used to keep track of low inventory - it's easier to keep track of the things you need in one central location rather than writing your lists on scraps of packaging from your jobs.

Besides keeping track of low inventory, this is also a great place to write down tasks for the next day, or remind yourself of tools and inventory you need to grab from your base shop.

Viewtainers for Tools and Their Small Parts

You probably have some specialized hand tools that are small and come with very small parts. For Vito it's his glue applicator, caulking tool/remover, and miter clamps.

He keeps everything together in small Viewtainers that sit in shelves above his workbench.

Tape Buddy

Vito uses a Tape Buddy for small drywall jobs. It cuts down a little on the time it takes to prime drywall tape. He says it wouldn't work for larger jobs, but for small jobs it really makes a difference.

Conclusion

Scavetta Renovation's contracting tool trailer is incredibly well thought out and looks great. By building other trailers, and having a great eye for detail, they've been able to make something that is extremely functional for a typical contracting day.

We hope to see more!