# Shop in a truck



## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

I've planned to make a shop in a truck and I really think that this topic deserves to be under "sweating for Bucks…" lol
I tryed to search lj but didn't find anything matching. 
I thought that the tiny Delta ts would be in the back of my truck so that I can operate it so that I stand just behind the truck. How would you plan the rest? How thin/thick plywood would you use for the storage/shelf. Have you some advise how to make an out rolling table so that the other end stays in the truck. It would have to be aluminium, I think, because our lovely climate, +87-24F… is so lovely. 
The box is 13'1"x6'9"x5'2". It has double door in the back and one on each side in the front. The main thing would be on site window restoring (Our windows are different. We don't use glue to put the frame together. It is done with 3 or 5 finger joint and wood nails.) so a 2'x6'5" table with some sort of an router jig on top of it will be the main thing. Propably I will have two tables there.
Do you have any qlue of a truck tent that could give shelter to the Bucks sweating restorer?


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## JustJoe (Oct 26, 2012)

FWW did an article decades ago about someone who set up shop in a schoolbus. I thought they also did something about a cargo trailer full of tools. You might track that down.
And the US Army has been selling off their rolling workshops - your basic military shelter on the back of a deuce and a half stuffed with lathes, mills, welders and other cool tools. Might be some ideas there if the wife doesn't mind a few tons of camoflauge parked next to the Prius every night…


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

Wood magazine I believe did a story on small shops and one of them was in the back of a step van.


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

I'm keeping up with this thread. My next shop will be in a trailer.


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## JustJoe (Oct 26, 2012)

The one I thought was FWW wasn't. It was Fine Homebuilding #8 from 1982. Your library might be able to get a copy for you.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

Esko, there is a video on Youtube exactly what you are looking. Ron Paulk's Mobile Wood Shop is the title.


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## redSLED (Mar 21, 2013)

I predict this will be a good, long thread.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

Red, it will short and sweet once he ganders the above…


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

Good video, I can set up my trailer like that.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

*"Esko, there is a video on Youtube exactly what you are looking. Ron Paulk's Mobile Wood Shop is the title."*

Yep, DKV beat me to it. That fellow has a lot of good ideas.


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## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

I am afraid it could be so that I would have to drive the prius and she would take the oshkosh…


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## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

I had forgot Ron! I saw it years ago. Thank's mait for bringing it up! We have so wierd regulations that I have to see what the law says about Ron's truck in Finland. That would be wee heavy.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

@esko…remember Ron is a home builder so he is geared for all sorts of carpentry. You could scale back a tad and still have a really good mobile work station.

Pay close attention to his portable work table. Easy and quick to set up or take down. He has videos for building the able also.


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## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

Hello guys!
Couldn't yet find the article in wood Magazine and it really would be good service if my library here in Pöytyä could digg up that FHB #8 1982… But I found really good looking trailers 
https://www.google.fi/search?q=tool+trailer&client=safari&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=TU8wUpTBFMqL4ATd74HABg&ved=0CDAQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=672#
with google picture search (You know how unfair it is, you can get a trailer for 5000$ for the same trailer I have to pay four times more! ) and some vans too. Take a look at this one 
http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/06/11/benefits-of-a-work-van/
But this handy equipment blew my mind 




Here the manufacturer 
http://www.slide-master.com/products/166-bedslide
Havn't had any extra time the last 4weeks to consentrate on this thing. These I found yesterday.
Yes and Mr. Paulk is amazing. Really something to watch and think.

It would be perfect to have a place for all of my tools in the truck. Basicly I do same things as Paulk, but old houses are my speciality. i understand them and know what they need. from bottom till chimney top. You have many names to the professional workers who repair or fix the house and its good but as a Finn it's hard to get knowing all the terms, lol.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/80953

The above link is great for an onsite work bench. I think he sells his 
plan for the workbench.


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## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

Thank's waho! Great link!! I watch'd his own web-pages and all he'd planed/made. Yes and he sells them 7€/$ each. I didn't catch were he is from. I have had something similar in mind, rolling work benche but as he expresed it takes lots of time to plan such things and for the moment I don't have the spare time and that's why I'm interested how somebody else have done it.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

You're welcome Esko!

I think Greedo's from Belgium. I'm looking forward to what you build Esko.
Keep us posted if and when you have time.

Good fortune going forward Esko.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

Esko, how about a project update.


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## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

Sorry DKV. Nothing real to say. I have expressed my self in my blog. I've been so extremely bussy the last 30 days that the idea is still only in my head. Now the weather has turned to cold again I have all the "must do before winter" jobs and the renovating of the old stall to my new shop in front of me. 
I definently will borrow something from Paulks solutions but allsofrom that guy who had an out sliding box in his van. 
To much work to be done that can't just consentrate on one thing.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

I'd come and help, but you're a little too far away, though I'd love to see Finnland.


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## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

I value your thought firefighter. 
My house is allways open and if you are not afraid of dogs you have a place to stay. But please email me in advance so we (5 DoRo & 2 spizhund) know to wait for you!


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## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

One thing came to my mind. How about using ambulance bed or the thing people lies on when they ride the thing. Have you heard of anybody using it? That would be an easy way to get the tools onboard and offboard. I don't know if I can buy a bed from someware. Have to check it.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

Neat idea for a portable workbench.


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## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

The idea with the truck is that it would be somekind of a MPV. First it would be a platform for my mobile shop. Secondary we could transport hay for our two horses and third the truck makes it possible for me and my wife to go for a longer trip since it's impossible to find somebody who could take care of our dog's. That's why a "roll-on/roll-of system would be the best. Ofcourse the extra weight in the back is a bonus in winter even I have spike weels both front and back.


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## Greenie (Sep 4, 2012)

I am a professional woodworker and former police officer. I have had a mobile workshop since 1997 and wouldn't do my work any other way. My truck is a Ford E-350 with a 16 foot long, 8 foot wide, 8 foot tall box. I can give several suggestions from experience that will help you.
1. Take your time getting set up. Rushing to start working out of the truck will only make it harder to upgrade later. Try to get it right the first time.
2. Organization is key. Make this a priority. Without knowing where your 3/4" counterbore is when you need it, means work slowdown and inefficiency. 
3. Bring everything. Try to build your storage cabinets to allow you to store as many of your tools as possible. Murphy's Law, (the construction variation) states that the tool you didn't bring is the one you will need most.
4. Build your cabinets very strongly. A moving vehicle makes viberation. Viberation is not your friend. Heavy tools store separately and use rubber to dampen movement. I cannot overstate how important this is to address. 
5. Lastly, (but there are many, many additional points I could (make) .....Weigh your truck before you make any modifications. Weigh it when your done. The difference is what you need to upgrade your leaf springs. If you add 2500 pounds of cabinets and tools, and you have a 1 ton chassis, you're already overloaded, and that's with no materials or projects on board. If your weifgt goes up 2500 lbs, add 5000 lb helper springs, and maybe air bags. You will never regret this upgrade.

Hope this info helps…

Grant


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## skiroy56 (Jul 23, 2011)

I have a 40" Wells Cargo trailer that I have been working out of for the last 20 years.
The back 17" is my work shop and the front is RV living quarters. The shop has gone thru several changes in layout over the years but I am pretty satisfied with the current floor plan. My only issue to date is dust collection, I do need to get a grip on that!! I would post a couple of pictures but my attempts so far have not worked.
This trailer has traveled from Florida to Maine to Arizona to Wyoming. I would not even venture to guess the miles over 300K that it has traveled in the last 20 years.
At 20 years old and 21,000 # it is time for an overhaul or build another to make my next 10 years.
The greatest part of this shop is that no tool is more than a few footsteps away. I have found it to be extremely efficient and I am able to be very productive in this small space.
Everything has it's place and everything is bolted down and enclosed while in motion.
Any help attaching pictures would be appreciated.
Laurence


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## robscastle (May 13, 2012)

You may wish to talk to Patron, AKA David, I think the made a living being mobile.


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## Esko (Aug 15, 2013)

Hi Greenie, Skiroy56 and Robcastle.
Many thank's for your reply's.
All information adds the knowledge and I apriciate If I can contact you later in this topic.
I'm in a hurry or panic. I have to fix 3 window's and the sky is full of wather and snow. (I don't what it is in english, "Loska" in Finnish. ) + all the other thing's that a comming winter bring's.


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