Are the big locking boxes secure or would I be a fool to leave tools on the job site in one of these?
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It depends on the jobsite.
It only happened to us once. There was a lockbox on the door. The burglars knocked it off and got the key and got in. This was a small commercial mall.
Now the problem is that they put the padlocks way up inside shields which makes it very hard to open them even if you have the key. Anyways, the foreman, who had the only key, was often late, so we took to not locking the things up. The general would arrive on time and let us in but if the box was locked we couldn't accomplish much.
So the lesson would be is forget the factory locking arrangement and use a big hasp. Also give the responsible crew members a key or the code.
The location was in a middle class area. I think it was an inside job since their target seemed to be an old kiln. Not too many people knew it was there and they took two rolls of MC cable from our unlocked boxes.
~Peter
I think the boxes are safe but its kinda like a portable safe. I've seen guys bolts them to the floor but if someone wants your stuff........
No matter what you do, you're only keeping honest people out. A thief will get anything they want.
I have 2 and have been very pleased.
I'm told that the hinge is a weak point on some models.
Might have been Dieselpig who had recent experience with this.
The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
With today's battery powered die grinders nothing is very safe. Had a jobbox on site & told the helper to lock the box and put away the key. He comes back and when asked about the key he said he put it away. IN the box. Went to the truck, got the grinder and had it open in under 5 minutes.
locked my keys in job box once, cordless drill 3/8" bit, less than a minute to get inside. The only way to make it safe is to weld a cover over the lock so that they cant get a direct line to drill the lock out. A buddy of mine kept getting his tools stole at the beer joint, he left a rattle snake in the box for a few days and cured the problem.
My biggest concen has always been that the WHOLE BOX would grow legs. I use a 20' logging chain laced through the handles, ladders, heaters, compressors, scaffold, etc.The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
Sprinkler fitters had a roll around Knaack box at a new Sears store. Chained it to a colum every evening. Since it was close to the recieving dock and it was really big, it was the target of choice for the thieves. They cut the chain and rolled it out and tried to get it on a pickup truck from a 4' high dock.
We found the box with a Ford tailgate kind of mangled under it the next morning :)
I bet that thing made a hell of a noise comin off that dock and smashing that tailgate. We envisioned them with the box leaning back agianst the dock, the tailgate bent down on the bumper, and them thinking "we got get out of here fast", jumping in the truck an pulling away. The Knaack box then just finishe ripping the tailgate off.
It took a forklift to get that box back inside.
Nope.I'd used this one for 8 years, just moved into a new house, fully packed it with all my framing stuff, next day zilch.The locks held, the latches didn't. Just enough play to get that little crowbar and a piece of rebar under it. Winterlude, Winterlude, my little daisy,
Winterlude by the telephone wire,
Winterlude, it's makin' me lazy,
Come on, sit by the logs in the fire.
The moonlight reflects from the window
Where the snowflakes, they cover the sand.
Come out tonight, ev'rything will be tight,
Winterlude, this dude thinks you're grand.
We've broke into ours a few times.
I think the easiest way would be to call a locksmith and pay him to drill them out.
We've never lost anything from them. WE've used them for about 7 years. A great secondary solution would be to put an alarm inside. Or, post signs telling everyone that they have already been ID'd by cameras and neighbors.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I own and use several Knaack boxes but they are mostly to keep tools organized and dry, and to prevent no-brainer thefts. They are not hard to break into.
If you use a Master A1 lock with the brass cylinder then they get drilled out.
If you use a Master 1725 resettable tumbler lock then they get roto-hammered. Those are the locks I currently use and we had to break in once when one somehow malfunctioned.
If you use "unbreakable" padlocks then they cut open the box itself with a cordless jigsaw or angle grinder.
I am going to switch to the "unbreakable" padlocks and hope that the noise of cutting open a box would be an adequate deterrent in the quiet neighborhoods I work in. If you are in an urban environment, or out in the sticks where no one will hear, the forget it, take your tools home.
HfH in Biloxi has been using PODS (portable on demand storage). About the size of a shipping container, with a relatively lightweight tambour door. I didn't get any indication that they were having trouble with them.But then maybe the folks around Biloxi are more trustworthy than average. Gotta be about 10% of them now that know the combo of the HfH lock boxes, but they don't appear to have been a problem either.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
And I mentioned here about a year ago containers that were being used by abatement crews at our plant. Again the size of a small shipping container, but built like what they are -- dumpsters. Covered, with a large swinging door on one end. The weak point would be the latch.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Whether to get such a box, which box to get, and whether it's effective depends on many things - not least how you plan to use it.
Sure, there have been jobs here where the thieves arrived with flatbed trucks, torches, and forklifts .... and took everything. That, though, is the extreme.
Besides tool storage, the boxes have many other uses. You can use them as "tool boxes" for major tools and their accessories (for example, place all your pipe threading stuff in one). With a little work, they can serve as work stations. (Wouldn't a chop saw be easier to use if it were set atop one?) Some have lids that make excellent plan desks. And, of course, everything is kept out of the weather.
They are also useful for storing, transporting, and organizing your parts. On some jobs, after you leave, the customer likes to come and try to "help" .... locking up the parts is necessary. It's also a good way to preserve those pieces that need to be saved for the end of the job - light trim, grills, etc.
DeWalt is one - I assume there are others - selling a security system that uses the cell phone network to protect your stuff. Simply put, the box gets moved, you get a call. I do not have direct experience with this, but I like the idea.
For me, the biggest drawback is the size. Even empty, these can weigh hundreds of pounds. Loading / unloading them in your truck, getting them across broken earth into the site, etc., are challenges not to be discounted.
I have two 2'x2'x4' jobsite tool chests and several larger storage boxes with differing designs. One of the jobsite boxes is a Greenlee which has two padlocks that are recessed behind a metal panel. It can be a pain to get the key in sometimes, but it would be much more difficult to drill out the padlocks than on the other jobsite box. The other jobsite box is a Home Depot (Orange) one that also has two padlocks, but these padlocks slide into openings that leave the ends of the padlocks exposed, which would mean fairly easy drilling. When loaded down with tools, each would probably require a forklift to get into the back of a pickup. At least they were sufficient to protect the tools when my garage was broken into several months ago and about $2000 of other tools and equipment were taken.The other storage boxes/cabinets are outside on some property I own. I don't keep much of value in them but they do protect things from the weather. The brands are both Knaack and Jobox. Some are like bookshelves with locking doors in the front and are about 6' high. Others are chest type. The tool storage boxes with an angled top seem like the a sturdy wrecking bar could bend up the top enough to get some of the tools out even if the padlocks were breached. I think the design of the smaller jobsite storage chests are probably more secure than the larger ones that I have.
Every one of them that I have purchased was said to be "drill proof". I then went straight home and drilled holes in all of them while mounting to a trailer.
I'm sure they don't mean the box itself is drill proof--they're all made of mild steel and you can drill or cut right thru it. I made a bunch of cuts in 1/4" plate yesterday with a cordless angle grinder. They might be trying to say the lock setup is drill proof, but if you can see to put the key in then you can put a drill there too.
They only keep the honest people honest.
The boxes are easy to get into, whether a large crowbar, Partner saw, grinder or torch is used.
They can be wheeled into a truck and picked hrough later.