# Securing shovels in van



## smoldrn (Oct 4, 2010)

Just bought a van the other day after years of working out of a truck.
Had them put some shelving in, but now I'm trying to figure out a good way to carry a few shovels besides laying them on the floor.
Anybody have any good pics?


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

I just lay them on the floor. I have to put them outside on the ground when I have to walk into and out of the van though. I hate stumbling on them when I leave them in there.

My closet auger in in a piece of 6" sewer pipe that hangs from the roof. But when I did that with the shovels, they would slide out and bang the glass window of the back door. I was afraid that they'd break the glass one day, so onto the floor they went.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

...


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

Tommy plumber said:


> ...


Nice van Tommy, how long did that setup take?


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

gear junkie said:


> Nice van Tommy, how long did that setup take?















Thanks. I don't remember. I like to build stuff so I made the wooden shelves but the other side of the van has metal shelves that came with the van when I bought it from Stan {89 Plumbum} who's a member here.


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

I just don't know how you guys do it. I see a lot of free space. My van is filled top to bottom not an inch to spare. When I finish a job Other than some abs and other fittings I need to get parts every time I finish a job because I don't have room for more than 1 or 2.

Do you guys shop on customer's time?


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

Tango said:


> I just don't know how you guys do it. I see a lot of free space. My van is filled top to bottom not an inch to spare. When I finish a job Other than some abs and other fittings I need to get parts every time I finish a job because I don't have room for more than 1 or 2.
> 
> Do you guys shop on customer's time?


well you state you dont go and look at jobs, or only a few, part of looking at a job is to make a material list so when job is being worked on you have all the material you need in the truck, plus a few extras just incase.. I cant remember the last time I was short on material for a pre planned job...if a customer askes for extra work when their and i dont have parts on the truck I tell the customer that getting parts is in the price, but most of the time unless its a small extra I tell the people we can schedule it another day if I have other work that day or their job is going to take the whole day up..


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

ShtRnsdownhill said:


> well you state you dont go and look at jobs, or only a few, part of looking at a job is to make a material list so when job is being worked on you have all the material you need in the truck, plus a few extras just incase.. I cant remember the last time I was short on material for a pre planned job...if a customer askes for extra work when their and i dont have parts on the truck I tell the customer that getting parts is in the price, but most of the time unless its a small extra I tell the people we can schedule it another day if I have other work that day or their job is going to take the whole day up..


In what 2 years I only went twice on the customer's time to get a special long tub spout and another rarity. Every service job I do I have everything on board. That means my van is full to the brim. It's filled to the brim but I can only hold only a few of those parts.

I don't look at jobs that need a repair or installation, I have everything I need. I'm sure you only go look at big jobs not jobs that take an hour or two. That would be foolish.

What I mean was since I see pictures of vans that don't seem to be loaded to the max for me that means you go to a customer (like you say) make a list and go shop. If I would do that here people would be pissed and never call me back. Just this morning a customer was super angry the last plumber didn't have a drain cable long enough to do the kitchen line and ended up paying him an extra 400$ to go and get one. 



True I don't go look at big jobs people think a full bathroom gut is 200$. Just yesterday a guy wanted to replace 2 showers and faucets, 2 sinks and while I was there replace the toilet seat. He was expecting a one hour job.

Then a guy wanted to know if he had a BWV in the basement, he thought the camera inspection was free, my time was also free. I had another guy last week, same thing but he had a dvd. I posted it in the soap thread.

Today a guy wanted a full house copper repipe and thought it wouldn't go over a thousand bucks. 

Before christmas my only true reno I had to do 2 contracts so the guy could hide a good portion of the bill to his wife because she wasn't going to pay more than 1200$ for a complete bathroom gut.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

My van used to be a rental and as such has these hard rock maple 1x3's running along the walls. I put my shovel, auger, and hook behind one of them which runs above the passenger side wheel well. I am sure there is tons of dirt down in there which has fallen off my shovel. I make use of pretty much every nook and cranny including the doors. I put 2x4's behind the maple slats to make shelves for my glues, screws, tapes, etc....


Hanging my power tools was probably one of the best choices I made. They can't get covered up and made inaccessible. For the sawzall and small hilti the bits/blades are right there with them. I keep a battery in every tool and I have an inverter and battery charger mounted on the wall behind the big snake.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

More pics


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

skoronesa said:


> More pics


That is some serious hillbilly pipe rack! Do you have to constantly remove everything from the center isle to grab something in the back? :vs_whistle:


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Tango said:


> That is some serious hillbilly pipe rack! Do you have to constantly remove everything from the center isle to grab something in the back? :vs_whistle:



I don't understand what you mean by center aisle to reach stuff in the back of what part?. In addition to that pipe rack I have two 4" tubes up top. The inside one is just more 1-1/2" pvc and 1/2"/3/4" L because I use a lot and some 4" because it's not on top. There is some rando crap in there too, usually a 2x4 as well for mounting stuff. It is hard to tell but those pipes angle back a bit so everything is easy to reach from the back doors.


I am tall enough that I can reach most stuff from the doors. The three shelves with the sheet metal doors I do have to get in for. I keep foam pads on the floor just inside the side and back doors for kneeling on. I can reach the shop vac and the hose behind it without getting in.

I also have to get in to get the rest of the stuff under the shop vac and the buckets behind the big snake which have pvc fittings, extra screws/hardware, and other crap I have forgotten about.


Ask me for a part and I bet I have it in there. believe it or not even with all this stuff I can still slide a 60 gallon heater in on top.







.


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

skoronesa said:


> I don't understand what you mean by center aisle to reach stuff in the back of what part?.
> .


I bet you have to remove several things to be able to get some item at the back or at the bottom.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Tango said:


> I bet you have to remove several things to be able to get some item at the back or at the bottom.



Oh, I thought you were referring to the pipe rack. Also, I come on here at the end of the day when my comprehension is impaired 


If, and I mean IF everything is put away than only the stuff in the trash barrel or behind the snake do I really have to dig for. But usually I have a couple boxes of parts I haven't sorted away yet on top of my tool boxes in the middle. The big cabinet with WB parts isn't that bad to go through, most of it is stuff I usually don't need and the important stuff is on top to the front.


It's all a trade off isn't it? If I didn't do the drain snaking I would have normal shelving on either side like the rest of the guys. But when I need to fit an extra snake drum, or the sectional, or god forbid the duct cleaner not having shelving on one side really helps. It's a lot easier fitting water heaters in too. Still in the box I just slide them right in. The old ones get slid on top of the flattened box after the change out. Any water goes out the rear door seals when I hit the gas :biggrin:









.


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## PathMaker (May 10, 2013)

Years ago, when I worked for other people, I struggled with tripping over shovels in the van too. 

I designed a system that utilized mop and broom holders (spring loaded clips) and mounted them on the ceiling of the van. As it was only a sheet metal frame rail across the ceiling, I cut some 1x2 strips of hard wood and used wide head lath screws to secure them to the frame rails. Then I mounted the spring clips the wood strips, being sure to align them across two beams.

I dont have any pictures but here's a screen shot of the type of clips I used.


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