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Need Help Best Tools/ Equipment For Traffic Sign Fabrication/ Installation

TrafficTrailblazer

TrafficTrailblazer

Sign Technician
Hello, I hope everyone is having a great day!

I just really wanted to get some ideas for the best tools and brands so I can upgrade my sign truck. I work for the city and can buy any tools and equipment I need.

This is what I currently have:
-Old craftsman wrenches
-Old Hammer
-Very worn lightweight post hole diggers
-Brand new impact, drill, sawzall & grinder (dewalt)
-Broken shovel stem + handle (tamper tool)
-Water tank on truck (sign cleaning)

I considered getting a cheap pneumatic tamper tool and putting an air compressor on my truck, but not sure if it will save me that much time/ effort compared to using a stick to pack in the sand/ dirt around sign posts.

Im looking to REALLY upgrade my tools and equipment and need your advice on some of the best brands or even some specific tools I may not know I need! We buy metal blanks and print/ cut the signs using an HP 365 Latex printer and a Summa 150 cutter. We are pretty covered for shop supplies, so my main priority is upgrading my truck for when im in the field, but if you have reccomendations on shop supplies i would love to hear that as well. Im open to anything so please dont hold back.

Thanks!
-TrafficTrailblazer
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
I dunno what else you need to install street signs, that's a pretty limited scope. Sounds like you already know what you need based on that list of old broken tools. Think though what you use and go stand in the tool isle of Lowes and look around. I install a mix of everything so hard to tell what would be useful to you
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
If you dig a lot of post holes.... Get an earth auger. You'll still need the post hole digger for when you hit a rock, but we purchased one for a job when we had to dig 50+ holes...it saved so much time and was worth the few hundred bucks and saved our backs. We got the cheap Ryobi one because we purchased it specifically for a job just to see if it'd work... It's not bad, and maybe a Dewalt / Milwaukee one would be better - we don't do TOO many holes aside from that one job... but every time we have to do some digging, thats the first tool our installers grab. I'd say it works in 9/10 locations.... All depends if theres huge tree roots / Rocks, or something else in the way.

If you're using HS1 brackets... A Cordless ratchet is nice as well....We just had another job where we had to put up 400 signs, swapping out a parking lots signs with a new provider - 90% of them were unbolt an old sign, re-bolt a new one... The ratchet worked perfectly. A drill works as well, and would probably be faster... but the ratchet allowed getting into tight spaces (When doing a front and a back HS1 bracket, and then needing to adjust where the height is... a drill wont fit, the cheapo ryobi ratchet system we have does).


Actually.... I'd say invest in some ryobi tools, as dumb and counter productive as it may be. We use milwuakee for 90% of our items... and anything we know we'll be using once a week, or even once a month. but having a bit of Ryobi in the ecosystem allows us to purchase "Specialized" tools on a whim.... We've bought a ratchet, earth auger, Glue gun, Grinder, we have a cheapo drill just as a backup... Got the stapler... And probably half a dozen other tools that stay in our shop 99% of the time, but when we need them... boy are they worth the $100 they cost.... If a tool can save 1 hour of labor over its lifetime, it's worth the $100. I wouldn't spend the $3-400 per tool Dewalt/ Milwuakee wants for the amount of use we get out of them.... but its nice to have them.
 
kcollinsdesign

kcollinsdesign

Old member
Just as important as having decent tools is storage and organization. I carry several tool boxes (or heavy duty tool bags), each organized and stocked with tools for different applications. I also keep my power tools in their original cases, stocked with bits, blades, and attachments (and extra batteries). I also have several hardware organizers I keep stocked with commonly used fasteners and other bits of hardware and electrical supplies. I buy fasteners in bulk which I keep organized on a shelf in the shop, and restock my mobile supplies from there, buying more when my shop supplies start to run low (avoiding multiple trips to the hardware store which gets expensive).
Battery management is important too. Learn how to keep your batteries healthy by charging them correctly, and keep extra batteries with you on the truck, charging depleted batteries when you get back (I also have an inverter installed in my truck).
I carry a duffel filled with rope, twine, cable ties, a cheap grommet kit, duct tape, baling wire, rags, paper towels, glass cleaner, and WD40. I also have a dedicated vinyl installation tool box that holds a 24" plastic level along with squeegees, x-acto knives, extra blades, scissors, window scrapers and a collection of hand tools that I have found handy for working with vinyl. I also keep extra power supplies, ballasts, lamps, LED modules, sockets, etc. on the truck, along with a few sticks of aluminum angle and tubing and a few pieces of 2x4 lumber.
Organization is key, along with keeping your mobile supplies stocked and ready to go. Spending time looking for (and remembering) everything you need for a job is a time drain; I like knowing everything is stocked and ready to go.
 
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