Organization Tips for a Deep Tack Trunk?

[Amy3996]

I recently acquired a tack trunk and didn’t really grasp the size of it until I went to pick it up. This thing is massive (36”Lx29”Wx30.5D”).

Good news is there’s plenty of room for everything I need to store and then some. Bad news is it’s sort of turning into a bottomless pit that’s difficult to keep organized. It’s easily waist high on me (I’m only 5’4”), so half the battle is being able to reach everything, too.

Any suggestions?

[Displaced_Yankee]

Do you know someone who is kind of handy? Could they make you a “false bottom” of sorts? I see this in my head, but I will probably mess up trying to describe it…but here goes:

I am picturing a thin piece of plywood or MDF, that is an inch or smaller than your L and W dimensions. This will make it super easy to get in and out. Maybe two handhold-size cutouts so you don’t bang your fingers along the edges of the trunk lifting it in and out. For me, I would keep things like quarter sheets, fly sheets, winter blankets/turnouts clean and folded underneath. This would make the “bottom” higher while being mostly level. Any small items would need to be kept in containers, so they don’t roll off the edge of your false bottom.

Or, given the length, maybe two pieces (one 24" x 29" ish and one 12" x 29" ish). You could store blankets on one side and maybe standing wraps, polos or supplement containers on the other side, but at two different heights?

Does that make sense on a message board like it looks in my head?

[2DogsFarm]

I can visualize @Displaced_Yankee 's false bottom solution
You could also look for the stacked baskets I’ve seen that are cutout on one side. Stacked on interlocking legs, you can lift off or reach in for stuff.
Like these:

https://www.harborfreight.com/large-clear-stacking-bin-67134.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12169617963&campaignid=12169617963&utm_content=116466569469&adsetid=116466569469&product=67134&store=3350&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwfiaBhC7ARIsAGvcPe55fpM6bmQXbe9N7jWWKc7gaV27x3QJL5qCBmx0hLznIAJrvNHuSeEaAlaREALw_wcB

[TinFoilHat]

This post is coming at the PERFECT time as I’m joining a barn that requires tack trunks.

Here’s what I’m doing (my trunk is similar to your size):

• one of those car trunk organizers with a flip lid on one side (takes up a little over half of the length) for boots, polos, fly masks, lunge stuff and anything else that is smaller that I’d need to exercise my guy
• a couple of the XL clothes storage bag things from Amazon for blankets (I’m a blanket minimalist so I’ll have 2) - these will be stacked on the other side of the car trunk organizer which then should fill the length
• the car trunk will have a flat lid so from there I’ll do plastic storage containers labeled for these I won’t reach for too often + extra med kit supplies
• grooming items, bridle bag, and most reached for items on top

I will have 2 saddle racks so one will be for the saddle and one will be for saddle pads. Otherwise I think that has me covered. A stocked horse med kit will be in one of those banker boxes on outside of tack box - that’s not something I want to be digging for in an emergency.

[Renn_aissance]

Mine is about the same size as yours, and has a bandage lid, a sliding tray, and a grooming tote. My suggestion is to think of it in segments and organize it vertically according to items you need to access daily (at the top,) regularly (underneath the top layer, but in open storage like a milk crate,) and infrequently (bottom layer, in their own box.) Here is how mine is organized.

Bandage lid has 2 cubbies the size of polo wraps and one for quilts. Polo Cubby 1: Jar of horse treats, crop. Quilt cubby: Baby pads, rolled up- I can fit 8. Polo Cubby 2: Standing bandages, polo wraps.

Segment 1: Grooming tote area

• Top layer: Grooming tote. In addition to the brushes, if it’s used on a horse and it comes in a bottle, it’s in here.
• Bottom layer: Underneath the grooming tote. Things I access regularly but not on a daily basis, including poultice and Magic Cushion, refill bottles of grooming supplies, etc. This is also where I keep things that the barn or I would need to access quickly in an emergency, like my horse’s inhaler- if you have anything that your barn might need to get hold of urgently, think about how you can situate it to give ease of access and a simple direction (“It’s right underneath the grooming tote in a white box labeled TIP’S INHALER.”)

Segment 2: Sliding tray area

• Top layer: Sliding tray. I have a small stacking organizer in here for small, easily-lost items like the thermometer, extra blanket hardware, vials of polyglycan, hairnets, my chapstick, etc. Another deep organizer (which may or may not be a recycled container for dishwasher detergent pods) holds medical gloves and first-aid supplies I need to access frequently, like triple antibiotic. The remainder is for items I need to use daily, like gloves and saddle soap, and those rotate to the top of the trunk to the bottom according to the season (ex. Swat.)
• Bottom layer: Medical kit, stored in a small Stanley toolbox. This is for things I won’t need in a tearing hurry, like Epsom salts and SMZs.
• Middle layer: Stacked on top of the medical kit: rub rags/towels, clippers.

Segment 3: Daily use, deep storage (just one layer)

• Center section: boots, my mother’s and my helmets, half chaps, half pad, quarter sheet or cooler, etc.

[Amy3996]

@TinFoilHat

one of those car trunk organizers with a flip lid on one side (takes up a little over half of the length)

So many great suggestions but this one worked perfectly! Finally got around to setting it up tonight. I got an XL trunk organizer on Amazon. It’s a smidge long for my trunk but it’s collapsible so I put dividers in the first two compartments and left the back one foldable. 5 pockets to hold all the little odds and ends that were getting lost in the bottom of my trunk, and left room for items I use every day to sit on top within easy reach. Thanks so much - it’ll be so nice to not dread opening my trunk.

[TinFoilHat]

Hey! I think we ended up with the same trunk organizer

I’ve loved it so far. Totally functional and a cheap solutions!

[erinmeri]

I would have never thought to use this for my massive trunk! I lived with it (the barn’s most massive) for two years, and now have the barn’s smallest. Big trunk is in the loft, but now I have BOTH problems! Big trunk is a mess, small trunk is a game of Tetris. It’s fun. Maybe I need some car organizers for the trunk upstairs!

[TinFoilHat]

I’m using a smaller trunk organizer thing in my small husky!! still functional but the small ones are just harder - it’s still very much organized chaos.

[RedHorses]

My solution is plastic boxes with lids, a milk crate, a lift out tray, a hinged shelf, and good organization.

The closed boxes hold things I don’t need often, that I want to stay clean (one is mostly non drug first aid - bandages, syringes, vetrap, etc - and the other is clean cloth - emergency hoodie and socks, clean facecloths, no bows, etc). One sits on the bottom of my trunk and a grooming kit sits on top. The other sits on/slightly in the top of the milk crate (which holds other rarely used items, some of which are in bags or smaller plastic boxes to keep them organized).

The crate and box fit below the tray. The tray holds smaller items needed more often, and my “stuff box” for the really small items (needle and thread, pack of Kleenex, pen, measuring tape, spare Trek velcros, tick tweezers, sharpening stone, knife - you know, stuff ).

Under the hinged shelf are some less needed items (sugar,. epsom salts, hi-vis quarter sheet) and my other horse’s grooming kit sits on the shelf.

There is room at one end of each grooming kit to tuck 2-3 bottles, and the shape of the kits allow my helmet to tuck slightly between and on them.

It also has a bandage lid.

My trunk won’t close if things aren’t where they are supposed to be - incentive to keep it organized!

I’m working on my trailer tack room now that I’ve been using it for a year and have a good idea of what I want to have in there.