Thats great advice danglerb, and I agree wholeheartedly about bosses buying cheap tools, I just didn't explain the situation about them, so to clear it up:
The tool shopping was done by a co-worker and myself, and the list of items was also composed by us, a wrench or ratchet/socket to take these things apart didn't occur to us when we made the list. We're a small company, with not a very large budget, so we tried to buy quality when we could, and skimp elsewhere on the stuff we use less, as well as on the number of tools we did buy. We also only had a home depot to shop at, there's no other store close enough to our shop to buy tools within a small budget($3-500) and have them easily replaceable if broken. We also had to buy kits for 5 guys, including a tool bag for one. The kits are our own, unless we shoud leave the company, then all the work bought tools go into the general tool population. This was also before I was made the asst shop manager, which now gives me a lot more say in the tools we purchase.
The stands are two poles that sit in a 200lb baseplate, and a backplate made of steel that attaches to the poles with 4 17mm M8 bolts. Really the tool just needs to be able to break the bolt loose, after that it's easy to do with your fingers. I think a ratchet would work best, just for convenience (put in/take out quickly), but a quality wrench would do the job as well. We use these things every week during the busy season (basically august through may with some breaks), but not all the guys go out on all the jobs with the stands, and while there are tools in the shop we can take with us, I like having my own with me, for when they're forgotten/lost/in use. The guys I work with are pretty good about not using anyone else's tools, we had that problem with freelancers, which is why we got the bossman to buy us tools, so they wouldn't be stealing our personal stuff. That said, we're still responsible for the tools, and have to replace them if they're lost/stolen, so we keep pretty good track of them, especially on jobsite. We also don't hire certain freelancers anymore.
Not trying to put down your response danglerb, that is good advice, and unfortunetely, though I'd love to purchase the best quality tools I could find for us, we just can't afford it. Maybe in December *prays for mac tools*
