A vacuum box in fluid communication with a tractor that removes coatings from surfaces. The vacuum box includes a vacuum inlet in fluid communication with a source of negative pressure and a debris inlet in fluid communication with the tractor so that debris is drawn into and collected within a hollow interior of the vacuum box. A water outlet provides a drain for water that collects within the vacuum box. A sloped false bottom wall is disposed within the hollow interior so that debris collects atop it. The vacuum box is emptied by draining water from it, followed by opening a door formed in the vacuum box at the lower end of the sloped false bottom wall so that the collected debris slides down the false bottom wall and out the door into a debris receptacle.
