Yeh i'd agree that it's very complex but once you get into it (along time ago for me now!) you get the general idea of how things roll and it all seems to make sense.
Anyway back to your point i'd point you to the below (actually from Deezire but can't find it on this forum anymore but all props to him nonetheless) for this:
RA2/YR - Creating Crates with Map Triggers - Parameter Definitions - C-GEN
Shows you the values to enter for the crate you want
!
I didn't do much map editing but from what your saying you've said you can get it to spawn a crate it just is money only but when you say "and then there is more crates on the map and they are all defaults" do you mean the ones that just spawn or your action causes more than the intended crate to appear?