Last winter I purchased (12) of these Akro-Mils hinged lid storage and transport totes, and they’re pretty awesome. They’re not as comfortable to haul around by hand as consumer storage totes, but they stack well and are more convenient to open, close, and transport without having to worry about lost lids.
The only downside is the price – at about $17-25 each, they’re not cheap. On the other hand, they’re rock-solid and should give me many years of trusty service.
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Capacity is rated at ~ 12 gallons, and both smaller and larger versions are also available. A steel dolly is also available ($73 via Amazon), and I have a few of these too. I find that the dollys are also useful for L-Boxx stacks, especially when on sale via industrial suppliers.
Outer dimensions: 21-1/2″ long, 15″ wide, 12-1/2″ tall.
The load rating is given to be 65 pounds each for a stack of up to 5 units.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Buy Now(via Zoro Tools)
I purchased my dozen units via Zoro Tools, but they shipped via a freight carrier and the truck couldn’t make it down the street, and so I had to break down the packages and then lug the bins from the truck to my shop in 2 trips. Next time I’ll be ordering from Amazon, which ships via UPS. Door-to-door service is sometimes worth the extra expense.
Do you have a favorite storage product? Tell us about it!
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Steven B
I am sure the steel dolly is OK, but that seems really expensive for something you can make for so much cheaper…especially when Harbor Freight sells moving dolly’s for less than $15
Stuart
The dollies were easily justified. Heavy duty casters, thick gauge steel, durable powder coat. Plus they work far better for this job than generic cheapo wood furniture dollies.
Coupons soften the price a bit.
mnoswad1
The problem with the harbor freight dollies is that they don’t roll OR swivel when you put more than twenty pounds on them. They’d rather slide across a smooth concrete garage floor rather than roll.
John S
This definitely intrigues me as a bulk storage option. It would be nice to have everything uniform and stackable… my current rubbermaid bins just don’t do the job that well
Dazrin
I grabbed one of the smaller 8 gallon units (1.12 CF, 9″ H instead of 12.5″ H) to take dry goods with me camping and love it. I am planning on getting a few more for other storage needs. I have tried the consumer storage totes and they never last long. This one seems it will last for a long time. HD used to sell some red/green Akro-Mils Christmas storage totes that appear to be a mid grade option. Much better than the cheapo clear ones they have now but slightly lower duty than these and cheaper (about $15 if I remember right).
Minh Nguyen
I got SUPER lucky last year and scored 15 of these from ReStore (Habitat For Humanity). They were only $10/each!!! Another lady and I spotted them at the same exact time and devoured the whole stock of them. She left with 10 of them and I left with 15. I would’ve bought the other 10 myself if I wasn’t for her!!! They were used but still in good condition. I spent maybe a few hours with a heat gun (had a ton of stickers on them), Goo-Gone, and some Simple Green and they were as good as new! Totally worth the money (even if you have to pay full price). When I worked in automotive parts, all of our stocks were shipped in these same containers. They held 4-5 starters and alternators just fine.
Jim McLaughlin
I bought 15 similar totes – Monoflo 16 gallon -they were $15 apiece when I bought them 3 years ago and now list on ace hardware for 16.99 and ship free to a local store. The Monoflo product has been fantastic – it moved across the country and then across the world via planes, trucks and boats and has been rock solid! Another big bonus – they are made in the USA!
mike
These look very nice,and will be looking to get some of these to try soon. My old school rubbermaid ones are okay but they arent made nearly as well as these seem to be.
Mike
We are replacing all our storage with that style bin. I’m a big fan of uniformity in my storage. For some items we use the cheaper HD ones. Don’t need heavy duty ones for a dump truck worth of christmas garbage or more blankets then the salvation army.
We are also using alot of these tilt view bins. Bought about 25 from a closing Ace Hardware.
http://www.akro-mils.com/Products/Industrial/Cabinet-Systems/TiltView-Bins.aspx
In general anything Akro-Mills sells is great pro-level storage. Our shop has a few of there bigger wall units too.
Jeremy Singler
I’ve got to tell you that while they are slightly costly, they save tons of money over time since you won’t need to replace the worn out boxes you’ve been using. Trust me, I know from experience. I recently bought some more for my garage from Monster Bins ( http://monsterbins.com/tubs-containers ) and they shipped via FedEx to my front door. If you can get past the initial sticker shock you’ll realize these are worth every penny.
Ian Random
I love these things. Found them on sale at HomeDepot awhile back. My brother uses them for all his storage needs. Make sure they are the quality ones like the above one, not the el cheapos.
Jonathan
Pricewise when you figure that at the box stores you pay $5-7 for lids that are not attached, plus they have tend to be narrow at the base and wide mouthed at the top, not an effiecent use of space. If only these came in a Clear HD color, I hate wasting time hunting (labels are a pain and organization is not my strong suit. One thing that I am using is a small private grocery ( they buy bulk fruit and veggies that are close to out of date or are close to being over ripe from the large chains/suppliers. The owner was chucking the black IFCO folding produce container’s in the dumpster. He was out of the supply chain and they were just taking up space. I saved maybe 80 of them from the landfill. Normally they are reused, and sent back like plastic pallets. Next time your in the grocery store, walk through the produce dept. You may see them. They use them for display bins sometimes. They are great for a variety of projects. they fold flat about 2″ and they come in sizes from 2″ to about 15″ in height. This is what they look like: http://www.ifco-us.com/america/na/en/biz_rpc/grower/index.php?exp=locations#locations.
C. Brantley
I just bought 2 of these from Lowes this past weekend. They had a 2 for 1 special at 6.98 for 2. They are made by Centrex plastics, but is also USA made., The 2 for 1 is over, but they are still no sale for 6.98 each. Any even better deal is Lowes Centrex Plastics, 27-Gallon General Tote with snap Lid for only 11.98 each.
C. Brantley
Here are the links for both of the above mentioned items.
12 gal
http://www.lowes.com/pd_161201-61896-161201_0__?productId=1216917&Ntt=tote&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Dtote&facetInfo=
27 gal
http://www.lowes.com/pd_44066-61896-44066_0__?productId=3551290&Ntt=tote&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Dtote&facetInfo=
http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/899441/899441002823lg.jpg
A. Hamilton
Used these in a warehouse for a commonly-found budget-oriented retail store I used to work at. At the time of my separation with the company, some of the Akro totes used had seen upwards of 8-9 years of abuse and held up well.
Tossed on an overhead conveyor, pulled off and packed full of product, sent out on accumulator conveyor where they constantly bumped into each other, run through a strapping machine set to a pretty decent tightness, through more conveyor, a sorter, and via a loader’s hands (which weren’t always delicate as there was a productivity quota) and into a trailer. Unloaded at the store, shipped back, start the process over. Extremely durable, and at a price a lot cheaper than what I was expecting.
Adabhael
I find these great for long-term storage of all kinds of bulky stuff. The material and molding are durable and they stack well. I learned the hard way not to stand on them, but other than that have enjoyed good service.
MattP
FYI I got 14 of these in 3 different sizes during the recent Zoro 30% flash sale. They shipped UPS not freight and even with sales tax the per unit cost was as low as I’ve seen it.
Stuart
Be sure to check each and every one.
I ordered a couple dozen more in the year since this post was first published. All shipped through UPS and most were okay.
In a previous shipment, all of the containers in one carton showed signs of stress in the plastic – white discoloration in the blue plastic indicated that the open lids were compressed too much during transit.
In November, there was damage to every single container in one carton, and to a couple of containers in another. I’ve been ordering these containers in case quantities (usually 6 if I recall), and expected better protection. The damage here was cracking of the plastic, presumably from impact damage, leaving very sharp edges around the handle areas. If you look at the image above, the damage was mainly to all those ribs at the top of the sides of each container.
Now I understand why my first order shipped via freight.
Even if I have to spend more, I’ll order through MSC or McMaster in the future, as shorter transit times and shorter distances will hopefully help prevent shipping damage.
MattP
Luckily mine arrived in perfect shape. My close proximity to a distribution center probably helped – the package arrived just over 24hrs after my order.