The best 45 gallon trash cans

Buy the Rubbermaid 45 Gallon with Locking Handles if animals are the problem, and the Rubbermaid Roughneck Wheeled 45 if they are not and you just want capacity and wheels for as little as possible. If you want cart-grade construction, the nearest size is the Toter 48.

#	Product	Best for	Price
01	Rubbermaid 45 Gallon Wheeled Trash Can with Locking HandlesA 45-gallon wheeled can whose lid is attached and held by two locking handles — the cheap answer to a raccoon.	Best 45-gallon for animals	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money
02	Rubbermaid Roughneck Wheeled Trash Can, 45 GallonThe affordable wheeled outdoor can: 45 gallons, lid included, built from resin that does not shatter in cold.	Best budget wheeled can	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money
03	Toter Heavy Duty Two-Wheel Trash Cart, 48 GallonThe 48-gallon Toter: municipal construction and a ten-year warranty, in the size most households actually fill in a week.	Best mid-size cart	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money
04	Suncast 39-Gallon Resin Outdoor Hideaway Trash CanThe larger Hideaway, for a patio that generates more than a 33 can hold between collections.	Best larger patio can	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money

Forty-five gallons is the in-between size, and that is exactly why people search for it. It is more than a household can and less than a municipal cart — the right answer when your collection is bag-based rather than cart-based, or when you want a second can for yard work that one person can still move.

We have not weathered these cans through a winter. What we did was compare published construction, lid design and dimensions across every can we could confirm is currently sold in the 45-gallon bracket, and rank on the failure modes that end an outdoor can's life. Methodology, disclosure.

The criteria: whether the lid is attached and whether it is secured; whether the can has wheels, because 45 gallons of wet waste is not something to carry; resin type and cold-weather behavior, since a cracked rim is how these die; and whether a standard liner fits, because oversized bags are a recurring annoyance at this size.

We have included the Toter 48 and the Suncast 39 rather than pretending the 45-gallon bracket is exact. Manufacturers do not agree on the size, and refusing to name the nearest real product would be less useful than explaining the gap.

45 gallons is not a standard bag size

Tall kitchen bags stop at 13 gallons and contractor bags start around 42, so at 45 you are into oversized liners. Check what the can states it takes before you buy a box of bags — a 39-gallon bag in a 45-gallon can will sit down inside it and collect everything that misses. Bag sizes, properly explained.

A lid that is attached is not a lid that is locked

Two different features and people conflate them constantly. An attached lid cannot blow away. A locked lid cannot be levered open by a raccoon. The Rubbermaid with locking handles does both; most cans at this size do neither, which is why a strap is such a common accessory.

Wheels matter more than they do at 32 gallons

The jump from 32 to 45 gallons is the point at which a full can stops being liftable for most people. If the can has to reach a curb, wheels are not a convenience feature here, they are the feature.

It is a second can as often as a first

A lot of people arrive at this size wanting somewhere to put garden waste, a garage clear-out or recycling overflow. If that is the job, the lid matters less and the volume matters more — and an open commercial container is worth considering instead. The full outdoor field.

If your collection is cart-based rather than bag-based, skip this size entirely and go to the standard curbside pair. 64 versus 96, decided.