Restaurant bus tubs vs. Mortar mix tubs from Home Depot & Lowes - Long term durability comparison

[Cajunrider]

I have 6 mortar mix tub from HD & Lowes and about a dozen of Cambro restaurant bus tubs from Sam's club that have been in service for more than a year. They both have been used in the same service as grow boxes for bald cypress and Mayhaws. They have been subjected to the intense sun in the South.
The mortar mix tubs are falling apart. If I grab the tub by the edge and lift or pull, the lip just breaks away. This is typical UV degradation of plastic.
The restaurant bus tubs are still in great shape. There is no sign of any degradation that I can see. I can still toss them around just like when they were new.
I posted this because a lot of us are using these as grow boxes for BCs or bigger trees.

 

[Tums]

I was just thinking about using bus tubs as carry trays the other day. My thought was that the higher walls could shade the pots. Good to know that they hold up.

 

[HENDO]

I have 6 mortar mix tub from HD & Lowes and about a dozen of Cambro restaurant bus tubs from Sam's club that have been in service for more than a year. They both have been used in the same service as grow boxes for bald cypress and Mayhaws. They have been subjected to the intense sun in the South.
The mortar mix tubs are falling apart. If I grab the tub by the edge and lift or pull, the lip just breaks away. This is typical UV degradation of plastic.
The restaurant bus tubs are still in great shape. There is no sign of any degradation that I can see. I can still toss them around just like when they were new.
I posted this because a lot of us are using these as grow boxes for BCs or bigger trees.

I had the same experience, the mixing tubs wouldn't last more that a season! Its also very difficult to use them for guy wires, anchoring, etc. without cracking them.

Only problem I found with the bus tubs, which you probably find too, is that most aren't large enough for giant BC, unless theres some bigger bus tubs out there. For some of the larger plants I started using the round black feeder tubs (for livestock) shown on the far left, they're about 22" diameter.

 

[Cajunrider]

For the larger BCs I use the livestock feeder tubs as well. I get them free from my rancher friend who buys the feed supplement that comes in the big round tubs.

 

[Michael P]

Hmmm. . .none of my mortar mixing tubs has ever failed due to UV degradation. Some of them have been in use for 5 years or more. If fact, the only one that failed was because I ran over it with our truck.

 

[Cajunrider]

Hmmm. . .none of my mortar mixing tubs has ever failed due to UV degradation. Some of them have been in use for 5 years or more. If fact, the only one that failed was because I ran over it with our truck.

Mine ate so brittle now I can break the lip off with my fingers.

 

[Cajunrider]

Hmmm. . .none of my mortar mixing tubs has ever failed due to UV degradation. Some of them have been in use for 5 years or more. If fact, the only one that failed was because I ran over it with our truck.

I don’t doubt you at all. The longevity of the plastics often depends on the plasticizers that are added to the polymers. I can tell you the cheap tubs from Home Depot and Lowes have zilch. You must have gotten yours from a better source.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Maybe the newer ones are lesser quality, I have some mox tubs that are 10 years old and are still flexible.

 

[Cajunrider]

Maybe the newer ones are lesser quality, I have some mox tubs that are 10 years old and are still flexible.

Yep.

 

[Bucky50]

I had the same experience, the mixing tubs wouldn't last more that a season! Its also very difficult to use them for guy wires, anchoring, etc. without cracking them.

Only problem I found with the bus tubs, which you probably find too, is that most aren't large enough for giant BC, unless theres some bigger bus tubs out there. For some of the larger plants I started using the round black feeder tubs (for livestock) shown on the far left, they're about 22" diameter.

View attachment 496571

Where did you find blue tub on the right? What’s it called? My google skills aren’t working

 

[HENDO]

Where did you find blue tub on the right? What’s it called? My google skills aren’t working

It's one of these "plastic baskets" cut down and riveted to be more shallow:

 

[Bucky50]

Wow that’s resourceful.. thanks!

 

[Cajunrider]

Barely a year old, this Home Depot tub is falling apart. I had to stack it on top of a new one to keep things going.