Octabins and octagonal gaylords

Walls

Eight-sided layout on a 48 x 40 in footprint

Common inside size

46 x 38 x 36 in

Construction

Usually 5-wall or heavy triple wall

Typical loads

Resins, powders, melons, squash

Why eight sides

A rectangular box has four corners that take the most strain when a load pushes outward. Resin, regrind and powders flow, and so do melons stacked by the hundred. An eight-sided wall layout spreads that push over more, shorter faces, and the angled corners resist bulging. The same box is sold as an octagon bulk bin or a watermelon bin.

Octabins are usually five-wall or heavy triple wall, and they stand on the 48 x 40 in footprint with an inside size of 46 x 38 x 36 in. One distributor lists an octagon as a triple-wall bin with 1300 lb in its name, a listed capacity of 2,200 lb and a box weight of 29 lb, and recommends it for resins, powders and produce. A second distributor lists a 46 x 38 x 36 octagon-bottom triple wall as 1300#/ECT-155 at about 22.9 lb. 1300 lb is a product name; the stamp on the box is the only rating.

Bottoms and liners

Octabins for resin and regrind are usually used with a partial flap bottom and a slip sheet, or on a pallet that is solid. A poly liner keeps resin or powder off the board and keeps moisture in or out. Produce bins are often ventilated. Tell us which you need, and see lids and liners.

For melons and squash the box is ordered in season. See produce bins. For plastics handlers shipping flake and regrind by the truckload, see resin, flake and regrind.

What we need from you

1. The load and whether it is a powder, pellets, regrind or fruit.
2. The walls you need, or the box you have now.
3. Bottom: partial flap with slip sheet, or full flap.
4. How many, and a need-by date if there is one.

Facts and figures

• Uline's 46 x 38 x 36 inch octagon bulk bin is 1,300 lb test triple wall, weighs 29 lb, is listed at 2,200 lb capacity and is recommended for resins, powders and produce. (uline.com, retrieved 2026-11-10.)
• A 46 x 38 x 36 inch octagon-bottom triple-wall box rated 1300#/ECT-155 weighs about 22.9 lb. (thecarycompany.com, retrieved 2026-11-10.)
• The corrugated gaylord was introduced in the 1930s, and by the 1950s it carried everything from plastic resin to watermelons. (nelsoncompany.com, retrieved 2026-11-10.)

Terms

• octabin: An eight-sided gaylord that resists bulging; also called an octagon bin or watermelon bin.
• poly liner: A plastic bag liner that keeps resin, powder or food from touching the board.
• regrind: Ground plastic scrap, one of the most common loads shipped in used gaylords.

Fitting an octagon to a pallet

The inside of an octagon measures 46 x 38 in, which sits on a 48 x 40 in pallet with a small margin, and the bevelled corners are what resist bulging under a flowing load. Confirm the stack height, because the walls stand taller than most rectangles.

What a listed octagon bin says about itself

A distributor lists a 46 x 38 x 36 in octagon bottom bulk bin as interior dimensions, triple-wall kraft, ECT-155, made to ASTM D 5168-98, with a bundle of five weighing 114.55 lb or 22.91 lb a bin (Packaging Price octagon listing, retrieved 12 November 2026). The listing title says 1300#, but no load rating is stated, so treat that figure as a product name until a stamp or certificate says otherwise. The listed ECT of 155 is far above the ECT-90 listed for the rectangular triple-wall box (Packaging Price 48 x 40 x 36 listing, retrieved 12 November 2026), which shows that two boxes with the same number of walls can carry very different ratings.

Volume, worked out here

A 46 x 38 x 36 in rectangle is 62,928 cubic inches, about 36.4 cubic feet. The bevelled corners of an octagon remove some of that, so the usable volume is lower than the rectangle's. The 46 x 38 in footprint sits inside a 48 x 40 in pallet with 1 in to spare on each side, which is why an octagon stacks on the same pallet as a rectangular box.

Fitting an octagon to other pallets, worked out here

Converted to metric, 46 x 38 in is about 1,168 x 965 mm. The European-style 1,000 x 1,200 mm pallet in the pallet reference (Wikipedia, Pallet, retrieved 12 November 2026) is wider than 965 mm and longer than 1,168 mm, so the octagon fits it with about 32 to 35 mm to spare on each dimension, whereas a 40 x 48 in rectangular box (1,016 x 1,219 mm) would hang over it. For an export lane, that margin is the reason to ask which pallet the bin will ride on.

Reading ASTM D 5168-98 on a listing

The octagon listing cites ASTM D 5168-98 as the specification for triple-wall corrugated fiberboard shipping containers (Packaging Price octagon listing, retrieved 12 November 2026). Citing a standard means the maker says the bin follows it; it does not mean any particular used bin still meets it. Ask for the maker's stamp and treat the standard as a description of how the bin was made when new.