Ozark Trail 73-Quart & 26-Quart High Performance Roto-Molded Coolers - "Real World" Test

My 53 is a little better than my Coleman. That's getting into it one or a couple times per hour and using the novelty opener (built into the latch) before I close the lid. I give it four stars, knew I wouldn't get "7 days*" of ice, wish I got 5 days.

 

I've got a three night trip coming up after the 4th. If it lasts that long, I'll consider it a success.

 

Update for these Ozark Trail coolers.

I have one of these 52 quart Ozark Trails roto-coolers used on a recent 3 day (two nights) weekend camping trip. 100+ temps on the first day up to Sequoia's under tonneau cover. 80+ temps throughout the day (for two days) in the bear lockers, and 100+ degrees on the way back under tonneau again. Had the box initially filled with 4 refreezable ice blocks and 5 lbs of ice. Kept the food frozen the first two days and started to thaw out a bit by the third. Got home, emptied out the contents and was left with about half a bag of ice remaining. This one just fits under the factory tonneau with about half an inch to spare in a 3rd gen!

We had it loaded with 2 bottles of wine, sourdough loaf, bagels, pre-marinaded taco meat, marinaded salmon packets, tortillas, OJ, onions, cilantro, pre-packed turkey chili packets and fruit enough for 4 people. Worked really great for a budget cooler!


There was 5lbs of ice in there along with the freezer blocks.

Just a small hint of condensation building up around the drain after getting home. No leaks!

 

Wonder how good this sucker works? Made in the USA as well.

http://www.lifetime.com/lifetime-90820-55-quart-high-performance-cooler

$97 at Walmart for 55 quart

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lifetime-55-Quart-High-Performance-Cooler-Grey-90820/850043843

 

Bet just as good as the ozark.

 

$40 cheaper for a bigger cooler too. I have the 26 quart Ozark but would like a bigger one for longer trips/food storage. $97 seems pretty reasonable if it is.

 

Let us know how it works

 

Saw one in the local store yesterday. Fit and finish aren't as good as my O/T - it had molding burrs in several places (these could easily be trimmed off) and the lid gasket on the one I checked was not securely attached and seemed a bit flimsy. The clip style latches on the Lifetime are much easier for my wife to open and close than the bungee/post type used by O/T but they're nowhere near the quality of those on my Pelican. The rope handles appeared to be molded in and I don't think they could be easily replaced. I didn't take a close look at the drain or hinge systems but would certainly check these out before purchasing.

Note, these are blow-molded and not roto-molded. FWIW, Coleman's premium line of Esky coolers are also blow-molded so that's not necessarily a bad thing but it ain't made like a Yeti if that's important to you. On the plus side, these are manufactured in the USA.

Looking forward to seeing some 'in the field' reports on this.

 

Great input. I haven't seen one in stores yet so i'll definitely pay attention to some of those. If air gets in at all then no way its going to hold ice for as long as it says.

 

Sometimes I do, but at the same time its still a massive cooler. I fit two butchered deer (probably 50 pounds of meat) in my 52qt and still had plenty of room for ice. Watch the sales, I got mine for $110 or $125 a few months ago. The small one at my walmart is always $74. I have that one too, it does not retain ice very well. With the 52qt it'll go about 4-5 days with constant use or 2 weeks with little use.

 

No problem. Just check them out next time your at walmart, I thought about going the 72qt route but that's a big beast. It pretty much needs two people to move it or a dolly when its full of ice.

 

On paper it doesn’t seem much bigger but in person the size difference is huge..more so when trying to transport it. A buddy has my 72 that he uses for his family of 5 because it was just too damn big for me. I’ve still got the small OT 26 that gets used but I’ve downsized to a 45 that stays in my truck and a 65 (that’s a year old and never used) for when I need something a bit bigger.

 

I don’t know your cooler needs...but you should definitely go and put them side by side before purchasing.

 

If you’re interested I might could be persuaded to come off the unused RTIC 65 that’s been sitting on my shelf. Maybe work out a trade for some of that excess fishing gear you got.

 

I bought the 52 and 26 quart Ozark Trail coolers a while ago and I love them to death. I still have my old Coleman as a back up. But these new cooler from OT are really great and hold ice for a long time. Used them both on several 3 day camping trips and never had a problem holding ice. Actually thinking of getting rid of my old Coleman and getting another 52 OT. What is really awesome is the basket in the 52 quart. When I went to buy mine at Wal-Mart, I pulled one off the shelf - liked it and was gonna buy it. As I was putting it in the cart I saw that the chain for the drain plug was missing. Placed it back on the shelf and grabbed another one - looked it over and placed it in the cart. When I got home and opened it up - there was two baskets in there, SCORE. I will have to post a picture, but I cut the ends off the basket (width side as the baskets face each other so they are opened to each other) and wire-tied a thin pieced of aluminum along the bottom of the baskets. Now the entire top of the cooler is this long basket/shelf that extends the entire length of the cooler to hold plenty of food.

 

So as I said, I scored when I bought my 52 quart cooler that it had 2 baskets in it instead of just one. This what I did to them so I could carry more food in the cooler.

 

That's a great idea, thanks for posting. I'm on the advisory team for the company that makes these for Walmart and have been trying to get them to add a basket as an accessory but no luck so far. They do monitor many of the truck/expo/outdoor sites so maybe this will help. I should have my hands on some of their new products in time for our western trip next month and will post by with a write-up when we return.

 

So do they make a 52 in white? All I have been seening in store is the tan color.

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-52-qt-High-Performance-Cooler/55703256

They have them in white online. I've seen the 26 qt in blue, white, grey and camo in stores.

 

Thanks for the response Yukon. I checked your link and darned if they don't have the baskets for the both the 52 ($11.97) and the 73 qt ($13.97) listed as an available accessories now.