I have a couple of apple trees in garbage cans, they overwintered fine here in Central Ohio (I did pile leaves around the bottom third). I also cut the height of the cans down about 1/4. I drilled at least 10-12 holes in each with a large bit.

I say go for it and make sure you drill plenty of holes in the bottom and sides for drainage.

Great idea re: trash cans with wheels

Concerned about the viability of trash cans on wheels. Might work, but they can get super heavy with the soil and tree. I guess the only way to know is experiment. I like the food grade drum idea. That's what I do. Relatively cheap, and easy to cut in half. But even they get brutally heavy with 25 gal of soil in them. Not fun to move too often.

Thats why I thought of the garbage can. Ive moved it full of soil and 4 full grown tomato plants and its a little annoying. The wheels helps a lot. With a pruned tree in it Im not sure how hard it will be.

With all of that weight, I would be concerned about the plastic holding the wheels breaking.

The wheels will most likely break on a trashcan. One of the easiest ways to move large pots is with a heavy duty tree dolly. https://m.northerntool.com/products/shop~tools~product_200631819_200631819?adv=false

I did dollar general laundry baskets with the holes, drilled holes in the bottom, then wrapped the inside with a layer or two of garden fabric. It was a air pruning experiment and I must say I was impressed. My plants are in gritty mixes so the extra ventilation means they need to be watered a little more frequently but the roots are extremely healthy.

KtSunflowerFarm - Do you have pictures of it?

Depending on what size the trees are when you get them, you might want to start with smaller containers such as 5gal buckets ($2 at Home Depot). There are also those large utility tubs with the rope handles, they're very inexpensive and are shaped a little better for growing things than a trash can.

I have garbage pails without wheels. When I have excess soil from gardening that I went to get rid of I fill my garbage pails up with soil so bulk pickup can discard it. The pails become very heavy to move without wheels but I move them very easily with my hand truck. This is similar to the hand truck I use https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-1-000-lb-Capacity-Dual-Handle-Hand-Truck-60138/202204469

If you can't find any farmers with empty mineral tubs or any other freebies, they sell any sort of garbage receptacle, drum, etc. you can imagine here: https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=458&parentcatid=687&clickid=topnavmenu

Go to Craigslist for used drums. They are a lot cheaper than new ones.