Bob is the only dog I have owned that has been crated, indeed, five years ago it took some searching to find a crate to buy, before I got him I had not even heard of crating a dog, even nowadays it is not a common thing to do over here! I do not know of anyone else who crates, but that may be just that I move in the wrong circles!

Thinking back over the years most my RB dogs did not need crating anyway, Prince, Duke, PrinceII, Blue, Duchess, and even Max for the greater part of his life, always had someone home with them so the need for a crate didn`t arise. Penny, my dog before Bob was a whole different case. How I wish I had a crate for her while I was at work. Destroyer she should have been named for destroy she did, curtains, sofas & chairs, lino, doors and she even made holes in the wall! Beside, a crate may have helped with the howling stuff....
Anyway, although I wasn`t working when I got Bob I still got him a crate, for a few reasons. The usual ones, training, somewhere for him to feel and be secure, etc, and also because my home is small and I was taking care of my baby grandaughter at the same time and I wanted to be able to keep them apart as and when needed, (I also used baby gates as they both grew! ).
In our case the crate has turned out to be a best ever buy! Bob took to it like a duck to water, - he still loves it, its his `den`- and as he turned out to be a chewer it saved me a lot of, what shall I call it? aggravation?

So, I think crates are great when needed but within the circumstances you describe with Mr Binx I don` t think one is. If it were me I would not bother crating Mr Binx. If confinement to one area was needed, permanently or on occasion, I would use a baby gate as Karen suggested.

Big hugs to that gorgeous big boy!
Chris