Lifetime 60309 Double Bin Rotating Composter, 100 Gallon

This premium priced composter is well worth the price. It will last for decades.It's large enough for twigs, yard prunings, lots of weeds (which haven't gone to seed), and kitchen green waste. The color blends well with most yards unlike competitor's offerings. It's very well designed with insulated bins, easy tumbling without a questionable crank system and a very sturdy base even with a heavy load of wet compost.A couple of caveats: though one person can assemble it, it is much better with a helper. YouTube videos will help if you are unclear about some steps. A ratchet wrench and a socket wrench are very helpful. The two hinges are likely to rust shut, you should put (lawn mower lithium etc.) grease on the mechanism and consider repainting the hinge flanges with any exterior house paint before installation. (The MFR will replace the hinges free; just email a photo of the rusted part and a copy of the Amazon online invoice.)

Five stars except for just a couple of notable problems with assembly instructions.We bought this last fall, assembled the barrels, then left it until just recently. A handy old man and his fairly handy old lady were only modestly challenged. The very large object is engineered to fit into a very compact box, so there are lots of sometimes awkward components.We had no trouble with damaging hardware during construction, as others have. The only real mistake I made was in the assembly of the center axle which cost me an hour or so of frustration. There IS a right and left, so if you can get one leg on but not the other, reverse one side of the axle, the leg will slide on like butter.I've made compost the hard way before, so I have a working knowledge of the process and the construction of a proper compost pile. This unit is not a compost "maker", it is a compost "bin". It won't turn random wet garbage into garden gold without the correct assembly of materials. I've watched countless videos of people chucking their kitchen waste and a few hunks of cardboard in a tumbler (not this one!) and end up with a small pile of maggot infested sewage.In order to ensure successful use of this unit (I haven't really seen any reviews that describe the actual use of the unit, so much as the aggravation of assembly), I read a lot about carbon:nitrogen ratios of ingredients, level of moisture, etc., and ended up finding some free online C:N ratio calculators, that list ratios of various compostables, and let you enter your materials, then showing you the C:N ratio of your mix.According to a calculator, and owning a horse, I started with 20 pounds of fresh, shredded horse manure, 20 pounds of shredded dry fall leaves, barely moistened, and 10 pounds of soybean meal. This filled one barrel. Gave it several, effortless spins. Within 12 hours, the mass has heated up to a respectable 125 degrees. It is well on its way to rapid, aerobic decomposition. We will soon fill the other barrel with the same mix, substituting shredded hay for the leaves. I believe the process will be pretty speedy.The advantages I see are eliminating rodents, excessive moisture (rain) or drying out. It eliminates the backbreaking work of turning a pile by hand. Odors are contained. Spinning a full barrel (50 lbs) takes no strength at all. It looks nice. I acknowledge reports that the hardware rusts but am encouraged by reports of excellent customer service, and am certainly not afraid to replace hardware with stainless steel. And of course, capacity is limited, in the case of someone who has limitless access to compostable materials.Each drum has the capacity to hold 50 pounds of the mix of materials that I am using. From what I understand, one barrel should yield about 15 pounds of finished compost.I think I will enjoy using this unit as I expect it to meet my hopes for an efficient and nicely contained compost factory.

Very easy to handle. Assembling was a little tricky, but once up I am loving it. Too early to comment on a compost quality, but it’s very satisfying to be able to rotate all the food waste inside

Loved this composter when I first got it. However, after a year and a half the slip joint detachable hinges rusted shut and are now fused together. I removed them and have been trying to work on them with rust remover, but haven’t had any luck. If you get this, make sure you treat the hinges regularly to prevent rust.

Works decent. I think it needs more ways to churn what's inside. If the compost sits for awhile, it'll just slide inside.

We wanted to get a high capacity, heavy duty composter. On the surface, this product looks just what we wanted but we now have significant doubts as to how long with will last. Most of the issues where also highlighted in other reviews:• The package arrived looking as if it had been air dropped in from altitude, although no parts were missing.• The instructions were poor/misleading and putting it together was far more challenging that it needed to be.• The sides of the barrel did not lock easily into the ends of the barrel and leave significant gaps in the barrel. Will likely go around and silicon caulk the joints to ensure nothing leaks out. Only by the grace of the metal bands does the barrel stay together.• Approximately 30-40% of the plastic caps that are supposed to go on the ends of the screws in the plastic split down the middle. Expecting most to fail at some point and preparing to use heavy gloves due to the exposed screws (not like having exposed screws in compost is asking for tetanus or anything).• The holes needed to attach the legs to the metal center shaft were around 1 inch too far away to actually work as intended and new holes in the correct position had to be drilled into the center shaft.• While moving the composter during construction, one of the legs bent (so much for heavy duty) and had to be bent back into position, which prevents the rotating locking mechanism for one barrel from working (on top of the cotter pin snaping in two). Have no idea if the legs will be able to hold a full load, but the ease with which the leg bent was worrisome. Have ordered ¼ inch stainless steel bar to turn into pins (won’t be spring loaded but will work), as the number 2 pencil that currently prevents the barrel from rotating will likely not last but better than nothing.Hopefully the modifications needed to actually construct the composter will be sufficient, but knowing what we know now, we would likely have gone with a different manufacture / design.