Miracle-Gro Dual Chamber Compost Tumbler – Easy-Turn, Heavy-Duty Outdoor Bin Composter with 2 Sliding Doors (2x18.5 Gal/70L

Ordered this as it seemed to be a pretty good size. It's smaller than I wanted BUT, the 2 separate containers actually will make it more productive compost process. I like that each side can lock into place. I am not sure the door is really strong but we'll see how it does over the winter. The directions were on my phone via a code. It was helpful for me, but I can see some people wanting a hard copy (you do have an option to print). Assembly was smooth and the 2nd barrel went much faster than the 1st. I thought everything was well labeled and straight-forward. After my last one broke, I did not want to spend a lot of $. I think for the value this should last a few years and that works for me!

I am excited to start using this product. The online instructions were easy to follow. However, some of the parts that snap together require a lot of hand strength (no way to use a hammer or mallet). As a reasonably fit 50-something female, it took a little patience but I was able to get it put together. For anyone that suffers from arthritis, Lupus, or loss of strength in the hand, it would not be easy at all. It seems reasonable sturdy. Let's see how it composts!

Best assembly instructions I’ve seen.Love the fact that their pictures like a PowerPoint almost.Everything fit tight, screws and matching holes were perfect. Extra hardware and clips even.Once assembled, the separate sides move freely, much better than expected.Now we have to use it.

I'm really pleased with this. It's my first attempt at composting, and this has made it easy. Assembly was no problem at all, and it's very sturdy. I did have to reconnect one of the legs once; not sure why it came apart but it didn't cause it to fall and I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't looked down. Maybe an animal tried to get into it but if so they did not succeed. I've been using it for a couple of months and have almost filled the first chamber. I don't know yet how long it will take to get usable compost as the shredded paper I've been using for "brown" material doesn't seem to be breaking down very well. My biggest surprise has been that I don't notice much odor at all. I was prepared to hold my nose when I opened it, but it just hasn't been an issue. I don't use any meat or dairy scraps, just vegetable, fruit and plant scraps, coffee grounds, etc. along with dryer lint, cat hair, etc. In addition to tumbling, I do use a long stick to stir the contents a little.Update 11-20-22 At 3 months in, I "harvested" my first compost today! It was such a wonderful feeling, spreading nice rich compost around my trees and on my flower bed. I've already filled half of the second bin. The first one taught me some good lessons about what breaks down well and what does not. Dryer sheets definitely do not, even when torn into pieces. Most of my "green" material consisted of banana peels, coffee grounds and vegetable scraps. No meat or fat. Most of my "brown" material was also from the house: dryer lint, cat hair, certain packing materials, used tissues, etc., all torn into smaller pieces before adding to my kitchen receptacle. My trees are all oaks, and oak leaves do not break down well, so I'll probably keep using household waste for brown material. The best lesson I learned is that if I can't easily tear it into pieces manually, it's definitely not going to break down quickly enough. No twigs or branches. No corn cobs. Also, I used a lot of shredded paper for my first bin and that took a long time to break down. I had to pull some of it out as it just didn't break down at all, so I won't do that again. I've considered buying another bin just for things that take longer but maybe I'm getting too obsessed. LOL

Several pieces were poorly formed and warped so they didn’t fit together without bending. Some of the warped pieces made it so that the green door is a pain in the but to open and close.Also some pieces low quality. One part is like a plastic piece that holds a metal nut in place and on one side it stripped so I had to fix it myself to get it to seal down tightly.Also the miracle gro sticker label things had already fallen off before I even opened it. At first I thought I was supposed to stick them on but realized there was no backing to take off the stickers, the sticky party was already exposed because it had been installed and fell off.Pretty disappointed I spent extra for the Miracle Gro brand thinking it would be more reliable than the random Chinese brands and ended up getting exactly the shoddy quality I was trying to avoid.