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

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 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!

Was able to assemble in 90 minutes. Simple directions on line, just don't get ahead of yourself; I had to redo a couple steps because I did.

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

This truly was not difficult to assemble, but it does require good hand strength. If you go online and follow the step by step picture guide it is very easy to follow and get the assembly done in a reasonable amount of time. Make sure the small brackets that you hold the pieces of the barrels together with are in as far as they can go or your barrel pieces will not stay together. I laid them flat on the floor to put together, which made it a bit easier. Putting the small brackets in is the hardest part and it is harder if you don't have much hand strength. I recommend placing something solid under the area you will have to push on (this support helps the brackets go in easier). Then I pulled them up on their side very slowly to attach the first side of the barrel. After that, the rest is easier. ***NOTE: Please make sure that when doing anything with the 2 panels that have the yellow & green doors on them that you follow the instructions EXACTLY as far as what directions they need to go in. If you don't the composter will not be able to function at all.This is a great composter so far. It was very light to move to get it outside where we wanted it; I did it alone, even going down a few steps.So far it seems to be really solid and I am hoping it will hold up for a number of years.The venting holes are small enough so that it should really focus the heat good and cause the composting to work fairly quickly. The really small holes also prevent pests from getting into the compost barrels, which is very good. Do expect such things as flies and maggots to be present because that is natural with decomposing food scraps.****I really feel this is a great investment for multiple reasons, 1) Reducing garbage 2) Gaining Organic fertilizer 3) Reducing what goes to garbage dumps 4) Increasing recycle material that is actually recycled

I don’t know how it’ll do as a composter but putting this thing together was extremely frustrating. I’m an experienced DIYer and have extensive experience putting things together but this definitely had me cussing up a storm. There are plastic clips that hold the side panels together that are very difficult to snap into place. Attaching the two drums to the rod that holds them was infuriating. There is a plastic piece with a nut in it that easily falls out, then there’s a screw that you have to thread through a hole in the metal rod as well as the nut that fell out at least half a dozen times. You need three hands and lots of patients to get this done. Also, make sure you attach the second end piece the right way around, otherwise you won’t be able to attach the legs. I hope it works well as a composter.