Spin Bin 60 Gal. Outdoor Compost Tumbler Rotating Garden Composter Bin (Black)

Took 30 minutes or so to assemble. There are a lot of screws becausethere are 4 quarter panels that come together, but it’s prettystraightforward to build.This is my 4th or 5th compost bin over the past 10 years. I have 3 in my back yard right nowincluding the Spin Bin.The ones that tumble end over end can be harder to tumble over whenthey are full, but they also tend to hold more material than thehorizontal ones, and I prefer the bigger capacity. My technique is toget it swinging back and forth and then use the momentum to make ittumble if it’s super full with heavy kitchen scraps. With grass andleaves only it doesn’t get that heavy, so it isn’t necessary.Most of the other ones in this price range have a much lower capacitybecause they are smaller. The difference between 50 and 60 gallonsdoesn’t sound like that much, but it’s actually 20 percent less.Black color is nice because it heats up the contents well in the sun.Lids on both sides are convenient when you want to add more stuff fromthe kitchen.With tumblers you can batch compost where you fill up the entire binwith the right mix of carbon and nitrogen rich materials (greens andbrowns) and then wait for the whole batch to finish. But that’s a lotof work and planning, so I don’t usually do it that way.The other way is to continuously add material to it and let everythingbreak down over a longer period of time. Toward the end, you’ll havemostly finished compost with a few things you still recognize. Youjust screen that stuff out, or stop adding materials and wait a fewmore weeks until it breaks down too. If you add too many greens(nitrogen rich materials) it will get all goopy and can smell. So addbrowns if that happens, like dried leaves or dried out brown grassclippings.If you just have a bunch of dry leaves in there, nothing will happen.So add more nitrogen rich greens like coffee grounds, vegetable scrapsfrom the kitchen and fresh grass clippings.Just keep adding more greens or more browns if you get off track, andeventually you’ll have finished compost.

I just received this yesterday and set it so I can't yet speak to its efficacy but aside from a LOT of nuts and bolts to attach the set up was simple. My biggest complaint and it may be important down the line - the lids are difficult to turn to close them and it would greatly have benefitted by a handle. I am currently thinking of how I might accomplish adding a simple handle that will help to make it easier to open and close. The tabs and slots are quite fiddly and I have not been able to get either end to close smoothly. It does seem it will work okay and I have placed it in a covered area and hope to be able to empty it into a large tub that I can move on a dolly.Up until now I have just done a passive compost system of throwing kitchen waste off my deck into one area and allowing it to break down. If I have to wait for a full bin to break down I will have nowhere to add waste until that happens unless I just empty it into the tub and allow it to continue breaking down. I agree with another reviewer that the container does not seem to be 60 gallons but for me perhaps that is okay as I am not sure how I will be able to handle the weight of that much material. I will check though, just to be sure this wasn't a case of false advertising.Additional information after first emptying of bin:Pros: The compost mix looks great. I layer kitchen scraps with yard waste and what came out was very nice. It still needs to break down a bit more in the tub where I emptied it, but I am very pleased with the compost.Cons: The bin is VERY heavy to turn over and without support it seems a bit flimsy. I was still able to turn it and the material mixes well. Today I tried to empty it and here was the problem. I had hoped to empty it directly into a tub but that couldn't happen unless the composter was lifted higher and the I wouldn't be able to reach it to fill it. I ended up finding a heavy plastic which I placed under it and could only empty out a bit at a time. I then needed to pull the plastic with mulch from under the bin and shovel it into the tub I had standing by. Process was then repeated until the bin was emptied. This is not easy for a relatively short woman. I would like to know how others have solved these problems.I am relatively happy with the results but the design could use some improvement although I haven't been able to figure out a suggestion. I could ideally put it near where I would like the product to be emptied but in our rainy climate I need to be able to empty my kitchen scrap bin easily without being rained on or traipsing through mud. I did see a similarly designed bin locally at a hardware store but it was smaller. Now that I see how it works, the smaller one might have been a better option but I definitely like the metal tumble bar inside and the alternative bin did not have that.

Have harvested two batches of rich compost. Gave my neighbor a counter snap lid for kitchen scraps. We both cut up our fruits & veg. waste this makes it break down much faster. Save all grass clippings for the bin. So far been using chicken manure to help it cook. You can feel the heat.First batch of tomato plants out of pots into the ground. Dug big hole filled with mix of dirt compost & some organic potting mix. Between the 4 plants dug a big hole between them & filled with same mix so their root systems can all share it is called a Japanese ring. My plants tripled in size in no time & putting out plenty green balls. Did the same with a second batch one month later.I have found with a heavy load, get the bin swinging inertia gets it going. I use a long handle scoop to take the compost out. To get it all out tilt it more than horizontal use the Costco white laundry buckets scoop out the remaining compost. These square buckets have a handle on them good for carrying around the garden. Also mulch around the plants with dried grass & small leaves.The bucket screws were getting rusty. Took a small brush & painted rust stabilizer on them. No big deal don't plan to take this apart anyway. It sits exactly where I set it up almost 5 months ago. No problem with the legs at all & I have had a couple heavy loads turning every day. This thing is a huge improvement over my static compost & I enjoy spinning it. If looking to make fairly large batches of compost fast, this is the cat's meowI have found that even with a heavy load