Good Ideas 140 Litre (2x 70Litre) Twin Chamber Tumbling Composter (TMK-01577)

Most reviewers submit a review shortly after they've bought a product, but with a composter I thought it was important to allow it a few months to see how well it performed. Well, I've been using mine for 3 months now and am highly impressed. For one thing it's an achievement in itself to manufacture a composter that looks reasonably attractive rather than an eyesore to be hidden in some remote corner of the garden. It was easy to put together and is made of sturdy (not flimsy) plastic. The two rotating drums, although directly alongside each other, rotate independently of each other. As the manufacturers claim, this composter does work relatively quickly (although not in a couple of weeks). I would say, in the warm weather we've had in East Anglia over the last month or so, it would take 2-3 months to produce good quality compost. The compost I've made is now 3 months old and looks perfectly fit for nutritional garden use. It's damp (but not wet) and has a not unpleasant musty smell. There are also plenty of worms in it (I didn't introduce them, they have appeared by magic). There are some other big pluses to this composter. If you inadvertently introduce seeds to a static composter (which always happens) they are likely to sprout as they have found a nice home. By rotating this composter this doesn't happen as any roots forming are immediately broken up. Don't rotate the drums too quickly (remember the poor worms who will get dizzy or expire) and do keep the balance of roughly one third brown material (I introduced some chopped up (with garden shears) hay) and two thirds green material. The compost should have that slight musty smell and should be damp (but definitely not wet). You can have fun twirling the drums every so often and you should, like me, get an impressive result. Some people may consider it beyond luxury to spend a fair amount of money on a composter, but it's well worth it to me. It is sturdy and has no rust on it. Capacity is not huge but there again it does produce compost more quickly than a static composter (so it produces less but in a shorter time, especially if you place the composter in a sunny spot). It wouldn't be big enough if you need compost for a large area, but for small to medium sized gardens it should be fine. Not many composters can be described as fun but this is as near as you will get to it. A very clever design.

This arrived flat pack, very straightforward to assemble, but instructions could be clearer at some stages, pictures are misleading with no written directions.This led to me having to partially disassemble it a couple of times when fitting the frame to install a small collar or other part that I had missed. Pay very close attention if you buy one.Once fully assembled, the composter is first class, sturdy and more capacious than it looks.A horticultural Tardis. Looks good compared to my wire frame bin, which has seen better days, and my plastic 'Dalek' top loading bin. Both those need stirring and emptying and refilling to mix the compost.This just needs a tumble every couple of days or when adding new content.Highly pleased so far

This is a great product. Easy to install, fairly good size and stable. The doors open easily and the bins easily spin.We completely filled ours up on both sizes within the first weekend, but that wasn't a problem as it mulches down quickly. We have been adding 2 lawn mower grass boxes every weekend since, along with clippings and weeds.The packaging was good and smaller than expected. The only thing we did differently when building was to not fit the brace bar. Instead we used the holes and put screws through them to attached the bins to the deck. This made the whole thing allot more stable.It terms of price its probably over priced for what it actually is. We paid £80, but for what it actually is, it shouldn't really be above £50 for some plastic slot together pieces on metal legs.There are a few downsides to this product that you need to be aware of. 1. It still smells. This is to be expected, but worth bearing in mind when planning your location. 2. Flies! It attracts lots of them. We actually brought some fly traps from Amazon which are helping. 3. Liquid mess. It has air holes which also let liquid out. This can be very messy. We have put a tray under to stop the mess on our deck. 4. The brakes are flimsy cheap plastic. They have a habit of popping off and can be very annoying.Despite the flaws, we do love ours and it works very well. I would just suggest you plan ahead before buying, and make sure you aware aware of the downsides .

The composter arrived well-packaged and with clear instructions about how to use it. The assembly instructions were pretty clear, diagrammatic only, and I only went wrong once (stage 17, which I misinterpreted).I am a fully able 60 year old female and was able to put it together entirely on my own. I unpacked it, read the whole leaflet (10 minutes), and it then took me just over and an hour and 10 minutes, including having to redo stage 17, which was my misinterpretation! It was sometimes tricky to get the pieces together, but that's fine by me because what it meant was a good, tight fit and a robust final result.This is excellent value for money. I am very terrified of rats and mice, so a floor level composter is a non-starter. I have a medium sized garden and this should suit nicely over the year. I intend to make compost continuously and store surplus in old compost bags from when I had to go to the garden centre to buy it.Thoroughly recommended.