Good Ideas Compost Wizard Hybrid Rain Barrel - Black

I have wanted to start composting and collecting rain water for quite some time, so buying this combination compost tumbler/rain barrel was a no-brainer. It completely lives up to my expectations, and I really appreciate that I don't lose the compost tea to the ground beneath my tumbler. This purchase has me so excited about conservation, that I'm ready to outfit every downspout on my house and buy at least one more of these so I can feed one tumbler while the other one is cooking.[...]. It was super easy to assemble and is super easy to operate. I highly recommend this product, and you won't find it cheaper anywhere else!

I needed this item urgently after my 15 year old metal compost bottom just fell out and had to hold contents in a wheel barrel while waiting for the order. So I had a full load by the time my order came and like other reviewers said, the bottom came first and the top came almost 2 weeks later. The assembly was very easy. I also put it up on top of cinder blocks to make turning easier and for filling water can. Since my load was so heavy it was hard to turn at first, but found it easier to turn by rotating from the side rather than pulling from the front. I also was concerned the hatch would pop off from the weight, but so far no problem. As long as you add enough brown ingredients to keep mix from getting too soggy it breaks down pretty fast. Now the problem I did not see coming was the number of mosquitoes and other bugs the rain barrel produced. How you say? The rain barrel has two much needed holes pre-drilled in case of over flow located on the front. The adult bugs can fly in, drop eggs and mass produce anytime. I saw this in the water I drained a clear container and was horrified to see different breeds of larvae just swimming around. I did not want to think about the rain water I used to water my house plants and the bugs I may have let in. But it was a easy fix. First I flooded the barrel to the point of run off and the adult bugs came started flying out. Then I cut two 1 inch squares of my mosquito bug cover, and with some gorilla tape, secured the squares which will still allow the water to flow out but no bugs can get in or out. The rest will die and I will continue to check before using the rain water in my house plants in case there are any survivors since there is always some water in the bottom once completely drained. Note the compost container comes with a lot of pre-drilled holes also much needed for air, so the bugs get in there as well, but do help with the break down and you can keep them out of everything. Over all I am very happy with this item and would highly recommend.

We raised it up on 8 cinder blocks to be able to use the faucet drain easier. We will be able to attach a short hose to be able to get the tea where we want it. The barrel is easy to turn and we have not had any problems with the lid as others say they did. Thank you for this easy to use composter.

Researched for a while and found the best solution!

I was surprised at how big it was. The only issue I had was the screen where the water drains into the rain bin is broken up, I emailed hay needle and asked them if they could send me a new one. Besides that I love the design.

I always have the best dirt in town

Directly out of the box it only took 5 minutes to have the Composter/Rain Barrel Hybrid set-up and ready to roll. I packed it full of a combination of brown and green materials and can't wait to have compost and compost tea for my plants. There was torrential downpours that same day and the rain barrel collected the water beautifully. This item is a great addition to any gardeners backyard...especially if you live in a city or the burbs and don't have the room for a compost pile or large rain barrel.

I use the composter for landscaping items and kitchen scraps. It's very easy to turn. You'll definitely want to put it up on some blocks to make the facuet easier to access.

I was so excited about this product. Got the bottom (rain barrel part first) waited 2 days for the compost part. Set it up, started putting compost stuff in, as I turned it the braded part of the lid leaks, it was nasty. Tumbler is very hard to turn. Becuase it has to be near a rain gutter for the rain barrel, it is very close to the house and the smell, yuck. This was what I wanted for an anniversary gift, since we have started our garden and I thought great idea. The part where the lid screws into needs to be better attached so the jucies don't flow out, the tumbler needs to have one more set of handles to make it easier to grab to turn.

So the shipment arrived the day promised the only problem was the sent two bases and no tumbler. I called and they said they would ship it out that day but we are still waiting to get our compost on...i must say the customer service is top notch. He was very nice and quickly resolved our problem. So I cant truly speak for the product but have a lot of high hopes it will do the job.