Lifetime Compost Tumbler

Here are some quick and dirty pictures of one of the two Lifetime compost tumblers we purchased. We purchased two of them at our local Costco two weeks ago. I am impressed with the quality of these units especially for the price. They were $99.99 apiece. The assembly is very tedious and time consuming and requires two people. I wouldn't call it difficult though. It took my wife and I about 3 hours to assemble the first one. The first 2 hours only took me but there are some plastic nuts that go at the end of the screws that hold the panels together and those are where you will need another hand. I will be doing a video of the assembly and loading of the second unit this weekend.

Here is the first picture:

As you can see I prepared the location before hand leveling it and putting down these walkway bricks that we seem to have in abundance.

Picture 2:

There are plenty of places to grab the unit and spin it. These are quite heavy when you get them full. The latches and hardware works well. All of the hardware here isn't stainless and will rust. I gave everything a good coat of petroleum jelly when I assembled it to inhibit rust. I would suggest if you purchase one to do the same or coat them with some kind of oil.

Picture 3:

Here is a picture of the inside that I have about 3/4 of the way full. Everything in there is from our yard and kitchen waste. I also have the restaurant where I work supplying me with a nice supply of kitchen waste that goes in here. As you can see the contents are breaking down nicely. This unit works much better than an open pile as I can control how much green to brown material is in there and how wet it is. I like it pretty dry as the more wet it is the harder it is to get air inside and you sure don't want your compost going anaerobic it stinks. This is after about 10 days. I rotate it every three or four days. With all of the rain we have had everything is pretty wet and I have not had to add any more water.

Watch for the video this weekend I will be giving out a lot more information about these units. So far I am not disappointed with them. The quality seems good for the price. I know they will not last forever but I think we will get many years of use out of them. I will be updating the blog periodically about these units.

Lifetime is a Utah company and they make several products for the home gardener. These tumblers are manufactured in China however. I would love to be able to purchase something made in the U.S.A. We often purchase gear and products made here when they are available. I would rather pay more for something that is made in the U.S.A. hint hint hint Lifetime.