Thank you all for the responses. The bin has arrived. It was shipped quickly, nothing but good things to say about the site I ordered from. The bin itself is strong. I like that it is sealed (keeps the critters out). It was easy to put together-just snaps together. It will also be easy to take apart and hose down should I feel it needs a good cleaning. The only real 'negative' (besides the price according to some posters)is that it is not a bin made for stirring-at all! After reading some posts I thought that I would speed up the prossess by stirring but it is just not easily done. I will have to use this bin exactly as it was described so I can't say for sure how good the compost will be bc it isn't done yet. It is thick walled or 'insulated' as it was described and the 'lung' reminds me of the home-made bins with a pipe running through them with holes punched in. The 'lung' is better done though and I think the design will stop it from clogging and help the air circulate better. All in all, I dont regret the purchase but I do now realise I could have gotten compost made quicker and cheaper. I will keep this and use it for my food scraps bc wildlife can not get in. I live at the edge of a very large wooded area with LOTS of wild life but I am also in a good size residential town....basically the animals all enter and exit through my property as they search the neighborhood for treats now that we have taken over so much of their land. I have small children so keeping animals away from my compost area is crucial for me. I do have ALOT of leaves and grass. This bin is as tall as my shoulders and I could fill it a dozen times easily and still have leaves left over for mulching. I think I will take advantage of all the good advice offered here and come up with another bin for quicker batches. I am also going to get some wire bins for holding the extra leaves. Up until now we have the town take them away for us but it is silly to waste like that! I have seen plans on the internet for building a 3 bin system with wire and a lid. I am going to see if I can find a local builder who will build it for me (anyone know of someone in Fairfield County, CT let me know!). Thanks to the poster who said not to use the 'liquid fertilizer'. I figured something was off with that when I poured in some liquid coffee while dumping in scraps and it came out as--liquid coffee--through the spout a few hours later.If nothing else I figure it does drain well for a closed bottom bin-lol. Finally, I have a question: Being that this bin is closed on the bottom, worms can not get in (obviously). I thought worms were very important for composting? Can I add worms from the top or is that just a complete waste of time? Again, thank you all for the help. I am sure I will use the advice bc this will not be my 'only' bin that I use!! Laura

I used a tumbler for two years. It was about ten cubic feet in volume, got up to 160F. But it was too much work for the results, now I use two large mesh bins. Cheaper, easier to move, easy to put together (the instructions for the tumbler said two hours to assemble, took me three), less problems with odors, not as much clumping as tumbler, better with problematic ingredients like smelly fish parts. And large mesh bins do better in the winter. Both my mesh bins, 4'deep by 8'wide by 2' high, have been above 100F for six weeks, after an initial core temp of around 140F. If I had shredded the leaves to a smaller size, the composting process would have gone even quicker. But ever since I blew the engine on my shredder, the lawn mower had been my only choice. When I was using the tumbler it took three tries to get the temp way up to 160-165F. On the third try I measured the C:N ratio very carefully. Year four the center bar rusted thru and I gave the thing away.

I have a half acre or more of grass at my rural property and access to sifted compost from the city for cheap, plus my fairly good sized suburban yard. I get what you mean with the mesh size and will be customizing it accordingly. Hopefully I can find a local source for the mesh. I was thinking maybe a welding and metal supply shop. They can usually get stuff. Maybe I don't need to lift it up and let the tires drive it, I could just let it run on the ground like the push models. It would be easier to fill too, being lower, and I could make it big enough that it would cover a good long row before it was empty.

Junk mail, not to change your mind about the type of compost bin you are contemplating but have you looked at the problems of having such a bin. First of all, it will be a heavy brute wont it....soil and water, water and soil, grass clippings and so on...that'll be some weight to deal with. Then it will be one bin...and as the contents percolate, and finally come to something useful, it will be mixed with the new add-ins...so that has to be separated. Where to put then the good stuff --from the bad. Then there's the problem of getting the contents turned over...that's a must if you expect good decomposing. And it has to be given water...water has weight.. Is the thing going to be rolled around in an attempt to mix the contents....then ask some brawny man to lift it... better get insurance. There will have to be an opening in the bottom to extract some cuz you wont be able to do that outta the top. Try using a spade in a garbage can in an attempt to lift something out...as in soil. Cant be done, there's no room unless the bin is put at an angle--like a cement mixer, that's one way to mix the contents and be able to lift out some of the contents. If you can instead make a bin--two's better/3's best out of old wood/chicken wire....there's directions for making one all over the net. Then you have a better way to separate and use. A 55-gallon drum might be considered for a rain-barrel--lots of soft water for plants.