MCT-MC Maze Compost Tumbler, Black

This is a great composer. It is sturdy, works smoothly, is a good size (largish) and looks great. Assembly is Not simple, but the instructions are good. I had no issues except I initially loaded the drum on the frame backwards. This misinterpretation of the instructions added about 10 minutes to a roughly 2 hour process. I did have an issue with the holes for the cart's handle not lining up perfectly and had to enlarge one of them slightly (requiring a drill). Otherwise a smooth one person job. Having said all that, it is definitely worth the effort and the cost. This was a gift for my wife, and she LOVES it

We needed a composter suitable for the garage to keep the action going through long winters in the far north. This is just the ticket in terms of size and operation. Cart and composter are shipped in two separate boxes. I recommend breaking down the boxes to lie on the floor during assembly to prevent scratching up the materials as you shift them around. First, I was impressed with the quality of the design and materials used. The heavy duty poly tumbler and metal frame used are rigid enough to take some serious weight of contents without deforming, but it is light enough to be moved by one person when empty. Assembly is tedious and will take several hours. There is nothing difficult about it, though. The instructions have excellent graphics accompanying the minimalist text, each step well thought out and self-contained. I congratulate the designers on standardizing the screws, nuts, and washers. It's really hard to mess up. The only tools you need - a hex key and a small wrench - are included with the tumbler. (A hammer, not included, is needed to assemble the cart axle.) I recommend checking all parts counts against the list. Also, make sure to sort the screws by length. The screws used for attaching the crank handle are just slightly longer than those used most everywhere else. I was rushing and inadvertently mixed up the two, and had to take extra time to find and replace where I had used the incorrect screws. Use couldn't be simpler. Even most people with limited strength or range of movement should be able to turn the crank, which is low enough to reach from a seated position. You can see from the attached photo the assembled tumbler is not much taller than a chest freezer, and the cart fits conveniently underneath.

This compost unit seems to be very well constructed, the steel base is a heavy square tube with welded gussets much better than bent round tubing. The bin itself is a very heavy gauge plastic that I don’t see giving us any problems in the future. However you should be prepared to sit down for at least 2 uninterrupted hours, or as I did the entire afternoon outside watching the kids swim and barbecuing but I did get it done in one sitting. You don’t need any tools as it comes with an Allen key and an open box end wrench which are of good quality. If you are a handy person this is not a difficult assembly, however with so many screws it is a bit tedious. If you are not a handy person or get frustrated easily this is not a good project for you. For handy people I would rate this a six on the difficulty level for non-handy people I would rate it and eight. You will need to follow the instructions exactly on this project and by some miracle the instructions are actually clear and easy to read, so surprising and possibly a first. I did find however that the hardware in my particular unit did not match the instructions exactly. The instructions called for a number of nylock nuts and an alternate nut was supplied for much of the assembly. The wheelbarrow is of decent quality and very practical, because if you seriously think you’re going to move a loaded drum around later you’re going to have a big surprise after you try to move a loaded composter across a lawn or dirt. My unit is placed in an unused part of the yard where no one will see it or smell it and it will probably never move from that spot again. The only thing that I can see on this product that I don’t like is the handle on the wheelbarrow I wish it was the same quality as the drum stand but it is not, however the rest of the wheelbarrow assembly is fine and in the future if the handle gives me an issue I will get out my benders and make up a new one. Incidentally I gave it four stars because of the wheelbarrow.

I'm an engineer and I have HUGE respect for how well all the parts mated up. The instructions were absolutely magnificent. Truly top notch. It is extremely sturdy and much bigger than I expected. Whoever designed this composter deserves a design award as it is a work of art. Nice powder coating on the metal parts. Nice finish bits... nothing was subpar. The gears and the brake assembly are truly top notch. I can't imagine a better made item at this price point. By the way - it is a great size, and quite large (55 gallon drum kind of size) compared to some of the other very small units. Very well packaged and nothing was damaged. It is possible I was missing one custom rod/nut assembly - but it is also possible it got lost along the way. It wasn't an issue with the sturdiness of the unit. [Edit - it was me, found the screw...] It is a tough assembly as there are many parts and while the instructions are really well drawn, it is going to be highly challenging for some (for instance my liberal arts major wife could NEVER put this together). I am really good with spacial relations and reading instructions - and this still took me 2 full hours to put together - much longer than I would have expected. There is just a lot to put together. The Cart is a nice feature - however I did have to drill out two holes in the handle that were misaligned. No biggie for me - but some would be frustrated. I was worried about all the other mediocre reviews for competitive products, so I was very glad I shelled out the extra money for this one. Provided you can put it together, it is a great unit and you will be pleased with the finished product.

I gave it four stars because its new, and durability is yet to be proved, but so far so good. As others have said, it takes some time to put together, but the instructions are very good. The instructions contain actual size pictures of the screw to be used which is important, as the labels on the bags did not match the instructions. It's important to study the pictures as well as read the instructions to understand how it goes together. While it comes with an Allen wrench to tighten the screws, you might want to get a second one if you find the first one starting to round off. Everything fit extremely well. every hole lined up perfectly. The screws are self starting, which makes it MUCH easier to get the nut on in awkward places. Definitely easier if you have a helper while installing the divider into the barrel, which was the trickiest part of the install for me. I really like having the barrel up high on a sturdy base, and at least so far, the handle works great to easily turn the barrel, unlike some other composters. The wheelbarrow is not overly sturdy but it's handy to store under the barrel and should work well to empty the bin. Overall, I am happy with this purchase, but time will tell. OK its been almost two New Hampshire years later, and I am still happy with this product. We have left it outdoors year around-I built a cover to keep the ice and snow off. The manufacturer suggests storing it away in the winter, but you had better have it empty to do that. The two compartments are great; I have another composter that is in a more sunny area. When I empty that one, I move one compartment of the Maze into it to finish the compost. Then i use the empty bin in the Maze for new waste and let the other one decompose, and repeat the process. We empty kitchen waste in it year round and it is surprising how much decomp can take place in the winter if you spin it. Unless you are in a hot sunny area, you probably won't get a hot compost-there is just not enough volume for that, so we get germinating seeds sometimes in the garden, usually squash. Everything is still working well; I noted a few screws are rusting but that's it. I bump up to five stars.

I'm very picky and researched a LOT. This met my expectations - heavy duty plastic and metal parts (well coated) but the assembly is challenging (as they warn you). It is too big to consider shipping pre-assembled, so be prepared. The finished product is very well designed and works perfectly. The instructions have very clear diagrams. Wording is ONLY what NEEDS to be said - nothing more. Pay attention to the details (orientation and size of parts) of the diagrams and wording of each step and it is very clear. My wife is less "gifted" with mechanicals and spatial thinking, and did NOT enjoy her attempts at a couple of the steps! Though I enjoyed (nerd?) the process, it did take about 3 hours of leisurely (a drink and some good music) organizing, reviewing the flow of the instructions and assembling. Laying out all the parts and using additional plastic bags to ID and separate the screw sizes ahead of time helps the process. While the supplied tools are good / adequate, using a ratchet wrench and a longer allen wrench certainly helps (another writer mentioned using a 3mm allen wrench in his drill which also sounds wise). I also concur with the need for only one of the tubes / tools to set the caps on the cart axle. When I tried to use both (very challenging!) I punched straight through one of them. Fortunately there was one extra! Good luck and ENJOY! What the heck are these "greens" and "browns" anyway! If I can figure this next step out, I think I'm set!

I researched all the products and reviews online for a new compost tumbler for our church, and am so glad I went with this one! It only had two reviews so I was a bit nervous, but it has exceeded expectations so far! The bin is a great size and we emptied out all the contents from our old one that was starting to crack on the bottom into one side of the new one, leaving the whole other side for a new batch! The old one was hard to open, and so heavy to turn, not to mention gross with having to put your hands all over where the "tea" was dripping out. Very hard to do in church clothes, let me tell you! The new one has a wonderful crank on the side that allows us to turn it easily and cleanly. The cart that was included fits nicely under the tumbler, and we already put it to good use when we transferred our compost to the new one. It rolls great and will be used for other things around the yard I am sure. We asked one of our handy volunteers to put it together for us so I can't comment on that, except to say that he did it and had it back to us in a day with no complaints. I am strongly considering getting one of these for my home now too because it is reasonably priced and the design is superior to all the others I saw while doing my research. As long as it holds up, I think I hit the jackpot with this great compost tumbler! Update: After two years I am still completely happy with this compost tumbler and have bought one for my home as well! I run the Creation Care ministry at my church and have shared this with lots of people there and in my community, and have told so many people how great this product is that I should be getting a commission- LOL -but truly it makes composting so easy and even pleasant. I just used the wheelbarrow to take another batch of compost to use in my vegetable garden and I am so happy that this system is working so well for us. I'm back on Amazon to get the link to share with another friend! Trust me, you will love it!

I really like this compost tumbler, and I love that it came with the cart and has two separate doors for the compartments. I have another dual-compost tumbler that has only one door that slides the length of the tumbler, and it's difficult to empty one side of the tumbler because the half-open door catches on the frame of the tumbler when I try to rotate it so the opening is on the bottom. With the two separate doors on this one, it's easy to completely remove a door and rotate it so the compost can fall out the bottom into the handy cart. The downside is that when this thing gets full, it's very heavy (due to the large capacity), and it can be difficult to turn, which is true of any tumbler of this size. The handle and gears are plastic, and it starts to feel like I could pretty easily break the handle trying to use it to turn the tumbler. Sometimes I just turn it by hand, because there ARE handholds you can use to turn it, but that just makes the handle seem superfluous. That being said, if I'm starting a new batch, the handle is fine, and I'd still buy it again. I found it fairly easy to assemble by myself, even despite its size (I'm 5'2").