GREEN JOHANNAFood Waste Composter

I so nearly didn't buy this product due to a number of reviews regarding problems with assembly. I am not the world's best DIY man in the world, as my wife will confirm following various IKEA purchases, but provided you carefully read the assembly instructions and take things slowly it can be assembled in roughly 45-50 minutes (even with my wife watching over me!). Once assembled it seems to be sturdy and I like the adjustable breathing vents and the device to turn over the compost. Obviously only time will tell how well it composts garden waste.

This hot composter is delivered in several sections nesting inside each other to save storage space and shipping costs. You then need to assemble the hoop-sections with 30 or so small crosshead screws before it can be put into use: this takes time and you need space to spread out all the sections to get a handle on what you’re actually doing.The assembly instructions are just adequate if you read them carefully, but the issue I found was that a couple of the sections were warped due to poor manufacture or QC, and so didn’t fit without a good deal of careful work to press and manipulate the pieces to force them together. I found that inverting the whole thing to attach the base at the top was easiest way to get it to fit properly, and then re-inverting it when fully assembled. After around 45 minutes, Bingo! The composter was finally ready: it looks rather like a big green Dalek.The supplier instructs that the composter be sited in shade on flat-levelled earth. It’s probably OK if the ground is not spirit-level flat, but sufficiently so that the bin won’t become unstable when full. The base has small holes in it, designed so that worms may enter directly from the ground to feed and accelerate the composting process, but of a size small enough to exclude rodents. The bin is more or less hermetically sealed when completed with a strong, tight-fitting round lid which twist-locks in place and sealed sliding hatches at the base which should only be unfastened when the compost is ready to remove.The reason I bought this 330L composter was that its capacity is >3x that of our rotary composters, which fill up after around 8 weeks and well before the compost is usable. We’ll see if, during the summer months, it does the business as we load it up with the recommended layered mix of nitrogen and carbon-based waste.

Easy to construct and a good sturdy bin, which works well, despite the fact that I don't regularly turn and mix compost. I added rodent proof mesh at bottom as rats were regularly invading my previous normal compost bin, looking for kitchen veg scraps. The two sliding doors each side on the bottom make it reasonably easy to dig out some compost now and then.

I think slightly cheaper than ordering from the manufacturer's website.Very robust but, as others have stated, more fiddly to construct than it should be although it's a good design to educe on packaging and ease of transport.Much more robust than a standard dalek, but then much more expensive so it should be.I bought this as rats were getting in through the front door of my dalek and this product is marketed as rodent proof. The base is solid (with small holes) and the door is far more robust w/o any gaps. Only issue seems to be that worms aren't getting through the base - I guess a bit of a trade. Have tried adding worms from another compost pile so I'll see how that goes. The bin keeps the heat in nicley even with the vents fully open. Generally very happy if I can sove the worm issue.

I have had mine about 4 years on an allotment. The fact that it comes in segments meant that I could put it in the back of hatchback and assemble it on the spot. It is sturdy and not difficult to put together. The key point for me, and the main advantage of this compost bin, is that it is genuinely vermin free. Any waste food goes to the allotment. I could not do that before. I am not sure whether it heats up and I will not bother with a jacket. It is cold on the allotment in winter whatever you do.

I'm not sure how this will perform over winter as I bought it just at the start of summer. However, it seems to be working as intended. I will wrap it in some laminate floor insulation over winter though. There is a jacket you can buy for it but it's very expensive.It was slightly tricky to put together just because some of the sections would pop out as you are putting the screws in. This was mainly an issue in the middle sections. However, it does fit snuggly together once you check and realign the section after each screw before continuing.Construction tips:I found it helpful to do the North/South and East/West first then do any that are in between last rather than going around it and doing each one in turn. This means that if it pops out you are still able to squeeze the sides a little to push them back into place.

Generally a well thought out comnpost and I'm sure it works well as a hot compost. The description is good and helpful to understand hot composting more general. Assembling it is not too hard, however, you might need a sharp Stanley knive to cut off some little plastic 'noses' from production, which make the fitting together sometimes hard.The big issue I have - hence the 2 star rating : It is not rodent safe! A mouse was able to make a tunnel and chew a sizable hole in the bottom of the composter (see pictures).I have a self-made composter before, and had put some chicken wire mesh on the bottom and never had that issue. Given it is claimed to be rodent secure, I expected more after having it installed only a month ago.Update:The seller reacted quickly and provided a new bottom, which is good customer service. They mentioned the composter cannot be made rodent safe, as the sharp teeth can make it even through thick plastic - which my experience confirmed.We now put under and around the bottom some steel wire mesh, which so far has kept rodents out.Upgraded to 4 stars and waiting to see how it performs as a hot compost in the end!