This compost tumbler ROCKS!! I was skeptical at first reading all the reviews whining about the assembly and a myriad of other problems so please let me address all of that!
First about the assembly... It's definitely not the easiest thing I have put together but just like most other things, as long as you follow the directions step by step, you will not have an issue. Yes there are many parts and it does require a drill and some sockets but other than that it simply requires patients. One reviewer said it took many hours and several calls to customer service??? LoL I have no idea what in the world they could have possibly needed to call customer service about but it seems to me they were just lonely.
To address the "leaking of compost tea all over"?? My only guess/thoughr here is that it was not out together properly and/or they were keeping their compost entirely too wet. My compost has maintained moisture and even regulated when I've added too much, which is the only time I have ever seen mine leak from underneath besides when it rains. I'm also not sure how you could have anything to effectively catch the liquid runoff when you have an object that swings 360°...
To the reviewers that said that they're unit is or has fallen apart?? Again this must simply be from a poor job assembling the unit. Being that you must drill holes on 3 of the 4 plastic sides for the supplied nuts and bolts to go through, if you do a bad job drilling in the correct places or don't think before you drill, then I could see the unit bot holding up as well as it could. As long as you can follow clear directions and use your brain and think before drilling, then I foresee this compost tumbler lasting many MANY years, probably a lifetime! 😉
Anyway I felt the need to leave this review bc I lost definitely feel this composter deserves a higher review rating! This has been one of the few items I've ever brought from Amazon with less than 4 stars that performs like a 5 star product!! For the size tumbler it is, this is a phenomenal price and your getting a quality product!!

This compost tumbler is incredible difficult to put together. I'd heard this but wasn't prepared for the hours it took to assemble. I felt I should have earned a PhD after completing it. Given that it's made in China, I'm not unconvinced that this isn't part of a master plan to reduce work productivity in the US. Unless you have an exceptionally excessive amount of time to waste, I would look elsewhere.

I bought one of these from Costco and I needed a second. I thought about getting a different design, but figured it would be easier to have a matching pair. The box came damaged and appeared to have been opened. I was missing parts, small plugs and screws. I could have returned it to Amazon and received a new one, but I thought I would contact Lifetime and ask them to send me the pieces. It seemed easier. I called the Lifetime customer service, after going through a long phone tree to have them call me back. When they called back I was still put on hold. I finally talked to an assistant only to be told they would ship the parts in 7-10 business days. Overall their customer service should get 1 star.

As a composter it is okay. After 8 months it is still easy to spin. The bottom is bulging a bit, but I think this is the heaviest the compost will be. Once I receive the missing pieces I will start using the second composter and rest the first.

We have just recently received and assembled this composter. We ordered two as we intend to have one "cooking" as we load the second one.

First the bad news. Shipment of the product was less than idea as both boxes appeared to have been to hell and back. Parts were actually sticking out of one box and as we carried the box inside, additional parts fell out of the box. Surprisingly and to our benefit, no parts were actually missing.. This may be more of an issue with the shipping facility. The major negative issue is the assembly. There are a significant number of holes that need to be drilled (approximately 80). While the manufacturer did provide "dimples" as to where the drilling should occur, how difficult would it have been for the manufacturer to have pre-drilled all the required holes? Another issue is that steps #2.8 and #2.9 are in the wrong sequence. It makes much more sense to perform these two steps between 2.22 and 2.23. This would eliminate step 2.10. Another issue is that at times this is a two person job, specifically when assembling parts to the side panels. The instructions should make this clear. As mentioned before we purchased two of these products. It required over four hours to assemble the first, and about three hours to assemble the second. We are not inexperienced in assembling items.

The good news: Once assembled the product seems to be very stable and solid. Assuming we use it properly it will completely satisfy our requirements. The large (and removable) hinged door will work quite well as we can position our little trailer underneath and dump out all the compost in one fell swoop.

The quality of this product is a five. The assembly is a two at best. I lowered the rating to a four as the assembly is a one time thing.

This is not a sealed unit, so when it rains the contents may get overly wet, then you have compost liquid dripping around the unit. I didn't take that into consideration when making the purchase, I assumed the joints would seal up better just for that reason. We emptied the unit and caulk everywhere to keep the rain out, and that seems to have solved that issue. But, another thing to consider is that once the unit is about half full, it is terribly difficult to spin.

It is a Lifetime product, so it is make well and I expect it to last for a long time, but consider these two issues when comparing similar products.