Mantis 4000-00-02 ComposT-Twin Composting Bin
by Mantis
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List Price: Category: Lawn & Patio See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Mantis 4000-00-02 ComposT-Twin Composting Bin
Customer Review: Good concept but the doors are lousy
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this for my parents last year. It took me about an hour or so to put together by myself. The cylindrical body is constructed by flat sheet metal rectangles that you wrap around the circular disk that make up the ends and middle divider. I am sure if I had help, construction would have been quicker and easier.
The doors are my biggest compliant. They are made of sheet metal material and make for a flimsy door. Also, the door hinges are not of rugged quality. They are merely bent tabs on the door that slide into slots of the cylinder housing. The paint quickly chips off the hinged area. Additionally, the springiness of the sheet metal door compounded with the hinge design makes the door clumsy to open and close. On top of this, if you want easy unloading of the composter, you will need to remove the doors. This is no big deal, but reattaching the doors is cumbersome.
What I do like about this composter is that it is raised off the ground just high enough for my dad to roll his "luv cart" electric wheel barrow underneath and the compost dumps into it. This makes for easy unloading into the cart. This is imports for the following reason: Unloading the composters requires the most physical effort of composting. Loading the composter requires the least effort because you usually only load a little bit each day. This composter was designed to make unloading easy. Most other composters are on the ground which requires lifting of the heavy load into a wheel barrow or lots of shoveling into the wheel barrow. This is the main reason I bought this product for my parents.
This composter is not bad, but for $500 I would expect a more user friendly design for assembly and usage.
Customer Review: 5 1/2 years and loving it
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had a compost-twin for 5 1/2 years, and I love it.
I'm a lazy-gardener type with a large garden. I throw anything I want into one side of the composter, and it's amazing how quickly the volume goes down. Eventually (and it is eventually) one side fills up, and then I close it up and forget about it while I fill the other side. I turn the composter when I feel like it -- 30 turns, but rarely more than once a week or so. By the time the second bin is full, the first is ready to empty.
And, as another reviewed noted, the compost-twin is *easy* to empty.
The doors are indeed the weak point. They feel flimsy, and a hinge recently broke off one of my doors. But that was after 5 1/2 years of steady, constant use and no protection from the New England weather. A new door costs $50 including postage. This doesn't seem so bad to me.
It took me a little while to get the knack of taking the doors on and off easily, when I went to unload the composter, but now I find it very easy indeed -- I'd forgotten that I ever had any difficulty.
So yes -- this is a composter for people who are willing to do some advance investment (both the money and an hour to set up the thing) in order to have years of easy and high-quality compost.
One more note: Don't worry about using compost starters, and don't clean out your composter between uses, as the directions instruct. Instead, leave a little bit of finished or semi-finished compost in the bin as a "starter" for the next load. In the spring (if you're in a winter-freeze area like I am), find some good soil in your garden and throw it in the composter to start the process going. Cheap and easy!
Customer Review: Assembly Issues
Summary: 4 Stars
I just finished assembling my Composter-Twin. Mantis has bent over backwards to provide instructions that are easy to follow. You receive an "Owner's Manual" and a DVD with the product. Following them is really important -- you should not try to assemble this product if you are in a great hurry. The advice that you have an assistant is valid. While I did most of the work by myself, it went faster with a second person helping.
I am impressed that the steel support frame appears to be powder coated and if so I can look forward to a rust free frame for some time. Despite its appearance, when it is assembled and tightened up, it is quite sturdy.
I ran into several problems. On one occasion, bolts did not fully thread into support rods in the frame; my work around was to install washers so the bolt could be tightened. In another, bolts could not be tightened and I called the Customer Service line and learned they were purposely loose. Finally, when installing the four long bolts that hold the two chambers together, it seemed that the bolts were about 3/4" too short. This problem was remedied by loosening the acorn nut at one end so that more of the bolt could be extended through the units. This is an area where the instructions could be amended.
I am looking forward to doing some great composting now.
Customer Review: Great Composter. It really makes compost in two weeks.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was skeptical about the claim of making compost in two weeks--my previous stationary composter from Price Club took about a year. But now two weeks later, I have about 10 cubic feet of compost. I don't have a chipper-shredder, so I chopped up the big pieces with scissors.
One reviewer had trouble removing the doors--my doors don't have this problem--they come off and go back on easily.
Unfortunately, I can't get my wheel barrow under the composter without bending the composter's metal frame. I wish it had two more inches of room on the bottom.
For those wondering whether they can use all the compost this thing can make--don't worry. If you want to mulch an 8000 square foot garden with 3 inches of compost, you'll need 2000 cubic feet of compost. You'll easily use all the compost you can make.
At first, I wondered whether such an expensive composter could pay for itself. So I computed--it can make about 200 cubic feet of compost/year. Compost costs about $1/cubic foot. So it makes about $200 worth of compost/year. It'll easily pay for itself.
Customer Review: Bad customer service.
Summary: 4 Stars
My package arrived with four of the long spacers and none of the short spacers. A few other minor parts were also inconsistent from the listed contents or missing.
The manufacturer was unwilling to send me the two spacers I needed and told me to take it up with Amazon. They claimed they did not know how Amazon packaged (unless I heard incorrectly, Amazon claimed to dropship from the factory.)
Amazon.com was very helpful. I've never called Amazon support before after about 100 orders. They sent me a new package, told me to pull the pieces I needed, and then I could contact them to return it.
(It would have been difficult to refund the first item since I'd recycled the boxes.)
The actual product is quite large and well built. Instructions are better quality than the typical horrible Ikea furniture.