My backyard composter fell apart after 3 months of use

I bought a rotating composter from a local hardware store in Portland back in April, and yesterday the door hinge just snapped off when I went to add some veggie scraps. Now there's half-finished compost spilling out onto the lawn and the bin is basically useless. Has anyone found a good way to repair plastic hinges or should I just give up and buy a different brand?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sandra24d ago

3 months for a plastic hinge on a rotating composter is about what I'd expect from anything under $100. Most of those bins are built to barely survive one season, so you're not losing much by starting over.

amyb5424d ago

Three months is actually pretty good for the kind of plastic they use in those cheap bins, @the_sandra. I've seen them die in half that time when someone loads them with wet kitchen scraps and heavy yard waste. The hinges on my own bin started cracking around the 4 month mark, but I patched them with a metal bracket and some zip ties, got another 8 months out of it. If you're willing to do a little DIY, you can stretch that lifespan way past what the manufacturer expects. But I get that most people just want to toss it and buy another one for 50 bucks. It's just not always the biggest waste if you can keep it going with a few simple fixes.