My wife and I had a pickle barrel composter for several years and the center rod rotted out, so we started looking for something better. Once we got this Tumbler, we knew we had the right one for us. The pickle barrel was tough to open which made us hesitate to put stuff into it very often, but the Tumbler is so easy to use by just sliding the door to the side with one hand while holding our compost collector canister in the other hand. The two compartments mean we never have to wait to put put in new material - we just flip the door around when the first side is full and start filling the second side while the first is busy composting. Gardening will be much better this years and for many more to come.