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My compost bin lid snapped clean off in a windstorm last Tuesday
It was a cheap plastic thing from a big box store, maybe five years old. The hinge just gave out, and the lid went flying into my neighbor's yard. I was pretty annoyed because I use that bin for all our kitchen scraps, and I didn't want critters getting in. Instead of buying a new one, I spent the weekend building a new lid from some old fence pickets and a scrap of wire mesh I had in the garage. It's not pretty, but it's solid and lets air in. Felt good to fix something instead of tossing it. Anyone else had to MacGyver a fix for their garden setup after something broke?
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davidwright3mo ago
Nice work on the DIY lid. I used to be the guy who would just order a replacement part immediately. Then my wheelbarrow tire went flat for the third time. I finally patched it with a bike tire kit and some heavy duty glue, and that was five years ago. Sometimes the janky fix outlasts the original product.
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tyler_white421mo ago
You ever try using a heat gun to soften the plastic before drilling? Makes a huge difference, stops it from cracking. I've patched so many plastic parts on equipment over the years, and that trick always works. Also, if the threads start stripping out, you can put a little epoxy on the screw before you put it in. It holds way better than you'd think. But yeah, your fix looks solid. Probably stronger than the factory lid was.
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