“Bought this barrel to replace an older one around 6 years old which unfortunately had rusted out at the bottom after heavy usage and weathering.
Can't say I'll get the same amount of years out of this new one. The material is way thinner than the old one and even sounds way cheaper when tapping on the sides.
The enamel coating was chipped away on the ring at the very bottom so had to paint with high temp enamel paint the day it was delivered.
The lid on this cheaped out new version doesn't even fit properly(different profile) it slides around about 3/4 of an inch so I have doubts about how good the seal would be for keeping the temperatures stable inside the pit. I infact put the new handle on my old lid and fitted that to the drum instead. The new lid can get thrown way along with my faithful old barrel.
If I hadn't disgarded the packaging before having a closer look at this new one I would of definitely returned it. Seems like even an originally good product like the pit barrel has succumb to the norm of changing a product for the worse just to increase their profit margins.
When this new one no doubtably rusts through in less that 12 months I definitely won't be buying another one. Absolutely shocking.”
