Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased two Urban Compost Tumblers (UCT-9) a year ago (12/06) for my wife for Christmas, and despite high hopes, I'm sad to say that I'm disappointed. We've tried over and over to get the tumblers to compost well, but despite a year of effort, have not gotten an honestly good batch yet. We are determined composters, and have for years kept large piles into which we put an endless stream of vegetable scraps, leaves, dried cow manure, yard clippings and all sorts of other such material that, if turned occassionally with a pitch fork and moistened well during the process, has made us wonderful compost. Note that we also first run most of the material through a chipper-shredder to grind it into a finer mix. We live in Central Texas, and therefore can compost year-round due to our usually warm temperatures (our tumblers, as with our piles, are in full sun). On average, I'd say that it takes us about 3 months to turn a simple pile sitting on on the ground into rich, dark, fully broken-down compost. I had hopes that a compost tumbler could speed the process and make the effort easier. Despite the notable lack to detailed testamonies based upon actual use by real consumers (beware of rave/fake reviews by company employees!), I decided to take a chance on the UTC-9. I had hopes that it's tumbling action would simplify the process of turning the compost and make it easy to keep the material inside moist and loose, and that its construction would stand up to the Texas sun. Our tumblers arrived loosely packed in a large box, and were simple to assemble. The UCT-9 is indeed sturdy and will seemingly last forever, but is quite heavy. It is truly heavy when loaded with material, and quickly becomes very difficult to turn. Our experience is that if it is filled to more than 1/3 full (which isn't very much!), turning it becomes nearly impossible (it becomes a very very heavy pendulum). When you add a bit of water (compost won't happen without it), it becomes even more unmanageable. Another problem is that if you add any significant amount of fresh green material, and not even any additional water, the material gums up in the bottom and turns into a huge slime ball and smells horrible. Yes, it is clear that if you add less green stuff and more brown stuff, you'll have less of this problem, but we want to compost them both, and trying to find the perfect not-too-slimy, and not-too-dry, mix is difficult or impossible. Of all the loads we've tried (green, brown, and both), none has truly composted. All have either resulted in either a slime ball or a dry pile of chunks that haven't broken down. We even have let recent loads go for half the year, but with no real success no matter what we put in, or what the mix has been. And yes, we have followed the instructions closely, but to no avail. A few other disappointments: 1. The unit is round, and it's lid is round, which are fine. However, during the course of the year, both of our units have slightly warped out-of-round, meaning that if the lid is removed, it is extremely difficult to get back on (requires a frustrating effort of trying to squeeze the unit into round while simultaneously trying to force the lid back on). If the unit is loaded, getting the lid back on is now nearly impossible. 2. The unit is very difficult to empty. If you turn if over, it dumps onto the ground beneath itself, which is nealy useless because it is too heavy to easily move away. We're forced to dump it beneath it and then shove the unit over and away to get to the material. If, alternatively, you try to reach in and scoop out the material, you experience a frustrating and difficult effort due to the nature of the cramped barrel shape, as well as the interior cross supports that are very much in the way. In the end, I'd have to admit that the UCT-9 was an expensive experiment and failure for us. More broadly, I'd have to say that I can't see how any other compost tumbler would be any different because, by their very nature, they're all just closed bins into which you place stuff to break down. Therefore, if this one didn't work, I can't see how any other would work either. Instead, we'll continue to simply pile material on the ground and turn it occasionally with a pitch fork -- a process that never creates slime balls, never smells, is easy to load and unload, always fully breaks down, and never fails to create that rich, dark, moist compost that makes our garden sing. FOLLOW UP 5/29/2012: Our inability to get this compost tumbler to create usable compost was not an issue of either too much water or too much green material. In fact, over the course of two years we tried many different "recipes" using a wide variety of materials and moisture amounts, including exactly following the instructions included with the unit. Ask yourself if you are interested in following exact layering techniques and ingredients, or if you are simply looking for a convenient and effective composting solution that allows you to add whatever you have each day to the pile? Years of successful composting has taught us the very best solution: Go to a agricultural supply store and purchase about 10 feet of "welded wire" fencing that has a reasonably small mesh (about 1" x 2" holes), as well as 10 feet of high-quality "geo-textile" fabric (sometimes called "landscape fabric") that is the same width as the fencing that you choose. Lay the fencing flat out on the ground, place the landscape fabric on the fencing so that the fencing is completely covered, "sew" the fabric onto the top (long) edge of the fencing using a long piece of wire, and then sew the ends of the fencing together with wire to form a bin (tube shaped) that is completely lined with the fabric. Stand the bin up, place the bin anywhere you like, and fill it up with any mix of compostable materials (no special recipe needed). Occasionally water the top of the pile in the bin to ensure that its contents are evenly and consistently moist. This is the perfect compost bin, lasts for decades, is easily moved, holds a very large amount, costs very little, and most importantly -- it works. FOLLOW UP 6/9/2013: There seems to be much mystery regarding composting, but it is really very simple if you understand the basic principles behind what is happening. Composting is the result of a massive number of microbes breaking down vegetable matter. In order to be a successful composter, you need to provide an environment for the explosive growth of these microbes which are naturally occuring in the soil. The microbes require three significant things: vegetable matter, moisture, and warmth. They also also require oxygen, but we've found that this is not as important as the other three factors. If any of these factors are lacking, the microbes will not flourish in sufficient numbers to break down the vegetable matter. If all you do is create a tiny pile (or barrel) of banana peels, onion skins and apple cores, you'll never get the microbial process going. The key to ensuring a suitable environment for the microbes is to start with a sufficiently large pile. A large pile holds moisture more consistently, and will also hold sufficient warmth from one day to the next. Once the pile gets going the center will become hot to the touch, which will further enhance the pile's ability to break down the vegetable matter. However, as it heats it steams, which will accelerate its drying. Therefore, a highly active pile must have moisture reapplied frequently to keep the microbes active and growing. We have a 500 square foot garden, and acreage with cows. We begin by gathering large quantities of fully dried cow manure from our pasture. After running the manure through our excellent MacKissic 12p chipper-shredder to grind it to a fine texture, we fill our compost bin (described above), spraying it liberally with water as we do so. The result is a large "pile" ready to cook. We have two such compost bins, each holding a cubic yard, and located in full sun. Within two days the pile begins to cook, getting so hot that the inside steams. Then every day we take our day's bucket of scraps from our vegetable and flower gardens, dig a hole in the top of the pile about 18" deep, bury the scraps, and spray the surface of the pile again with water. We do this each day in a clockwise manner, digging a new hole each day around the edge of the pile until we go all the way around - which takes about a week. By the time we get around to where we previously buried, all of the scraps are completely broken down and gone. After about three months, the pile is completely broken down and ready to use, having thoroughly changed into a rich, earthy, dark brown compost of the finest quality. Note that we never actually "turn" the pile - our frequent burying of scraps and reapplication of water is all it takes. The key to composting is to start with a large enough pile to support the microbes. If you don't have access to manure like we do, then simply purchase a few large 40 lb bags (perhaps 4) of cheap compost to start the pile and provide a place to fully bury your scraps each day.