Customer Reviews

Good Ideas 7-Cubic-Foot Compost Wizard Jr.

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a pretty good household composter. However, there is one big problem with it. When it rains, water accumulates on the base - there is no drainage. We recently had a warm snap and when I lifted the barrel off the base several mosquitos flew out. I drilled a couple of holes into the base so water can escape. It seems like the manufacturer should have thought about this.

We have had this composter for about 2 months. It is a well constructed easy to use composter which meets the annual needs for small amounts of daily compost. We do a great deal of cooking with fresh ingredients and generate a larger amount of organic waste than this unit will handle so we will eventually get a second unit. We probably should have purchased the larger unit but I thought I was being conservative on spending the money. In the end I think any serious family will need two (2) compost units regardless or brand or design. One to let finish composting in progress without adding more fresh material, and one to start a new set of compost while the previous one completes it's cycle.

This is fairly easy to turn, nice large screw top opening, nice dimensions, good color, made from recycled plastic. Problem is the ventilation holes drilled into the sides are too "low" so that water drips out with only 1/2" or so of water, so hard to keep the compost moist in my dry climate w/o wetting every day, something I cannot do with my travel schedule--need to water once a week and forget. Also, the lid gets caked up with food scraps--be nice if it were designed to not have the food sit on top of the lid when spun so the lid is at the bottom.

These are small changes that will make this very good composter better.

A little smaller than I thought but I bought 2 of them. Looks and works better than a regular compost bin. Its harder when you have turn it manually with a rake and its a dustier job! Very heavy (since i compost everything) but its not too difficult to turn. Or i get my boyfriend to spin it a few times. The 1st bin is already full so hopefully, I will get some nice compost soon. I would buy again in the future!

I've tried a few composters over the years, and so far this one is by far the best. No assembly required, I had it set up right out of the box in seconds. I do agree with those that have said its being low to the ground could be a problem if you have a bad back or something, but I like the low profile personally. We have a neighbor who has put it on a sturdy outdoor table, so there's a solution there. No danger of raccoons getting into this since the screw-top keeps it secure. It's a simple idea and I'm glad to have it.

The Wizard Jr. is a great composter. It is very easy to use. The lid is easy to remove and the bin is very easy to turn to rotate your compost. It's a bit on the large side for one or two people who don't produce much waste, still works.

For months I read reviews and searched for a composter that would meet my gardening needs. I have a small backyard and we are a family of three. I wanted to reduce the quantity of garbage we created while also having a good organic compost for our small veggie garden. I also wanted to stay at a price point of about $100. The Good Ideas 7-Cubic-Foot Compost Wizard Jr.fit all of my needs. The bouns: it didn't require ANY assembly! I found many similar compost containers that came in small boxes of 100 pieces. I don't have time to assemble things with a three year old at my side. This composter arrived in one large box. Opened, it slid out and was ready to be filled. I've been using it for about a month now and have been able to decrease our waste by adding our kitchen scraps to it daily, along with the dried out leaves and plants in the garden. I even added a few worms to help! My three year old likes turning the drum around to mix up the contents. Once the heat of the summer hits, I hope to have some great compost for the garden. It is about the size of a garbage can on it's side and sits in a tray that allows it to rotate to mix up the contents. It is easy to open and spin. It is sturdy and not very heavy, but has survived a few storms without moving. Love it so far, just waiting to see if it really does make good compost in a short time. I used the book Let it Rot!: The Gardener's Guide to Composting (Third Edition) (Storey's Down-to-Earth Guides) to learn about how to compost.

It has just arrived. Easy to set up. No assembly required. Instructions were on a decal on the lid so I keyed them into a Word file as I figured the decal will soon fade. First impression - way too small for the amount of compost I generate, but if it works as fast as advertized it ought to be sufficient. Only time will tell. Easy to load through the large port. Tough to turn when at the recommended load of half full. There are handles moulded into the barrel but I felt it needs handles on the ends. I will probably add them if it turns out to be an issue. I plan to build a stand to lift it up to a comfortable working height.

Edit: After several months of use I have found that it is nowhere near as speedy as the ad says. It takes several weeks before a mixed load of kitchen vegetable scraps, weeds, leaves and small twigs turns into gold. What I took out was a small pile of soggy, muddy compost. It was very difficult to remove the stuff from the bin due to the small opening. Maybe I should build that stand - and build it higher, at least waist height. Then, maybe, I can scrape the compost into a wheel barrow. As other reviewers have pointed out, it is hard to turn when heavily loaded. Maybe I should add the handles on the ends, also. Seems a lot of extra work for a bucket of compost.

Compost Wizard Jr. Rotating Compost Tumbler - 7 Cubic Feet Capacity
So far so good. We have only been using this compost tumbler in our 2-person vegetarian household for a few weeks and still have to experience how long it takes for the food to change into compost. We like that it is animal proof and produces hardly any smell.

Great size for the urban household. Very easy to turn and I have no issues with the lid- I find it's easy to get on and off . As far as stuff sticking to the lid... leave the lid facing up and you won't have a problem. Just started my first batch. Looking forward to using the compost in my garden. Only complaint is that the sticker was hard to take off.