Urban Compost Tumbler 9.5 Cubic Foot

by D And P Industries, Inc

Product Features

• Fully enclosed, controls evaporation for less supplemental water use.
• Doesn't attract rodents like open piles.
• Made in the USA of 100% recycled materials.
• Easy 10 minute assembly.
• Includes best practices booklet.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000I518K8
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,652 in Kitchen & Dining (See Top 100 in Kitchen & Dining)
  • #32 in Kitchen & Dining > Storage & Organization > Compost Bins

Product Description

New Urban Compost Tumbler Makes Compost in Weeks Not Months with Revolutionary Central Aeration. System; Works 90% Faster Requires 75% Less Effort. Lack of space and time to maintain a traditional compost pile neighbor complaints and unwanted pests... the UCT is the perfect fit. . This unit is the only sealed compost tumbler that allows appropriate amounts of oxygen to enter the chamber and mix with materials vastly increasing the speed and efficiency of composting and inspiring more people to take advantage of the benefits of composting than ever before. . Wagon not included. Tumble end over end. Suspended on a pivot rod that allows the barrel to tumble freely. The UCT9 is black in color to maximize heat absorption and further speed the process of turning refuse into useable compost . 9.5 cubic foot 71 gallon barrel. 5 Year Warranty

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, December 22, 2007

By 

LG Texas "LG" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Urban Compost Tumbler 9.5 Cubic Foot

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.

65 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy a composter that ain't this one, May 6, 2007

By 

Timothy W. Smith "Engvillage" (Mountain Brook, AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Urban Compost Tumbler 9.5 Cubic Foot

OK, so here's the deal. I spent hours researching all the composter products out there (Mantis ComposT-Twin, ComposTumbler, EnviroCycle, bla bla bla) and I googled all these guys, tried to find what people were saying, loved, hated, etc. and finally decided on this 9.5 Cubic Foot Urban Compost Tumbler. ((My neighbor has the Mantis CompostT-Twin and the cogs are breaking, etc. after only 2 years and to be honest, it just isn't all that hot. Plus, it seems to have aeration/oxygen issues and nothing to agitate the compost once inside the drum). This UCT-9.5 guy is amazing. I have been using it now for a while and it does exactly what it says and makes beautiful compost. I take extra care with my compost and shred things, watch my recipe, watch my percentage nitrogen and carbon inputs, use an activator etc. *AND* I have my composter in FULL SUN!. And the stuff that comes outta the thing is awesome. I bought two at the time and now I wish I had 3. Couldn't be happier here. If you buy another composter that is not this one, just make sure you know why you're buying it.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works well - if you learn how to use it - I'm ordering another, May 3, 2009

By 

Finance Guru "A CPA" (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Urban Compost Tumbler 9.5 Cubic Foot

I've used one of these for several years with good success. My ex kept it in the divorce - so I'm ordering another one.

Positives - Compact - no mess in the garden or side yard. Can be moved. Tumbling a couple of times per day speeds things up - but if you miss a few days it will still work - just takes a little longer. I find it easy to load and the base isn't made of metal products so I don't worry about rust. The ventilation system works well to help composting.

Minus - and why I don't give it a five star. The bar up the middle sometimes makes it difficult to get everything out. (I don't know how they could change that and still get ventilation.) To empty, you may need help from someone to tip the back up and hold it - or you will need to prop it up. I use a step ladder with a board sticking out of it to hold the tumbler in position.

I was surprised to see reviews of frustration on this composter and thought I would share how I use mine and how it works for me.

If you want to get compost every few weeks - that's not going to happpen unless you have more than one. Why? Because an active gardener is always adding to the composter. You have to choose a time to stop and let the composter work. Unless you have some place to store the items you are going to compost later, or don't mind not composting everything, you will need two.

How I use it.

1. Be careful on your greens and browns. Too much green and you will get the "sticky green ball" - and it won't compost until you take it out, break it up and add some browns. Experiment with the right amount for your area and type of plant material available to you.

2. Add some dirt to your composting - seriously this makes a huge difference - it introduces the mirco-organisms to get good composting. I periodically add a shovel full as I add greens and browns.

3. When you are ready to use the compost - don't empty it completely - you want to keep some of the micro-organisims you've got in there - kind of like a sour dough start.

4. In the summer I'm always looking for browns. If I don't have enough, I get sawdust from a cabinet shop. Be careful to get saw dust only from raw wood - not particle board, treated or stained wood.

5. In winter, I'm looking for greens- I get those primarily from the kitchen. I don't use animal products such as meat scraps - it attracts roaches and vermin. Many weeds grow all year - even in the north where I live - periodically pulling and adding to the tumbler helps. The weeds haven't set seeds and there is less weeding to do in the spring when it's raining and they run ahead of you.

6. Don't compost lawn clippings - too much green. You should be mowing with a mulch mower anyway.

7. Put your composter in full day sun - if you can't do that - get at least six hours per day. If you can't do that, you probably shouldn't be composting with this item - maybe not at all.