Customer Reviews

Urban Compost Tumbler 9.5 Cubic Foot

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I have owned this product for several years now. It is definitely not perfect, but is also definitely not all bad. I struggled whether to give it 3 stars or 4. Three and a half would have been perfect.

First of all, my dislikes:
* After time, the lid does become somewhat hard to put back on. This is my biggest "gripe" with this unit. My belief is that this is due to the plastic on the lid being much stiffer (thicker and ribbed) than that of the body, and that when hot the body warps somewhat and the lid does not. This problem is much more pronounced on hot days. If you try to put it back on in the cool of the morning, it is not much of a problem. Even during the hot days, I have learned to get the lid on with not too much problem most of the time. That being said, it is difficult enough that my wife can not get the lid on during hot summer days. This would be extremely difficult for an elderly person to do. The design should be adjusted to fix this problem.
* Don't waste your time with the tea catcher Tea Catcher For UCT-9 Composter. This is not the unit you want to make tee in and further, the adaptor, which cannot be removed, is somewhat of a hazard when turning the unit.
* I wish it were larger. We have a fairly good size garden and I would like to be able to generate more compost at a time. I find I can fill it up very quickly, and often find myself wishing it were larger. (See further on for turning this tumbler, it is not hard!) Additionally, I find that this unit is not large enough to generate the necessary heat to compost over the winter. A load in the summer takes only a few weeks, but a load in the winter takes essentially the entire winter. During the winter, the outer portions of the material in the tumbler frost over and do not compost until you turn the unit and get them more into the middle, and the middle portions are still not warm enough to compost quickly. In the hot summers, this is not a problem. If I were to do it again, I would probably spend the extra money and purchase something like the Mantis 4000-00-02 ComposT-Twin Composting Bin. This is more than twice the size and has two chambers - two at a time, or one for the pile you are doing now and one for collecting stuff for the next pile. (Oh, would my wife love to get the stuff out of her kitchen/garage while it waits for the bin to be freed up!)
* It is a bit of a pain that you have to tilt the thing nearly upside down to empty it. This however is not a huge problem. My wife and I (mostly my wife) have learned to put a tarp under the bin and dump the compost onto the tarp and then just drag the tarp to where we want to use the compost. Not a huge deal. Again, the Mantis might be easier here too, but at twice the price!

Ok, still with me? Now for the good:
* I have had fairly good luck making compost with this unit, especially (as noted above) during the warmer seasons. We have quite a few trees on our property and about once a year we prune everything and then rent a chipper and make a huge pile of wood chips. (The finer you can chop/shred the "browns" the better off things will go, and soaking them overnight before putting them in seems to help too.) Then, as we collect "green stuff" (kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, etc) we mix them in equal parts (by volume) with the wood chips in the compost bin. This goes pretty quickly, because you collect plenty of kitchen scraps for the next batch while the current batch is composting. Or one time mowing the grass is usually more than enough greens for a batch. Two additional comments here from another review I read. You MUST layer the stuff as you put it in. I put in a couple inches of wood, and then a couple inches of green. When I get about a quarter or third full I put the lid on and mix everything up really well. Then repeat the process until full. If things are not mixed well then the greens will turn into "slime" (like the bucket of kitchen scraps that my wife would like me to get out of the garage!). Second comment, the unit is MUCH easier to turn when full then when only half full because it is balanced when full. When it is only partially full it is out of balance and very hard to turn. When full, my wife - who is tiny - can turn this easily. When it is only half full, it is a bit hard even for me - especially if the contents are really wet (and heavy).
* This has been really fun to have with the kids. They see things grow in the garden and then see things "turn back into earth" in the composter. This has also really helped our family be more contentious about wasting less. Our kids know that "garbage" goes in the garbage can, "recycling" goes in the recycling can, and kitchen scraps go in the compost bin. We really waste a lot less and I believe we are teaching our kids that lesson also.
* The unit is quite sturdy. It has stood up to cold winters and hot summers and shows very little signs of wear.
* This is so much easier than turning a pile by hand! I did piles by hand before I got this unit, and as I have said, the unit is not perfect, but it is so much easier and much faster than simple piles that you must turn by hand (3 weeks for compost versus 3 months).

In all, for the money I am happy with my purchase. If I had more to spend I would probably try the Mantis for its size and double chambers, but this unit gets the job done, and for someone with a relatively small garden, this would probably be more than enough.

I bought this thinking I could make a pile of good compost and save on buying bags of it from Lowes. It hasn't worked out that well.

The unit itself is impressive. It's very thick plastic, assembles easily, and looks bombproof. The instructions were good and it all went together with a bit of muscle. I am pleased with the quality.

I have not, though, been able to churn out good compost. It takes me months and months to get anything that appears to be somewhat broken down. Like another reviewer, for a long time I got nasty glop. I know, putting in too many greens. So I put in more browns and now it doesn't really do anything.

I suppose part of it may be operator error. I am not incredibly diligent in maintaining the correct ratios, and that may be a big part of the problem. At the same time, I grew up with a compost heap on the ground in the back yard, and threw kitchen scraps into in, watered it twice a week, turned it over here and there, and like lightning it produced black gold that made the plants grow like crazy. I think part of issue is the instructions and testimonials don't fully go into how much time and effort is needed to get the ratios just right and to really make it work.

The best, simplest way to make good compost is on the ground. Nothing comes close when you consider the amount of effort needed. The compost tumbler is an artifical method that requires a good amount of tinkering to get things just right.

If I could spend the $300 all over again, I'd just spend $12 a year at Lowes buying bags of compost. I'd save a big hunk of patio space, and a great deal of aggravation. All that said, if you're willing to put in all the time and tinkering, and to deal with a unit that is a nightmare to unload, this thing might work out for you.

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Just wanted to add that I picked up some compost starter from Lowes and it's made a significant difference. I shake it onto the material to be composted (think of shaking parmesan cheese onto a plate of spaghetti) and it has little enzymes or what have you that hurry the process along. It certainly sped up the pace of making compost, but I have never come close to the UCT's promised 2-3 weeks best-case-scenario.

I have tried again and again to get the Urban Tumbler to work but to no avail. I live in the western suburbs of Chicago and all I get out of this composter is goo. After trying more "brown" nothing happens even when I wet down the contents. It sits in the sun all summer "cooking" goop! Sorry I have to be so negative!

I used a different type of composter when I had a much larger yard and it worked well, but it eventually attracted rats. In my new smaller yard, I was hoping that this enclosed model would compost quickly and relatively easily and discourage pests. Granted, I haven't seen rats, but the compost is crawling with cockroaches. There are some minor things that you can do to try and discourage roaches - keep compost damp, turn regularly, etc, but none of them are completely effective, and I really hate being the person infesting our urban neighborhood with cockroaches. I'm afraid it just doesn't seem practical and considerate to compost when houses are so close together. What a bummer.

We couldn't be happier with this composter. All our research pointed to this model: if you follow the advice given, you will get great results. For those who haven't put much thought into composting in the past (or who have just thrown things in a pile), this is the way to upgrade your green lifestyle tremendously. It's funny how something that you once felt a little strange about throwing away--from banana peels to broccoli stalks--all of a sudden becomes a treasured item for your compost "recipe." You close the circle, from your garden soil to your garden soil. It's a nice feeling. If you want more information about this product before buying, make sure to check out the extremely helpful Urban Garden Center site.