172
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #199,417 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
In fifteen years of composting, this is the first TROUBLE I've had.
I have composted for approximately 15 years. My first and only bin was a homemade pallet and chickenwire two bin setup and it was great until it finally rotted apart. The only thing I thought could be improved with that system was making it easier to turn the compost, and so I began to look into tumble composters. The ratings and reviews for this item were good and generally info on the web seemed to recommend this style of composter. So we dived in and purchased this. I am writing this review so that people like myself who read reviews before purchasing will have an objective assessment of the drawbacks of this composter. In fifteen years of composting in my previous system, I never had an issue with odor, or compost being too wet. In the several months I've had this bin, it has been nothing but a leaky, stinky mess. Yes, I know the science behind composting, yes I realize that the carbon/nitrogen is imbalanced, however, my composting has always been a purely natural process, i.e. when I have leaves (in the fall) I add leaves. When I have food scraps (year round) I put those on. It doesn't make sense in my mind to have to go out in search of straw to purchase in order to make my composter work properly. My favorite piece of composting advice was one suggesting that you not worry too much about the details because "rot happens." This is an over-simplification of course but I do now miss the simplicity of being able to toss whatever is on hand onto the pile. I've now spent a lot of money on a tool which requires conscious decision-making in order to achieve reasonable results... at least I'm ASSUMING the results will turn reasonable now that I've scrounged a huge amount of "brown" material to add, and per recommendations from composting websites drilled additional ventilation holes in it. Finally, turning the composter is not terribly easy. The base moves around because it is light. It should probably be weighted down somehow but I won't be able to work on this until the stinky mash inside has improved.
