Looks so cute!! And having one would take all the excuses I make as I throw good but old food out. I might be in for one if I wern't moving and would have to empty, clean it and take it along.
It has inspired me to keep my organic peels and veggies, dig a hole in the garden, and begin that way. If I don't draw rats, it's a win-win.

This product also suffices as an orbital lander for hamsters.

IMarks wrote:Okay, let me get this straight. You want me to pay a hundred bucks for a big plastic ball that will take me and a friend two hours to assemble? Check. What do I do then? Stuff it with garbage, you say? Check. Why is that? Because it'll make my garbage more, um, garbagey? Double check. Yep, this Woot makes perfect sense!

Not a gardener, you say? I'd never have guessed. ;-)

they have this on sale at costco from time to time. after seeing many complaints about assembly i just went with a simpler composter (black plastic hoop with holes in it and a top that looks like a witch hat) available from our city for <50 bucks. Works like a charm, main difference is that churning it is more of a chore, you have to use a pitchfork or composter turning pole and it probably takes more time to get compost as a result. But in the peak heat of summer there's probably little difference.

myleskelvin wrote:OK - I bought one last time. It's quite a fun construction project if you are missing your youth of Lego, Erector-set/Meccano. However I have to say that while I find flat-pack Swedish furniture a breeze; this thing took a while. Mating the two halves of the dome took two days - because I had to wait for a warm day to make the plastic flexible. And I live in California. And it was the summer...
Once made, it looks quite impressive, but it leaks what is probably good fertilizer juice, and every time I open it a swarm of micro flys come out. Not really put enough in to comment on the output, but if I'm honest, I would not buy again.

Thanks for what appears to be an honest opinion. Much appreciated.

drunkenalien wrote:By the way the name sputnik, means "satellite" and roughly translated as "fellow traveler," It was launched by an R7 Semiorka rocket on October 4, 1957.

And no, it did not compost garbage, although we Americans probably wished it did.

You know.. the race to space...
The race, to the moon...
Neil Armstrong...

How do you not know this???
Geez people, how old are you?

ok, I'm ancient. I snagged me one of these Sputniks.

I promise I will install an American flag in one of the air holes.... while I'm at it, I'll add a Gadsden flag (Don't tread on me) for the worms that may find themselves trapped in the Sputnik.

If you are in the market for a composter, I suggest first checking with your city. Mine just happens to provide them for free to residents. Good Luck!

This was featured in the "What Is It?" segment of "Ask This Old House" once.

So I can now inform y'all that it is NOT a giant bowling ball.

kmanock wrote:Looks like the death star.

What up lover.

J/K i saw your thread over on EBW and just wanted to welcome you to the W00T family. Have fun and stay out of trouble

stevetaebo wrote:So from the picture, is this thing supposedly on a slant?

yes, and its upside down if your in Australia.

Would this composter be considered green?


Not the color, genius....

composters are great, but i would be weary of rats. we had rats literally chew through the side of out composter to get to the food that was rotting inside.

This again?

what the hell???

cplagge wrote:Very good product, though it has one HUGE flaw: It has this small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. One could fire a proton torpedo into the thermal exhaust port(which is no bigger than a womp rat), which would cause a chain reaction that would destroy the Ecomposter.

I have found that putting a fresh banana peel at the bottom solves that problem.

I trust it will be fully operational by the time your rebel friends want to enrich their gardens.

realitik wrote:I had an error when trying to open the User Guide so this could be answered in it.

Do you need to have Red Wiggler worms with this thing?

Theese are the typical compost worms that I use in composting bins (literally a Rubbermaid container setup) at my house. The Death Star would be nice for the outdoor composting but I didn't know if worms were necessary.

Only if you'd like to also have a bunch of dead Red Wigglers. This thing gets pretty hot and is a bit out of their comfort zone. Works great all on its own though.

Boykie wrote:used to get deals at Woot. Now (I guess since it has been bought) today's offering is the same price as I saw the same item at (i think) costco.. interesting.

I bought this last time it was offered on Woot. I agree with other posters that 1. It's pretty simple to put together once you get the hang of it. 2. No odor of consequence and 3. It is REALLY heavy to rotate when it gets 1/2 full. Using the handle of the "lock/unlock" wrench helps, but it is still not for the weak.

RE Costco - my local Costco had it for $119.00, so Woot still (barely) won the deal.

OH - make sure (if you build it inside) that it will fit through the door when you're done. Not that I was dumb enough to have done that - I just, you know, heard it can happen ;)

orlando1928 wrote:We got one of these on Woot back in June and are ordering a second one today. A modest proposal for the assembly challenge: child labor. Our nine-year-old was thrilled to spend half a weekend on the assembly in exchange for $25. He said it was as fun as assembling Lego Star Wars ships. I think it helped him to view this time-lapse video of the assembly process in advance, so that he had a preview of the challenges he would be facing: [/url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqP4BSp9Zs8[/url]

It's become a hit in the back yard: fun for the kid and dog to roll around, and a conversation piece for the neighbors. We need a second so that we always have one to add to while the other one bakes for a few months. . . .

Those two in the video have terrible taste in carpet.

I have to agree, this thing looks like a model of the Federation Death Star

How big is this thing?

Some excellent advice here. I bought this last time and with 5 minutes before the end of the day. I'm glad I did.

Yes, it's tedious to put together, but not difficult. I rolled mine out the door before attaching the 'poles.' Think more like a bulging hockey puck than a sphere.

The spider base is the most difficult thing to put together correctly, what with the distances needing to be exact. It took me the longest to assemble that part (as you will see presently) because I had to go back and adjust everything and start over once or twice. Getting it perfect is near impossible, but close enough works just fine. Just roll it around the yard to turn.

And it's a fine conversation piece. Once sitting in the corner of my yard, my neighbors asked if I was planning to blow them up.

I also have a problem with flies, but i figure that if I leave it closed long enough, the flies will die and turn into compost themselves.

Anyway, on to the interesting part of this post...
My Facebook album showing timelapse Construction!!!

As you can see it took me about 3.5 hours to put it together, while watching tv, and with a regular hammer instead of a rubber mallet. The Spider base took me another 2.5 hours or so, but i wasn't working hard core on it, and I think I took a few breaks at the end. I also may have been drunk. To take that for what it's worth.

All in all, I'd woot it again.

weklund wrote:Love this Unit. So do my dogs:

Vote for the girls:
http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/photocontest/dogs/10/08/25/bella-and-cait

one vote from me, I love labs!

MarkInPontiac wrote:I bought this last time it was offered on Woot. I agree with other posters that 1. It's pretty simple to put together once you get the hang of it. 2. No odor of consequence and 3. It is REALLY heavy to rotate when it gets 1/2 full. Using the handle of the "lock/unlock" wrench helps, but it is still not for the weak.

RE Costco - my local Costco had it for $119.00, so Woot still (barely) won the deal.

OH - make sure (if you build it inside) that it will fit through the door when you're done. Not that I was dumb enough to have done that - I just, you know, heard it can happen ;)

The one at Costo does not include the base, same as the one at Sears.

gbinman wrote:Like this?

If you do that then it will "tax" all of your hard working microbes and fritter away all the nutrients on the lazy, good for nothing, weeds. Of course, the weeds will be immanently smokable, but "I didn't inhale."

[/quote]The Spider base took me another 2.5 hours or so, but i wasn't working hard core on it, and I think I took a few breaks at the end. I also may have been drunk. [/quote]


Hilarious!!!

Bought one last time. It IS a good value, much cheaper here than anywhere else. Assembly did take a while, about 3 hours solo. Yes, use a rubber mallet on the pop rivets.

You are able to add more compost as you go, you don't have to fill it all at once. Just don't expect it to be done as soon. There is virtually NO SMELL from the device, unless you stick your head in the thing (NOT recommended!!). It is cheaper at woot's price than any other rotatable composter I've seen. Turns easily.

All in all, I'm quite satisfied with the purchase.

Just curious, to prevent the leaking, did anyone run a bead of caulk down the seems prior to assembling them together. seem like a simple solution, unless you want to have the liquid pour out.

jasongilbert wrote:If your compost has an unpleasant odor, you are doing it wrong.

also, what are the dimensions?

compostbin.com says:

Compost tumbler measures 32L x 32W inches

which is confusing, cause its a sphere..

http://www.compostbins.com/compost-bins/compost-tumblers/ecomposter11cubicftwithbasecomposttumber.cfm

Goto the hardware store. Buy a 10 foot length of wire fencing with about 2 to 4 inch spacing between strands about 3 to 4 feet tall. Make a 3 foot ring out of it by bending the wires on one side around the fence on the other side. Fill with yard waste. Wait. You get delicious compost ready for your table. In just a few minutes to make one, for just a few dollars.

I have no problem with people posting amusing comments for Woot products however with that being said hearing the same joke 50 times is nothing short of ridiculous. I guess some people in here are just amused way too easily. Trust me the space station comment isnt funny anymore. At this point it just makes those posting it look completely unoriginal.

Sorry but it just needed to be said.

As for this composter, they are very nice for the money. My neighbor 2 doors down has this model and it works just as well as mine and I paid 3 times this price. If I didn't already have one I would buy it. Who cares if it takes some time to put it together. It just gives you the ability to make sure its assembled properly.

gotmyorangecrush wrote:I have no problem with people posting amusing comments for Woot products however with that being said hearing the same joke 50 times is nothing short of ridiculous. I guess some people in here are just amused way too easily. Trust me the space station comment isnt funny anymore. At this point it just makes those posting it look completely unoriginal and nothing short of harshing my mellow!

Sorry but it just needed to be said.

Hey bro, ever notice it looks like a space station?

Randog wrote:Hey bro, ever notice it looks like a space station?

Trust me, I knew before posting it that someone would do exactly what you did. I know you think it was pretty witty and that in itself is the funniest thing I have seen on here all day long.

Looks like the freaking Death Star to me... Is this produced by George Lucas?

stubek wrote:Takes a bit of time to assemble ...

That's an understatement. I gave my 70+ Dad and my 13-year old son the "fun task" of assembling ours and it took them the better part of 6 hours.

Still, they said it was kind of fun and wasn't really rocket science, just a lot of stepwise assembly.

The results are sturdy and easy to use, although I'm still tweaking the compost recipe to get the best output.

Can you put big things inside? like a wife?

This is a weird bowling ball. Very small holes.

I bought this last time it was on woot. Works really well. Takes FOREVER to assemble though.

What kind of batteries does it uses? Can you make it walk?

The tractor beam is included? Is the emperor really inside? Use the force Luke!!!!!!

I honestly considered it until I saw that all the reviews say 2-3-4 hours to put together.

Can I say "PWND!" really loud? Spend 3 hours putting together a COMPOSTER? Why not build a kit car while your at it?

I don't love composting enough to invest 3 hours of my time putting together a composter.

wow