I was a little hesitant due to the price, but that evaporated within 30 seconds of using it. If you are like me and don’t like the idea of plastic tumblers, can afford high-end large steel tumblers, and don’t have the time to build a steel tumbler out of a drum then you need a way to turn your compost efficiently. I use perforated galvanized steel trashcans and this turns them over super quickly and easily. Love that is it made in the USA and looks like it will last forever.

Just got my new compost turner! I live in a city and have a small scale compost operation in my backyard. It's three trash bins with holes cut out of the bottom. I've been using a small pitch fork for the 2 years since I started. It worked okay, but a bit of a pain! I saw this from a gardeners blog but I was too cheap to pay the price tag !Well come this month after a winter of compost neglect coupled with all this hungry spring growth... I decided to splurge and buy it. I am SO GLAD I DID !!!! it makes turning the compost a breeze in the trash bins and easy to mix it! It was packaged very nicely, feels sturdy and it will last a life time. The company even sent a nicely (compostable!) pamphlet on how to use. I am very pleased with the purchase and I hope others will too! Stop letting your bacteria die and buy this!

This is my first day with it. What was a bear of a task before, bordering on impossible, is now just demanding but very doable. I agree with all the positive Amazon reviews.To put the cost into perspective, this is my fourth compost aerator. The previous three cost together more than the Compost Crank costs and didn't work nearly as well. My compost piles are in 90 gallon drums. The first aerator is a 4 tined spade fork for about $25. It works OK on top, but really couldn't turn the compost deep in the drums. That was followed by two Yard Butlers for about $25 each. They took a great amount of strength if the compost was damp and deep. The tines got rusty and the tine hinges got hard packed with compost fairly quickly, requiring cleaning, lubing, and adjusting. After about 2 years it was time for replacing. In contrast, this simple, ingenious design should require little or no service except possible lubrication and should last decades or longer. The "high price" is a bargain looked at this way.Update 04/27/18: It still looks like new and still works great after several years of daily use. The more you use it, the easier it is to use in your compost piles. I wouldn't consider any other compost aerator.Update 11/23/19 It's amazing. After 5 years of almost daily use it still works like new and looks almost new. Superb design, materials, and construction. Worth far more than it's seemingly high cost. Because of how long it lasts and how well it works, it's actually a bargain.

I compost in a covered 55 gallon aerated barrel using a mixture of food scraps and gardening waste supplemented with coffee grounds, coco coir, cacao husks, and biochar. I use the "leave it" method of slow accumulation, but I have a large amount of black soldier fly larvae, which work great when the weather is in the 90°s and higher. Once a week, I turn the compost thoroughly and water it if it's getting dry.The Compost Crank is simple, well-designed tool. It is very sturdy, corkscrews easily down to the bottom of my compost, and makes it easy to quickly turn my compost to thoroughly aerate it and avoid anaerobic bacterial putrefaction. It doesn't harm the larvae, which I appreciate, since their vermicomposting really increases my microbial density and quickly breaks down larger chunks of watermelon rind, vegetable peels, fallen avocados from my tree, and food waste. I would imagine that any injury to worms would be equally minimal.The unit bores down is like a corkscrew and pulls up about 2 quarts of matter per pull, so I can quickly move across the entire surface of the compost to thoroughly mix in any surface food scraps, new garden waste, or added brown compost. When I am finished, any residual compost on the corkscrew easily wipes off or rinses off with a hose. I appreciate that it is stainless steel, so I don't have to worry about rust. The handle is a sturdy plastic that easily slides around for smooth rotation.I cut up long items like hay, branches, tough stems, or even celery stalks before adding them to my compost. If you have a large compost pile with a lot of long, strong fibers in it, you probably aren't composting in a barrel and would probably be better off with a pitchfork and a strong back and shoulders. For turning compost in compact spaces, this is an amazing tool that was worth the price that I paid for it. It is not a problem reverse hand positions to use the Compost Crank, although clockwise is always to bore down and counterclockwise to unscrew, which is done at the end, to release anything attached to the bottom helix. It has never gotten stuck in my compost, but if it did, reversing the motion quickly releases it.The motion to use is straightforward and there is no secret knack or subtle motion to learn; it works well and drills straight down to the bottom, grasping about an 8" diameter loose plug of compost, which you pull up to the surface before drilling down again. The strength required is minimal—the ability to lift 5-8 pounds from your waist to shoulder height—and you don't use your lower back to lift up and you don't need to push it down to screw it down into the compost, so unless you have debilitated elbows, the motion is comfortable and easy. I would compare the level of exertion to what is required to sweep a floor.If you are going to compost material that is not a brush pile, this is a great tool. The only way you wouldn't use this tool would be if you couldn't be bothered to take the time to go outside and aerate your compost pile. But if you hate jogging, you can't fault your running shoes. If you want to compost, this is a useful tool that makes turning it easy.