I read your review. Two things.

One, the EarthMachine isn't intended to be taken apart, once snapped together, the two halves should not be separated. I read that somewhere but can't find it now.

And two, maybe post another review explaining the door issue and how you resolved it.

Lloyd

I have two old style earth machines, that were not supposed to be separated. But, I saw a newer earth machine and they are supposed to be separated, because I called the earth machine website (url listed below) to say I did not want an earth machine that could be separated. They said the new ones are supposed to be separated. My friend had a earth machine that was found and is in three pieces. I was so worried about it falling apart I decided to pay more for one piece construction.

As I stated above, I am not allowed to update a post, but I think the photo is good, because it shows actually compost inside the machine. I am still unhappy with the door as compared to the earth machine door. I wanted to get back to the designers that doors are not good, and a product without a door would be superior. The plastic around the bottom part of the area where the door is located is very thin and can snap. I still like it much better than the earth machine, and it looks a lot nicer. It's smooth and eye appealing.

There could be a small possibility of making another post to update the first post, but I doubt people would read the two posts unless connected together. Once there are many posts it would get lost. Most people don't read the details, but just look at the overall star ratings.

I hope to encourage other people the post reviews, because I would have read all the details if there has been a review posted. But, there is nothing else to buy if you want a round compost bin at this point, if you can find an earth machine ok or else you have to buy this one.

Otherwise you have to buy a square bin and they do not get as hot. If you goal is hot compost to kill any stray weeds seeds or other bad things, you want a bin that heats up more. I also think the heavier plastic contributions to insulation from cold winds outside cooling your compost. A compost bin is like a giant thermos keeping your compost hot.

Here is a link that might be useful: Earth Machine website

The door is now failing again. It looks just the same with a big gap. I keep trying to put it on correctly. The door design is just defective. I would not buy another one, unless the either eliminate the door or redesign it to stay closed. The door is totally useless to me.

My church did a bulk/group order of Earth Machine ones for Earth Day this year. Mine was $42, which is an amazing price. I think it's a comparable size to the one you reviewed - I'd have to check more closely, since I'm terrible with measurements.

So if you know enough people to do a group order, that might be a good way to get one. If you can't find out the info on their website, I could ask around & find out who coordinated it. My sole contributions involved writing a check & picking mine up.

Mine's not full yet, because right now I'm working on building a hot pile and will use all my materials for that and then dump extras in the EM & my old composter. So far it's doing fine sturdiness-wise. We had really strong winds and they may have blown the lid off. But I suspect the problem was actually with my 10 year old, who has the job of taking the pail to the composter. He usually just leaves the lid of the old one totally off. The lid does seem tricky enough to lock that a kid trying to breeze through chores won't bother. The door seems nice & sturdy, though.

Our biggest car is a station wagon, so I liked it that it came in pieces.

If you live in LA area, the city is having once a month sale event of compost bins. The one like yours is being sold for $20.

Here is a link that might be useful: City of LA compost days

The earth machine door is a lot better. The lid on the earth machine works for me. You have to get used to tightening it. Since I had it delivered to the house, it does not need to break up. I just worried that those that break up, may not want to stay back together. But, that is a great price, but I can not get good price breaks like that. Everyone I know thinks composting is disgusting and earth machines are ugly things to have in the yard.

Everyone you know thinks composting is disgusting? Wow, how depressing!

Towns around here have dumps, which are actually "transfer stations" because they ship all the stuff off to a trash-burning power plant. My town did a study & learned how much it would save at various rates of composting - which is in addition to recycling. There were many articles in the paper, etc. I'd love it if it got to the point where people glare at you if you don't compost, but we're not there yet. But Yankees really are frugal, and people don't want taxes to go up, so composting did go up from this effort.

Maybe the pocketbook approach would work with the people you know? Why pay to dispose of stuff that you can compost?

I found an Earthmachine at a local community Garden. It was put there for compost. As you can see it says "finished compost", but there is nothing inside. The segmented body pieces will not go back together. You can see the gap in the middle. If one filled this with compost the pressure would cause the whole thing to fall apart or just pop off and spill the compost. This is why I am in favor of the bin I reviewed, the Eco bin. The door is not a good design, but at least it won't fall apart, and the plastic is thicker the the Earthmachine.

San Francisco League of urban Gardens aka slug bought Earthmachines and they either gave them free or at reduced cost, but Slug no longer exists. Now that San Francisco has green compost bins for green waste, they don't give them away anymore. I had to buy all of mine at full retail price. I have two Earthmachines, but they are the one piece construction versions, which are no longer made. As you can see this bin is also cracked. It did not stand up to the punishment of the elements. The plastic become brittle over time and then is subject to cracking. You got to handle them carefully. If you toss them around they can also crack.

Here is a link that might be useful: Earthmachine photo album

Just by looking at the pictures one can tell that whomever is using that EM did not, or has not, assembled it according to instructions. Just setting the top part on the bottom part is not assembly. I am hesitant to claim a tool failed when the user has not used said tool according to instructions.

As for the crack, I suspect if the owner/user was as lackadaisical in use as they were in assembly, the crack may have been due to a user fault. i.e., I'm not sure they were made to be tossed around.

My EM is outside in full sun all year (except if it gets buried in the snow) so it is subjected to +30C to -40C, gets moved once in a while and so far, nary a crack anywhere. I don't like those pegs they supply to anchor the unit, they are too weak for tough soil so I anchor mine with steel pegs.

Lloyd

I tried to put it back together before I took the photos, and the pieces would not fit. Maybe if one put it together in the beginning and then used like some stronger tape or crazy glue, the pieces would not come to the point in which they cannot go back together. But, if you have to struggle with glue and tape, why not just buy the once piece construction to begin with?

EM would not look as nice with a big piece of tape, and I am not even sure that would work. One would need to put the tape on before the plastic began to change shape. In the current state I don't think tape would help. Compost has a lot of heat and as it expands with the heat there is pressured placed upon the unit. It might work better as a storage unit for only dead leaves instead as a composter.
But, if one is getting serious about composting you need more than one unit. The first bin is for your active composting, as you are starting the process. Then you want to move to a finishing bin in which you let it stay put until it finishes. Afterwards you need a "finished compost" bin to store "ready to go" compost so you have easy access when you need to use it. If you store the finished compost in a tub with a bottom, it won't keep well. It needs to drain off back into the ground.

I want something I can remove whole thing by myself without any help. The round bin is easy to pull off completely, as long as it does not have a bottom screen. I don't know what "tool" if any would be used to put the segments together. It's a snap system in which there are little tabs that you line up into little grooves. That is actually one of the better units, I have seen them with three segmented body pieces instead of two. Those segments end up lying around the yard like garden junk, unused.

The unneeded bottom screen doesn't come off easily. There are plastic bolts. That would require a screwdriver. I don't know if they will come off easily or break, but they do not look easy and you cannot turn them with your hand. I am against the bottom screen concept.

On the plus side the door is working fine. The lid keeps raccoons out. But, you have to learn to turn it correctly or it's hard to get off. The Eco bin has a better designed lid, that is easier to removed, but a worse fitting door.I once asked a friend to drop an apple core in the EM bin and she said she could not get the lid off. It just takes practice. You have to turn it like a child proof pill bottle cap.

If you buy a compost bin, you want it to last as long as possible. I hope that the designs of future bins will take these things into consideration.

I can guarantee you won't get that top, on that bottom, with all the gunk that is in the groove of the bottom piece that the edge of the top piece is supposed to guide into.

I wouldn't glue or tape it either but mine have never 'unsnapped' so maybe I just got some good ones. So far, the two I've used, the one my daughter uses, and the one I gave to my SIL, are all working without any issues. Lucky, I guess.

I try not to get too serious 'bout composting, keeps me relaxed. ;-)

Lloyd

Lloyd, I think the secret is to not let them get unsnapped in the first place. Once you put EM together, just leave it together. But, I can only speculate, since my EMs are once piece constructions. At least I think so. They arrive in one piece, and I would never try to see if they can come apart at the joints by stressing them.

Yesterday, I crazy glued the door on to the bin, and today I filled it with rich hot compost and the gap did not appear. The door stayed on. So, this is really the perfect bin with the crazy glue fix. I don't think they field tested the bin enough when they made that door.