Compost tumblers

[Shygal]

anyone make/buy one? Do they work? It seems really expensive for that 14 day one and I dont believe you can make compost in 14 days, but who knows.

[foxtrapper]

Want mine? I haven't found them to work nearly as well as the pile of compost on the ground. Keep going back to the three pile turned method as the best.

[7thswan]

I also have one, don't use it. It didn't seem to work for me. Just made a big rolled up clump. Went back to the pile. I'm sure glad I only bought the thing at a garage sale, and didn't pay that huge price tag.

[Laura Zone 10]

I just loaded mine yesterday......
4 to 1 ratio.
4, five gallon buckets of fresh cut grass to 1 five gallon bucket of hay.
I also used some kitchen scraps (eggshells, coffee grounds...)

I tumbled it as I went, and then turned it when I finished.
I will go out and check the temp this morning.
I am going to follow the instructions to the T, and I will let you know if I have compost in 14 days (as it claims).

Mine was given to me, free..so, if it doesn't work, I am out no $$.
I do want to start a 3 pile project this year also!

[Prismseed]

Compost tumblers are more effective for shutting up someone complaining about an ugly compost pile than they are at composting. The tumbler is also more for ease of use as opposed to hand turning.

Never done it myself but seen old 50 gallon drums repurposed, old water heaters to. Just need something barrell shaped that you can mount on a pole or other 'spin mechanism' and the hardware/tools to put a door hatch thing on it.

[Prismseed]

Hmmm though as an afterthought it could be good for composting veggie and meat/fish scraps that would draw varmints.

[Alice In TX/MO]

We made one. It made nasty sludge, not compost.

[GrannyG]

Save your money, they are a waste of good bucks. The best composter is just a square area, dump your greens, and keep turning...you will be far ahead...

[ronbre]

i like my little sears jr tumbler, was fairly cheap..they have them a few other places possibly cheaper..i got a small one for up by the house as we have larger compost piles in the back 40

[wy_white_wolf]

I have one. All it's used for is a storage place for household scraps through the winter until we can compost them in the spring. Then they get put in the compost pile.

14 days. yea right. Only if you have the prefect mix greens/browns and it's all ground up as small as possible and you religously turn it at least 4 to 5 times a day. Tumblers are not for passive type people.

[motdaugrnds]

We have had a very large nice tumbler for many years; never used it!

[jwal10]

I have one close to the house, It works well. I use shredded newspaper, kitchen scraps and a little rough compost to finish for potting soil. It does make it in 14 days but like everyone says it is easy to get sloppy, needs very little moisture. Green grass doesn't work for me in there. I have a 4 bin covered composting center treated plywood 4'x4' and 2' high, front open, works better for raw compost. I have a lot of straw bedding and manure. 20 days and off to the mushroom shed, then it is good compost....James

[mnn2501]

Originally Posted by Shygal

anyone make/buy one? Do they work? It seems really expensive for that 14 day one and I dont believe you can make compost in 14 days, but who knows.

I have one of the 14 day tumblers but have found that the quickest I can have compost is in 3-4 weeks and that quick only during summer when the Texas sun is really heating it up. During the winter it takes about 3 months. The closer you come to a perfect mix the quicker it goes (4 parts brown to 1 part green) unfortunatly unless I save my leaves from the fall, all I have during the suummer is green (grass clippings/yard waste)

[Fae]

Just bought one at lowe's a couple weeks ago. Mostly for kitchen scraps and such though I put some browns in there also to make good compost. I guess we will see how it works. The reason I bought one is because I could not get DH to fix me a square one from pallets.

[suitcase_sally]

I have been thinking of getting one of those. I'm glad to have read this thread.

[Bret]

Years ago, I made one like the one in the Rodales composting book. I had fun for a while.
Grass clippings alone could be composted in about two weeks. Sticks and egg shells would take much longer. The clippings would turn black and would reduce in volume by half or more in a week as they gave off their moisture. I would keep refilling each week with more clippings, and shovel full of good earth. The nitrogen given off smelled like Ajax so I felt I was giving alot of value to the air. When I dressed this fresh compost around some plants, it would burn them. I had to learn to keep it back a little.

I think adding more carbon and earth in a pile will help hold more of the nitrogen.

The work soon outpaced the fun and now the clippings stay on the lawn. It was a worthwhile learning project.

[Paquebot]

The simplest way to make a tumbler work is to follow instructions. Failure to do so is the prime reason why most people fail to get what is expected of it. The tumbler is then blamed for what is actually operator error. If the instructions say to turn it 6 times daily, and instead is turned once every 6 days, it's not the tumbler's fault.

I've had the big one from Compostumbler since 1997 and love it. Just had to learn how to use it. 14 days is possible if the right ingredients of the proper consistency are used. 14 days also happens to be the normal length of the heat cycle in either a tumbler or pile so the material is indeed done. After that, further decomposition is no different than in an inactive pile.

Cure to avoid having everything ball up is to install 2 rods, front to back, which serve to "cut the cake" and create 4 vortexes as they pass through the material. Then nothing should come out in big lumps or rolls. The company has tried that but too many things can go wrong with such a device.

Another drawback is that the life of the drum is probably no more than 15 years under normal usage. I replaced the metal on mine last fall with a thicker gauge metal than the original. I now expect it to outlast me.

Advantage is that there is little lost nutrients due to leaching into the soil. Excess liquid will drip out and can be collected. Only when you see how much liquid can be obtained strictly from the green material, and with no water added, you'll realize how much is lost under a pile.

Martin

[Forerunner]

Originally Posted by Paquebot

Advantage is that there is little lost nutrients due to leaching into the soil. Excess liquid will drip out and can be collected. Only when you see how much liquid can be obtained strictly from the green material, and with no water added, you'll realize how much is lost under a pile.

Martin

.....which is why my piles are in the fields, or built where runoff will drain into a productive area. I agree with Martin in that the tumblers can do nice work with the right ingredients and application. The trick there would be a fine consistency and frequent turning.
The suggestion of adding carbon to offset nitrogen loss is right on.
Fresh grass clippings are nitrogen rich and definitely need to be mixed with dry carbons. Half and half would suffice, two parts C with one part grass clippings would be better, unless the clippings are on the dry side.

I just pushed into a pile the other day to move it a little and turned up the remains of a two month rotting full sized cow. The bones came out clean and free of unpleasant odor.... that's a new record for me...two months to completely cook down a 1300 pound cow.

If you do use the tumblers for breaking down animal residue, I recommend adding only drier carbon ingredients while that operation is going on.
That will facilitate the quickest breakdown and the least amount of odor.

[Hooligan]

Tumblers work great IF you take the time and go to the trouble of giving them the optimal conditions.

Most people don't have the time to do that so the old fashoined pile works better for us.

You could probably find some sort of wooden compost box that is easily assembled for near or less then the cost of a tumbler.

We just keep a pile going.

[Harry Chickpea]

I've been told this works, and am about to try it myself.

Stuff the clippings and stuff in a black plastic garbage bag. Lay the garbage bag where you want weeds not to grow in the garden. The sun will heat the mixture and turn it into cow poo at the same time it acts as a mulch.