no longer want a compost tumbler

[ronbre]

we bought a compost tumbler to use mostly in winter when we can't get to our garden in Michigan, but it would freeze as we just don't have enough scraps to keep it hot..

so I emptied it and plan to sell it for a lot less than I paid for it if anyone in the Michigan area is interested..give me a private message..it is a nice one..small and rolls on a stand..I just no longer can mess with it..(nearly 60 and it is just easier for me to throw the scraps on the garden)

if this is out of place go ahead and delete it

[Ken Scharabok]

There are tumblers and tumblers. My BIL just bought one of those double-chambered, fairly expenive one. With he compost he has turned out too far I would say he needs to toss a bag of top soil in with the each load. He does what I call Intensive, raise bed, square-foot gardening. Compost is so "dry" he needs to water every other day.

He has access to grass and leaves from his place and manure from mine.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I don't know many folks who like those devices. Good marketing, poor performance.

[kan-green]

I agree mine takes forever to make a batch. We have it at our place in town. Out on our land I'll just do it the old fashion way.

[ronbre]

well I'm sheet composting again and much happier with it, it might be good for someone who can't really sheet compost ..but I prefer to sheet compost myself

[Ken Scharabok]

My sister & BIL are on a trip for another week or so. I go over every couple of days and water whatever seems to need it. Turned their compost tumbler for the first time. That is about as hard to turn as the crank handle on my equipment trailer. I didn't count the number of turn per full rotation.

For 'brown' material, if you have a cattle farm in the area, stop and ask if you can pick up some from his pasture(s). Sort of comes in three states. Fresh and loose, fresh and firm and mostly dried out. A bit of all would likely be the best option as the mostly dried out stuff should have earthworms in it.

Also check with a horse stables. A friend has a trailer which he takes to one. They will load the trailer for $5.

[jwal10]

I love mine for making potting soil out of compost I add chopped straw and shredded paper. It heats it hotter and more uniform to kill any weed seeds and such that my regular compost pile may not. I keep it going year around even though I make a lot more compost in my compost bins. This just completes the potting soil....James

[Paquebot]

I also love mine. Never have to add water if there is enough green material. In fact, usually too wet. Added about 25 gallons of grass clippings this morning which stuffed it full again. Of course, the liquid in kitchen scraps freezes just as solid as water in the winter time. Only way the material would stay loose in the winter is if 90% of it was very dry and fine. Wouldn't compost but then most piles also aren't doing anything in the winter. All one has to do is follow the directions and learn how to use it.

Martin

[7thswan]

Mine just sits there also. It problabley works if someone want's to fuss with it.

[Left-Handed Dog]

We have two of these and use them to finish compost that has already sat in pallet bins or sheets. Particularly useful for finer compost for potting mix, etc. Got ours for free (or nearly free)...probably why we like them so much!

[Shrek]

When my ex wanted to buy one of those I convinced her to let me set up a couple plastic drums with banded lids on the landscape timber tracks first and compare the output to the wormbin to it. Not only did she find using the wormbin easier, the compost output was higher quality.

[luvrulz]

we sold ours too, just too much to mess with......

[Yvonne's hubby]

I just scrape up the mess (manure and spilled hay) from around the hay rings each spring and put it all in a pile with my tractors front end loader. Then in the fall I move the pile one bucket full at a time which stirs the compost pretty well. Come spring I haul the nice fluffy compost to the garden and start the process again.

[Ken Scharabok]

I am very impressed with their raised bed, intensive, spuare gardening. It is just the two of them, both on diets, so it represents their 'kitchen garden'.

[Paquebot]

I see that I'll have to add another 15-20 gallons of grass clippings to mine in order to send it through another heat cycle. Son added half a dozen or so cull pigeons today. It will take 2 weeks to cook them down to bone meal.

Martin

[ronbre]

well if someone is interested in it let me know

[kirkmcquest]

I just throw my clippings, scraps, paper and chicken manure into a pile which I turn every 3 or four weeks with a pitch fork. It seems to work fine, I'm wondering what the advantage of having a compost bin is? Is it just the ease of spinning it instead of turning?

[Paquebot]

Originally Posted by kirkmcquest

I just throw my clippings, scraps, paper and chicken manure into a pile which I turn every 3 or four weeks with a pitch fork. It seems to work fine, I'm wondering what the advantage of having a compost bin is? Is it just the ease of spinning it instead of turning?

A compost bin isn't a tumbler. A bin is merely an affair to keep the materials contained vertically rather than sprawling horizontally. Tumbler advantages are many. They take up a small amount of space. They are the fastest way to get a finished product. They allow recovery of almost every bit of nutrients which are in the material. They are portable and accepted just about anywhere. They come in various sizes to suit individual needs and proven to work for anyone who is willing to use them properly. If purchased just as a lawn or garden ornament, that's all they will ever be. Tumblers will not make compost on their own. It needs to be combined with a willing gardener. Those who design them know what they are doing. If the instructions call for 6 turns every day, that does not mean that 1 turn every 6 days should give the same results.

Martin

[jwal10]

double post

[jwal10]

Originally Posted by kirkmcquest

I just throw my clippings, scraps, paper and chicken manure into a pile which I turn every 3 or four weeks with a pitch fork. It seems to work fine, I'm wondering what the advantage of having a compost bin is? Is it just the ease of spinning it instead of turning?

Much more uniform compost and gets all of the material hot to kill seeds and spores. If I need extra nutients for a planted patch, I take the compost from the composter, put in 5 gal "collander" buckets with holes drilled in the sides and bottom, add water and collect the "tea" for fertilizer. Wet material drys quickly in a pile, in a few days I have excellent planting media...James