Compost tumblers

I aam thinking of investing in a turnable compost tumbler, but i noticed there is little feedback or reviews available on the web. As these products range form $200 $500 i am cautious to invest this amount of money at the moment.

The products i am looking at are the compostumblers version http://www.composters.com/docs/tumblers_1.html#cct

or the autoflow system model 400, i like this one as its all plastic, so no rusting http://www.composters.com/docs/tumblers_1.html#af

does anyone have any reviews of these products from their backyards, or know of anyone using them and could help me out by commenting on their ease of use and the quality of the compost produced, or anything else i might need to know.

Or have input on any other versions i might not have found on the web :)

Thanks Diane

Here's a link to a previous thread on the subject:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/648766/

Diane,

I have the original compost tumbler...it's awfully high up in the air. You have to lift stuff up into it.

I have some neighbors who should have practiced safe sex after 1 child, but instead had 4. The little rug rats try to get the baby rug rats stuck in there until they cry.

Somewhere on the internet is a drawing of a better mousetrap. They are advocating a rebar X going through the drum so some of the compost sort of gets hung up a little and the rest tumbles. Apparently you get a better finished product. BUT I haven't used mine in over 8 years since the neightbors from hell moved in, but as soon as they start driving I figure I'll be safe to start using it again. It was just such a pain to have to pick up all the compost from the ground where they opened the door to get in.

Suzy

Well, I love my Mantis Twin Tumbler - I am sure that it would work better if it were in full sun, mine is on the north side of my little GH, I wish I had space on the south or west side. Still, I am very happy with it. I keep a plastic container on my counter for all my kitchen veggie scraps and coffee grounds. I dump it in the tumbler every day so there is never an oder, I also put many clippings etc and cut grass in it. I even add worms and some soil and a handfull of 10-10-10 every now and then. I only turn it about once a week. I do also have a Rubbermaid compost bin but it has to be set to one side and filled again from the pile beside it. My DH told me I was too old to be turning that pile so he bought me the tumbler about 5 years ago. (I agreed) I take a wheelbarrow full out of it about once a month in the spring and summer. DH is not really a gardener but will turn a pile now and then if I remind him to do it, but I can turn the tumbler unless it gets too full. I would really miss it.

Azelea be careful with the 10-10-10. The inside of your tumbler is zinc planted and the fertilizer will erode it and allow your tumbler to rust out. I have one and was given another by someone who used fertilizer to speed the process along. The barrels looked like they were made from Chevy Vega parts they were so badly rusted. I tossed most of it but kept the drum ends ( plastic ) and the gears . I've never used fertilizer in mine and after seeing his do not plan on doing so.
Also I like mine too ! I've never had a 2 week run but after 1 month I usually have pretty decent compost and I compost mostly dried oak leaves with whatever green I can find thrown in/
Ken

Hummm - thanks for the fertilizer tip - I don't do it often or much at a time - the instructions that came with it said to add a cup of it with each load or I never would have thought of it - maybe they want it to rust away so we would need to replace it! I know it is recommended to use it in the "Pile" method. I may re think this now, I 'm sure we would not replace it, too many $$$.

I took a look at my booklet and the one on the mantis site which is the same. They say do not use chemicals in the drums as the galvanized coating will be destroyed. ( page 21 ). They must have changed the booklet after yours was made. Mine is about 4 years old.
http://www.littlewonder.com/09_compostwin/12_03_pn_200711.pdf

If you want to add a little fertilizer, you can through in a cup or two each of seed meal, bone meal, and kelp meal to help speed things up. They won't corrode your tumbler like 10-10-10 will.

This message was edited Mar 24, 2007 8:20 AM

Wow - well, I guess they changed it - as I recall now they even included a pouch of fert with it - maybe mine had a protective coating on it??? Thanks for the warning. I did get some alfalpha pellets last year, I could add them but I don't know if they would speed anything up.

I went the economy route, and about 4 years ago I drilled 1/4-inch holes about 4" apart all the way down and across the sides & lids of 4 nice big Rubbermaid rolling trash barrels. I just fill each one up, layering yard scraps, kitchen scraps, rabbit manure from my "compost bunny", and shredded paper. I water if necessary. I add some juice from my worm bin occasionally, and throw in a handfull of fishing worms once in a while. When one bin is full, I move on to the next one. By the time I get back to the first bin, the compost is "close enough". Then I roll the it out to wherever I want to use it, dump it and start over. I sometimes sift it with my home-built sifter, but not always.

It ain't elegant, but it works---and it's just about as close to free as you can get.

imapigeon
How long does it take your garbage can composter to break down? And, could you post a pic of your homemade sifter?

Thanks.

Depends on the weather----in the warmer months when the microbes & worms are more active, about 4-5 months. It would be less if I turned it, but I have too many other things to do! In the winter, of course, it sulks. I'm just about ready to dump out a couple of them that were going last fall when it got cold. One nice thing about having the bins on wheels is if I want to put them in a sunnier spot, I can easily move them. I keep them on concrete most of the time.

I'll post a picture of the sifter, which fits nicely over a wheelbarrow. I think we also did a drawing for a friend; if we can find it, I'll post that, too.

I have tried three methods: a barrel tumbler from Garden Spot in Vermont; holes drilled in an old plastic trash can; and a big pile on the ground. IMHO what works best is to start things out in the tumbler, get things working pretty good in terms of decomposing, then dump it all on the ground and shovel it into the plastic bin with holes. Then you can start a new batch in the tumbler

On the plastic trashcans, I cut the bottoms out of mine so that when it needs 'turning' I can just pick up the plastic container, move it to new spot and reshovel the compost material back in. My least favorite is the big pile on the ground. Although it's covered with a layer of straw between pitchfork cycles there's still lots of gnats, it's less compact and much harder to turn over than the simple holey trashcan method.

My two pennies, fwiw.

I put a bed of shredded paper down on the ground and moistened it. When I turn the pile, should I try not to disturb the shredded paper layer, or just turn the entire pile over? Seems like I'd be disturbing the friendly worms and disrupting their bed.