Compost Tumbler, would you?

Hubby and I have been entertaining the idea of a Compost Tumbler
for quite some time. I've read all the DG reviews and am now surfing
the internet for more opinions. We are leaning towards a purchase of
the large tumbler. I understand that in years past there have been issues
with the design, materials, etc. and they have since updated and corrected
many of the problems customers have had with the tumblers.

We no doubt have the weeds, leaves and other materials necessary
for making the compost.

Other than the cost, would you consider purchasing one, or
for those who have one of them, do you have any input you'd like to
share?

Many thanks!

Karen

I've never used a tumbler so I can't really offer any good information. But I have read an awful lot of reviews where people were unable to get them to work. Do you compost at all now, or have you ever tried it? You might want to just try a pile of stuff on the ground first. It is, after all free. And it might give you an idea whether composting is for you before you put out a lot of money.

Karen

I have a compost tumbler which I purchased for around $100. The thing about compost is that you need a much larger percentage of carbon (i.e., dried leaves, dried lawn clippings, etc.) to nitrogen (i.e. kitchen clippings, green waste, egg shells, etc.). Also--compost takes a while to "cook."

If you have a lot of space don't bother with a tumbler. Just bag leaves, kitchen waste, whatever, and, making sure they are wet, leave them alone for a year or more. Hooray--compost!

From all I've heard and seen, tumblers are a neat idea that just doesn't work very well in practice.

My newest garden toy is a chipper. It is being put to use with seaweed and dried palm trees.

If you have a problem with weds that go to seed you can make them into a "tea" using EM. It kills the seeds and gives you a liquid fertilizer. EM can also be used in compost. And, with it, you can compost meat and fish scraps and bones and milk products. There are a couple threads here about EM and bokashi and you can also check the website www.emamerica.com

Based on my experience, I'd invest in EM and/or a shredder and forget the tumbler.

Just my not-so-humble opinion.

katiebear

My compost tumbler -- the Sun Mar 200, pricey at around $200 -- works fairly well, though definitely not like the company says it does. Mine produces golf-ball-sized pellets of mostly composted material, and I have to scoop them out. The compost doesn't pour out beautifully with ease, like it does in the company pictures! But the finished compost seems to work just fine on my veg garden -- I just squish them in.

I'm not sorry I bought the tumbler, mostly because I live where there are bears. My compost tumbler permits me to compost all my food scraps in a bear-proof manner. One time I got lazy and put too-big zukes on my compost pile instead of in my tumbler and a bear swatted and bent the metal fence containing my compost pile.



This message was edited May 10, 2009 6:52 PM

I have a tumbling composter and a biostack that I got for Christmas last year. I have already emptied the biostack once, and am probably a month away from another load of compost. The tumbler still hasn't done a good job breaking down the materials. I think that I may just empty the tumbler into the biostack so that this can cook.

The tumbler cost twice as much as the biostack, is less than half the size and is taking much longer to break down. I'm surprised to find that there is such a big difference.

pennefeather: Since I was one who so strongly encouraged you to try the Biostack, I'm glad that you seem happy with it.

Karen

Karen,

I have to admit that you were right.

Good, it's good to be right once in a while!

Wuvie, sorry that we're strayed from your original topic- compost tumblers.

Karen

Kq, oh, no please don't apologize. Any other ideas are more than
welcome. As hubby and I are collecting information, we are beginning
to think maybe the tumbler is not right for us. We have SO much stuff,
each season we have so much to compost, we've been just tossing huge
piles into the bog each year. Maybe that is why the trees in it do so well, LOL.

I'm beginning to think a tumbler would end up costing more in medical
bills, winding, rolling that handle every day. Shoulder surgery, anyone? ;-)

Think a visit to Biostack is in order.

Many thanks for all of the information, everyone!

I have a tumbler. Mine does great. I do have to crank it everyday. So I have it placed where I pass by it, and then I give a twirl every time. The more I crank it the better it does. Mine is the one that is high enough to put a wheelbarrow under it and shake the finished compost out. (It does take some effort to get the compost out)

My two cents!

Hi Images,

Have you owned yours for a while? My concern was the little gear teeth
wearing out with the elements of weather. I keep looking at the photo of
the teeth and I just have this vision of them becoming brittle and chipping
off, eventually skipping instead of the gear kicking in.

Sigh. I'm so confused.

KM

We have several compost bins going at a time. What we use is circles of fencing. When we moved into this house, the previous owner had attached pasture fencing with a 2x3-inch grid to split-rail for a small dog yard directly behind the house, which we took out. We cut that 2x3 fencing into lengths about 10 or 12 feet, the right length to make a circle about 3 or 3.5 feet in diameter, with about 18 inches of overlap. Overlap it, tie it in one or two places with lightweight nylon rope (squirrels chew cotton rope), stand it up, and voila, there is your bin. When it is time to turn the bin, place an empty circle nearby, undo the knots, open the bin, and fork from bin A into bin B.

Later I discovered that 2x3 inch grid is great for a new compost pile but not so great for a partially decayed bin, because the stuff falls thru the2x3-inch openings. I bought some chicken wire and lined the 2x3 with the chicken wire, but that didn't work very well because the chicken wire doesn't stay pressed up against the 2x3. We muddled along with that for a while, but eventually treated ourselves to a roll of 1x1 fencing. It is great for the partially-decayed and almost-decayed stuff.

So now we have various circles, some are 2x3, some are 2x3 lined w chickn wire, and the best ones are 1x1.

We are fortunate enough to have an out-of-sight area where we can set up these bins. Maybe a tumbler would make compost faster/easier, but we'll probably stick with our fencing circles.

WUVIE, I have had my tumbler for about 5 years. So far the gears are fine. However, we do not have a lot in the way of weather. We are in Northern California. They are really sturdy.


Anyone else with a tumbler?

There is a thread here which posts a link to a DIY tumbler composter. Youmight want to check it out. Also, You could put some materials for compost in a drum or a wire roll and see whether the results are close to what you want.

I like my chipper/shredder for some of the materials I have here. It's great for dried up palm tree trunks and semi-dried seaweed. It cuts the volume of the seaweed. It would cut the volume of branches but it is a slow painstaking process to run them through so we usually toss them down the arroyo (Mexican equivelent of a bog).

For leaves and dead plant material the chipper would work well. Then you can compost the pieces in tire composters (I know you know about www.tirecrafting.com).

For large amounts of material I don't think you would find that a tumbler can handle enough to make a dent in your pile.

katie

LOL Katie, that seems to be the problem. We have large amounts of stuff to compost.

Though we only garden to a small section of the property, we have quite a mass
of material each spring and through the garden season.

Though I am looking at the WormFactory for smaller things like potted plants. Hmm.

My DH made me a rotating tumbler and I love it. I just filled it a couple of weeks ago so it is still cooking, but things are looking good. I am hoping it turns out well. Aside from gathering things into a big pile - as you can see on the right, this is my first time trying to compost.

I bought a tumbleweed bin ( http://www.tumbleweedcompostbin.com ) that seems to work quite well. I only need to turn it once every few days. I've only been using it for about 2 1/2 weeks and the volume is already nearly half what I started with and it's hot. I just started composting so I don't have much to compare it to. I'll post an update when it gets closer to being 'done'.

i ve had my compostumbler for 15 yrs. out in the elements,no signs of wearing out yet !!! i love it,I also keep piles going too.every time I crank it I do 10 on each arm ,tricep work out, two birds with one stone !!!

CapeCodGardener: Nope! No bears in Cambridge. Dunno how to change the preferences to put me in NH. Plenty of bears in NH! Maybe some will come across the canal some day....

Compost171,

Just click on your name in previous post. Then click on manage preferences. On the right hand side of the screen you should see "location" listed, click that, and make your change to NH.

Done. Thanks, Pennefeather!

We have a compost twin tumbler (bought it from an individual) which does okay, I just forget to turn it every day, and it is heavy to turn, not as easy as they make it look on tv or video (their's must be empty). It does make compost okay, would do better if I paid it more attention. We also have a couple of piles working. These are long term piles cause hubby and I just can't handle turning them every week or two. We made one with stacked concrete blocks the other with pallets tied to metal fence posts. We also have a stacked block bin to catch the shredded leaves we collect in the fall (made great leaf mold over the last year) and we collect grass cuttings from the church up the road that has a huge yard mowed every two weeks. The grass is just in a pile by itself which in a year will be composted by itself, but all along we add some to the other compost piles.
The shredder is wonderful! I would get that first, too, I think.

Tumblers are great, problem is you really need more than one.One on the go and the other maturing. They both need turning regularly. They are definately quicker than a compost pile, which also needs to be turned. As with all composting systems getting the balance right between carbon and nitrogen plus oxygen. Tumblers are great for the oxygen aspect and are also good for monitoring moisture content necessary for decomposition.Tumblers can be located conveniently for daily additions of kitchen scraps.