Compost Tumbler Review
One of the trials we have going this summer is this compost tumbler (we got ours from for review purposes from http://www.organic-compost-tumbler.com/)
Start to finish in the construction process, about 45 minutes. I deliberately didn’t study the instructions and still managed to get it all together. Mind you, I had to refer to the sheet more than once during the process as you’ll see.
Two tips - let the poly (it’s really heavy duty stuff by the way) sit out in the hot sun for at least an hour before you put this sucker together. Otherwise, it will be hard and not at all easy to work with. Don’t even bother trying to do this on an overcast, cold day in the spring - you’ll wind up hating yourself and this compost tumbler
The second is to really apply the vaseline or cooking oil to the lip. You’ll see me struggle to turn it, hit it with darn near everything I had close to hand (my tools were still all packed away after our move) and even manage to whack a finger. The tight fit works really well once you have it together and it doesn’t leak on the stand but getting it together means really having to hold your mouth right and using a lot of slippery stuff.
After one month, we’re surprised how much organic matter we have in the drum. Because we eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, theres a lot of trimmings being composted. As soon as the gardens get going, I think we’ll see a great deal more going in. The tulip flowers and stems will be the first garden debris to hit it so it should start seeing some serious loading.
This thing is heavy. And loaded up, it is becoming a bit of a chore to turn it around. There’s a lot of weight there so put it where you want it. You aren’t moving it once it’s full.
Here’s the video.
This isn’t going well. A few weeks ago, I posted a video of me putting the simple compost tumbler together. It was an adventure and...
Basic No Work Gardening
If plant choice is our first consideration in planning the no-work garden, then where do we go from there? We’re picking the no-work plants...
2 Steps to Organic Living
If you’ve been paying attention to gardening magazines, organic gardening has finally become very, very popular. Now that global warming is clearly here, we’re...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Florence on Tue, 27th May 2008 12:51 pm
I know someone with a different model compostumbler. It rotates along the long axis (as opposed to the short axis in your model). It’s much easier to turn because of a gear mechanism.
Of course, I’m a cheap gardener, just pile all my stuff together and in a year shovel out the compost from the bottom.
F
Doug on Tue, 27th May 2008 2:16 pm
Florence - I’ve normally been a “piler” as well but these units are pretty popular. It seems like a good idea to run some trials and see what happens.
Marie on Tue, 27th May 2008 7:58 pm
Thanks for the video - nothing like watching it being done. I now know I would never be able to put one together. I’ll remain a piler :-).
Can’t wait to see how it works!
Clara on Fri, 30th May 2008 1:53 pm
Not an easy assembly. Was that the sound of your partner laughing in the background? A good video is better than any written instructions.
I am interested in the life span of this tumbler if it has to endure severe winters.
Thanks for the morning laugh. Great video.
Jennifer on Mon, 2nd Jun 2008 2:55 am
Doug,
Thanks for the post. I just purchased one that was on a long axis and I look forward to getting it together. I will keep your hints in mind.
Jennifer
Linda on Fri, 6th Jun 2008 3:50 pm
Chuckled at the video….plan to show it to my hubby. A suggestion for a future video topic might be installing a drip irrigation system?????
Linda on Mon, 9th Jun 2008 12:39 pm
I hope your composter works better than the one I have. Like others have said mine rotates the other way. Problems: 1. It becomes too heavy to turn and 2. when you do manage to turn it the stuff just slides back down the side so you never do turn the stuff over.
Jo Boehm on Mon, 9th Jun 2008 1:37 pm
If composting is so much work why don’t they make them electrical or electronic so that you plug or click and the whole mess takes care of itself?
I always feel guilty throwing away all the stuff that should go on a composter but I would be afraid of finding bugs in it. I bought a bag of Miracle Grow and found the biggest I don’t know what in it. I don’t open bags any more. I let the gardener do it. Sometimes I throw the veggies on the ground in the back of the lot and hope the racoons eat them (besides the cat food I feed them).
I love to read about beautiful gardens and think oh! I could do that, but that is the most of my gardening. I have about 20+ roses, they are doing well even without much care. Jo
Brenda on Wed, 11th Jun 2008 3:40 pm
looking for composter enjoyed your video checked the site out they are not cheap…is there any other composters at a better price that you would recommend…seriously thinking about this one as an investment but would preferr something alittle bit lower in price….your doing a great job on this site keep it up…
Doug on Wed, 11th Jun 2008 5:57 pm
Breanda: You get what you pay for on these machines I’m afraid. And the most important thing I’ve learned is that weight of compost is much heavier than I anticipated. You really want a heavy duty machine (this one is). So watch how sturdy the composter is before you buy.
Chuck McGuire on Wed, 21st Jan 2009 9:02 am
Hi Doug:
Watched your video on assembling the Organic Compost Tumbler. I’m thinking of buying one. What has been your experience in making compost since you started using it?
Thanks
Chuck
Doug on Wed, 21st Jan 2009 11:32 am
@Chuck McGuire -
The main problem we got into was not adding enough “brown” while we were adding the kitchen waste. I wasn’t totally prepared for the amount of “brown” material I’d have to add. Once we got that working properly, it seemed to do the job. The other thing I did wrong was not stop filling the unit after we had it working away. I treated it more like a pile rather than a batch unit - constantly filling it. So I’d have to say it’s one of the better units I’ve used - and next summer I’ll make it work now that I’ve figured it out. It’s one of the problems moving from a large compost pile system to a smaller unit - getting everything to scale down and figure out the methods that work.
So - bottom line - make your compost material at the right proportions. Fill it up as quickly as possible and then let it do it’s thing without adding extra material.
Claudia Couch on Tue, 14th Apr 2009 11:30 am
I recently ordered and got my new compost tumbler that I have wanted for a long time. When I opened up the box that it came in, I found that there were no directons sent with it. Can you tell me where I can get a copy of the directions? It would really help. Claudia
Doug on Tue, 14th Apr 2009 11:44 am
@Claudia Couch -
Claudia - let me suggest you talk directly to the company where you purchased your unit or check out their website and see if instructions are on the site.