HighonPottery
Member
I'll see ya on getting more info in this compost thread!
So personally, i have kinda stopped using my tumbler. It's got a couple issues with my design--i should have used a metal rod through the center because the wood dowel is warped; i should have also ABS glued my center air pipe to the bottom of the barrel because after time, the weight of all that heavy wet material popped the tube out from the socket. those are all relatively EASY fixes but i'm lazy once i get home. i plan on getting it back and running this summer and will use it primarily for storing recycled soil.
i've been doing most of my composting in my big compost bin (which i'll have to get some pics of). i've been playing with the design of it over the past year, but basically started out its life as a 3-sided bin made from some wood pallets. a few months ago i "upgraded" it with some chicken wire all the way around and added a 'center' divider out of another pallet to give me 2 sides that are roughly 4' tall X 4' deep X 2.5-3'wide. one side is for all the fresh, big chunks of stuff. the other side gets sieved once through chicken wire and sits there for further decomp. a final sieving is through a 1/2" screen into the wheel barrel.
i've also been getting some awesome compost from the local waste facility. it's all the green waste collected from residential that gets ground up and composted in these HUGE rows. the stuff that comes out is GREAT! i have been ammending my whole yard with this stuff, but lately have been getting the stuff that gets taken off in the 1st screening---they sell it as "walk-on bark" and it's pretty much all the chunkers and is actually quite a nice product. the most finely sieved compost (1/4") is the most expensive at $35/yard which is pretty cheap if you ask me. they come load you up with a huge ass tractor and the scoop is obviously more than a yard...
sieve:
So personally, i have kinda stopped using my tumbler. It's got a couple issues with my design--i should have used a metal rod through the center because the wood dowel is warped; i should have also ABS glued my center air pipe to the bottom of the barrel because after time, the weight of all that heavy wet material popped the tube out from the socket. those are all relatively EASY fixes but i'm lazy once i get home. i plan on getting it back and running this summer and will use it primarily for storing recycled soil.
i've been doing most of my composting in my big compost bin (which i'll have to get some pics of). i've been playing with the design of it over the past year, but basically started out its life as a 3-sided bin made from some wood pallets. a few months ago i "upgraded" it with some chicken wire all the way around and added a 'center' divider out of another pallet to give me 2 sides that are roughly 4' tall X 4' deep X 2.5-3'wide. one side is for all the fresh, big chunks of stuff. the other side gets sieved once through chicken wire and sits there for further decomp. a final sieving is through a 1/2" screen into the wheel barrel.
i've also been getting some awesome compost from the local waste facility. it's all the green waste collected from residential that gets ground up and composted in these HUGE rows. the stuff that comes out is GREAT! i have been ammending my whole yard with this stuff, but lately have been getting the stuff that gets taken off in the 1st screening---they sell it as "walk-on bark" and it's pretty much all the chunkers and is actually quite a nice product. the most finely sieved compost (1/4") is the most expensive at $35/yard which is pretty cheap if you ask me. they come load you up with a huge ass tractor and the scoop is obviously more than a yard...
sieve: