Compost Tumbler Review
My Compost Bin, My Compost TumblerThe first composter I bought was a bin model that you see in the picture on the far left. This had lots of nice features, air holes on the sides, water holes on top to collect rainfall, etc. However, it really didn't work very well.
The problem was, how to turn the compost inside. I tried a pitch fork, a shovel, a compost turning gadget, no luck. The bits of compost would get jammed against the irregular interior of the box, and against other bits, and get stuck like a tangle of yarn and not budge, at all. Trying to get leverage too in a nearly 4 foot high box was near impossible even for this very tall man.
Additionally it was near impossible to move, being open to the ground, everything would fall out and drag and spill.
Getting the compost out too proved a hassle, opening the bottom door and trying to dig it out worked fine for the stuff in front, but the stuff in back wasn't able to be reached.
In the end, I got almost no usable compost out of this contraption, it took around a year or more to finish making the compost, and I think the only plant that benefited from it was the tree planted near it that could get the nutrients leeching into the soil.
I wanted to buy a tumbler, but I was driven back for years for a few reasons. The first was cost, I would see them advertised for $400 or $500, plus shipping, that was crazy. The second was each tumbler I saw had problems with it.
Most were two small, just too small. A 5 gallon compost tumbler isn't going to help me at all. Many also looked flimsy. Many were built too low to the ground, which would require unhealthy bending to rotate. Finally the biggest tallest (and most expensive )ones were up on ungainly looking stands and used a crank shaft to turn, which to me just screamed out "potential breakage hazard."
I spent a long time searching and finally came across the compost tumbler I bought and I couldn't find anything wrong with it.
It was large, it was made of heavy duty recycled plastic that wasn't going to bust. It was a very simple straightforward design with very few moving parts, and it was cheap by comparison: $250 with shipping.
With this compost tumbler I've been able to cook compost in as little as 6 weeks. They say 14 days is possible under ideal circumstances, but I don't compost under ideal circumstances. I didn't want to put the composter in full sun because it'd be in the middle of a flower garden if I did that, so I put it in full shade. I recognize this slows down the process, and I accept it.
One day in the summer I took the lid off and it was literally steaming, steaming, so I knew it was working.
The only down side I'm encountered is that it isn't as easy to dump out as I thought it may be, but the solution to that problem was equally easy, just get a plastic snow sled and use it to dump out into.
All told I'm quite pleased with this compost tumbler. I may get a second one. It is easy to turn, very durable, able to be moved, simple (yet effective) in design, and reasonably priced.
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