Building a 55 Gallon Barrel Tumbler and Lifetime 80 Gallon Tumbler

[freedomlovelydovey]

I buy recycled paper towels to help ease the burden on forests. They're expensive, so I utilize them several times for various tasks like drying hands & counters (no chemicals being used), and then one last time to wipe out leftover food from dishes. Then they go into the compost pail which I empty into my tumbler when the pail is full. In this way, they become part of the "brown" material. If you let the towels dry out in-between tasks, you can easily use them 4 or 5 times & then compost them.

[dyllos7]

John, I am surprised you don't use a starter for the compost - grass eating animal manure (horse, cow, donkey, etc) 2-3kg or straw soaked with pee for a few days to get the bacteria going much quicker than just leaving the the fruit/kitchen waste to get it going.. the vertical tumbler is not a sealed unit as it has a breathing pipe (necessary to oxygenate the bacteria) - make sure it is turned regularly to introduce new air.. Good luck

[Vilibrato]

Don't use newspaper. That soy ink is GMO, contaminating your garden. 

[ivy9857]

JOHN, WHEN IT COMES TO GARDENING I THING YOU ARE SECOND TO NONE. YOU ARE THE BEST !!!

[SocialistDemocracy]

My compost seems "gummy". I dont use tumblers, i just put 2, big trash cans on top of heap of composting materials. I mix the compost in the trash can every week or two with shovel. But underneath the trash cans, the original heap seems to be gummy, & mushy. Is my nitrogen : carbon ratio off or am i not mixing it or is it because its too cold for the compost to break down?

[MrWishiwas18again]

I really find your show useful. As far as composting paper, newspapers etc... does the ink factor in at all, would it be harmful in any way? Thanks for posting.

[SocialistDemocracy]

@MrWishiwas18again I cant speak for all newspapers but i know soy ink is used in some of the bigger newspaper companies 

[dianemummvideos]

As always great video John.. I have a pile compost, but would love one similar to this too , it is on my garden list..

Diane

[spisblog]

John, Great video and excellent job!!! I've been running one of those Lifetime tumblers for close to a year now and I absolutely love it! I was pulling nearly complete compost every couple of months during the summer (up here in USDA zone 5b). Much quicker and easier to manage than the plastic bins I was running. Best wishes in your gardens! Steve.

[MrJHEagle]

i don't have room to kick the barrel around otherwise that's a good idea :)

[MrJHEagle]

John i made a compost bin with the big black ex pickle barrel. I just added in the handles holes with fly wire glued over them to let the air flow through without the insects. I thought to make the tumbling action but it was just easier to buy a stainless steel compost turner that looks like a large cork screw. I got the compost turner on ebay australia. Thanks for the video John.

[oldrockmustard]

Great video!

[slanesteve]

I'd love to see a performance comparison down the road. Could you let us know which composter performs better for you?

[drmikeyg]

I love this man. His dedication, passion, and the heart he puts into his vids is fantastic. He is spreading the word about gardening. I really learn a lot, and solve some of my problems that I encounter. Keep up the good work John.

[zerodefcts]

I made a composter by just drilling a bunch of holes in a 55 gallon drum. I lay it on its side on a concrete pad and I just kick it to make it turn. I use two drums, one for turning and the other for filling. Seems to work well. I like the idea of adding an air tube down the middle.

[HelenaJN]

We have a TON of worms and nightcrawlers at my home. I want to take advantage of that. So I am going to get a compost system like you have at the starting of this video. The thing is, I can get a tumbler for free. I rather get free, but I want faster compost. What would you say to do? I don't know if my landlord will let me have two.

[spisblog]

@HelenaJN You can always run you compost nearly complete in the tumbler (until it starts to cool down) then transfer it to a tote or something and add your worms. Less mass and you won't risk cooking your worms.

[LaoSoftware]

John, how do you know if your compost is ready to use?

[crv26]

everyone check out "return to eden" great film

[crv26]

@crv26 back to eden!!! SORRY

[76plantman]

Hey John, I just got a compost tumbler 2 weeks ago. I've been filling it with scrap veggies and dried bamboo leaves from the yard. A few days ago I started to notice a lot of fungus gnats. Do you think this will create a problem? P.S. Love the vids I've learned so much already. Thank you!

[peter1971]

Vote for John Kohler!  bestofrawfoods(dot)com

[crosswind76]

Our county lends you one FREE in Phoenix, just call ur county

[dramey03]

when i 1st found out about ya, i said you needed a new microphone but otherwise you had great vids

well, the sound is a lot better and you still have great vids, we can hear the wind a lil, but the vid is still great quality! glad to see it!

[roseforvendetta]

john your hair is sticking up like alfafa

[crosswind76]

@roseforvendetta Haha cute :)

[TheSemperfidude]

Hey John,throw a pound of red wigglers in your old composter.Wet them down once a week.They will have that cut in half in no time.Same with the new ones ,they will like the ride.LOL.The new ones both need leverage tubes bolted on sides .Use 6"pieces of 3/4"conduit.Take 16" cold rolled steel rod as lever.See ya

[EmancipatedSquirrel]

Hey John have you tried bokashi composting? It takes a little setup to start but once its going it can compost within an aerobic and anaerobic process so no mixing needed. It also gives off a nice liquid fertilizer that could be diluted for plants that needs a little more push to grow. I was wondering which would yielded more since I haven't found the grain husk I would need to keep it for a longer shelf life. I found the best info from youtube user dkpd1581 . cheers

[agriperma]

Wouldn't tossing in a little compost already made be necessary, for the beneficial bacteria needed? or compost starter mix?

[TheDudeRulez09]

Hey John the second composter could just as easily be made from scrape or recycled lumber!!! I think that doing it this way would seriously promote the sustainable aspect of the whole process!! great video my friend!!

[blackboy424]

40 bucks lol Just was that composter for 179.99 at cotsco online :)

[leapingfroglady]

I am using tires to compost in. It is still in the experimental stages.

[leapingfroglady]

John, I was thinking. What if you buy cheap soil. The ugly kind that has large pieces of wood. I've even had cheap soil smell like petro and mix it in your compost pile to make better soil? I don't think I'll use the one that smells like petro though. Any thoughts? I've bought bags of soil that looks more like mulch but have huge pieces in it.

[Zavatari]

I would not use paper because there could be chemicals in it you don't want in your body.

[zardozica]

I asked HP and they could NOT tell me if their inks were safe for composting.

[zardozica]

The main flaw is the hole in the barrel which will wear over time making the spin uneven as the hole gets bigger and bigger.

[zardozica]

Made in America cost more which too many people are not willing to pay - they always shop price first and shop Wally World. Nice way to export jobs.

[gardenvespers777]

nice job! looks like the Tumbleweed I bought..only alot cheaper!

I wish this was posted a couple years ago! lol  oh well :-)

[KingRyltar]

Hopefully the toner, which contains BPA in most printer inks thru out the world, does not keep its potential thru composting...just saying bro..

[aenema1983]

use mushroom spawn for speeding up the process

[TickTockClockRock]

I've watch a couple of your videos, and I must say it is very educational. You live a very sustainable life style. Looking forward for more great videos even though I don't do any of these stuff.

[carrottop8311987]

bacteria will grow naturally but if you want to jump start your composting the next time you make compost tea spare a little for the new compost tumbler.

[KingRyltar]

carbon/nitrogen....plant and animal waste..brown and green..

[KingRyltar]

Confused....5 year warranty, for a life time tumbler? lol

[KungZoo]

A friend of mine also won a composter a few years back. Maybe there aome community schemes that can hand them out for free, too. I'd be wary, though, about adding newspaper to compost - a lot of the ink on the paper can contain really toxic stuff.

[KungZoo]

- ok, so you covered the ink aspect.

[carrottop8311987]

@KungZoo about 95% of AMERICA's news paper have a soy based ink instead of a petroleum

[sly2kusa]

John, good for you! Great pickups! I have the Original Composter (18 Bushel version), and it has been a bottomless garbage pit! They say it will compost in like 2 weeks, but I have had to add Nitrogen slowly (not enough grass clippings but plenty of Carbon based stuff). Anyways - it will be another nice soil amendment (along with my worm castings from my Red Wiggler pit). Keep up the great work!

[chickenbonewatt]

The bigger one seems overly complex/too many parts. I hope it works for you of course. I really like the other barrel one. I currently just use a couple of garbage cans and when one finishes, I dump the other into it to get the bottom moved to the top. Not a perfect system, but Compost Happens!! (Want to make a tumbling version soon though)

[CHEVYCAMARO4GEN]

Composers are nice i plan on buying one, but hey do you recomend any place to get them at a low cost?

[C6R1S]

Hey John, got your runner beans and they look amazing. Anyway as an addition to the compost tumblers I would recommend turning the UTC-7 90 degrees so it can sit a little flusher to the wall to save some space. Plus you should mention to viewers in future update videos to add some soil or finished compost to help with the microbial count, so that it will not take take weeks for them to multiply enough to overcome the abundance of raw material.

[MrMyrdok]

I actually got that exact 55 gallon barrel on craigslist last may for $20. I drilled some holes where the handles are to aerate it while keeping the rain out. I then cut a hatch in the bottom of it out and attached it with hinges. To keep it closed I used a regular gate latch that I put on with screws. Overall project cost about $30. Composts just fine.

[apaulanarius]

Thanks for sharing about composting, John. Have you seen the documentary "Back to Eden"? Just watched tonight and it is quite informative about composting and mulching. Worth the watch. I have that 80 gal. composter and it does take a little time but it's worth it though.

[enticed2zeitgeist]

Please do some updates in a few weeks on the tumbler you built please!

[8drewski]

hey john you should do a vid on worm composting

[KRYTEN451]

OH BOY, I bought several of those pickle barrels intending to make a double compost tumbler, but put it off. Now I will get going again.