How To Build a Rolling Composter for CHEAP

[MEGAONE302]

Roil it faster slave woman.

[Richardisdorky]

I live in Easter central Co. I have tried composting in many different ways and always end up with the

same result. FLIES, someone please advise.

[mae951]

@Richardisdorky Flies are attracted to raw manure & raw meat. Try burrying those things deep in the compost pile. Put plenty of leaves, lawn clippings left over veggys on top of it. If it's manure that's attracting them, leave the manure out somewhere to dry out a little, then move it to the pile.

[Richardisdorky]

@mae951 Thank you, you have been very helpful.

[isaadavid]

Simple idea--congratulations on building it. Adding dirt is not such a good idea, unless you are talking about a very small amount of soil as compost starter. Also, if you compost weeds, you'll most likely have weed seeds in your finished compost. Other comments are right- it shouldn't take 3-4 months in a tumbler. Maybe too many air holes?

Good luck!

[mae951]

@isaadavid If it's composted 'correctly' the internal temp gets high enough to kill all seeds, including weeds. In theory any way. A bigger problem, I've seen at my grandparents house, is that a compost pile will provide a very rich soil for weed seeds to collect from the wind and then grow.

[isaadavid]

@mae951 True, weed seeds will die with a high enough temp, but getting a compost pile to that temp, and evenly enough throughout to kill all weed seeds is tricky, requires a fairly big pile all at once from what I understand (I think I remember ~1 cubic yard or bigger). My pile accumulates slowly from kitchen scraps and yard trimmings, so I leave the weeds out. Got a volunteer tomato plant growing out of my pile this summer--nice bonus. :-). I wish you luck with your roller. Post follow-ups?

[azurarz]

sonache sta burana

[chrislika1]

Where did you get the barrel?

[Shkeptic]

Once the compost breaks down, won't you start losing it through the holes each time you roll it? Just sayin....

[arkansastrash320]

It should not take any 3 or 4 months to produce compost! if thats the case i will not make a compost tumbler.I heard 2 weeks to 21 days at the most!Your compost looked a little dry to me that can take forever if its too dry.Anyway i expect to produce compost atleast every 3 weeks all summer.I am going to grind up all the leaves and stuff with my lawnmower and that will speed it up i am sure plus good wet kitchen waste also!

[frogsoda]

@arkansastrash320 You've got the idea.

[bobday44]

wouldn't be easier to just put the leaves and grass in the dirt and let it break down that way instead of using a barrel?

[TnWormsCastings]

are the holes kinda big?

[saturno236]

Where can I get a barrel like that one?

[unphazed123]

try adding some earth worms in there to speed up the process =)

[MilfMildew]

Once the compost is nearly completely broken down wouldn't rolling the composter cause the compost to exit the barrel through the holes you have drilled? Maybe drilling smaller holes would be a solution?

[sae1095hc]

I'm not a compost expert, but wouldn't it break-down faster if you used a barrel without holes to hold the moisture in?

[envirosponsible]

@sae1095hc The contents inside must have some moisture, but not too much. Air circulation is needed.

[qin02]

@sae1095hc it will sink if you did that.

[gasdorf]

nice video...great idea

[ConditionRedDawn]

So....how do you know when it's ready to use?

[envirosponsible]

@ConditionRedDawn When it looks like the compost you get from the store-very dark with no discernable pieces of plant matter.

[bwillan]

Insert a metal rod through the mid point so that you can rotate it on its axis in place and that will also give you a "blade" to help break up the materials to be composted. Lots of youtube videos on compost tumblers.

[cdltpx]

In fact you can repourpose some from a clothes dryer.

[cdltpx]

Yeh kind of like in your dryer.

[nqkoisii]

:) nice

[cdltpx]

Simple and to the point I love it something I can do. Might want to add a blade in there.

[envirosponsible]

@cdltpx Are you serious about the blade? If so, that's a great idea. Thanks.

[hinckleypoland]

cool