I have been wanting to compost my clippings and leaves, and saw the tumblers, so I built me one today. And now my problem is I dont know how much of what to put in it, how full to fill it. I have acres of leaves, chicken manure, horse manure. Now I need advice. Here is a photo of what I built today. Tell what you think. John
That is a real nice looking tumbler. I have a twin myself. I use sawdust and Alfalfa meal in my basic mix then add some yard waiste. your going to be surprised how fast that thing can compost stuff that get hot fast like alfalfa meal. you look around on this forum god only knows what you might find people putting in them. I have heard of sugar and molasses allready.
ozarkian, show me a photo of your double with some info, and I will build it tomorrow. John
carrjohn
I do not bhave a picture but you can find out all about them at Mantis internet site. the same outfit that makes mantis tillers. I think you could make one easy. you might want to weld a couple paddlles to that rod going through that axel going through the composter. Will help mix the compost up.
I noticed the boats in the yard. must be somebody there fishes. I live 30 ft from lake of the OZarks
Thanks ozarkian, I will add some paddles, and yes all I have is time, and 13 grandchildren that love to fish. You are very lucky, or smart, to live that close to one beutiful lake. John
carrjohn,
This looks great! What did you make the drum from?
ozarkian,
How long does it take for compost to cook? I did look at the Mantis website, but want to
know from an actual user.
enya_34, I have about 20 or so plastic 55 gal. drums that contained liquid fertilizer. I collected them to build a dock on the pond for the grandkids, But I think I have found a better use for the black ones. John
Nice. A handsome home-made.
Not overfilling it makes it easier to turn (which is done often for fastest composting.) About what- halfway or a bit more?
I suggest composting any irritating relatives when they visit for Christmas. "Green Matter."
I have so much compost, a tumbler is just not equitable at this point. One ton of leaves, manure, etc. would need a big tumbler. (used my truck bed this fall.)
Thanks jamesco for the advice, and I agree about the relatives but im afraid they would spoil my compost. I am plannung on making several so I can keep them going in stages. I have access to tons of horse manure, and I have so many leaves that I have ran thru my leaf shredder, have an abundance of sawdust, and chicken manure. I just dont know how large to drill the air holes in the drum. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks John
You live in a composter's Paradise, my friend. I want chickens for #1: Compost. Oh, and can't forget #2: Eggs.
Anybody here own a commercially-made tumbler who would share hole dimensions with John?
ENYA The time it takes to cook a batch of compost depends on what is in it and how hot the sun is. My mix of of about 1/3 alfalfa 1/3 fine sawdust and 1/3 grass clippings then add water to get it soggy. It really gets hot and I mean fast. It will scald your hand you stick it in there. I have had a batch out in as little a 3-4 weeks. What you mix in makes a differance and how wet you keep it also mean something.
CARRJON I do not know this for certain but I was told commercial tumblers are fired by propane and turned by electric motors. The propane I imagine keeps the heat on 24hrs a day. the person that told me said they were about the size of a in ground fuel storage tank. I bet they are all custom made. would seem there might be something on the internet if you ask your search engine for commercial composters. an other thing you might do with that manure is you can put it in a 55 gal can put some of it in a 55 gal drum and put airate it and filter it and it can then be sprayed. They call it compost tea. i seen somewhere a post about somebody selling it.
Propane? Fired? Eh?
CARRJON now you got me started wondering. I been looking on the internet for commercial compost tumblers I looked up commercial composting equipment on my seach engine and came up with some good info. Looks to me like it would be a lot of layout to start one up. I noted one site mentioned using a front end loader to mix large pile of compost. I am betting you got one.
ozarkian, what I am trying to find out is what size holes to drill in the compost drum that I have built. Thanks John
Ozarkian, get outside and actually look at a commercial compost site, ask those fellas some questions. They have windrows that are usually on the ground for up to six months, these are turned every day by a machine that just drives down the rows with it's aparatus spinning, watering, and piling. Someone moniters their initial composition and weekly temeratures. Usually, a large grinder/chipper/shredder pulverizes their raw material, which is almost always lacking enough N, upon which a pelleted chicken urea is mixed in formula.
The Natural compost process heats itself when proper balances are acheived in the ingredients. The little Barrels, tumblers, etc. like John has are for patio use, and reproduce the natural process in a highly efficient and ergonomic way.
I have always wondered what size of holes allow air flow, do not let out the compost as it turns, and does not get clogged, and also does not let out too much heat. I wonder if screen is used.
Enough is enough, I'm calling someone who knows...
Kenton
my question excatly I dont want to lose my compost to the ground directly below the drum. Thanks John
The holes should most likely go in the ends of the drum. If it were me I'd start with 10-15 quarter inch holes on both ends. By leaving the trap door always on the top (when cooking) this will create a draft of fresh air as the compost heats. (I'm sure the door is not completely airtight but if it is then why not put some small holes in the top?) All holes could easily be covered, on the inside of the drum with window screen to keep the compost in and the flies/knats out.
Personally, I'd be tempted to put a half inch hole on the bottom of the tumbler...by doing this any excess liquid that might accumulate could drip out that hole and be caught in a bucket underneath. That compost liquid is primo stuff!
Love that tumbler, John! Wish I lived closer...I'd be tempted to come buy one (or more!) from ya!
Shoe.
thank you very much , shoe, the shipping from here to there would be cost prohibitive, but I can give you compost if you want to pick up LOL.. John
Thanks Shoe.
I will be drilling holes tomorrow, and in the meantime I am going to build anotherone because I want enough compost to start everything that I will be rooting this winter. It would be a shame if I have the opportunity and let it go by, right? John
I dont know what to say, But I forgot to say A BIG THANKS TO SHOE. Please accept my opologies. John
A missed opportunity to compost is certainly a sin.
I've got a big one going at 110F degrees or so right now for next sping's new beds.
Kenton
No apologies necessary, John. Beside, you Did thank me...but's it's always extra-special when folks are thanked more than once! I'm grateful! And, YOU'RE WELCOME! :>)
Jamesco..YOU'RE WELCOME also!
John...one day I'll make it to the great state of OK! If so, will bring a trailer!
As an aside, if you're making compost to use as a rooting medium, please remember you don't want too much nutrition for that process. If it is too rich in nutrients you'll end up with top growth and stifle the possibility of root growth. When I root plants I use a medium that in non-nutritive; then when the rootings are ready to be moved to containers will offer them some good food in their potting mix at that time. What'cha gonna be rooting, by the way? (I'm the nosey sort, ya know!) ô¿ô
Shoe , Im getting a tremendous interst in brugs, and datura. And any advice for a newbie ,,o well what can I say Thanks John
Like I said I never seen one I was told what they were like we do not have a commercial operation like that any where near here. I went and looked on line and I seen the kind your talking about.
I have a Mantis Twin It has screened ports on the ends works fine for me. I am in this Forum more to find out what others put in there mix. So far i have seen people say sugar and mollasses. Just what would suger provide.
John...Brugs are pretty easy to root. You can do them in water and often-times have great success. You can root them in a soil/soil-less medium and have great success as well, either rooting them vertical or cutting them into smaller pieces, laying them on their sides and snuggling them half their diameter in the medium, keeping them moist.
What I've discovered is that they are aphid magnets so you'll need to watch them for bugs. There is lots of good info on the Brug Forum.
As for Datura, I've only grown the local "weed" (Datura stramonium, a.k.a. jimson weed). There sure are lots of cultivars and other varieties that attract my attention though! I think you'll have fun w/those.
Ozarkian...the sugar and molasses that you have been reading about is usually applied to compost tea mixtures, not to "hard" compost (raw materials that make compost). For the makings of compost you simply need some "browns", some "greens" and water. The 'browns' would be carbon material (leaves, hay, etc), the greens would be Nitrogen (fresh-cut grass, certain kitchen scraps, amendments like alfalfa, manure, etc). When time allows I'll find you some other more detailed threads on compost making if you like.
That is about what I use horseshoe. !/3 sawdust 1/3 alfalfa and 1/3 grass clippings. Works real real well for me and what we do. We have a hosta and shade garden. I think you all grow a lot of food plants as well. Maybe that combination is the best for around here. I know people around here that use nothing but rotted sawdust on their vegtable gardens and turn out some real fine things. I am interested in seeing what others mix in though.
Shoe, I greatly like what you posted. I have an abundance of horse manure, chicken manure, oak leaves, sandy loam soil, and a will to grow floweres John
" I am interested in seeing what others mix in though." I"m sure others will come forth and post. I tend to use whatever is available during the present season.
John...sounds like you got all you need! And don't forget to utilize some of your kitchen compost; might as well recycle it, eh?
Ozarkian: Only sawdust? That is wild. The particle size is probably ideal. If I did that here, I would have fluffy soil with no Nitrogen. (But local soil is terrible here.) You must have some nice native soil (that I wish I had many days).
And your formula is a good one. (Green-heads will tell you that otherwise. Malarky, I say, but their reasons are: Sawdust can have 'harmful' treatments in it and grass can have pesticides on it. These things are true, but I figure simply aging and composting it takes care of what is probably such a tiny residue.)
The most important ingredient you have is a will, John. You could do anything with that.
I use massive amounts of leaves. I can post some pictures. Anything whatsoever from the Kitchen goes in. A forgotten kitchen waste is liquids: old coffee, tea, vegetable water, etc. When a pile is big enough, I do not hesitate to put in dairy products (which is usually not good.) but a hot pile will take care of it.
I take in not just my garden wastes, but my neighbor's, friend's, and garden clients, even if I haul it in.
A little woodash is super-rich in not just potassium, but unfortunately salt. -Moderation is good.
Here is a funny thing: whe I have a nice pile of raw material that hasn't started in the winter (often it's frozen.) I pour a pot or two of boiling water in the middle to thaw it just long enough to get the thermophilic microbes eating away. It works. (You're going to laugh at how I discovered that one winter night when I needed a pee...)
Putting nice, mature soil into a hot compost doesn't seem good to me; it just toasts the cool-loving organizms (perhaps killing them?) But, If you have a compost that is not hot anymore, mixing in soil with inniculate it with those last-stage bacteria and also help with any potential micronutrient deficiencies.
Man, with my leaf piles how they are, I wish I had some chicken dung.
I once composted a solid phonebook, but see what this guy uses as compost:
http://eclectech.co.uk/compostbin.php
Kenton
Thank you James : Soil varies so much here I think because of where it lies I would be afraid to speculate on what kind of soil they have. Myself being on a lake front I have very rocky soil. mostly a form of limestone that is really domite and flint. but the soil between the rock is really good. Colorado blue spruce grown faster around here than anywhere else I had ever had them. I do not know if you have ever heard of this. But aound here the soils are so rocky that ponds will not hold water. One of the things they use to seal the inside of those ponds is Chicken manure. I do not know how that works,but i know it can backfire.
OK I started my first batch of compost. I drilled about 100 1/4" holes in each end and several at the bottom when the lid is at the top. I filled with alternate layers of shredded oak leaves and chicken manure, and the scraps that I have saved from my DW kitchen. I then wet down well and let drain thru the holes in the bottom. I hope this is going to work because I am going to build a couple more tomorrow. By the way my first one is very easy to turn, and I can feel the material inside turning over very well John
Congrats! Let us know how it heats up! Sounds like fun to me!
You should try to draw up some sort of schematic (sp?)... maybe we could all make one of the "carrjohn super-duper compost tumbler", eh?
John used plastic drums and they are usually black and thick walled they should do real real well. Bet they hold the heat good. What with the cold weather I would not expect them to heat up much.
I think john is onto something. Bet there is a good market for them out there. You got a lot of welding experience I think John. I just started a couple of years ago. I have a 32' by 32' two well boat dock. Since it floats and gets beat around real good by the big boats in the summer the frame has to be fixed from time to time. They charge so much to weld them around here I bought a wire welder and my neighbor helped me a little get started. It only takes one break for that wire welder to pay for itself. I have practiced a lot on scrap steel I get from a friends dock building service.
I forgot to mention that I keep 2 buckets under my twin - it seeps beautiful liquid gold - black syrup between the welds as things break down. I use this to fertilize things.
Azalea, that's some good stuff! I bet you can dilute it way down and really make it cover more area, eh?
Ozark...I'm like you, I think john is good at welding. As for me, I have a welder and have never used it. This past year one of my customers said I would probably like a wire welder much better so am thinking of selling what I have and putting the money towards one. Glad to hear of your experience with one. Thanks.
Yep - I do dilute it, but I just do it by guess as to how weak to make it. I hardly ever use any kind of comercial fert. Between planting with the compost and watering with it's "tea", things just grow!
Yes, Shoe, I had a steel fabrication company for about 20 yrs. I retired 5 yrs ago, but still have a complete fabrication shop. One in metal the other is a complete woodworking shop. John
JOHN you sound like a crafter. Ever travel to the craft shows??? We did some of that when I first retired had a small crafts bussiness called Ozarkian Creations-birdtown U.S.A. Not anymore other than for myself and relatives. Bad Knees had to be replaced plus some other joints that might have to be. Bad heart as well. The garden and my fishing are about it for me anymore. would love to be able to help my somn in his bussiness. He is a pool contractor. Does large inground pools and all kinbds of fountains and water features. Its to hard on me anymore.
I just went out and stole my thermometer from my turkey fryer and took my composts temp. it is 38 deg outside but 75 in the center of mix. Sounds like it needs to get a lot hotter to rot. Does anyone know if I am expecting to much in such a short time? John
