Sandy, I don't do the Starbucks thing since I'm probably 15-20 miles from such a place. Daughter IS in charge of the morning coffee making at our local Quik Trip and I could probably get all of the grounds I wanted were it not for my own personal boycott of Quik Trip! In short, I don't know the exact answer to your question. I use coffee grounds as my wife drinks coffee but I have never needed to get large quantities of them.

No matter what one does with sawdust, I don't think that it really breaks down until it is worked over by bacteria which is mainly in the soil. There's something just natural about that and why wood will last for centuries if it doesn't touch the ground. Mixing coffee grounds with sawdust and running it through a heat cycle would indeed make it look like you've got pure lovely brown compost. I'd think that it's simply another brewing with the sawdust soaking up the coffee! With the coffee grounds being around 2% nitrogen, that's a good thing but I don't know how much grounds would be needed in your tumbler.

My present batch was way too high on greens when it was started a week or so ago. Couldn't stuff another gallon into the tumbler. Didn't realize how off-balance it was until it shrunk to barely a third full today and too wet. Had about 25 gallons of shredded oak leaves and white pine needles on hand so they were added today to help the moisture problem. I'm down to a single 30-gallon bag of shredded leaves and that will be the final reserve browns from last fall. That will go into this batch yet and then the new season starts all over again when the first leaf falls.

Martin

I wish I could get my hands on as much OPL's like you do. So for now I will keep using sawdust and paper for my browns. I added some grass clippings to it today. I tumbled it a few times to get the grass mixed in. I popped the lid to check to see if it looked like it mixed in good. Was hit in the face with a wonderful coffee smell-I am a coffee drinker so love that smell.I guess I will just wait and see, if anything when I lay it out this fall on the gardens it should look pretty.

Sandy

This evening I stuck the thermometer in side 1-still building that side-and it was a nice and toasty 120, side two which will cook for the next week was a nice hot 150. Had to be quick to reach in that side. It does amaze me how hot it can get in a couple days. Also amazes me how quickly it will shrink. Both sides were filled with grass clippings yesterday, was about half full with other stuff already, Today they are anywhere from 2/3 full to half full, the hotter side shrunk the most. Glad to see it is getting hot as I dumped what was left from a turkey I smoked a couple weeks ago. I don't want to see a turkey come back out of there when I dump it next week.
Sandy

Side 2 is still staying around 140 to 150, has turned a nice dark brown in color with little white fungus dots all over it. I can now see the cross bars so it is now shrunk to less than half. Side 1 I am still adding to till I dump side 2. It is around 120 to 130. Isn't really shrinking anymore, hope to mow grass one day this week and will add clippings again.
When I popped the lids off tonight to check the contents I could see steam coming out of both sides.
Sandy

I wonder if Kelly is still with us? This reminds me of a similar thread which began with a one-line question and it stopped at 99 while waiting for the thread starter to confirm that she was still around. Never did hear from her again!

My latest batch produced a few surprises several days ago. For one, one of the rods must have finally been eaten through so there's only one now. Second was seeing a lot of feathers which were still attached to pigeons! No problem to cook them as it was still quite warm but shrinking fast. Final bag of shredded leaves went in yesterday since everything was also becoming wetter as the green material shrunk. Then neighbor mowed and presented me with about 20 gallons of grass clippings. Steaming like crazy again today and son said that he'll be culling a few more pigeons in the next few days. Again, no problem!

Martin

Well the temp in side two is starting to go down. Today it was only about 125 degrees. I guess I will be dumping it out in the next couple days. It is looking really dark and crumbly. It will go into my holding bin till this fall. I am still seeing turkey bones so I will try and pick those out and throw them into the next batch. The tumbler is such fun to check on every day to see what stage it is at.
Sandy

Chicken and pigeon bones vanish quickly. Turkey legs bones apparently take a bit less than forever. Having to support a really heavy weight, they are quite solid. The rest of the turkey carcass isn't any tougher than a chicken's. If you could smash or crack them before adding them to the compost, the softer inner part of the leg bones would immediately be exposed and break down a lot quicker. I don't bother with that but simply bury the bones about 8" deep when I find one in the garden. There they may disintegrate at their leisure.

Martin

Ok just looked back and it was 20 days ago that I stopped adding to side two and let it cook. I dumped it today and put in some cross cut paper and a kitchen trash can size bag of sawdust. Now will let side one cook and work on filling this side.
Here is a photo of what I dumped out. I put what I dumped 20 days ago into a barrel with holes in it. I went digging in there the other day and it is loaded with garden worms. So I guess when I get ready to use these two batches they will be full of worm castings. Oh good stuff.
{{gwi:318105}}
Sandy

Another one in the ranks! Just got my tumbler today, got it together and filled it with piles of leaves, newsprint & greens that have been waiting and gave it a whole bunch of 'tumbles'.

Can twigs go in, ones that are not more than ( ) in diameter?

And in case you're dying to know what kind of tumbler I got, I'm a beginner so i went with the food grade barrel one on ebay, that way I'm not out too much money if I don't like it.

new_in_texas, congrats on your new tumbler.
Yes twigs can go into a tumbler as long as they are very small. However don't expect much out of them. The smaller the pieces that go in the better. Woody items like twigs take for ever to break down so I avoid composting them unless I throw them through my chipper first.
Keep us up to date on how your tumbler is working.
Sandy

Day 2 of my new tumbler. Day one: added the top half of my old heap, mostly garden clippings, added many loads of fresh cut grass and a bag of buckwheat hulls & some hay. Temp 80F Day 2: 150F, ambient, 60F! Smell is slight ammonia. I did add sprinkle of water to the "dry" ingredients, but resisted over doing this, but unfortunately hadnÂt read this forum until today.
OK, my question is: Can the pile get too hot? Kill everything that is beneficial? I suppose I should add more brown ingredients, all I have now is newspaper. What do you think? I have a medium ComposTumbler (40"x40") about ¾ full. I didnÂt use the supplied bag of starter.

tumbenes, I would not add the starter. I don't think it will get to hot and kill off anything good. If you do add some newspaper don't add to much as it will quickly cool it off. Also shred up the paper as much as you can. My husband bought me a cross cut paper shredder and it will make quick work of a newspaper in no time.
Sandy

Day 3: 140F & a bit more smell & bucket underneath had collected a small amount of tea. I have a paper shredder for junk mail and such, it spits out 1/4 x 3" strips & clogs easily...I'll try the Sunday paper to see how that goes. If I have to shop for a new shedder, any brand recommendations? I use an 8 yr old Toro mulching mower for shredding everything else (some take exception to that on this forum, but I am not buying anything else right now!).

As far as the starter, the instructions were for leaves without greens. But I have food markets nearby & starbucks.
I can steal leaves when the neighborhood puts them on recycle day.

thanks for the reply brdldystlu.

Day 4: 115F. Did use my older thermometer and it read 130F, donÂt know which one is right, but if the older is then day 2 temp might have been 165F! I would only care in respect killing off weed seeds.
The one thing that was never appreciated was the kitchen food scrap container, did see a link for one of those ground tumblers that had a stainless buck with lid, looked similar to a cocktail ice bucket, and cost about $40. If I am foolish enough to spend $400 thenÂ.
I can refine that. I was a pile composter, using a blue plastic cylinder with cones that the town sold. The 1st one composted itself, the 2nd on lasted. At that time I owned a truck and would visit sables. Work and general crises increasingly left me with less time to tend the pile, finally health issues mandated than I no longer attack the pile with a pitch fork.
Over the past few years I had very casual conversations with my wife in the vein of "what about those big ugly drum thingies". To my surprise the ComposTumbler arrived for my upcoming b-day. Well, IÂm sitting pretty as I convinced my wife that she be the one to turn the monster & she does. All I do is fill it and pretend there some dark science to what IÂm doing. Let nature take its course as the dirt turns, I say.

Man.. This is the longest thread I've read in a long time.. (I skipped a few near the end).. Anyway, I'm tempted to get an HDPE barrel or two and put some rods in them as indicated above and some holes here and there (any comments on hole sizes/placement/quantity would be appreciated!) and roll it around on the lawn.. We've got 3 regular bins (non-moving) now and I keep them going with nothing but lawn clippings and shredded paper from junk mail (non shiny paper, etc) as the browns. I learned my stinky pile lesson early and ended up throwing that pile away as it was difficult to fix it. Anyway, I'm hoping I can get a HDPE barrel for 150 degrees with the nice wet grass we've got -- works great! Can't wait to try the tumbler concept though!

I forgot to ask -- for Martin or some of the others of you that compost small animals (or deer!??!), isn't there some concern over pathogens that may exist in the animal not being properly killed? We were told in our local composting class (run by LA county dept. of Sanitation) that you should not put any meat items in your compost bin and no animal poop (from animals that are meat eaters such as dogs or cats) -- that way you remove any possible issues with those pathogens being passed on into the compost and possibly into the food chain..

On the other hand, we've got a nice power-line that runs through out backyard with tons of pigeons on it during the day and I could get into the habbit of "finding" one in my compost (if you know what I mean) on a regular basis and reducing the population in the neighborhood a bit as well..

Martin is not able to post any longer, the big wigs banned him for something very minor. Anyway I have composted small animals in my tumbler with good success. Some of the bones are left behind. I put the "finished" compost out of the tumbler into a barrel that has holes drilled in it. Tons of worms have found their way in through the holes. While digging around in there I found a skull with a worm coming out of it. Was kind of gross.
For the most part they say to stay away from those things because most people don't have hot enough compost to kill the pathogens. My tumbler is known to get to 150 and stay there for a couple weeks. From what I understand pigeons compost really well in a tumbler. I am working on the tree rodent population, also several possums have made their way to the tumbler. This summer I have caught 4 very young possums, a few adults also. For the most part the stuff I produce with my tumbler gets put into flower beds, so I don't worry to much about it.
Sandy

I often wondered about optimal temp ranges.

from the web site;
http://www.compostinfo.com/tutorial/ManagePile.htm

quote:

"Monitor Temperature
If you are using a hot composting method:

Turn if the pile is less than 100°F
Turn if the pile is more than 150°F

Why? Because the Thermophilic bacteria prefer temperatures in the 105-140°F range, and these microbes are the fastest at converting raw materials to compost.

If the compost pile exceeds 155°F, or so, it may be too hot for the bacteria population to thrive. At higher temperatures the heat may actually kill off part of the population. If this happens, the temperatures will fall off and the populations will slowly rebuild."

It's been 2 weeks and I'm still plugging away. I 'tumble' it daily but I can't seem to get it past warm into hot. Most likely it's because I keep opening it up and putting more stuff in, I will now stop opening it up everyday and let it do it's thing. Something must be happening though because the volume keeps shrinking :)

Sounds like you may have more browns than greens, or too dry (careful not to add too much water). With grass clippings I find they loose N quickly if being stored for a week or 2.

Here is how I troubleshoot:
Make sure the "vents" arenÂt clogged.
If I see liquid collecting in the buckets below the tumbler, this tells me to add some dry brown.
If I smell ammonia, tells me to add some dry brown.
Sometimes the load needs a little pitch fork help to break up clumps.
If I think that the moisture level is OK and the pile isnÂt heating, add more fresh green.
If that doesnÂt work, I consider manure.

About turning:
Turn a lot to mix initial load, about ¾ tumbler capacity. Use fork if needed.
After about 100F stop turning (and stop adding material), pile needs to gather "momentum", but start turning again when it reaches 140F. Then when load cools to 100F, stop turning and let it rest, turn infrequently. If I am lucky this process take about 2 weeks, dump it as a pile in the garden and let it sit 1 week.

I did drill a hole in the plastic end cap for the thermometer so I donÂt have to turn to open door. The above is what I do; you may discover "Texas-style" methods!

hope this helps

Good tumbler info.

This thread (a great education) certainly gives new meaning to those pigeons that roll in flight, called "Tumbler Pigeons"!

Free!! You lucky dog. I paid $350 (Including S&H) for my medium size ComposTumbler. Don't use it any more, now I have seven mesh bins, which totaled up cost less!

My first two tumbler loads didn't go over 90F. After that I shredded the leaves finely, and weighted both the greens and browns for the best C:N. I got temps of 160 or 165F in the warmer months.

But the tumbler was too much work compared to a simple cheap mesh bin which held more and cost $15 each. I found that if you put the mesh bin on the ground, a height of three feet was not needed. Two feet high bin got temps of 160F, and that was actually easier on my back. And I could put stinky fish and other stuff in the middle of the bin pile, which I never would have tried in the tumbler.

I made my own tumbler with two 200lit plastic drums - no holes 'cept the top door.
Conclusions are: 1. It has to be turned as often as possible - I give it a turn or six at least twice a day and more sometimes.
2. 'Post has to be removed and cured before really well done.
3. Makes slightly acidic compost- stays wet dont need much water.
Now I am experimenting by putting an aquarium air pump in the bottom of the one bin to aerate (they use very little current) - will see what happens.
Any tips ?

This is a rather old and Loooong thread to be posting in. You might get more attention starting a new one.

Here is a link that might be useful: my bin

All are relevant-Nice to have all opinions in one place

Hello,
I teach at an Elementary School in the Caribbean and we just got a tumbling composter with some grant $. We have been putting our cafeteria waste - fruit and veggies - into it plus leaves and what ever grass clippings we can manage to collect. About 50/50, but after reading ALL the posts I'm about to rectify that and make it 75/25.

I see from previous posts that we haven't been turning it often enough - no directions came with the bin. :( It seems warm(it's in the sun), but I do see ants crawling up the legs and into the bin, plus we found a roach in there - does this mean it's not warm enough?

Liquid comes out when we do spin it, does that mean there is enough liquid?

Also do I have to fill it? Can I leave it 7/8 full? Once it is full or in my case 7/8 full do I tumble it everyday, and how long should it take to make good compost?

I know it's a lot of questions but I want to get it "right" or as close to as possible as the children are really looking forward to working with "their" compost in the garden.....

Thanks for all your help.
Alexandra

just keep turning it every day and it will work. the more you put in it the quicker they work, or at least in MY case tha tis what happens. i made my own tumbler from a 55 gallon drum. if i fill it up and remember to turn it every day, i get good compost in a few weeks. if i forget, or only half fill it, it seems to take a couple weeks longer. the most important thing is to remember that as long as the stuff you put in is biodegradable, it will ALL turn to compost on it's own eventually.

I started using a tumbler a few months ago. For my first batch I used only shredded oak leaves and chicken manure (4:1). On my current batch I was thinking about adding egg shells. I eat 6 eggs a day and toss into a bucket. That means I would be adding shells every 4 or 5 days. Is there any risk of putting in too many shells over the composting period. I intend to use the compost in my vegetable garden as a fertilizer.

No, you can use tons of eggs shells. Don't worry if they don't break down right away. Add them to your soil anyway. I used to work in a restaurant and used to put about 150 eggshells in my compost every day.

must be pouch before you add will be even effective. I just remove the new batch from the bin for curing, i think it need 1-2months to see the crumbly, dark brown finish compost.I just added the new material to my tumble again. Seem like i still get quite a lot of compost BALL with my tumbleweed composter.

If my $350 tumbler had no broken after 3-1/2 years; I would try and experiment using the same ingredients in my tumbler and my mesh bin. I have got a pretty good idea of how it would turn out.

-----------------Tumbler------------Mesh bin

Cost--------------$350-------------- ~$15-17
Holds:---------- ~9.5 cu. ft----------24 cu ft
Footprint------- 2'by3?---------- 4' diameter
Appearance-----Noticeable---------less noticeable
Assembly time-----3 hours---------- 5 minutes
Stress on back-----medium---------- less
Highest core temp----- ~165F---------- `162F

Smell when using fish parts when 140F+ temp reaches:
----------------- noticeable---------- None -dog didn't
notice when fish put in core

Time to finish ---------- ?? never got done---- 2-3 month

Opinion of Ingredient:
-----Grass---------- very good--------- very good
-----Used grounds--- OK ----------------very good
-----Leaves---------- good--------------good

Time until failure:
-------------------3.5 years --------- probably 5-10 yr
----------(center bar rusted and broke)

Comments?

new thread started

Here is a link that might be useful: tumbler experiences

I have finally decided to purchase a tumber. I would LOVE recommendations.

Thanks, Christy

Why not check the paper to see if anyone wants to sell or give away one? If you lived closer, you could drop by and take mine for $20.

Several years ago one person said there were a bunch of them at the local city dump.

so, Robert you are not a fan?

My husband is all for it as he thinks it will keep "my mess contained...

I am thinking about nailing 3 pallets together and calling it a day...

Silly question here but here goes, When I set it up, I filled my composter up all the way with greens and browns. Problem is how often to I fill it back up to the top? Every day or so I add food scraps and spin it around a time or two. I don't want to make something easy hard but I don't want to do this wrong. Cj

brdldystlu - Is it 2 single rods that go all the way tru your tumbler or 4 rods? Could you tell me how long the rods are? Thank you. I have the large single chamber tumbler. I have written the company several times to get instructions but so far no answer.

hi composters, here is a good laugh for you. but i wish to know what to do for "brown" material, as i get wet soggy slurry that smells awful and takes years.
i eat vegetables, and i want to not have any food garbage in the garbage can. also, i would use compost in my garden, of course, but the first is my reason to compost.
i have almost no deciduous trees, so no leaves. almost no lawn, so no dry grass. no livestock, so no hay, chips, or sawdust, and no neighbors with any of that.
what, then, can i do? paper? it turned into papier mache in one tumbler, so how small must the paper be? i had torn it before putting it in, but maybe thats not small enough. anyway, newspaper and very few egg cartons are all i have. i am putting all veg scraps, so the slurry is what i get.

I am experimenting by putting an aquarium air pump in the bottom of the one bin to aerate (they use very little current)
Anyone done this before?
I put 3/4 full with mixed Shredded leaves and a bucket of composted chicken manure
Put a rod into it to feel temp - It is very hot now. - will see what happens.
Any tips ?

I am looking for a really good, long lasting, rust free, at least 80 gallons, com poster for a home back yard near Dallas, TX. Any one has any ideas on where to get it.

I have this one from Gardener's Supply: Compost Tumbler

Capacity is 43 dry gallons.

I do not want to buy any plastic ones because they do not last long and also bad for creating compost in it and use later to grow vegetables. Does any one else any good solid metal ones which does not rust? I saw one on South African site but they would not sell in USA.

You could probably make one yourself out of wood. Sure it will eventually rot, but you could use cedar, or better yet, black locust to extend its life. Better yet, .use slats off of pallets and it will basically be free, and easily replaced when they begin to fall apart. You'll just have to fashion a core but that could easily be done from the same slats. If you could find an old car or trailer axle (or maybe the top bar off a swing set) you'd be in business.

I disagree about the life span of the plastic tumblers, I've had one for about 8 years that I bought at a yard sale so it already had some use and it shows no wear. The other, the one I posted above, is fairly new, couple of years. I don't know if the properties of the plastic will cause leakage. I just never thought about that. You could call Gardener's Supply and ask them. But they *do* have a galvanized tumbler - here:

extra-large-compost-tumbler it's smaller than what you are looking for though.

Another idea: (but I'm guessing if you don't like plastic you won't like aluminum either.) Good luck!!

Dear rgreen48,

Thank you for your suggestions. Please explain "slats off of pallets". What are they? Where to get them? Thanks.

Many factories and warehouses have shipping pallets that are no longer useful. They often give them away for free to those who come pick them up. Workers at the company usually have the best advantage for getting them. The 'slats' are the boards which line the surface and bottom of the pallets. They are easily taken apart with a hammer and one of the myriad of assorted pry bars.

Thank you rgreen48.

BobBrown31

After reading clear to the end of this very long thread, I found someone else had done so recently, and I thought I would add a comment. I bought a used but long neglected CompostTumbler about a month ago. (I think it is medium size.) I found all of the comments in this thread very helpful in getting my composting started; even the questions and descriptions of problems were useful. Thank you to all who wrote. I have signed up for Garden Web!

May 22, 2016 at 10.29 pm

Thank you, Captain Obvious,