austinl01

Hey guys. I'm looking for a nice sized composter that can produce compost pretty quickly. Do you all have any recommendations? Thanks.

__________________
Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

Richard

I like the sideways pickle-barrel variety (80 to 100 gallons) with a side door, rachet stop, geared or motorized crank. Its just plain easier to get your wheelbarrow underneath it when it comes time to "harvest" the compost. You'll find plenty of manufacturers, or make one cheaply from portable cement mixer parts.

The amount of time to cure depends on what you put in it along with the outdoor temperature and humidity. I've used the inexpensive compost starter from Whitney Farms on more than one occasion to jump start my pile.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

D_&_T

looking into getting a 55 gallon plastic barrel to make one

__________________

MediaHound

I have 3 of these:
http://urbangardencenter.com/product...ct9/index.html
I also have the tea catcher attachments for each.
I would highly recommend these compostors.

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

MediaHound

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

austinl01

Media hound, you have the right idea there! Those look like nice tumblers. How long does it take to get good compost if you mix the right materials? They are a little expensive, but I assume they'll last for a long time. Are they constructed well with good material? I want one of those!

__________________
Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

Bananaman88

Thanks for posting that link, Jarred. I've been looking into getting something as well. These look pretty good!

MediaHound

Yes very heavy plastic, extremely good quality material and construction. I have not had 1 problem with them. They will outlast you perhaps, lol.
I have since lifted them off the ground with cinder blocks to accommodate the manufacturer's tea catchers, which are a little odd design but do the trick. You could perhaps make your own tea catchers with an oil recovery container from an auto parts store and some fittings from the hardware store. 1 is not too expensive but for three, when I got them I was like.. aargh I could have pieced these together myself and saved $100.

The black color attracts heat and they compost material pretty fast, you will probably be impressed. Put it where sunlight hits it and in just a few days your material will be cooked so hot and broken down pretty well. Good compost in perhaps a month or two. I'm always running different batches. One for new material, one for finished material I use, and one I don't touch because its going to be the next for finished material. I rotate between which I fill and which I use, like an assembly line.

Get a few pails to take scraps outside, I mounted a pail under the sink and interchange with clean ones often. Two or three pails is a smart investment, when they get dirty and you are in a rush to replace it with a clean one, you will realize the need for a couple pails. I use this exact model:

http://www.gardeners.com/Odor-Free+C...efault,cp.html




We were at IKEA yesterday and saw something similar for $6 each so if you have one near you perhaps check into that too.

Any more questions, lmk! Happy to help because I wish everyone composted.

http://urbangardencenter.com/product...ct9/index.html

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

MediaHound

BTW mount the pail higher than in the pic so when you close the door, you will still have room for short bottles to fit underneath it on the shelf below. Mount it as high as possible.

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

MediaHound

PS search eBay for uct9 or uct-9 or uct9.5 and perhaps theres some for sale, thats the cheapest place for them if you can find them. Theres some dropshippers on ebay that work with Urban Garden Center directly and offer a better price than dealing with UGC direct!

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

MediaHound

While we're on the subject, another good investment that I don't have room under my sink for is here:
Uses for leaves/fiber scroll down to post #10

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

austinl01

Thanks, Jarred, for the great information. I wish I could find them locally, but I bet I can't. I looked for composters last year at Home Depot and Lowe's with no luck. I just haven't seen them around these parts. It seems folks on the west coast are much more into composting than us here in the Mid-South. I'm going to keep my eyes on Ebay for these. I may be able to save a few bucks. I want two, but that's not in the budget right now.

__________________
Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

Richard

The fall through spring temperatures in Little Rock are lower than they are here in San Diego, which are still lower than Jarred has in South Florida. One month cooking time during this period seems a bit optimistic for Austin's location.

Below is my 80-gallon tumbler purchased from a supplier in Oregon, with the wheelbarrow shown for size comparison. There is a white vent protruding from the bottom which is connected to perforated 2 inch vertical pipe. The plastic mesh they supplied to cover the vent hole is too flimsy -- I replaced it with stainless 1/8 inch duct mesh.

Anything that doesn't fit in the barrel goes into the big pile shown below the composter. On the far left of that picture there is a bit of silver tarp that is covering a 13.5 horsepower chipper-shredder, used to transition large material from "the big pile" into the composter. This pile takes about 5 months to produce about 8 inches of compost at the bottom.

Below that is a picture of a rotating drum type composter that some of my relatives and colleagues have. As I mentioned earlier, a few of these people have made their own using surplus portable cement mixers.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

bencelest

url=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=7696][/url]

I went on Ebay and bid on the above compost tumbler.

__________________
Banana Nut

Bananaman88

Jarred,

Your composters look like they only rock back and forth. Is there a mechanism that allows them to spin and churn up the material inside? Thanks!

MediaHound

They spin all the way around.
There's a breaker bar inside so when the material is falling, it hits the bar and breaks apart.

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

MediaHound

The breaker bar and the pivot rod are two separate things, and positioned perpendicular for maximum coverage.

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

MediaHound

Parts:
A- (2) Barrel Halves H- Aeration Tube Assembly
B- (1) Barrel Lid (2) Aeration Tube Halves snapped together
C- (2) Stand Supports (2) Ty-Wraps
D- (2) Stand Halves (1) Dome Cap
E- (1) Pivot Rod (1) Breaker Bar
F- (4) Gusset Braces
G- (4) Retainer Rings <– [Are usually already installed on Stand Halves and not loose in the box.]



Check and be sure the aeration tube has been snapped together, secured with two Ty-Wraps, the cap is snugged down and the breaker bar inserted.

Insert the aeration tube assembly into the bottom half of the barrel.






The barrel halves use a tongue & groove connection. Be sure to coat the tongue (lip) on the bottom half of the barrel with vegetable oil, soap, or Vaseline, otherwise assembly will be much more difficult. Align the barrel halves as shown here on the left. Align and insert each latch as seen here on the right and then work the tongue & groove together so it is securely seated all the way around the barrel. This may take working around the unit several times for it to seat properly.
















The barrel halves must be rotated and locked together. The seam has a snug fit to minimize leakage so this step will take some patience. Making sure the barrel halves are fit together with the locking lugs fully inserted, begin working the top half of the barrel clock-wise to securely lock the halves together. Some people can do this by hand, but because of the snug fit, you may need to use a tool such as a screwdriver. It is important to be careful not to damage the unit with excessive pressure in one spot. Typically you will need to apply pressure to each locking lug in turn working your way around the barrel “several” times as shown above. The locking lugs should be in the position shown in the far right photo and the large Pivot Rod holes aligned. Sometimes it helps to use the handle of a screwdriver or the Pivot Rod itself in this hole to help rotate the barrel halves together in the final stage of locking the halves.

Note that sometimes the two barrel halves almost appear to not align making it more difficult to fit them together. Because of plastic shrinkage in the manufacturing cooling process, this can occur. It just means the seam will be fitting a little tighter… but it will still fit. The solution is to place the barrel halves in the sun for a couple hours to make the plastic more flexible. Place the top barrel half with the lid end on the ground. Then place the bottom barrel half inside the top half. Don’t wedge the bottom into the top half but rest using its own weight (snug but not wedged). The added pressure of the bottom nested into the top half while it sits in the sun will cause to top half to expand slightly making assembly easier. Sometime just sitting the halves in the sun is enough without nesting the halves.










Lay one of the stand halves flat on the ground. Insert a Gusset Brace into a Stand Support. Place a Retainer Ring (large opening side down) over the end of the Support Bar, pressing the Support Bar and Gusset Brace into the stand. Be sure the Gusset Brace and Support Bar is pressed all the way into their sockets. NOTE: Usually the Retainer Rings are not loose in the box, but pressed onto the Stand Halves already.




Insert the same assembly on the other side of the stand. Make sure the locks in the Stand are fully engaged in the Stand Supports. Then check to see the Retainer Ring is securely seated. There is a ridge or bump on the Stand Support itself that should be helping to lock this ring in place.







Your assembly should now look like this.










Press the Pivot Rod through the barrel halves and through the Aeration Tube. It should look like the picture on the right here.







Keeping the Pivot Rod extended several inches on both sides of the barrel, insert the Pivot Rod into the upper portion of the Stand. Once aligned, firmly press down making sure the Pivot Rod locks into the Stand.















Insert the Gusset Braces and Retainer Rings on the Support Bars as shown. Be sure the Retainer Ring has the large open side up to fit over the socket in the Stand.





Align the second Stand Half with the Pivot Rod, both Gusset Braces, and both Stand Supports. At first, gently align all of these parts with the appropriate holes being careful not to damage the Retainer Rings. Just let the Stand Half rest in place. Then by hand, press the Retainer Rings up into place over the Stand sockets. Now firmly press down on the Stand making sure all of the components are inserted with their locks fully engaged.

Stand the unit upright and prepare to put the lid on.







Looking at the top of the lid.



Place the lid on the unit by using the aligning arrows. Notice there is three (3) settings marked on the lid OPEN, VENT, and CLOSED with an aligning arrow to the right of each (shown on left here).

Notice there is an aligning arrow on the upper barrel half (shown on the right here). To put the lid on or take it off, be sure to align these aligning arrows in the OPEN position. Rotate it to the CLOSED position to tumble (turn) the unit as it prevents material from coming out of the vents that are under the lid. After tumbling, turn the lid to the VENT position so air can circulate while it is just sitting. If you do not keep it in the VENT position, composting will be slower.

Looking at the side of the barrel.






This is an example of how the arrows need to align in the OPEN position to either put the lid on or take it off.



SPECIAL NOTE on putting the lid on. The recommended weight limit for loading the UCT-9 is 130 lbs. However, sometimes when loading the unit with wet grass and other heavy materials, it may exceed the 130 lbs limit. When this happens the top of the barrel may become oval in shape so the lid will not go straight on. This will not hurt the unit but means you will need a different technique for putting the lid on. Do the following if the top of the barrel is oval in shape. Standing to the side of the barrel, reach across the top and put the opposite side of the lid on holding it down with your right hand… then with your left hand, lean into the barrel forcing it back into a round shape while pressing down on the lid with the arm you are reaching across with.

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

Richard

Jarred, this is the system I own and I'm very pleased with it. The model shown (UCT-9) has a capacity of 9.5 cu.ft. which equals 71 gallons -- great for most suburban homes with 1/8 to 1/4 acre or so of property.

If the unit is placed next to your garden, then it is easy to use. Otherwise, you dump on the ground and then shovel into a wheelbarrow or whatever. Once it is "full" it is quite heavy and difficult to transport.

In the pictures shown for the UCT-7 (manufacturer's site), they show someone dumping from that model directly into a wheelbarrow. That is a hoax! When the barrel is 1/2 full or more, balancing it in that position is problematic.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

MediaHound

Same one? Cool...

Yep, agreed about the images...

I use the lid as well to transport smaller amounts of finished product.

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.