Compost Tumbler (R) - any good
 

I just got a bit of spam in my snail mail box that interested me - try a
Compost Tumbler (R) free for 30 days. Apparently the rotating drum will
make great compost in just 14 days.
Has anyone got one? Are they any good?

Currently I have a nice heap made from 4 pallets with a little hatch in
the bottom. It is a good heap this time of year - getting hot enough
for me to find ash in the middle, but turning it is difficult, and the
hatch design means I take from the edge not the middle (also the stuff
from on top falls down). So for every spade of compost I takeout I have
to shove a spade of compost mixed with still identifiable stuff back on top.

I was thinking with this I could get a load of stuff off my heap, 14
days before I want it, shave it in, turn it once a day and two weeks
later reap the rewards, but is is just advertising talk? Am I better
off waiting until the end of the season, covering my heap, starting a
mini winter heap and then in spring empty the big heap on to the garden
and the little heap in to the big on?




Mike

In article , Mike &
Karen writes
I just got a bit of spam in my snail mail box that interested me - try a
Compost Tumbler (R) free for 30 days. Apparently the rotating drum will
make great compost in just 14 days.

Hmm. I'd like to see that before I believed it.


Currently I have a nice heap made from 4 pallets with a little hatch in
the bottom. It is a good heap this time of year - getting hot enough
for me to find ash in the middle, but turning it is difficult, and the
hatch design means I take from the edge not the middle (also the stuff
from on top falls down). So for every spade of compost I takeout I have
to shove a spade of compost mixed with still identifiable stuff back on top.

I think you'd be better to make another the same size beside it, then,
when it's full, take the top layer off and put it into the new heap,
continue filling the new one while you use the old one, then reverse the
process - put top of new heap into old heap, start using new heap, and
so on.

I was thinking with this I could get a load of stuff off my heap, 14
days before I want it, shave it in, turn it once a day and two weeks
later reap the rewards, but is is just advertising talk? Am I better
off waiting until the end of the season, covering my heap, starting a
mini winter heap and then in spring empty the big heap on to the garden
and the little heap in to the big on?

Almost certainly.

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Mike & Karen wrote:

I just got a bit of spam in my snail mail box that interested me - try a
Compost Tumbler (R) free for 30 days.

At least snail spam is paid for by the sender!
The chief knock on all these devices is that they don't make nearly enough
compost to be useful, and take a lot of care and feeding.
I'm of the "Pile it up. Let it rot." school myself.

Though the Dalek-shaped ones intrigue me; I could "exter-min-ate" my
household garbage.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

"Mike & Karen" wrote in message
...
I just got a bit of spam in my snail mail box that interested me - try a
Compost Tumbler (R) free for 30 days. Apparently the rotating drum will
make great compost in just 14 days.
Has anyone got one? Are they any good?

Currently I have a nice heap made from 4 pallets with a little hatch in
the bottom. It is a good heap this time of year - getting hot enough
for me to find ash in the middle, but turning it is difficult, and the
hatch design means I take from the edge not the middle (also the stuff
from on top falls down). So for every spade of compost I takeout I have
to shove a spade of compost mixed with still identifiable stuff back on
top.

I was thinking with this I could get a load of stuff off my heap, 14
days before I want it, shave it in, turn it once a day and two weeks
later reap the rewards, but is is just advertising talk? Am I better
off waiting until the end of the season, covering my heap, starting a
mini winter heap and then in spring empty the big heap on to the garden
and the little heap in to the big on?



dont bother ........THERES NO SUBSTITUTE for good old fashioned 2 heaps
principal......one empty and one full and forking one into the other every
month ..........plus mix in a few buckets of urine and some horse manure if
you can get it



Mike

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 18:26:08 +0200, Martin wrote:

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 16:20:07 GMT, Mike & Karen
wrote:

I just got a bit of spam in my snail mail box that interested me -
try a
Compost Tumbler (R) free for 30 days. Apparently the rotating
drum will
make great compost in just 14 days.
Has anyone got one? Are they any good?

It says "in as little as 21 days" on the web site


http://www.gonegardening.com/xq/ASP/...1100146/refere
r./qx/gg_shop/product.htm

plus another 14 days for delivery.

I noticed that people who bought a tumbler for GBP62 also paid GBP32
for a packet of compost accelerator

http://www.gonegardening.com/xq/ASP/...op/product.htm

- had both gift wrapped at GBP5 a time

and bought 5 potato sacks at GBP7.95

Somebody taking the urine or what?

Mind you, you do get 25 Kg Garotta for that GBP 32.
Who, other than a commercial enterprise, would want to have 25 Kg of
Garotta?

Franz

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
Mike & Karen wrote:

I just got a bit of spam in my snail mail box that interested me -
try a
Compost Tumbler (R) free for 30 days.

At least snail spam is paid for by the sender!
The chief knock on all these devices is that they don't make nearly
enough
compost to be useful, and take a lot of care and feeding.
I'm of the "Pile it up. Let it rot." school myself.

Though the Dalek-shaped ones intrigue me; I could "exter-min-ate" my
household garbage.

I have been led to believe that household garbage can be composted as
fast as it is produced by worms, once you have a dynamic equilibrium
set up between the input and the output, with only a few weeks delay.
Or has that been hyped up too much?

Franz

"Mike & Karen" wrote in message
...
I just got a bit of spam in my snail mail box that interested me - try a
Compost Tumbler (R) free for 30 days. Apparently the rotating drum will
make great compost in just 14 days.
Has anyone got one? Are they any good?

Currently I have a nice heap made from 4 pallets with a little hatch in
the bottom. It is a good heap this time of year - getting hot enough
for me to find ash in the middle, but turning it is difficult, and the
hatch design means I take from the edge not the middle (also the stuff
from on top falls down). So for every spade of compost I takeout I have
to shove a spade of compost mixed with still identifiable stuff back on
top.

I was thinking with this I could get a load of stuff off my heap, 14
days before I want it, shave it in, turn it once a day and two weeks
later reap the rewards, but is is just advertising talk? Am I better
off waiting until the end of the season, covering my heap, starting a
mini winter heap and then in spring empty the big heap on to the garden
and the little heap in to the big on?

Mike

Hi Mike,

I've got one, my Mum didn't want it any more. It takes up more space (it
needs room to swing) than a regular heap, whilst taking a fraction of the
compostable material, takes ages for anything to break down (I'd like to see
it produce compost in 14 days) and when it swings back and catches your
shins, you get the neighbours complaining about the swearing :-).

Stick to the regular heap, or come and get the one I don't use any more.

HTH

Nick
http://www.ukgardening.co.uk

It says "in as little as 21 days" on the web site

http://www.gonegardening.com/xq/ASP/...op/product.htm


The one I have been sent details of is closer to this...
http://www.globeorganic.co.uk/compost.htm

Coming in 2 sizes -- 635 litre and 315 litre.

The deal in the leaflet is if I am interested I send back the postage
paid postcard asking for more details. Interestingly the leaflet has no
mention of price- the web link above suggests prices of 300 quid for
340L and nearly 400 for the 650L - a lot more than the free 4 pallets I
currently have (and more than I would pay - I'd rather get a shredder or
a rotovator)
By sending back the post card I get a "risk free 30 day trial" - enough
to make 2 batches of quality compost. I might just take them up on the
offer - by the end of September I could make ~1m3 of compost - that
should empty the pallets for winter!!


Mike

"Franz Heymann" wrote:

I have been led to believe that household garbage can be composted as
fast as it is produced by worms, once you have a dynamic equilibrium
set up between the input and the output, with only a few weeks delay.
Or has that been hyped up too much?

That might better be termed "worm assisted composting." I have a bin in my
cellar, and all the vegetable trimmings, etc., as well as things like bean
hulls go into it. Works pretty well; a 2X3 X1foot deep plywood box treated
with polythene varnish can absorb anything I can throw in it.

In the warmer weather, yard and garden waste go into a couple of
conventional poorly managed heaps under some pine trees out of sight. Not
that, where I am, anybody would see them anyway.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

In article , Mike &
Karen writes
By sending back the post card I get a "risk free 30 day trial" - enough to make
2 batches of quality compost. I might just take them up on the offer - by the
end of September I could make ~1m3 of compost - that should empty the pallets
for winter!!

Make sure it's not one of these free trials that depends on your
remembering to cancel a direct debit.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Kay wrote:

In article , Mike &
Karen writes
By sending back the post card I get a "risk free 30 day trial" - enough to make
2 batches of quality compost. I might just take them up on the offer - by the
end of September I could make ~1m3 of compost - that should empty the pallets
for winter!!

Make sure it's not one of these free trials that depends on your
remembering to cancel a direct debit.

One other thing, if you are not happy after 30 days, do they collect? if
not, how much would it cost you to send it back?

I have a single compost bin in my small back garden, makes great compost,
but it's hard work to get the compost out even with removable front slats.
Once a year I empty it, sieve the compost, all the stuff that hasn't
decomposed properly, goes back in the bin to start again.

In my allotment I'm trying a bin built in sections
http://www.hdra.org.uk/factsheets/gg24.htm

I've made it with wood recycled from pallets

Griz

"Nick Gray" wrote in message
...

"Mike & Karen" wrote in message
...
I just got a bit of spam in my snail mail box that interested me - try a
Compost Tumbler (R) free for 30 days. Apparently the rotating drum will
make great compost in just 14 days.
Has anyone got one? Are they any good?

Currently I have a nice heap made from 4 pallets with a little hatch in
the bottom. It is a good heap this time of year - getting hot enough
for me to find ash in the middle, but turning it is difficult, and the
hatch design means I take from the edge not the middle (also the stuff
from on top falls down). So for every spade of compost I takeout I have
to shove a spade of compost mixed with still identifiable stuff back on
top.

I was thinking with this I could get a load of stuff off my heap, 14
days before I want it, shave it in, turn it once a day and two weeks
later reap the rewards, but is is just advertising talk? Am I better
off waiting until the end of the season, covering my heap, starting a
mini winter heap and then in spring empty the big heap on to the garden
and the little heap in to the big on?

Mike

Hi Mike,

I've got one, my Mum didn't want it any more. It takes up more space (it
needs room to swing) than a regular heap, whilst taking a fraction of the
compostable material, takes ages for anything to break down (I'd like to
see
it produce compost in 14 days) and when it swings back and catches your
shins, you get the neighbours complaining about the swearing :-).

Stick to the regular heap, or come and get the one I don't use any more.



I have one and have had one for 6 months. I have nothing out of it atm. I
think some of this is due to its not being so forgiving if you have too much
of one thing or another. I feel at least with my normal heap something will
happen eventually, it just feels this might never happen. It also dribbles
on you when you turn it.