Just curious if anyone has any homemade plans for a composter, I'm thinking I may just give it shot later this year if I get ambitious.
I'm thinking of taking a 50 gallon barrel, cutting a door in it (lengthwise) getting some hardware to hinge the door and welding some kind of frame so that I can rotate it. I'm wondering though if it needs to be airtight or if air needs to be able to escape? If that's the case I'll go after a plastic barrel instead of the metal one like I'm thinking.
Barrel composters don't make a lot of compost. A pile is much more efficient if you have the space.
You can make the bins out of pallets and you can sometimes get pallets for free.
Here is a couple of links to plans for building composting systems.
https://library.oregonmetro.gov/files/co ... _plans.pdf
https://extension.missouri.edu/p/g6957
https://www.solidwastedistrict.com/proje ... barrel.htm
You can make the bins out of pallets and you can sometimes get pallets for free.
Here is a couple of links to plans for building composting systems.
https://library.oregonmetro.gov/files/co ... _plans.pdf
https://extension.missouri.edu/p/g6957
https://www.solidwastedistrict.com/proje ... barrel.htm
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
If you manage your compost pile correctly, always covering greens with browns, there will be NO smell. Especially not with a pile - the tumbler would have been much harder to keep correctly balanced and aerated and not stinky.
Do some browsing in this composting forum, if you are not sure what I mean.
Do some browsing in this composting forum, if you are not sure what I mean.
Last edited by rainbowgardener on Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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toxcrusadr
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- Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:50 pm
- Location: MO
Good advice from the previous posters. I made a rotating bin when I was in high school but I've long since gone to piles and bins. They really are more difficult to manage, more complex (with moving parts) and therefore prone to breakdown.
The pallet or lumber bin is great. I line mine with chicken wire to keep the stuff in, if the slats are far apart.
If you have leaves, a simple circle of wire fencing is great for storing them in over winter so you can mix them with greens in the spring.
You might want to consider a double or even triple bin so you can turn the batch over into the next space and start a new one. That way you have compost whenever you need it.
Happy composting!
The pallet or lumber bin is great. I line mine with chicken wire to keep the stuff in, if the slats are far apart.
If you have leaves, a simple circle of wire fencing is great for storing them in over winter so you can mix them with greens in the spring.
You might want to consider a double or even triple bin so you can turn the batch over into the next space and start a new one. That way you have compost whenever you need it.
Happy composting!