Composting tumblers

[Primrose]

Having just received an email from Harrod Hulticultural publicising their various composting systems for World Environment Day, including some compost tumblers, I'd be interested to hear whether anybody has got a tumbling system and whether they are more effective than a static compost heap. I can imagine that the continued aeration and movement would speed up the decomposition process, but are they really worth the cost? The cynic in me is inclined to think that it's just one more piece of garden equipment that has to be stored, and if you're continually adding material to it, do you ever end up with a "dead" batch of material that is ready to use? I'm puzzled as to how they work.

[fen not fen]

I don't think it works in the same way a normal heap does, I had one years ago and it didn't seem to heat up much, and there was little insect life in it (I think all the tumbling gave them the hump). The stuff did break down pretty quickly but I think it is more a process of bashing it to pieces than real decomposition, which I suspect happened after it was put on the ground. I would certainly class it under expensive bit of kit to clutter up the shed, I am a big fan of a good heap turned occasionally.

[peter]

On mine it hangs lid down and the lid collects runoff and rain, so I get smelly wet feet if I'm not really careful turning it.