Comparison of Composters

[Colin_M]

Just thought you'd like to know that the Saturday Guardian did a comparison of some different composters:

- Plastic Local authority type bins
- Wormeries
- Wooden beehive design
- Bokashi bins
- Tumbler ones in frames

For those that didn't see it, would like to guess how they came out?

It would be good to hear about your own experiences from those of you that have some of these different designs (especially the tumbler one).

I'll update this thread with the Guardian's findings in a few days.

Colin

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Colin, it's a shame they didn't compare an open compost heap compared to all the others.
I've have tried the plastic type bins, but found i had too much stuff to put in them, and they didn't work any better than a open heap.
An old freind of mine had one of the early tumbler ones. He did say the compost was a little quicker to make, but it was very heavy to try and turn when full as all the weight was at the bottom so you had a job to get it turning. He gave up using it and went back to an open heap.

So i'm going to stick with an open heap, just because of the amount i make.

[richard p]

i dont know anyone that uses one of the tumbler variety, and i cant recall anyone on here admiting to using one either

[Colin_M]

An old freind of mine had one of the early tumbler ones. He did say the compost was a little quicker to make, but it was very heavy

Interesting - a few people have mentioned that they got poor results with the Tumbler. I suspect they didn't put enough in before they started tumbling.


Colin

[Monika]

I prefer a large open compost heap which is easily turned. Unfortunately, a few years ago we got rats into ours in the garden and since then use three ordinary dustbins with holes drilled into them at the bottom all sides and lid. I regularly "stir" them with a sort of twiddly rod (Wiggly Wigglers) and also poke a thin bamboo cane through the holes in the sides. That always seems to produce good friable compost within about nine months.

On the allotment, we have two large square bins with wooden posts and pig netting sides, lined with black plastic (to stop the weeds growing out of the sides). We leave one to "stew" for at least three years whilst the other one is in use and, boy, do we get some black stuff out of that!

[Colin_M]

Ok the results quoted in the Guardian survey can be summarised as follows. The results are given verbatim and I can't vouch for how well they tested (eg. your mileage may vary):

Plastic Local authority type bins
Effective & cheap. Get best results by drilling holes in side to increase aeration. Can be tricky to dig the finished compost out of the small hole at the bottom (I agree).

Wormeries
Neat compact, almost odour-free, produced outstanding compost. They felt it wasn't suitable for garden compost - more for kitchen waste.

Wooden beehive design
Attractive & compact, but was one of the slowest of those on test.

Bokashi bins
A really efficient way to dispose of food waste. No sorting, no smell (though mine does!), though add the cost of the EM bran to your running costs.

Blackwall Tumbler in frames
Didn't work well in their trial (contents unchanged after 3 weeks) though other trials have had better success. Heavy & awkward to use with the turning circle taking up a lot of space. Rain got in easily, leaving compost waterlogged.


I'm sure other people may get slightly different results. As other replies already state, an ordinary heap may be sufficient for many people.


Colin

[oldherbaceous]

Thanks for posting an interesting topic Colin.

[Colin_M]

You're welcome OH.

One point I'd be interested in people's opinions of:
How much space do you need to produce the amount of compost you need?


At the moment, I have three plastic bins: 2 which I add new material to and a 3rd which I use to store the finished stuff from the first 2 bins till I'm ready to use it.

However, the rate of production is pretty slow. I keep the 2 plastic bins regularly fed and they're usually almost full. I also try to keep the material turned every 3-4 weeks, but it's not easy to do that well with the plastic bins (they're almost too tall and "slim").

It seems to me that I could actually do with a space around 2m x 3m for the amount of compost I'd like. Sadly I only have half an allotment, so would lose growing space.

Is it just that I'm not being very efficient in my production or is it just best to devote a good-sized space to composting?


Colin

[richard p]

hi colin,
you dont say what size your bins are, i use a pair of bins on the veg patch. they are made from scrap timber, each bin is roughly 4ft square and 6 foot tall on three sides. the removable fronts are about 4ft tall. i fill them alternate years and dont ever do any turning. the taller the bins are the more you get in because the weight of the material squashes it down more. anything that hasnt decomposed by the time the bin is emptied either gets left in the bottom or chucked onto the other one.
we also have a pair of the wee black plastic bins handy to the kitchen which are also filled alternate years.

the matured bin is emptied for use about easter time, this then becomes the filling bin whilst the other filled bin gets 12 months to its stuff. so material put in the bottom of the empty bin gets 2 years to compost whilst the last filling only gets 12 months. its a simple to use system which works . i feel that ive better things to do than turn compost

we could survive with only one of the black bins for kitchen waste , if the top freshest stuff was retained to start the new lot. but we aquired two when the council were giving them away.

with your 3 bins i would use them in order so you fill one as quickly as possible and leave it composting until both the others are full in turn.

[Colin_M]

you dont say what size your bins are

Two of them are the "standard round local authority ones". Around 60cm wide at the top and tapered to a wider base, with a small door near the base that's only just a bit wider than a spade (so a pain to get stuff out unless you tip over the entire bin). The third one is just over a metre square. So in total, these are much smaller than your 2 x 16 sq feet.

with your 3 bins i would use them in order so you fill one as quickly as possible and leave it composting until both the others are full in turn.

That makes much more sense than what I've been doing. I could then also just tip over each bin when ready, rather than trying to decant ready stuff from the bottom whilst continuing to tip fresh stuff into the top. Thanks


Colin

[WestHamRon]

Colin,I'm by no means an expert, but if I had cylindrical bins I would be tempted to roll them around rather than agitate with a fork.

[Stephen]

I am trying to sort things out properly on the composting front.
The allotment last year had an open heap because I concentrated on growing stuff.
The garden has a black plastic bin (which needs digging out) but it is inconvenient in shape. Small door (nearly useless for access). I was thinking of moving this to the allotment and re-using a s/h wormery for the lesser ammount of waste from the small garden and house.
I read Ken Thompson's book and rather like the idea of annual movement of the heap.
Any thoughts from you experienced people?

[madasafish]

I have 3 open heaps and 2 plastic council daleks.

The open heaps are for leaves and general garden rubbish, the daleks for vegeatable and food waste - the latter are used in tandem and then emptied out by lifting off the dalek and placing the top third (or so ) partially rotted into the bottom again. Th rest is piled in a heap in spring and left to fester and used in autumn.

I add turkey droppings to all to add decomposition.

I reckon on 12 months to decay properly. All open heaps are emptied in spring and piled in heaps as daleks. I need at least one empty one for autumn leaves...

[GIB]

Last year i made two compost boxes from scrap lengths of timber (approx. 6" x 1") They are 1m square and just over 1 metre high. I made the front strips removable by screwing a pair of batons down the inside of the front two posts to creaste a recess into which the front strips slide down one by one - this makes it easy to remove the compost. It has worked really well and i have just made a further two from my brothers old decking that he has taken up. I now have 4 boxes and plan to use one each week so that each one gets a 4 week period to break down.