Build-It-Yourself Barrel Composter

Build-It-Yourself Barrel Composter FARM HOME Miscellaneous 27-3-34 Garden catalogs and websites sell rolling barrel composters for $100 or more. David Golden built his own for just a few dollars using a 55-gal. drum, some metal and wood scraps, and four $5 lawn mower wheels. The composter works great to turn lawn and garden clippings into compost that plants love. "I can turn a barrel of waste clipping into compost in one to two months," says Golden. "I try to turn it once a week or so." Golden's composter is easy to fill. He cut an 18-in. hole in the side for a door, which he then fashioned out of sheet metal. A piano hinge on one edge and a snapspring catch on the other secures the door when the barrel is turning. Inside the barrel, three baffles made from 1 by 3-in. wood scraps are screwed to the sides. As the barrel turns, the baffles mix the materials inside. Once the barrel was complete, Golden wanted a way to easily turn it. An H-shaped workbench end support made from 1 by 2-in. steel tubing provided a frame for his barrel cart. All Golden had to do was attach lawn mower wheels and a hitch. "I cut down an old Volkswagen towbar to fit and hooked the cart to my garden tractor," he says. The wheels do double duty, holding and turning the barrel. As the cart moves forward, the wheels turn and the barrel spins in the opposite direction. Golden kept the cart simple and didn't worry about a turning axle. It simply slides around turns. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David Golden, 37 Gopher Lane, Ponderosa, New Mexico 87044 (ph 505 834-0009).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.