This is contrary to some of the suggestions from the video below but makes sense and you can find food grade drums for cheap on ebay.
How to build a compost bin 55 gallon drum. 22 yard tools you should get your hands on this fall. Add diagonal braces between the legs for additional support. Drill a 1 inch hole at the center of each one. One 50 gallon drum will turn your family s food scraps into rich usable soil before the growing season is over.
Then level the drum and mount the remaining two casters. The first and simplest of mother earth news three compost tumblers uses a 55 gallon drum set on steel roller skate wheels attached to a wooden stand. Build a compost frame for the barrel from two by four lumber. Saturate each layer with water as you add it and mix the compost layers with a garden spade.
How to build a compost tumbler from 55 gallon plastic drum duration. These barrels are generally very available to most folks and are very robust and will last many years in the elements with. Load spin and dump. Make a fast burning home compost bin for under 50.
Cut eight 4 4 blocks from a 1 4 board. Mother earth news staff. Load the compost tumbler drum with yard waste and add a compost starter to get the batch cooking about 10 at any home or garden center. How to start a compost bin duration.
Start with 7 inches of brown ingredients pine needles or dried leaves and then add 4 inches of green materials kitchen scraps or manure. Here s how i build a tumbling composter out of a 55 gallon blue barrel. Find the center of your drum s ends and drill a 1 inch hole in each. To rotate your compost bin easily you need to add an axle to the drum.
Rotate at least once every day to mix and aerate the batch. Nice project if you can get 55 gallon barrels for cheap. Look for them at local garden supply shops for food grade barrels comments rethink survival. Best of all the wood base with attached caster wheels makes turning your compost in this diy compost tumbler a cinch no shoveling required.
Build a wooden saw buck to support the compost barrel. Insert your dowel rod through the first hole in your barrel. The earthling dream 845 756 views. Nail 2 sets of 2x4s pieces of wood that are 1 5 3 5 or 38 89 mm in terms of height and width respectively in an x frame and nail two 2x4s across the feet at the bottom for support.