Home Made Compost Tumbler

How to make a compost tumbler from a food grade pickle barrel. Free Plans at dixiegrilling.com This compost tumbler with it's internal aeration system speeds the composting process. Great way to get compost for your garden without the mess and strength required to turn a traditional compost bin. Concealed barrels picks unwanted critters from hanging out at your compost pile. Excellent for urban gardeners with restrictions on space. Can be made very inexpensively. Link to free plans and bill of material at the end of the video.

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24 Responses to Home Made Compost Tumbler

  1. greenbuystuff says:

    Great design. I especially like the closet flange and vent pipe. That’s a great thing about these tumblers and especially with your design, is the air flow to speed up and produce a nice aerobic compost.

  2. 100BearPaw says:

    That a great design that should speed the process up a bit. Good job.

  3. minlouwho10 says:

    Thank you!! Love this!!

  4. MGARestoration says:

    Great engineering and use of materials! Thank you for sharing!

  5. wolfeman351 says:

    Outstanding! Just what I need.

  6. mgondek says:

    Thanks the plan was easy to follow.

  7. NeoMatudio says:

    This idea is so smart. Simple, cheap but very useful. Thanks for sharing.

  8. stratman4u says:

    You will find the plans for this project at the link above in the description for this video

  9. GyWO10 says:

    Awesome ideal! Im glad that I decided to read the comments below this video. I plan on piggybacking off of your ideal to produce twice the amount of compost. Thanks for sharing your great ideal!!!!

  10. GyWO10 says:

    Great video and thanks for the inspiration!

  11. josephdupont says:

    very, very , very slick.

  12. radbcc says:

    This was not designed by your run of the mill red neck. The plans and drawings show a true attention to detail and engineering.  Thank you…

  13. aetherswift says:

    Very nice! Thank you for sharing :)

  14. stratman4u says:

    The PVC cap is a pretty tight fit so it stays in place with no problems.

  15. sean123456789 says:

    sorry I wasn’t clear on my first question. I meant does the pvc cap stay on when you flip it?

  16. stratman4u says:

    The top on the barrel shown is threaded and screws on securely. I’ve never had a problem with compost clogging the vent holes, but if you did, you could just take a garden hose and clean them out.

  17. 4301harley1 says:

    Great video and precise plans. I’ve put mine to use and it was just what I was looking for. I did not use the pvc inside, but drilled air holes in the barrel itself. I may have to build another one! Thank you.
    barpilot

  18. 4301harley1 says:

    Great video and precise plans. I’ve put mine to use and it was just what I was looking for. I did not use the pvc inside, but drilled air holes in the barrel itself. I may have to build another one! Thank you.
    barpilot

  19. sean123456789 says:

    Great video, but I have two questions. How do you keep the cap from falling off when it’s being flipped? and Does compost get stuck in the holes on the pvc pipe?

  20. gettingahandle says:

    u can toss in cow poop, chicken poop, horse poop, even a little doggy poop. But there are 2 poops NOT to put in. They are cat poop and you poop…. ew… much too smelly. If the smell does get nasty, tip in a pound or two of activated charcoal.. the fishy tank type will do.

  21. PLD60 says:

    How do you transfer from 1 tumbler to the other?

  22. madfran6 says:

    I’m building one ASAP!

  23. prairiepatch says:

    I really like your dual compost tumbler as well. I think these tumblers must work wonderfully. Do you find that they are working well for you? By the way here is a little tip that I find helps speed the compost process up. I put all the kitchen scraps what ever they may be in the blender with a little water. Blend them up and add that mush to your compost bin.

  24. surfgeo says:

    finished mine last week using a 55-gallon blue plastic drum. already want to sell it and make a dual tumbler system! the only modification i made was I used 1-1/4″ pvc as the axle, it is plenty strong enough and has zero bend with the barrel totally full of compost. i also just cut out the holes in the supports as notches so the barrel can easily be lifted off the supports to clean or make it easier to move. great design, thanks for sharing!