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Spent a whole weekend trying to figure out my new compost tumbler
Got a fancy dual-chamber tumbler to cut down on food waste, but the thing would not turn at all. Turns out I loaded about 200 pounds of wet leaves and grass clippings from my yard in Seattle all at once, which basically welded it shut. It took me, my partner, and a neighbor with a crowbar three hours to unstick it and get it balanced right. Anyone else have a compost setup that fought back this hard?
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kelly.robin2mo ago
Been there with a tumbler that locked up solid. Wet greens are heavy and they pack down like cement. The trick is to mix in a lot of dry browns, like shredded paper or cardboard, right from the start. It soaks up the extra moisture and keeps everything loose enough to turn. I learned to add material in smaller layers and give it a spin after each one.
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pat1422mo ago
My first tumbler turned into a 50 pound brick of grass clippings last May. Felt like I was trying to spin a concrete mixer. @kelly.robin is right about the dry stuff. I keep a trash bag of torn up egg cartons and junk mail next to mine now. Toss in a handful every time I dump the kitchen scraps. It's not perfect, but at least the thing moves. Still makes a groaning sound that worries me.
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xena_fisher4923d ago
Honestly, that crowbar detail made me laugh out loud because I've been there with a different kind of stubborn composter. Last summer I had a bin that got so full of wet coffee grounds it basically turned into a solid block of mud and caffeine. Took a garden trowel and a lot of cursing to break it apart. Ngl, it's wild how something meant to break down waste can fight back so hard.
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