Giant Composter Made From Old Cement Mixer

2013 - Volume #37, Issue #4, Page #20

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue | Print this story | Read this issue]

Rather than use a pitchfork to turn compost material in a stationary bin, Russell Casperson built an electric-powered, 6 cubic yard composter from the drum of a portable cement mixer. His monster drum is turned by a single phase, 3/4 hp electric motor.
    “I’ve been a gardener for nearly 48 years, which I really enjoy, but making compost was never one of my favorite jobs,” Russell says. “My brother heard about an old 1949 cab-over Kenworth cement mixer for sale, so we bought it. I wanted the mixer, and he wanted the truck.”
    Casperson located a logging truck chassis and wheels at a local salvage yard to mount the drum. Now it sits in the tall grass of his back yard, convenient to his large vegetable garden. To rotate the drum he connected the electric motor to two 60:1 reduction gears. That reduces the 1,700 rpm output of the motor to a snail’s pace, rotating the drum once every 2 1/2 min.
    “It’s the perfect speed to mix all the stuff I put in there,” Russell says. “I throw in about 1,500 lbs. of hay, maybe 300 lbs. of fish scraps from a local processor, and add a few pails of nitrogen.” The motor is set on a timer so it churns only at night. That way the odor doesn’t bother the neighbors.
    Russell’s back yard compost cooks for about 6 mos. He empties the big tub by reversing the rotation and the paddles lift it out the back into his loader bucket or a trailer. He spreads the contents about 4 to 6 in. deep on his garden, then tills it in for a lush, fertile seedbed.
    “The compost smells real sweet when it’s done and boy does it grow vegetables,” Russell says. “The beets are about double the size that people normally grow, potatoes are huge and delicious, and carrots are very sweet.”
     The only tell tale sign of what the compost is made of are a few spines from large halibut carcasses or a partial skull from a really big salmon.
    Asked if the mixture smells during the composting process, Russell says “at first some of the neighbors complained, so I run the mixer only at night. The game department came out once and thought I was baiting bear, but I showed them I was just making garden compost.”
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Russell Casperson, No. 1 Russell Road, Hagensborg, B. C., Canada VOT 1HO (ph 250 982-2755).

Click here to download page story appeared in.

Click here to read entire issue

Giant Composter Made From Old Cement Mixer FARM HOME Miscellaneous Rather than use a pitchfork to turn compost material in a stationary bin Russell Casperson built an electric-powered 6 cubic yard composter from the drum of a portable cement mixer His monster drum is turned by a single phase 3/4 hp electric motor “I’ve been a gardener for nearly 48 years which I really enjoy but making compost was never one of my favorite jobs ” Russell says “My brother heard about an old 1949 cab-over Kenworth cement mixer for sale so we bought it I wanted the mixer and he wanted the truck ” Casperson located a logging truck chassis and wheels at a local salvage yard to mount the drum Now it sits in the tall grass of his back yard convenient to his large vegetable garden To rotate the drum he connected the electric motor to two 60:1 reduction gears That reduces the 1 700 rpm output of the motor to a snail’s pace rotating the drum once every 2 1/2 min “It’s the perfect speed to mix all the stuff I put in there ” Russell says “I throw in about 1 500 lbs of hay maybe 300 lbs of fish scraps from a local processor and add a few pails of nitrogen ” The motor is set on a timer so it churns only at night That way the odor doesn’t bother the neighbors Russell’s back yard compost cooks for about 6 mos He empties the big tub by reversing the rotation and the paddles lift it out the back into his loader bucket or a trailer He spreads the contents about 4 to 6 in deep on his garden then tills it in for a lush fertile seedbed “The compost smells real sweet when it’s done and boy does it grow vegetables ” Russell says “The beets are about double the size that people normally grow potatoes are huge and delicious and carrots are very sweet ” The only tell tale sign of what the compost is made of are a few spines from large halibut carcasses or a partial skull from a really big salmon Asked if the mixture smells during the composting process Russell says “at first some of the neighbors complained so I run the mixer only at night The game department came out once and thought I was baiting bear but I showed them I was just making garden compost ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Russell Casperson No 1 Russell Road Hagensborg B C Canada VOT 1HO ph 250 982-2755

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

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW NOW