I have lots of small sticks, palm fronds, tough stalks, and the like, that I want to compost down. Will this handle it? How fine is the result?
1944517
The small sticks if they're straight the rest will drive you mad. It mulches stuff down pretty well but not worth the time.
1944518
not very fine..similar to cedar mulch for your flower bed , or mulch for bushes...
1944519
It easily mulched quarter inch branches I put a one inch board by quarter inch piece of wood it was more chipped palm branches would be mulched I believe. My small pods just went through the machine.
1944520
I have no direct experience with palm fronds, but as a general rule I'd say mine doesn't process 'green' material very well. Most leaves and such go through my Sun Joe Chipper unscathed. The sticks and stalks should chip ok as long as they're a little dry. The chips tend to be random sizes from sawdust up to 1/2" chunks, or a little longer bits if the wood is moist or has tough bark. The chipper works by feeding the branches down onto a spinning blade sort of meat-slicer fashion. Green, pliable material is often able to pass around the blades without being chopped.
126282
Yes, it will do a great job with straw. I use it to shred the straw for mulch in my garden. It will shred it down to 2" to 4" pieces, with a lot of it smaller. It will compost quickly.
1056695
I would presume it is ok if the rocks are small like pebbles. I only use it in my raised beds, with composted soil and leaves, and it is heaven. It is Pretty strong, but dont expect it to do the rock clearing work for you. It is not a full blown tiller. But it shreads my weeds as the seeds try to set in my vegetable garden. Good Luck
512769
I have only used it for sticks (up to about 2" diameter) and leaves, does a great job as long as everything is dry. Any wet leaves will clog the machine quickly.
1456802
Moderate effort. It requires some physical labor and a narrow shovel. You could do it by hand (with gloves on, I assume), if you wanted to. The wetter your compost, the more difficult it will be no matter what method you use. We have another rotating composter on a stand, and it requires about the same amount of effort: if you are taller, the lower one requires more bending but the one on the stand requires more lifting (assuming you're putting it into a wheelbarrow of average height.
1854671
I use a three prong long handle device that I have for breaking down the soil in the garden.I find I wish I'd purchased a compost barrel that turned ,but I like the look of this one.
1042369
I started using the composter at the beginning of this summer, so I don't know exactly how it will perform during the winter. Frankly I am not thrilled with it. I plan on cleaning it out next spring and giving it away.
780027
Pretty good. I use it often and it easily moves leaves, twigs and smaller rocks. If you have tan bark it'll completely blow that away so be careful.
1632495
It should work just fine. I don't get pine needles, but I get plenty of tiny debris including palm tree seeds, my own hair, long narrow leaves, palm fronds, etc. and it picks up absolutely every one of them without any problems. Usually the problems occur with larger items, like an entire 2 foot long palm frond!
1766995
Yes, and it works too, if you know how to compost. I am bad at letting mine dry out. But if you keep it moist, throw food scraps, recycled paper towels, cardboard, anything plant based, chicken egg shells. Happy composting.
2009737
Frankly, I can't recommend using it for anything more than it was designed. I guess you could try it since it can be gauged for the amount of salt delivery. For myself, I would be more inclined to buy a spreader specifically for spreading compost.
1872616
I would think this would be more aggressive than you would want for trimming palm fronds. I would use a reciprocating saw with a pruning blade in it for that.
917444
its a heavy plastic sheet with air vents in it and it comes with stakes to weave through the holes and poke into the ground. I overlapped the plastic and it is still a huge area to put compost into and then weaved the posts in to secure it. It has held up so far no problems. simple to deal with uncomplicated. I would say the diameter that I made is 2.5 feet it will take awhile for me to fill it up to the top It is about a filled with about a foot of compost now. the more that goes in it compacts and the unit gets more stable. I Am pleased with it for the price it is worth it.
366331
Lots of leaves? I don't think any self contained unit will do that. But if you sccop out as many leaves as possible, it will take up the ones left behind. I think it works well. Sand is no problem.
806480
I think it will work fine. Be sure to use steel spikes to pound into the hard soil to hold it down.
1982649
Broke down the compost well. Don't know if it was any faster because I always have used it. Compost Does seem to form into large baseball size clumps.
1328456
It appears to be composting just fine. My bin is full from veggie scraps all winter and froze a little but appears to be heating up again. I plan to order another one so one can be filling as the other gets done. I expect the process will go quicker in the summer. I like these bins. Sturdy and simple. Mine also smells a little, which I thought was natural, but apparently my ratio between "green & brown" is off.