[Wingnut]

I have a very cement mixer on my property the has been rusting sitting there for decades. The mixer is about a four bag (90lbs) capacity and is in great shape of being well used during it day (S/N Plate states it was manufactured in the 1938) it has no engine but you can easily spin it with the spocket and weights about 600 lbs.

I am thinking about converting it into a composter by spot wielding on lid on it.

What to y'all think of my idea?

 

[Ingersoll444]

a little small for that. A 3'x3'x3' bin or biger realy seems to be the best. Lets it build up some heat.

 

[bontai Joe]

I still kick myself for selling the small cement mixer I had. It worked real well in mixing up my own potting soil. and came in handy for those little jobs requiring a couple bags of concrete to be mixed up. Couldn't you add an old lawn mower engine to it and resurrect it?

 

[Wingnut]

Size is an issue

Bontai Joe I do have a new working mixer so I really don't need to get this on running. I can use it for mixing soils and such!
It could be a great conversation piece!


Ingersoll444 size is an issue can it generated nuff heat I am not sure.

It a Size 3 1/2 -S from the Ransome Concrete Mchy. Co.

 

[Wingnut]

And here how it looks!

Is 3 1/2 cubic feet too small for a composter?

 

[Greg]

Here's the smallest Compostumbler for reference..Yours seems a bit small for "brewing" compost, but might mix potting soil, as Joe mentioned.

https://www.compostumbler.com/StoreFront/IAFDispatcher

 

[CatDaddy]

I don't see why it wouldn't work for small batches of compost (household scraps, etc). Paint it black, put it where it can get full sun to get it up to temp.

Does it have some sort of fins on the inside of the drum to allow the compost to mix instead of just sliding around?

Angel

 

[Argee]

That seems like a lot of work for the little compost you'll receive...usually it takes a couple of months at best to get usable compost...what would that give you? a couple of mixer full a year?

A good use for that old mixer would be for mixing seed when blending different grasses or when adding innoculants to alfalfas etc.

 

[Wingnut]

It will be a test

It can handle 4 Cubic feet of compost, if I fill it up any beyond that the mixing fins would not be very efficient and it would be a big buck of crap. It would work good small batches of compost (household scraps, etc).

After all it's going to take only a couple of hours of work to set it up and three cans of Rustolem spray paint. And building up heat down here is not an issue (we are lucky to have 24 hours of freezing temperature in a winter) we get 80 temps in Feburary. So I could get six good batches of compost a year out of sometime that was sitting around rusting way.

We shall see if it is really worth the effort after the second batch

 

[Greg]

Wingnut,

Did you make your "composter"? How about an update and pics, if ya got em. Spring is comming soon.