Envirocycle Composter
The Envirocycle is a popular compost tumbler design. It's two main advantages are that it is relatively inexpensive for a tumbler, and the base of the tumbler will collect a "compost tea" that can be used as a fertilizer before the compost is actually finished.
The Envirocycle composter is one of the more popular compost tumbler designs. It's two main advantages are that it is relatively inexpensive for a tumbler, and the base of the tumbler will collect a "compost tea" that can be used as a fertilizer before the compost is actually finished.
The manufacturer lists these main features:
The unique rolling and mixing action of the Envirocycle Composter/ComposTeamaker helps it produce quality compost more quickly and easily than standard composters. No more messing digging with a dirty shovel to turn the compost pile; simply give the drum a few turns and your compost remains well mixed and aerated, producing clean, sweet-smelling, fully decomposed compost. The Envirocycle Composter/ComposTeamaker also makes 'compost tea', a rich organic liquid plant food highly valued by gardeners and farmers. Up to 5 gallons of this nutrient-rich tea is collected in the unique base of the composter. The compost drum is indented for easy gripping and rolling. A lockable lid prevents access to the compost by small animals and rodents. The small size and distinctive design suits today's urban lifestyles and fits perfectly on balcony or patio.
The rollers in the base are intended to make the rotation of the tumbler simpler. Keep in mind that any tumbler design can make it "easier" to rotate, but there still can be some work to turn them. As with any unit, if you have too much weight (like overly wet composting material) even with the rollers it can be tough to get it to rotate. But the rotation or the turning of the composting material is one key to accelerating the composting in a tumbler.
The one thing to note is that the "tea" is technically not a compost tea (which is more like water filtered through a finished compost, but is a leachate, which comes from unfinished compost, and may actually do more harm than good to your plants depending on what's being composted.
It is possible to overflow the base if you are using a lot of wetter materials to be composted, like some food scraps. Because of this you want to take care if you try to keep it indoors in someplace like a garage or a basement.
Overall, this is a good value in a tumbling composter. And the Envirocycle can be found for around $140, which is actually cheaper than some non rotating bins.