Sifting compost
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JRinPA
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- Posts: 1759
- Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2020 1:35 pm
- Location: PA Dutch Country
Re: Sifting compost
I went the second route from above with this next iteration. I'd like to say it took an hour, but it might have been 75 minutes total since I don't have a great work area. Have to find everything, etc.
1. Traced the basket end onto scrap plywood and cut with a jigsaw. Screwed that onto one basket from the inside out with short lag bolts. Then drilled a 1" hole through the center.
2.Traced the second basket end onto scrap plywood and cut with jigsaw. Drilled a 1" hole, centered roughly. Used cutters to trim the end screen out of that basket. Took the free end wood to the 6" disk sander, put a screwdriver handle through the hole to hold it, and created a deep 45 degree chamfer so that this "plug" fits deeply into the open end of the basket.
3. Used about 8 zip ties to secure the baskets tightly to each other. I left them full length (useful, don't cut them).
4. The axle I used is already half of an adjustable height decoy stake. 3/4" PVC, with a tent stake on one end and 1/4" holes drill through it for height adjust. So I used one set of pass holes to make a stop for the sifter to rest against. I just used some thin 3 strand wire commo wire with a jacket. Just making a shoulder/stop on for the permanent wood end to butt against. (This could be done an infinite number of ways, just an axle with a stop to shoulder against. I just used what was in sight).
5. On the other side, the plug is free to be removed, and can easily secure tightly with an A clamp.
To fill, I stuck the fixed end down into the pile, removed A clamp and wood plug, and filled the now open top with 1 year compost. I just used a third dollar tree basket as the scoop. A spade would work as well, but was in the shed, basket was at the pile. The hole is nearly 6". I filled the chamber way up each time, 3/4 of the way full.
Then simply slide on the plug, attach the A clamp and it is solid. Put it over the wheelbarrow. Spin it, or in the beginning when very full, just grab a zip tie to swish it back and forth.
Made 8 gallons of very nice consistency compost from four fills, about 8 minutes total time and very little lifting. Call it a minute to sift and a minute to fill. Each time I empty the scrap into a separate nursery pot, and I dumped that in a separate pile to be reshredded. Some of it is pretty big sticks that made it in there, some rocks unfortunately, and some just heavy dirt balls that formed around wet grass or leaves in the composting process. I left the basket free to slip on the axle. I just spun the axle slowly by the stake I have affixed. That spun the basket fine, except when it was very full. The big eccentricity when full caused slippage. Toggling it back and for a few inches by the zip ties worked easily when full and heavy to quickly sift out the material, then the turning the axle would spin the basket just fine.
If wanted, you could make the fixed side hole a tight fit, which would lock the axle to the basket. Then create a handle for the PVC on that fixed side. Outside of the distance for your wheelbarrow, of course.
Definitely took longer to write this up than make it this evening. Please feel free to report back with improvements.
One thing that is really cool is once I started sifting with this size, I'm not sure if 1/2" HW cloth is fine enough anymore. This allows for really nice soil blocks from straight up compost. This mesh make a NICE sift. 1/4" HW cloth rejects too much, I've always thought. I'm not sure if a 3/8" HW cloth is even available to buy anywhere. I have plenty of 1/2", and I bought 1/4" and 1/8" last year. But 3/8"?
1. Traced the basket end onto scrap plywood and cut with a jigsaw. Screwed that onto one basket from the inside out with short lag bolts. Then drilled a 1" hole through the center.
2.Traced the second basket end onto scrap plywood and cut with jigsaw. Drilled a 1" hole, centered roughly. Used cutters to trim the end screen out of that basket. Took the free end wood to the 6" disk sander, put a screwdriver handle through the hole to hold it, and created a deep 45 degree chamfer so that this "plug" fits deeply into the open end of the basket.
3. Used about 8 zip ties to secure the baskets tightly to each other. I left them full length (useful, don't cut them).
4. The axle I used is already half of an adjustable height decoy stake. 3/4" PVC, with a tent stake on one end and 1/4" holes drill through it for height adjust. So I used one set of pass holes to make a stop for the sifter to rest against. I just used some thin 3 strand wire commo wire with a jacket. Just making a shoulder/stop on for the permanent wood end to butt against. (This could be done an infinite number of ways, just an axle with a stop to shoulder against. I just used what was in sight).
5. On the other side, the plug is free to be removed, and can easily secure tightly with an A clamp.
To fill, I stuck the fixed end down into the pile, removed A clamp and wood plug, and filled the now open top with 1 year compost. I just used a third dollar tree basket as the scoop. A spade would work as well, but was in the shed, basket was at the pile. The hole is nearly 6". I filled the chamber way up each time, 3/4 of the way full.
Then simply slide on the plug, attach the A clamp and it is solid. Put it over the wheelbarrow. Spin it, or in the beginning when very full, just grab a zip tie to swish it back and forth.
Made 8 gallons of very nice consistency compost from four fills, about 8 minutes total time and very little lifting. Call it a minute to sift and a minute to fill. Each time I empty the scrap into a separate nursery pot, and I dumped that in a separate pile to be reshredded. Some of it is pretty big sticks that made it in there, some rocks unfortunately, and some just heavy dirt balls that formed around wet grass or leaves in the composting process. I left the basket free to slip on the axle. I just spun the axle slowly by the stake I have affixed. That spun the basket fine, except when it was very full. The big eccentricity when full caused slippage. Toggling it back and for a few inches by the zip ties worked easily when full and heavy to quickly sift out the material, then the turning the axle would spin the basket just fine.
If wanted, you could make the fixed side hole a tight fit, which would lock the axle to the basket. Then create a handle for the PVC on that fixed side. Outside of the distance for your wheelbarrow, of course.
Definitely took longer to write this up than make it this evening. Please feel free to report back with improvements.
One thing that is really cool is once I started sifting with this size, I'm not sure if 1/2" HW cloth is fine enough anymore. This allows for really nice soil blocks from straight up compost. This mesh make a NICE sift. 1/4" HW cloth rejects too much, I've always thought. I'm not sure if a 3/8" HW cloth is even available to buy anywhere. I have plenty of 1/2", and I bought 1/4" and 1/8" last year. But 3/8"?
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