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Tracydr · August 9, 2014

I have one of those barrels that spin head over foot on a stand. I cleaned out my horse trailer, which was mostly pine shavings and urine, a bit of manure, and started the bin with this 3 weeks ago. I've been adding the coffee grinds from two pots of coffee and kitchen scraps/paper towels,etc, daily. It heated up in 2-3 days and there is a noticeable heat coming off when I take the kid off to add.
It's not very big, maybe a 30-40 gallon barrel and I only fill about 2/3rds full. As the old stuff shrinks and I keep adding to it I keep the level the same and keep it hot. I turn it everyday. In a couple of months, I'll stop adding and give it another 1-2 months to finish off.
I did this last winter using poultry waste and it also made amazing compost, despite the bin's small size.
I was thinking, you could have 3-5 of these going in a greenhouse and probably get a good amount of heat.

August 9, 2014	#27
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	I have one of those barrels that spin head over foot on a stand. I cleaned out my horse trailer, which was mostly pine shavings and urine, a bit of manure, and started the bin with this 3 weeks ago. I've been adding the coffee grinds from two pots of coffee and kitchen scraps/paper towels,etc, daily. It heated up in 2-3 days and there is a noticeable heat coming off when I take the kid off to add. It's not very big, maybe a 30-40 gallon barrel and I only fill about 2/3rds full. As the old stuff shrinks and I keep adding to it I keep the level the same and keep it hot. I turn it everyday. In a couple of months, I'll stop adding and give it another 1-2 months to finish off. I did this last winter using poultry waste and it also made amazing compost, despite the bin's small size. I was thinking, you could have 3-5 of these going in a greenhouse and probably get a good amount of heat.