Hi northhadley - your friend is one of many to have given them away ;). According to most all the previous discussions on them here they are not all they are cracked up to be - especially when it comes to their so-called 14 day program. But you can make compost in them...just not in any 14 days. Your best source of info is the manufacturer's website where you can order a manual for them.

Meanwhile, for your reading pleasure ;) the link below will take you to lots of previous discussions on them and to some vendor sites for more info. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Compost Tumbler

I have no advice to give- but I did live in Hadley! Lived on the Rt9 end of East St. in grad school (lived in Amherst and S.Deerfield as well). Went there a couple months ago- I miss it so much. Noticed that they finally did something with the dead mall.

Living NEAR a college town (or 3) is about the best thing in the world.

Anyway- best of luck with the tumbler. Just the mention of the area takes me back...

northhadley,

I'm the new owener of a used Compostumbler by Kerr.
Friend who gave it to me didn't like it nor did she have any manuals for it. dont need them imo. www.compostumbler.com

How full is full to get the 14day program going? i suggest 3/4 full, this will get it to 1/2 done in 14 days, 3 weeks is better. If you want the fine stuff, let it sit in a pile somewhere. let temp guide you.

Is it the same abount of of carbons/greens as bin style? same.

How moist is moist? I have read that tumblers require less water than other types of composters.What is the right amount of moisture? In the summer this is a more managable issue, but try to aim for under watering. load er up and add 5 gal of water, see what happens. depends on how wet the materials is going in. tumble while adding material.

What is your "secret" ingrediant to speed up the composting process? lots of coffee grounds from Starbucks and lots of fall leaf bags; a long thermometer helps with feed back.

Thanks for the help as I do want this to work for me. Good luck