A friend has one of these contraptions and has asked for advice. He has
been filling it for a couple of years and now wants to use SOME of the
compost it has produced.

Opened up the little door at the bottom and started shovelling out the
nice compost, but then when he had got about half of the bottom layers
out, everything inside has collapsed so he now has relatively new
uncomposted stuff at the opening, but how if at all can he get all the
good stuff from the back?

On 10 Jun 2022 21:19, "Polly@golly" wrote:
> A friend has one of these contraptions and has asked for advice. He has
> been filling it for a couple of years and now wants to use SOME of the
> compost it has produced.
>
> Opened up the little door at the bottom and started shovelling out the
> nice compost, but then when he had got about half of the bottom layers
> out, everything inside has collapsed so he now has relatively new
> uncomposted stuff at the opening, but how if at all can he get all the
> good stuff from the back?
>
From what I've seen on our allotments you simply lift it all up and
move the Dalek putting the new stuff back in leaving a pile of usable
compost. We had one for years but the rats kept digging the good stuff
out so we never actually got any compost from it.
--
Regards.
Bob Hobden

On 11/06/2022 14:02, Bob Hobden wrote:
> On 10 Jun 2022 21:19, "Polly@golly" wrote:
>> A friend has one of these contraptions and has asked for advice. He has
>> been filling it for a couple of years and now wants to use SOME of the
>> compost it has produced.
>>
>> Opened up the little door at the bottom and started shovelling out the
>> nice compost, but then when he had got about half of the bottom layers
>> out, everything inside has collapsed so he now has relatively new
>> uncomposted stuff at the opening, but how if at all can he get all the
>> good stuff from the back?
>>
> From what I've seen on our allotments you simply lift it all up and
> move the Dalek putting the new stuff back in leaving a pile of usable
> compost. We had one for years but the rats kept digging the good stuff
> out so we never actually got any compost from it.

Thats fine if you've got the space. In this case the Dalek was in a
corner surrounded by plants and he has no other space for it apart from
putting it in the corned of a patio with slabs underneath!

On Sat, 11 Jun 2022 20:16:33 +0100, "Polly@golly"
<pwllgloyw@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 11/06/2022 14:02, Bob Hobden wrote:
>> On 10 Jun 2022 21:19, "Polly@golly" wrote:
>>> A friend has one of these contraptions and has asked for advice. He has
>>> been filling it for a couple of years and now wants to use SOME of the
>>> compost it has produced.
>>>
>>> Opened up the little door at the bottom and started shovelling out the
>>> nice compost, but then when he had got about half of the bottom layers
>>> out, everything inside has collapsed so he now has relatively new
>>> uncomposted stuff at the opening, but how if at all can he get all the
>>> good stuff from the back?
>>>
>> From what I've seen on our allotments you simply lift it all up and
>> move the Dalek putting the new stuff back in leaving a pile of usable
>> compost. We had one for years but the rats kept digging the good stuff
>> out so we never actually got any compost from it.
>
>Thats fine if you've got the space. In this case the Dalek was in a
>corner surrounded by plants and he has no other space for it apart from
>putting it in the corned of a patio with slabs underneath!

Lift Dalek and put to one side, temporarily, exposing the compost.
Remove un-rotted compost from top of the pile and put in a poly sack.
Remove well-rotted compost and put in another sack.
Return Dalek to its original position.
Put un-rotted compost back into Dalek.
Spread well-rotted compost where it's needed.
It's not rocket science!

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

In article <t82pmi$a1i$1@dont-email.me>,
"Polly@golly" <pwllgloyw@gmail.com> wrote:

> > From what I've seen on our allotments you simply lift it all up and
> > move the Dalek putting the new stuff back in leaving a pile of usable
> > compost. We had one for years but the rats kept digging the good stuff
> > out so we never actually got any compost from it.
>
> Thats fine if you've got the space. In this case the Dalek was in a
> corner surrounded by plants and he has no other space for it apart from
> putting it in the corned of a patio with slabs underneath!

He needs a tarpaulin, reasonably robust and pretty large (something like
4mx2m): Aldi sell these from time to time, but you'll always get one
from places like Homebase.

He spreads the tarpaulin on the patio, then sorts out the contents of
the Dalek on the tarpaulin. Then clean up the tarpaulin, and the patio
will be un-messed.

If the Dalek is in an inaccessible corner, then he will have to dig out
the top of the contents into his wheelbarrow and take it to the
tarpaulin; with luck he can then lift up the Dalek, and the lower stuff
will be a solid mass, which he can fork away.

Tools:
For this kind of job, a garden fork is hard work: you need what the
farmers call a muck fork, which handles large amount of fibrous
materials like a dream.

I also have a _plastic_ shovel (used by builders): extremely light, and
just the job for moving, or mixing, stuff like compost off a tarpaulin.
The muck fork and the plastic shovel complement each other.

Thirdly, an old supermarket shopping basket, picked out of the verge
somewhere, do not steal one, is perfect for riddling home-made compost.

But if he's got a tiny garden, all of this may be over-investment.

J.

On 11/06/2022 20:16, Polly@golly wrote:
> On 11/06/2022 14:02, Bob Hobden wrote:
>> On 10 Jun 2022 21:19, "Polly@golly" wrote:
>>> A friend has one of these contraptions and has asked for advice. He has
>>> been filling it for a couple of years and now wants to use SOME of the
>>> compost it has produced.
>>>
>>> Opened up the little door at the bottom and started shovelling out the
>>> nice compost, but then when he had got about half of the bottom layers
>>> out, everything inside has collapsed so he now has relatively new
>>> uncomposted stuff at the opening, but how if at all can he get all the
>>> good stuff from the back?
>>>
>>  From what I've seen on our allotments you simply lift it all up and
>> move the Dalek putting the new stuff back in leaving a pile of usable
>> compost. We had one for years but the rats kept digging the good stuff
>> out so we never actually got any compost from it.
>
> Thats fine if you've got the space. In this case the Dalek was in a
> corner surrounded by plants and he has no other space for it apart from
> putting it in the corned of a patio with slabs underneath!

We had the same problem with rats as Bob (they eat the worms) but now
have them on slabs, also like Bob we either lift if off and set aside
the top layers but more often because we have several we just start
using a different one until the first is completely rotted

--
Charlie Pridham
Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk

On 17/06/2022 10:11, Charlie Pridham wrote:
> We had the same problem with rats as Bob (they eat the worms) but now
> have them on slabs,

Mortuary slabs one presumes.

Sounds like a plan, but how did you get the rats on the slabs in the
first place?

--
If I had all the money I've spent on drink...
...I'd spend it on drink.

Sir Henry (at Rawlinson's End)

On 10/06/2022 21:19, Polly@golly wrote:
> A friend has one of these contraptions and has asked for advice. He has
> been filling it for a couple of years and now wants to use SOME of the
> compost it has produced.
>
> Opened up the little door at the bottom and started shovelling out the
> nice compost, but then when he had got about half of the bottom layers
> out, everything inside has collapsed so he now has relatively new
> uncomposted stuff at the opening, but how if at all can he get all the
> good stuff from the back?

Thank you for all the adice/comments, but it does raise one question1

Why is there a small impractical door in the Dalek in the first place?

On 17/06/2022 17:15, Polly@golly wrote:

> Thank you for all the adice/comments, but it does raise one question1

> Why is there a small impractical door in the Dalek in the first place?

That's for use in Australia, where they put the stuff for composting
through the door at the bottom, and take the good stuff out of the top. ;-)

--

Jeff

In article <t8id2q$d4u$1@dont-email.me>,
Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote:

> On 17/06/2022 17:15, Polly@golly wrote:
> > Why is there a small impractical door in the Dalek in the first place?
>
> That's for use in Australia, where they put the stuff for composting
> through the door at the bottom, and take the good stuff out of the top. ;-)

Nice one Jeff :) Here's another non-serious answer:

It's just a sales pitch: when these were introduced, I remember that
one of the miraculous claims was:
"Put garden refuse in, shovel rich compost out!"

.... implying that the one followed the other in pretty sharp time. The
little door does work, but takes _at least_ a year. And in any case the
little door is - as you say - useless!

John

On 17/06/2022 17:15, Polly@golly wrote:
> On 10/06/2022 21:19, Polly@golly wrote:
>> A friend has one of these contraptions and has asked for advice. He
>> has been filling it for a couple of years and now wants to use SOME of
>> the compost it has produced.
>>
>> Opened up the little door at the bottom and started shovelling out the
>> nice compost, but then when he had got about half of the bottom layers
>> out, everything inside has collapsed so he now has relatively new
>> uncomposted stuff at the opening, but how if at all can he get all the
>> good stuff from the back?
>
>
> Thank you for all the adice/comments, but it does raise one question1
>
> Why is there a small impractical door in the Dalek in the first place?

That is indeed a good question, two of our older bins have no door

--
Charlie Pridham
Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk

On 21/06/2022 14:36, Charlie Pridham wrote:
> On 17/06/2022 17:15, Polly@golly wrote:
>> On 10/06/2022 21:19, Polly@golly wrote:
>>> A friend has one of these contraptions and has asked for advice. He
>>> has been filling it for a couple of years and now wants to use SOME
>>> of the compost it has produced.
>>>
>>> Opened up the little door at the bottom and started shovelling out
>>> the nice compost, but then when he had got about half of the bottom
>>> layers out, everything inside has collapsed so he now has relatively
>>> new uncomposted stuff at the opening, but how if at all can he get
>>> all the good stuff from the back?
>>
>>
>> Thank you for all the adice/comments, but it does raise one question1
>>
>> Why is there a small impractical door in the Dalek in the first place?
>
> That is indeed a good question, two of our older bins have no door
>
Mine has a door and I open to take out the bottom rotted compost.

if it didn't have one , how else would it be done.

On 21/06/2022 17:44, Rob H wrote:
> On 21/06/2022 14:36, Charlie Pridham wrote:
>> On 17/06/2022 17:15, Polly@golly wrote:
>>> On 10/06/2022 21:19, Polly@golly wrote:
>>>> A friend has one of these contraptions and has asked for advice. He
>>>> has been filling it for a couple of years and now wants to use SOME
>>>> of the compost it has produced.
>>>>
>>>> Opened up the little door at the bottom and started shovelling out
>>>> the nice compost, but then when he had got about half of the bottom
>>>> layers out, everything inside has collapsed so he now has relatively
>>>> new uncomposted stuff at the opening, but how if at all can he get
>>>> all the good stuff from the back?
>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you for all the adice/comments, but it does raise one question1
>>>
>>> Why is there a small impractical door in the Dalek in the first place?
>>
>> That is indeed a good question, two of our older bins have no door
>>
> Mine has a door and I open to take out the bottom rotted compost.
>
> if it didn't have one , how else would it be done.
>

As mentioned by multiple folk in the other replies above, most people
lift them off, you can then get at the contents a lot more easily

--
Charlie Pridham
Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk

On 21/06/2022 14:36, Charlie Pridham wrote:
> On 17/06/2022 17:15, Polly@golly wrote:
>> On 10/06/2022 21:19, Polly@golly wrote:

>>
>> Thank you for all the adice/comments, but it does raise one question1
>>
>> Why is there a small impractical door in the Dalek in the first place?
>
> That is indeed a good question, two of our older bins have no door
>

Designed by someone that has never used one?
Have you noticed the adverts for these bins often show someone pulling
out perfect light weight fluffy compost from the little door. I suspect
for marketing purposes they first filled the bin with a couple of bags
of peat based compost.
In my experience the little doors don't fit well and when removed the
first bit that has to be removed is un-composted and the rest at the
bottom is highly compressed and difficult/impossible to remove through
this door. My Daleks without the door work better although I have to
dig out much of the content from the top before lifting or tipping the bin.

--
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