Wind powered Composter - The Green Twist , Exactly

Step 12 Assemble the beast

Use lag screw or deck screws, or whatever you have around and scrap a test rig. Test for alignment of the shaft with the turbine and see if bearing are needed. I ended up using some old bearings from my inline skates and would suggest there use in furture projects. They are cheap and weather resistance.

Once the frame is prototyped, secure tacks with lags and give it a try. My final design sorta took a weird path of development but that is like my life. Depending on resources, your project may or may not look like mine, and that is a good thing. I would rather have it not look like mine since I truely value innovation over replication. But either way take a look at my result and try to do better!!\


I should note, the gear motor was attached to the barrel via a plate with a keyed hole in it. I failed to note that earlier.

Also, I made a video of the system in operation but I had the camera on it's side. I will post a less neck paining clip tomorrow as well to show it operation.

Comments

[mpledger]

This is really great. Good luck with the next model.

[debpix]

Bravo on a very clever idea. I don't know how your final exams turned out, but you deserve an A+ on this. You are right about turning a composter being the biggest chore. I'm looking at my huge composter outside my home office window. The beast sits there empty because I'm too lazy to go turn the handle (or fill it, keep it moist, etc.). You didn't win the Instructable prize (though you shoulda), but maybe you can make your first bazillion $ by patenting and marketing it.

[rednhez]

how do you fill it?it seems like as soon as you open it the compost would fall out.

[kdunner]

I will post the update on the fill door as soon as I get some time. It is finals week and I must study or I might spontaneously combust during the exams. I want to make a proper write up for the door and now I'm going to implement macrumpton's suggestions so that will involve changing some stuff around. I will be done with finals on next Wednesday so expect all these updates then.

[workhorse149]

Would this also work using a 55 gallon barrel. I want to make a rotating barrel Composter and I like this idea. Your idea is very creative. I was thinking to myself how can I spin the barrel without having to spin it manually all the time. The other problem is my yard is surrounded by houses in a city residential area. Tthe wind does blow mostly from the front to the back. I'm thinking I would have to get the wind catcher up pretty high to catch any wind in the backyard.

[kdunner]

I found out that this turbine actually works very well with turbulent wind. Also, if I had made the turbine about twice as tall I think it would perform significantly better. I plan on updating this instructable with a new taller turbine made of foam (better start up since less momentum) once finals are over. I originally planned on making this turn a 55 gallon barrel but I could not get one in time for the contest, so I had to make due with what I had. However, this led me to a better idea all together; two smaller turners are actually better than one big one. You can constantly fill one of the composters until it is full, then switch to the other. This way, by the time you fill up the second composter, the first one is ready to be emptied. This avoids the common problem of having uncomposted material when you dump it out, because it has had time to compost without last minute additions. If you do it with a barrel, think about ways of making a divider, either perpendicular with the axis of rotations or parallel to it (lengthwise). The parallel solutions would be interesting since it lends itself to the idea of quad bins. When I get some time this weekend I will try and post a cad to help you see what I'm getting at. -kelly

[GetDeBranded]

Dude, It is brilliant. So many people are brain dead lazy and don't compost. This does it for them and for free. Unbelievable. Really, you should be very proud. Sincerely, GetDeBranded