How to Build a Trommel Compost

Cut out all of the wire spokes from the bicycle rims. You should end up with two wire hoops.

Measure the diameter of your rims. Whatever the diameter is needs to be multiplied by pi (3.14). That gives you how much hardware cloth you need. If your equation equals 55.6 inches, cut 60 inches of hardware cloth, and you can overlap it.

Put the hardware cloth on the inside of the bicycle rims. The hardware cloth should take the shape of a cylinder with a rim on each end.

Use your extra wires to tie the hardware cloth to the rims through the spoke holes and to tie the hardware cloth together. Make sure that you bind it together enough that it will not come apart.

Make a simple wooden box out of your 2-by-6 inch boards that is 34 inches long and 2 inches shorter across than the diameter of your rims. At one end of the box, cut out 2.5 inches so that the trommel is able to overlay at the end in a downward fashion.

Add rollers to the inside of the box. The rollers will help spin the trommel when it sets on top of the box. To know where to place the four rollers, set the trommel in the wooden box and mark how low it sets down. Then install the rollers just above that spot on each side and the end of the wooden-framed box.

Set the trommel box on a small wheelbarrow, then add the cylinder. Hang the end of the cylinder over the back of the wheelbarrow and then tilt a barrel underneath. Place the compost in the upper end, spin the trommel, and the trash should come out into the barrel. The good compost will fall into the wheelbarrow.