[Babstreefern]

I've had one of these for about 2 years now, and what's really funny is that I've been putting in stuff to compost down; has even had enough stuff to reach right at the top, but when I come to put more stuff in, may be a couple of weeks later, as I have two other compost bins (the wooden type), they've composted down, and this happens all the time, it never seems to fill up; even though we call them "Dalek" bins, its more of the "Tardis", things get thrown in, and you just never see anything again

Do any of you guys have this problem?

[Ice]

Mine do the same.  I put it down to the extremely high temperatures that they can achieve in the sun.  Made some really good compost in them over the years.

[sunshineband]

I've just been given three as a present by a friend moving house, to go with my one made of four pallets.

I am thinking of unloading the almost full (well, sinking every day of course  ) pallet one and filling a dalek, to leave all summer.

Hope it ends up more than half full eventually. I was going to leave it undisturbed until mid October ..............

[Ice]

The downside is that they are hard to turn, but the upside is the heat they produce in order to break down the compost.  You have to keep them wet to prevent ants from colonising, but apart from that, no problem.

[solway cropper]

You can never fill up a dalek....it's one of the laws of nature  

Plant material consists largely of water so when the water is gone there's not much left. I have two daleks, an open heap and a leaf mould pile and try as I might I can't keep them topped up, even by adding loads of seaweed and other peoples garden waste. Oh, but what wonderful compost they produce as my 1lb each onions prove.

[peapod]

I've got 3 at home - two being filled as they sink and one rotting down and not being added to. The one that is rotting down gets turned every so often and the other two get, well errrrr, helped along by OH and his 'toilet requirements'. At the end of winter, the one that is nearly rotted down will be ready for my veg bed at home. The other two will be sunk enough to fill one, and then it all starts again!

I really should turn them all more often to speed it up, and only fill one at a time, but I always get nice stuff. On mine  (and loads of others) there is an opening at the bottom to get the already composted stuff out, but I cant be bothered with the mess.

[RichardA]

I have excellent results with both timber and plastic bins. I use plastic upto the point of first turning and as I had four (upto the fire) I could keep a reasonable balance of contents between green and brown and wet dry etc acros s the four bins. We have a lot of duck bedding but also a lot of green material as we have several lawns and about an acre of garden, some of which I only cut/weed as the material gets longer to allow some wildlife cover. I also get lawn mowings from neighbours etc and shred hedge cuttings etc. At first time of turning the already rotting material from teh plastic goes as starter material into large wooden bins and sits for about 6 months with occasional wetting or other adjustment. They usually have one or more pumpkins growing on top through the summer which is an big advantage of large wooden bins when you have enough garden tio support the volumes required..
I have used plastic bins throughout the cycle as well but although they are old and are probably the largest on the market the duck straw etc fills them quickly but they do drop in level very very quickly especially if kept well moist. perhaps the action of worms and other creatures is better in plastic as they warm up far quicker in the sun.
On turning out from the timber bins compost is excellent with just a very small percentage being returned to the plastic bins on occasions if it has been a bit dry or woody so not as rotted as I like. I have good and very even results from plastic but regular turning is in my opinion much more important in plastic as is balance and thin layering as well as moisture content. I think plastic bins rot quicker because of ability to warm up quicker from solar gain if positioned correctly. perhaps this explains your quick drops in level. Some people have difficultly with plastic which surprises me and i am glad to hear you are heading for potentionally good  results.
I am sure the bin will fill and the result be well worth having.
R

[BelgianPhil]

All winter and spring i struggle to get my kitchen wast in there as it is so full. But now it's like a black hole in the garden. Can't fill it up fast enough. I use a Dutch hoe to chop everything up and to help the aeration. Once in a while i take a scoop from the bottom and add it to the top. The best compost starter you can have as it is full of bacteria and microscopic life munching away on my garden waste. The rest of the bottom stuff i use as mulch.

[stentman]

My black dalek is the same, I have been diligently putting in green matter and have used every lawn mowing, hedge clipping, bed weeding, comfrey leaves, unwanted greenery bits from the plot and garden plus the odd pieces of cardboard, two large bags of shredded paper, kitchen stuff, tea bags, banana skins, bags of coffee grounds free from st@rbu**s etc etc.  Twice it's been full to the top yet as if by magic it always goes down to half full by the next weekend.

[DD.]

Despite the opinon of others as regards them, I think they're ideal.

3 on the plot, 2 at home.

[arugula]

We have two of these. While both demonstrated this "disappearing" behaviour to a degree, when we went to use the compost earlier in the year, one had composted down perfectly and the other just hadn't. I put this down to lack of heat in the one which hadn't. Luckily it sits in a place ideal to take two excess courgette plants which are postively thriving in it! Our home-made wooden compost bin although it made great compost for a few years, had its first year as the new improved strawberry planter this year, also to great effect. It may still come down next year though to allow that space to become an asparagus bed.

[bigben]

I built a few pallet bins last year but found that stuff kept growing and did not rot down fast enough. I know I should turn the stuff more and sort out a better cover to keep out the light. My plastic bins at home rot stuff down so much better and things dont really get a chance to grown before they are buried under another load of clippings etc. This year I have bought a couple of plastic ones for the allotment and hope to use them to kickstart the composting process before putting stuff into the bigger pallet bins.

[JayG]

I've got 3 daleks and they work well, although composting did pretty much grind to a halt last winter due to the exceptionally cold weather.

I think they score on convenience (you can easily move them wherever you want them), good for allowing air in (mine stand on pieces of paving slab) and of course you can control the amount of moisture in the compost thanks to having lids.

A compost-stirring tool makes the job of mixing the compost a lot easier than trying to wield a gaden fork inside the bins!

[BelgianPhil]

Has anyone ever tried one of those things plasterers use to mix plaster with?

If i ever own my own house i'm going to build a pushbike powered tumbler composter.

[RichardA]

in situ mixing etc can be a problem, I simply dismantle the heap and transfer to another one, mixing as I go, seems easier on teh back that way. Also gives a chance to judge any adjustments required. I think the sucess of plastic bins owes much to heating up rapidly in summer whilst in winter wooden ones hold the heat better once the compost has warmed. My plastics as I have said before act as first stage and timber ones as second stage and that seems to suit the seasons quite well, although with care about moisture and sufficient time both do well. The rate they sink is in my mind a good guide and a dry heap will drop much quicker once it gets wet and then warms up again even if static before then. The more they need filling the better teh process is going.
R