Step 4 - Composting
Compost Bin vs Compost Tumbler
One is fast and small, the other is slow and large. Which you need depends entirely on what you are throwing away.
Janet H. - the hands-on owner behind Janet Media Group.
Published - last updated
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Choose a tumbler for kitchen scraps and speed. Choose a static or open bin for yard waste and volume. If you have both kinds of waste, run both -- they cost little and they handle genuinely different material.
| Tumbler | Static or open bin | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Weeks in warm weather | Six months to a year unturned |
| Capacity | Around 35 to 40 gal | 65 gal to over 200 gal |
| Effort | Handle turn, seconds | Fork turning, or patience |
| Rodents | Sealed and off the ground -- resistant | Open bins are accessible |
| Leaves and grass | Fills instantly | What it is for |
| Winter | Effectively stops | Effectively stops |
| Cost | Higher | Lower per gallon by a wide margin |
Quick picks
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Top pickFCMP Outdoor IM4000 Tumbling ComposterDual chamber, roughly 37 gal total | Most backyards | 9.1 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 |  GEOBIN Expandable Compost BinExpands to roughly 216 gal, 36 in tall | Leaves and yard waste | 8.7 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 |  Redmon Green Culture 65-Gallon Compost Bin65 gal enclosed bin with lid and access doors | A lidded static bin | 8.1 | Check price on Amazon |
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Scores are our own editorial judgment, formed from published specifications and independent sources. They are not aggregated customer ratings, and they are not the result of hands-on testing, which we do not currently do. See how we choose.
Why a tumbler is faster
Composting organisms need oxygen. A static pile compacts and the center runs out of air, which slows everything and, in a wet mix, turns it sour. Turning restores oxygen and mixes wet with dry, and a tumbler makes turning trivial enough that it actually happens.
A static bin that you fork over every couple of weeks closes most of that gap. The difference in practice is not the mechanism, it is whether you keep doing it.
Why an open bin is bigger
Volume is cheap when it is a sheet of perforated plastic and expensive when it is a balanced rotating drum on a frame. An expandable open bin holds several times a tumbler's capacity for a fraction of the price, which is the entire argument for one.
Autumn leaf fall settles the question for most gardens. A single mature tree produces more material than a tumbler holds.
Rodents and cooked food
An enclosed drum off the ground is much less attractive to rodents than an open bin with no floor. That is a genuine reason to choose a tumbler where rodents are a known local problem.
Neither system should take meat, fish, dairy or oils in a home setting. Home piles do not reach or hold the temperatures needed to handle them, which is the consistent advice in extension and EPA guidance.
Choose a tumbler if
- Your waste is mostly kitchen scraps.
- You want finished compost this season rather than next.
- Rodents are a concern, or the bin will be near the house.
- You will not reliably fork a pile over.
Choose an open or static bin if
- You rake leaves or mow a lawn of any size.
- Volume matters more than speed.
- You want the lowest possible cost per gallon of capacity.
- You are happy to wait, or happy to turn it with a fork.
For specific models, see the best compost bins and the best compost tumblers.
The picks in full
Top pick
FCMP Outdoor IM4000 Tumbling Composter
FCMP Outdoor
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Two chambers is the whole point: you keep adding to one side while the other finishes, so you get a batch out instead of a bin that is never quite ready.
The single-chamber problem is why most first composters give up. You keep adding kitchen scraps to the same bin, so the contents are always part-finished, and you can never take any out.
Two chambers solves it mechanically. Fill side A until it is full, then switch to side B and leave A alone. By the time B is full, A is finished compost you can empty in one go. In warm weather that cycle runs in a matter of weeks.
Understand the capacity limit going in. Around 37 gallons total is generous for kitchen scraps from a household, and small if you also want to compost lawn clippings and autumn leaves. Those belong in an open bin.
What works
- Dual chambers give you a finishing batch and an active batch at once
- Off the ground, so rodents are not the problem they are with an open pile
- Turning is a handle pull rather than a fork job
- Closed drum keeps rain from waterlogging the mix
What does not
- Capacity fills fast if you also compost yard waste
- Heavy to turn when a chamber is full and wet
- Assembly takes longer than the box suggests
Skip it if: you generate a lot of yard waste. A tumbler is volume-limited by design, and a big open pile handles leaves and grass far better.
| Type | Rotating dual-chamber tumbler |
|---|---|
| Capacity | About 37 gal across two chambers |
| Material | UV-resistant recycled polypropylene |
| Aeration | Deep fins and internal mixing bar |
| Assembly | Bolt-together frame and drum |
Leaves and yard waste
GEOBIN Expandable Compost Bin
GEOBIN
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Barely a product -- a sheet of perforated plastic you roll into a circle -- and by far the most volume per dollar in composting.
If your composting problem is autumn leaves and grass clippings rather than kitchen scraps, this is the answer and a tumbler is not. Volume is what yard waste needs, and 216 gallons of volume costs less here than 40 gallons costs anywhere else.
The adjustable diameter is genuinely useful: start it small so the pile stays deep enough to heat, and expand it as the material accumulates.
Keep cooked food, meat and dairy out. An open bin with no floor is accessible to every rodent in the neighborhood, and the standard advice on that is not squeamishness, it is experience.
What works
- Enormous capacity for the money
- Adjustable diameter -- start small, expand as you fill it
- Perforations give good airflow through the pile
- Unclips and stores flat
What does not
- No lid, so heavy rain waterlogs it
- No rodent protection whatsoever
- Turning it means a fork and some effort
Skip it if: you are composting cooked food or meat. An open bin is an open invitation, and this one has no lid and no floor.
| Type | Open expandable bin |
|---|---|
| Capacity | Up to about 216 gal depending on diameter |
| Height | 36 in |
| Material | Perforated recycled plastic sheet |
| Assembly | Roll and clip, under five minutes |
A lidded static bin
Redmon Green Culture 65-Gallon Compost Bin
Redmon
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The middle ground: more volume than a tumbler, a lid and a floor unlike an open bin, and no turning mechanism to go wrong.
A static bin is the traditional answer and it still works. You add material at the top, it breaks down, and finished compost comes out of the doors at the bottom months later.
The lid is the reason to choose this over an open bin. Composting needs the mix damp, not saturated, and an uncovered pile in a wet climate turns into an anaerobic, sour mess.
If you want it faster, fork it over every few weeks. Turning is what a tumbler does mechanically, and doing it by hand gets you most of the same speed for none of the money.
What works
- Lid keeps rain out and heat in
- Base doors let you take finished compost from the bottom
- Good capacity for a mixed kitchen and garden stream
- Nothing mechanical to break
What does not
- Slow unless you turn it with a fork
- Base doors clog if the material is too wet
- Panels can be fiddly to assemble
Skip it if: you want compost quickly. A static bin without regular forking is a year-long process, not a three-week one.
| Type | Static enclosed bin |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 65 gal |
| Access | Lid on top, sliding doors at the base |
| Material | Recycled plastic panels |
| Assembly | Snap-together panels |
Common questions
Is a compost tumbler better than a compost bin?
For speed and rodent resistance, yes. For volume and cost per gallon, no. A tumbler handles kitchen scraps and produces compost in weeks; an open bin handles leaves and grass and takes months. Many gardens run both because they suit different waste.
Can you put leaves in a compost tumbler?
In small amounts as the brown component, yes -- and you need some. But autumn leaf fall in any quantity overwhelms a tumbler instantly. A single mature tree produces more material than a 37-gallon drum holds, so leaves belong in a large open bin.
Do you have to turn a static compost bin?
Not strictly -- it will break down eventually without turning, just over six months to a year rather than weeks. Forking it over every few weeks reintroduces oxygen and closes most of the speed gap with a tumbler for no cost.
Which compost system keeps rats away?
An enclosed tumbler raised off the ground is the most rodent-resistant of the common systems. Open bins with no floor are accessible. In either case, keeping meat, dairy, cooked food and oils out and burying fresh scraps makes a large difference.
Sources
Factual claims on this page are backed by the published sources below, and product specifications are the manufacturers’ own. Where a figure is not published, we say so rather than estimating it.