Wind-Powered Composter

Wind-Powered Composter AG WORLD Mark MacLean Ovilla Texas can turn food scraps into “aged” compost in about 4 weeks with his wind-powered compost tumbler He made it from a junked bicycle and a drum from an old washing machine The composter is powered entirely by the wind with the “windmill” mounted on four 8-ft tall wooden poles anchored in the ground Material is loaded through a door on one side of the drum which sets on its side inside a metal frame located just above the ground A plastic lid covers the top of the drum to keep the contents from spilling out The entire windmill with tail rotor and gears rotates 360 degrees MacLean bolted the windmill blades to the rear wheel rim off a bicycle The bike’s drive chain sprockets and one of the bicycle pedals bolt to a metal bracket on one side of the bike’s front fork assembly A length of chain connected to the pedal leads down to a horizontal arm that supports a pair of vertical metal poles spaced about 16 in apart One of the poles leads down to the drum “As one pole lifts up the horizontal arm forces the other pole down which rotates the drum ” says MacLean “The drum rotates very slowly on a horizontal shaft and makes only about 5 full rotations every day A pair of ratchets keep the drum turning clockwise in one direction only ” MacLean makes other windmill-inspired machines including aerators and pumps He also builds wind-powered lawn ornaments including a model of a World War II B-24 bomber with windmill-style propellers and even a windmill mailbox Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Mark MacLean 107 Oak Creek Lane Ovilla Texas 75154 ph 972 515-1079; m_maclean@yahoo com; www marleywindworks com

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