you realy need to cut the bottom out so your composter sits on soil so worms etc can get in and realy you could do with some sort of door at the bottom to get at the compost . you mite be better putting a tap at the bottom and using it as a water but .

ow and run the drain pipe in the top lol .

A wheelie bin is never going to make a good compost bin as compost needs air around it not an enclosed space. You can buy plastic or wooden ones or make one out of old pallets. As NP says the bin needs to be sitting on the ground not hard standing.

I tried to use my brown wheelie bin for compost: it has holes in it already. I left it and turned it for over 9 months and it did make a very small amount of compost but most of it (99%) was still un-composted and useless. I just dumped the whole lot in a trench in the garden and tried lasagne gardening instead! Now I just use the wheelie bin to get rid of weeds.

I use an old plastic dustbin with holes in the bottom and it makes perfect compost but I do turn it occasionally and it sits in a sunny position in a corner on the earth. I would think anyway that a wheelie bin is too deep and you couldn't get into it to turn it or get the compost out.

Good point Cammomile I accidentally dropped something in ours and had a heck of a time getting it out and I'm 5' 10"

Aww gutted lol! Isnt there somekind of stuff you can buy to speed up the process? Ive got binbags full of grass clippings/weeds that i darnt put in the car cus of all the creepy crawlies thatd b in them and the council charge £10 to collect it so i suppose id rather buy one for that and not waste it all but im not sure where id put it without little people trying to dig at it i only have a small garden! NP i have a waterbutt off the garage already tho its been overflowing recently! I wonder what those were i saw in the allotments were then-maybe theyd got a hole in the bottom aswell as drilled holes. That would need some hefty sawing wouldnt it :/

Leigh you will need more than just grass clippings and weeds to make good compost copy and paste the link below into your web browser (not Google)

http://bit.ly/IYE2UR

Don't add the roots of any perennial weeds to your compost or the seed heads - unless you like weedy compost!

If you do a Google search you will find innumerable different bins for sale, I would have expected your council to be offering them for sale too. If you buy one of the plastic ones then there is no risk of little people getting into it; though you will need to teach the little people not to touch anything in the garden without permission.

If you can find an odd corner in your garden where you could dump the grass mowings and leave them for a couple of years they do rot down eventually and make nice humusy compost. Though I don't suppose its very high in nutrients it does make a good soil improver.

Agreed but too much in a compost bin clogs up the works

i believe the council does hear anyway , get a wormery of of them cheap which also gives you good compost . you could overflow the first tub into your wheely bin especialy whith water how it is .

Thanks everyone! I will keep my eye out and sure ill let you know when ive got something sorted! :D

your welcome xx .