Compost Sifter

 This is another project that I've been wanting to do for a long time.  When I finished with the potting bench, I still had three good matching boards from the old steps left over.  They were perfect for building a compost sifter for my wheelbarrow.  I have had a sifter for many years now.  The next door neighbor built it and surprised me with it back when the garden was brand new which was very much appreciated.  And I can say that it has sifted a lot of compost, but it does have some shortcomings.  For starters, it is flat so material tends to roll off of it.  Also, it is nearly the same size as the wheelbarrow which gives it very little travel space for shaking the compost.  And it doesn't stay on the edge by itself.  So to do any serious sifting you sort of need two people to be able to pick it up from each side and shake it.  Alternatively, you can scrape the compost over it with a shovel and I've done a whole lot of that.

Compost sifters come in many shapes and sizes.  If you are composting on the scale of a worm bin or rotating drum, you could easily get by with a small hand sieve.  If you are turning manure piles with a tractor, you either don't need a sifter, or you would want a large screen that you could dump a whole bucket load through.  My compost operation falls somewhere in the middle.  I produce about a cubic yard of material each year and I sift it into a wheelbarrow to deliver to my raised beds.

I had been keeping an eye out for the right sort of setup, and this sifter that is available through a couple of different catalogs caught my eye.  It looks very functional and is also quite attractive.  I resisted the urge to order it because of the price even though the shipping was very reasonable.  Now if you do not have a woodshop, and have to go and source materials and perhaps buy a tool to complete the project, then this price point isn't outrageous.  But if you are the sort of person who has tools and scrap lumber literally laying around, then ordering one makes no sense at all.

This was a two person project just because of all the cutting involved.  We used a chop saw, a table saw and a band saw, but if you have a circular saw and a handheld jigsaw you could accomplish the same thing without too much trouble.  It is built out of 2x6" pressure treated, but 1" poplar would be much easier to work with especially when cutting the handles.  You would need three four foot boards which would cost you under $50 but you would also have to pick out some material for nailers to secure the screen if you were not going to rip down the main boards.  

I used 1" hardware cloth because that was what the old sifter was made of.  A small roll of hardware cloth would be about $10 and so would a box of deck screws. As you can see, by the time you buy your materials, and spend two or three hours of shop time you are starting to break even on the cost of the premade sifter.  But all this cost us was a handful of screws and some labor because everything else was scrap.

The next day it occurred to me that I still had some wood leftover, and I had 1/2" hardware cloth so I should make an insert that would sift finer material.  After we built it my husband went digging around and found two old door handles which makes it into a nice tray.  This would also be useful if you are air drying a small amount of potatoes or something.  You could put them on the screen and easily move them around.  I do that sometimes with my round sieves.

The finer screen sits right down in the larger frame.

I can also use this on the smaller wheelbarrow if necessary.  It fits in fine but you would have to lift it if you want to shake it because it fits snug.

Here are a few other sifters I've found online that are similar.  Etsy sellers have a lot of great variations

Esty LARGE Cedar Garden Sifter for Compost

Walmart Rock Sifter Garden Sieve

Amazon Large Soil Sifter