Has anyone used those compost aerators with the wingy thingies on the ends? Are they worth the money?

I've used a couple, but they weren't mine. What worked just as well for me is ski poles.

Unless your compost pile is larger than 6 by 6 they are not really needed. Piles smaller than that get sufficient air flow unless the material is too wet in which case those won't be of any value anyway.

We purchased one from either Charley's Greenhouse or Johnny's (I forget). Regardless, we returned it after just a couple of weeks. "They" say it's to replace your having to turn your pile. Well, it doesn't.

If anything, it would (if it worked) just aerate it. Providing air pockets where you plunged the thing in. Problem is that when you're using it on a "working" or not-yet-totally-decomposed pile, you can't really "plunge" the thing in. Belive me, hitting a wad of (even shredded) moist leaves or lettuce leaves or broccoli stems,stops that thing dead in it's tracks and you could throw your shoulder out trying either to plunge it in or pull it out! :_|

So if it's aeration you want, use either pieces of pvc pipe that have holes drilled all along it's length and plunged into various sections of the pile, leaving several inches poking above the top OR (what I use) rolled tubes of hardware cloth, utilized the same way as the pipe.

Turning, sadly, still is best done the old fashioned way or just letting it rot down on it's lonesome. It'll take longer to become useable that way, but...sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

gardenz

I use the Garden Claw: a kind of Z-shaped handle and a 4-pronged tip -- it's kind of a whisk for the garden. I use it like a pitchfork to lift what's not decomposed in the bin, and like an auger to turn and stir the stuff that's too small to get caught in the tines. Because it has the Z-shaped handle at the top, it's designed to be turned like a bus-driver's steering wheel.

I use my mattock to fluff up the top 12" of my 3-4' tall compost stockpiles, for my composting business. I only use my manure fork or hoe to mix the materials in the early stages of decomposition.

Thanks, all. You've saved me some money.
I usually just let my piles sit, but this year I thought I'd be a little more ambitious!

I think I'll just send DH out there with the manure fork!

I'm glad this topic came up because I was looking at these compost aerators. The wing kind doesn't seem to be in Johnny's catalog anymore, so that says something. They're now carrying the kind like an auger. Price wize - I saw the wing kind for about $25 and the auger kind for about $35.

But since I'm a no-work kinda gal I think I'm gonna do the PVC pipe with holes. Next year.

I also was looking at this product. Was debating between spending the $25 or just using my post hole digger when not completely turning the pile. I think I'll try the post hole digger, thanks.

Since I chop everything that goes into the pile (except the strawy horse manure I get from my pal in the country) by running over it with the lawn mower, and since I do not enclose the pile for the first few weeks, I simply plunk my Mantis tiller into it & work it around about every 5 days, kinda hauling everything apart then dragging it back together again, "neatening" up with manure fork & spade when I think everything has been remixed well enough. Heats up again within 24-36 hours! After 4-5 repetitions over a few weeks, I haul it off to my enclosed bins next to the garden for it to finish while I start another new pile in the back of the yard. Even the new piles never smell since everything heats up so fast and thoroughly, because stuff is chopped. I can make a LOT of compost from early spring to late fall, depending on how ambitious & energetic I feel. Beats going to the gym, paying to work out! LOL