Sun-Mar have taken this into consideration and have designed this product with a handle, shaft and gear assembly. The handle is sturdy and approximately a foot long with an ergonomic grip (built-in swivel) that makes it easy on the hands when turning the drum. A stainless steel shaft connects this to the small gear which gives a gearing ratio of 9 to 1 (e.g. nine turns of the handle rotates the drum one complete revolution). Thus, like peddling a bicycle uphill in a low gear, turning the drum will not be overly difficult even when the drum is heavily loaded with wet compost.
Additional consideration should be given to ensure your compost is well balanced with carbon-rich items (i.e. Sun-Mar Compost Magic, peat moss, wood chips, saw dust, dead leaves, chopped straw etc...). Addition of these materials will ensure the right consistency in the drum (not too dense) and make sure the compost can flow through the inner drum correctly. Please see the recommended products for achieving optimal conditions in your Sun-Mar garden composter.

It does not really matter. In the Sun, however the composter, being a dark colour will warm up rapidly and help to accelerate the composting process. With composting, the hotter it becomes, the faster it works. Of course, in summer months or during times of warmer temperatures exposure to sunlight is not necessary. It is the temperature that is a key factor, not the exposure to light.
Other considerations for maximizing your composting speeds are:
- H2O or the right moisture content (40-60%)
- Carbon content (brown materials like: peat moss, saw dust, wood chips, chopped straw, etc...)
- Nitrogen content (green materials like: kitchen scraps, grass clippings, tree trimmings, green leaves, etc...)
- Oxygen (turning the drum will aerate the compost)
- size of materials (smaller pieces break down faster due to more exposed surface area for the microbes to attack)
Please see as well the other recommended Sun-Mar products below that are great for composting.

The compost exits the end of the drum. One must unscrew the end-cap (bung) and then rotate the drum. When the inner drum is full of finished compost and the end-cap is removed, some of the material will naturally drop our of the end when the drum is turned. If one wishes to completely empty the inner drum, you may reach in your hand and pull out the soil, or use a garden trowel or hoe to do so. Please view the attached photos.

Compost may also be emptied out of the input port (slide opening) if the drum is turned about one third of a revolution from top dead center. This may be done if the composter needs to be emptied in a hurry (if it needs to be moved for instance).

Generally you won't have excess moisture enough to produce "compost tea" unless you heavily water the composter. The Sun-Mar 400 garden composter has vents/ drains in the bottom of the drum to allow excess liquid to escape (see pictures attached - 3 black circles). Thus, if one wished to harvest compost tea, you would need to place a tray or trough-like container under the unit in line with the drains to catch any potential liquid exiting the drum.

The major difference between these two models is capacity: 200 = 200 liters, 400 = 400 liters.
The Sun-Mar 200 Garden composter may be rotated manually as it does not get nearly as heavy. The Sun-Mar 400 Garden composter is fitted with a gear-shaft-handle assembly that easily applies more torque to turn the heavier drum.
The 200 model is generally recommended for kitchen scraps and small amounts of yard waste.
The 400 model is generally recommended for kitchen scraps and larger amounts of yard waste (e.g. someone who has a vegetable garden, or a larger property).

Sun-Mar never made the 600 Garden Composter. This was a concept that never made it into production. It is not available at all.

The apples will compost, but may not feed through the inner drum as per our "autoflow" design unless they are chopped up to some degree. Larger fruit and vegetable pieces must be cut up a bit to expose more surface area (for faster composting) as well as to flow through the system properly. Also, when adding larger amounts of organic material, one should also add something as a "bulking" agent to increase surface area further and up the organic carbon content in the compost pile. A great additive is Sun-Mar Compost Magic bricks see other product recommendations below.