Compost Bin

[JerryG]

The amount of chromated copper arsenate in your compost from treated wood bins is not going to amount to a hill of beans. The amount of exposure that is dangerous hasn't even been determined according to http://www.cpsc.gov/phth/cca.html. They are still evaluating it.
If it was to bad for use in composters all the universities wouldn't be recommending it. Here are only three links to sites from Purdue, University of Virginia and Mississippi State. They all say the same thing, that is why I didn't put any more here.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/poultry/442-037/442-037.html

http://www.agcom.purdue.edu/AgCom/Pubs/NCR/NCR-530.html

http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/complan1.htm

 

[MossRoad]

All three of those links go to composters used for disposing of dead poultry, not garden waste.

Here's a link to a lumber manufacturer's own website that lists where it should not be used. And another Georgia Pacific and another Wolmanised lumber. While I do use pressure treated lumber for my fence, deck and flower boxes, I wouldn't use pressure treated lumber for a composter for food crops or for planter boxes for food crops. Try some cedar or redwood or locust. Or just a pile. With an FEL a pile is easily turned and moved. Another effective means is to dig a shallow trench and throw the stuff in. After a few weeks, use the FEL to move it to another trench. This will turn it as you move it. Three or four moves and you'll have useable compost.

 

[MarkV]

How about a couple of three sided bins made of cyclone fence. Not to expensive, breaths well and doesn't look to bad.

MarkV

 

[ELMO67]

There are many ways to do many things in life, sometimes simple is best. My father always had a BIG compost pile cooking, whatever came along- grass clippings- there were a lot of those, I had to rake the lawn; leaves, dirt, veggie peelings, horse manure, anything except for metal and big chunks of wood went in there. The best part was it was maintenance free, ( with the exception of turning the product from time to time), it didn't cost a penny, it was FREE- just a big pile of organic matter in back of our garage producing nice, dark rich fertilizer for our gardens. I suppose if you wanted a better " view" you could go the big buck route and build a nice stockade fence around it, maybe with one fixed panel and have the other three hinged for easy access to all sides for the addition of other organics. Good luck, and have fun giving back to Mother Nature!

 

[tdenny]

Great info from all thanks. I think I've narrowed it down to two separate 6 foot wide bins. Now I just need to figure out my location and material. I have some extra non-climb horse fence laying around and a few t-posts and this would probably work. I know I said I wanted it to look pretty good but making the bins out of cedar would be very costly out here and besides I'd probably destroy it with my loader. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif At least I'd have a story to tell out here.

 

[SLOBuds]

I just bought 10 acres in Central California. Go up there on the weekends, from my day-job-home in Los Angeles.

Up until this point in time I was thinking about how nice it would be out in the country where I could build large compost bins and, well, make compost. I always liked those large open types that had wooden slats along the sides so that your material simply moved from one bin to another ... using my TRACTOR, of course!

The reality of our beautiful 10 acres is that there is way more material than I could ever use. That's one of the deceptive points about living in the city compared to the country. You're lucky to have a small basket full of lawn clippings in the city. Or maybe a few weeds here and there. Small amounts of hedge trim. Etc. The volume is so tiny that you're always looking for new sources to compost.

Our lot has trees all over the place which yield piles and piles of leaves and branches calling out to be chipped/shredded. We have acres of finish lawn and more acres of 4'-6' brush. All needing to be cut on a regular basis.

Where does this all go???

It's left on the ground. Nature's composter. The trees are transformed into chips and left on the ground for decoration or walkways - that later become nature-tilled into the soil. The grass and weeds are also left on the ground where they transform in their own way. And, at least on my land, I would not actually know where to put any soil amendments. The dirt is rich brown with years and years of brush clippings, tree branches, lawn mowings, etc.

So the question is 'what could I possibly do with any more compost than I already have?' Some of you composters out there must also have large parcels where it isn't possible to compost even a fraction of what is produced from your vegetation. How do you choose the material used for compost and where do you use it once it's ready?

 

[Bob85355]

I compost the manure from 2 horses. Start a new pile about every 60 days. My bins measure 4 x 4 x 4 and are made of 1 inch poultry wire on 1x4 frames. The poultry wire is stapled on. I've tried just making a circle of wire but it doesn't suit my needs. I treat the 1x4's with a water seal and they last about 4 years.

I use a FEL with a 42" bucket on a Yanmar 1500 to move the piles from one bin to another, rotating so to speak. The 42" bucket works very well with a 48" bin. I wrap the outside of the bins with black plastic to hold down the moisture loss and protect against the severe sun here in central Arizona.

I guess the bottom line is the cost of the bin is about $35 to $40 and they'll last about 4 or 5 years. They don't look great but they're not ugly either.

Bob

 

[OkieG]

<font color="blue"> for is the perfect compost bin design. My requirements are simple. I need to be able to use my tractor to manage the pile, and I don't want to spend much money on this project. </font>

Mine is far from perfect, but very simple, cheap and the tractor is needed for management.

There is a convenient sidehill near the house, so my pile is mostly out of sight, away from house and garden.

First, I dug a pit in the sidehill, as shown.

OkieG

 

[OkieG]

Then, fill the pit with chips and clippings.

 

[OkieG]

Get it damp and cover with a little dirt to hold things down.