Compost bin design

[borisvonf]

Hoping to get compost bin design ideas for my homestead.

Have some chickens, goats and a guard donkey. Deep mulching chicken coop so no rush there but the donkey is a manure factory and I want to set up a 3 bin system that I can load, turn and unload with my front end loader. Was thinking about using cedar logs off the Farm as posts and cattle panels for sides.
Hoping someone has a simple, efficient design that they could share so I知 not reinventing the wheel.

My donkey is considerate enough to only poop in about 4 different spots in pasture so loading should not be terrible. Goats mostly spread all over the place and cleaning the run in shed won稚 be bad.

Plan to use compost in raised bed vegetable garden, amending yard and bald spots in pasture.
Look forward to sage advice.
Thanks

 

[beowulf]

Stacking 6x8x16 concrete blocks on their sides so the openings are horizontal (for aeration) has worked for us. We leave one side open for scooping and turning the compost. Easy to construct, relatively cheap and can be easily configured to a number of "bins" side by side. Ours are about 3 feet high and about 4 feet wide.

 

[Ford850]

I used to use bins, but now I have the room so I keep a few separate piles, close together and in a row. The piles are accessible from either side of the row using my FEL to scoop, mix, or turn as needed. I tend to move the compost down the row as it progresses, so I'm always adding to the same pile at the start of the row and taking finished compost from the other end of the row. This works well for me, and I can adjust pile size or clean the ground bare when I want, since I have no walls.

 

[Ehanson]

I have used 3 pallets on edge the last few years. Pallets are free, biodegradable, nontoxic, portable, air gaps along edges, they seem to work pretty good.

 

[Peter 315]

I just make piles like FORD850 its easy I would not use pallets because of the nails, tractor tires and the horses don't like nails

 

[MossRoad]

I have used 3 pallets on edge the last few years. Pallets are free, biodegradable, nontoxic, portable, air gaps along edges, they seem to work pretty good.

That's what I use. I put in metal T-posts and slip the pallets down onto them. Takes three pallets for the first bin, then two for each bin after that.

 

[Budweiser John]

I too use the “Ford 850” system. Pretty much new poop and compostable materials on one end, finished compost on the other end. The key to producing the “good stuff” is allowing the pile to heat thus killing the weed seeds. You know it’s love at first sight when, on a frosty morning looking out the window, steam is rising from your compost pile.
I don’t make a business out of pooper scooping pastures but when the mood strikes, make a pass over the stud piles with the arena drag. A good rain and more green grass. Ultimate recycling.
B. John

 

[KennyG]

I have used treated lumber bins, wire mesh bins, etc. All a nuisance. Now I just put it all in a big pile. I turn the pile with the loader and start a new pile once a year. Minimal effort if you have the space and the tractor.

 

[RalphVa]

You don't need bins. Just make piles. I collect kitchen compost (any non meat) in an old garbage container from 1970 in NJ. Throw in some mulchy (brown) material from the compost/mulch pile when I get a significant amount of kitchen stuff. I flatten out one of the piles when the garbage container is full and put it in the FEL and lay it over onto the flattened pile and dump out the container. Then toss the pile with the FEL.

Attached are pictures of the piles and the kitchen compost.

 

[FrankTailor]

I'd also like to purchase a compost bin like those reviewed on https://www.backyardstylе.com/best-compost-bin/, and was wondering if anyone had any recs as to which kind I should focus on, or any specific product recommendations.

I love the idea of a compost bin that can be spun or tipped back and forth to make the aeration process easy; however, they feel kind of gimmicky. In addition, they appear almost air-tight. I know that composting is aided by all sorts of beneficial critters, and I wonder if they would have access to the compost materials in these kinds of bins.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated!

 

[ArlyA]

I built one with a roof, because it seemed our compost had so much water in it, it would go anaerobic and took forever to break down. I built it 2 years ago and the pile now goes down fast. Doesn't anyone else worry about to much moisture? Ask if anyone like to see pic of its. Its made for snow loads.

 

[oosik]

Composting here is the EXACT opposite of what ArlyA has. I have to water my compost piles. Otherwise - being so very dry - they will never break down.

I compost in big piles and turn with my grapple. Takes two years for suitable material.

 

[Oaktree]

I love the idea of a compost bin that can be spun or tipped back and forth to make the aeration process easy; however, they feel kind of gimmicky. In addition, they appear almost air-tight. I know that composting is aided by all sorts of beneficial critters, and I wonder if they would have access to the compost materials in these kinds of bins.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated!

I'm re-thinking my compost system here. I agree that the rotary bin seems to be over-thinking it a bit, but I do need something that will discourage critters from getting into it. Currently I'm using a frame with chicken wire stapled to it, but something (I suspect a raccoon, though I've never seen it) keeps ripping off the wire and scattering the contents all over. Had a bear get into it once too.

Composting here is the EXACT opposite of what ArlyA has. I have to water my compost piles. Otherwise - being so very dry - they will never break down.

I compost in big piles and turn with my grapple. Takes two years for suitable material.

We don't generate enough to warrant an open pile. I do have to occasionally water mine too or it just dries out. My bin does have a cover on it though.

 

[KennyG]

I went out a couple of days ago and turned my pile of leaves from last month. It was about 40 degrees outside and the pile was steaming like crazy. I can't imagine a pile getting too wet in our area since we have good drainage. My compost is usually finished in a year but I wouldn't put much effort into it even if it took 5 years. Compost isn't worth more than an occasional turning with the loader (which is kind of fun.)

 

[ning]

My compost typically doesn't have what you'd call "food" in it, because we built a bin adjoining our chicken coop ages ago and that's where we toss our kitchen compost; the only critters that get there are the chickens.

The compost pile proper gets the chicken straw/poop and it gets turned by tractor bucket (and chickens, though they only turn the top few inches). In the damp part of the year (like now) it's super active; in the summer, it needs water daily.

I'd like to build a couple bays like at the landscape supply using big concrete blocks so that I can make compost at a semi-industrial scale involving wood chips, leaves, dirt, ash, etc and have new stuff going into the first bin, turn both bins with the tractor (FEL bucket doesn't do great without something to dig against, concrete block there would help), and rotate stuff into the second bin after a few months, pulling out of there for gardening at some point.