non-compost menace

[Cliff_Johns]

Here's our compost bin. We didn't need a container because it held it's shape pretty well.

Actually, I built a bin, but we just used it as a dump for brush. We aren't allowed to burn and we just don't know what to do with the branches and weeds and brush, so we just dumped it in the bin. Note the racoon sized cavities. The bin was under a tree so I got no rain and I didn't turn it over. Stick don't work in compost bins anyway. Preserved the stuff remarkably well though.

We have another brush pile which is much larger right next to it. Any ideas? I don't think a chipper would do much good would it? I guess I'll just have to pay someone to haul it all away (except for the foot or so of good ground at the bottom).

Cliff

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Another photo of the amazing square brush pile.
Cliff

 

[MossRoad]

A chipper really helps. I'd run it through and keep it in a pile near the composter. Then as I add green material to the composter, sprinkle in a shovel full or two of the chips. You will use it up in no time.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

I wondered about a chipper, as I said, but I rented a small one and it wouldn't chop squat. Seems to me I should have been able to feed it anything under two inches (3" chipper) -- from green brush trimmings to fallen branches -- and it should have choped it up and dumped it in a pile. That doesn't seem to be how they work. Instead, this one at least, just bent the green stuff sideways and got jammed up. I wanted to push the thing in fornt of a bus after futzing with it for an hour. Anything over 2" I'm willing to saw up and burn.

Are there small chippers that actually work for anything other than leaves and perfectly straight dry twigs? Next step up seems to be more than $1000.

Cliff

 

[Bird]

Cliff, it sounds to me as if you rented a worn out chipper with very dull blades. Several years ago, my brother bought a little Craftsman with a 5 hp Briggs engine and we chipped/shredded many, many tons of limbs and vines with it. A little slow, but did a great job. Here is a picture of it after some cusomization, but most of the work was done with it before that.

 

[JJT]

If you cannot burn it, do you have enough space that you could bury it? I personally wouldn't waste my time or $ on a chipper. I can get decent compost free for the hauling from any number of farms within a mile or 2. A few years ago I hauled in 60 yards of material and I'll use the last of it with the next growing season. I made 1 large windrow 6-8 feet high and ~30 feet long and turned it over a few times every year.

 

[shvl73]

I bought a 10hp unit from Home Depot & it works great. It's a little slow on the 3" stuff but, the smaller stuff it eats right up, green or dry. Bird's statement about the blades is right on, they weren't real sharp out of the box but, I took them out & sharpened them. Now it eats anything that will fit in. Stuff composts much quicker if you chip it.

 

[JerryG]

Cliff,
I don't know how much land you have, you don't have it in your profile. But, if you have a good spot you could use your backhoe to dig a hole to bury all of it. It would decompose pretty quick that way.

 

[jinman]

One way to speed up decomposition is to add a little dry molasses. That encourages biological activity. From what I have seen, composting is a whole lot more complex than throwing trimmings and brush into a pile and let it sit. Most of the people who do it regularly will even put their table scraps into the pile to accelerate the process. Personally, I think it's a lot of work, but also very rewarding if you have the right equipment. Everyone I know who does composting on a regular basis also has a chipper. Golf is not the only sport with expensive equipment. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[shoppintractors]

Flipping and blending the pile monthly speeds up the decomposition process. Aeration is one of the keys to successful composting. The small sticks take a long time to break down however, they would aid in keeping the air circulating throughout the pile, once blended in.

Don