Extreme Composting

Thank you Forerunner, and all others who contributed, for this thread. It is a great read. It is not only an informative How To, but it also has drama, tragedy, triumph and comedy.
I do compost, but not on your scale! I guess I do not think big enough and do not have all the right toys. LOL

SPIKE

Oswego and "SPIKE" ........ yuh gotta start somewhere.

Glad you enjoyed the read.

My inspiration comes from a short passage in the KJB.........Ecclesiastes 9:10.
Dark wisdom like that just makes me wanna get out there and kick up another pile.

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“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater.
III

Dang, now you have me running to my God book

I read Ecc 8:10 and said 'What!?!?!?", then went on to the next chapter!! 9:10

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http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

So the dog dragged home a dead seagull, the wife threw it into the edge of the woods, when she told me about it I ask why she didn't burry it next to stinker. She told me she had forgot . About a week after it was dragged home she went to put in into the compost pile. Our 4 year old asked her, when she picked it up with the shovel, "Are we going to put it in the pile with Stinker?"

Yeah one of them has composting figured out.

I still get a kick out of the name, "Stinker".

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“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater.
III

What if a guy built one?

Multi-tumbler



Lloyd

...or two?

Home built tumbler

Lloyd

*thumps chest*

I might not like your tumbler(s).....but I would happily die fighting for your right to build and use them.

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“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater.
III

You're doing a lot of chest thumping lately ... must be wearing one of your sweaters to not get bruising!!

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Nope. Gave one away yesterday, though.....along with a nine foot mohair scarf.

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“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater.
III

Been waiting for a pic of a used Concrete Truck being used as a compost tumbler. Surely someone with access to one also makes compost.

I once worked on a compost tumbler that was made from a 10 000 gallon tank that was an inch thick. THe waste went in one end and we fabricated a large internal spiral that went to the other end. It was geared with 2 transmissions. It was loaded with materials and the tumbler turned on and rotated at 3 rpm while being loaded. Then when stopped and it sat for a few days a timer turned it on a few revs a per day Then when it was finished it would run reverse and auger the material out.


Im wanting to build a windrow turner like a brownbear skid steer mount.

Captivating …… I tell you, this thread is captivating. I’ve spent the last few days reading it from the beginning to the end. Thanks to all who have contributed for the inspiration. I love the photos of massive piles and the equipment used to make them.

I’ve been composting most of my life, and agree with the methods discussed here. When I was a kid, I helped my grandfather compost the horse manure from the stables. He had some really big piles and I’ve always thought that was the way to go. I’ve spent the last few decades of my life traveling across this country, living in smaller houses, so my composting efforts have been limited by real estate to relatively small piles. I’ve recently come back to southeast PA to inherit the family farm, and I need to get those big compost piles going again!

I am blessed to inherit my grandfather’s many years of hard work building up the soil, and his old tractor. I hope your descendants will appreciate your work like I appreciate his. When I was younger, I took for granted the great composted soil, until I started traveling and saw how poor the soil was elsewhere.

I’ve also inherited a large pile of scrap wood (probably 20’W x 30’D x 8’H). It’s composed of 3” long pieces of 2x4 ends from the old sawmill. In addition to that, there is a fair amount of brushwood (<4” diameter) that I need to clear. Can anyone recommend a chipper/shredder that I could use to turn this scrap wood into a pile of sawdust for a carbon reserve? I don’t know if a standard hydraulic infeed will properly handle such small pieces, and I wonder about a leaf shredding hopper jamming up. It would be great if the same machine could take care of my brushwood as well. I’d prefer gasoline powered or 3PH PTO so I can make my reserve piles on the spot around the property. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

So I ask the little guy, "Would you rather go see the construction truck and forklift that just drove by and is working down the road or go shovel dog poop into a bucket and put it in the compost pile?" He choose the poop. Now we have a little composter on our hands. This picture is taken one month after adding water to the pile. I was glad to see the steam. After digging into the pile it is warm to the touch on a 20 degree day. I am guessing about 100 degrees.

hey forerunner-

Merry christmas, and happy compost filled new year.

3350Snyder, welcome! Glad you found us bunch of crazy composters here.

studhauler, that is awesome!!! both the steam and the young compost lover. Good work.

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Trisha in WA
Visit my blog @
Diamond Belle Ranch

What else does a man have to do in his short time here on earth than build soil and feed people~Forerunner

WOW!!

What can I say, I started reading this from the beginning and after 7 pages and it was only in the first month I had to see just how many pages someone could post on composting. I'm amazed that in under two years it's up to 45 pages.

I have just purchased 13 acres and built a house on it, I plan to start a small farm and had anticipated doing composting to build it up. It already is fairly good soil but as I am a believer in composting I figured it would only help. I had envisioned a 'grand' scale of composting setting up several bins that would be about 20x40 area. Boy I thought I was going big doing this. Oh, how wrong I was, I am duely humbled. I see that I need to start looking bigger and grander in my endeavors.

I learned about composting as a kid, we had a small garden in the back yard. When we moved in to the newly constructed house we discovered that the builders were nice enough to dig down and bring up the clay below to cover the topsoil. We ended up with a couple of feet of clay on top of what used to be decent farmland. Well the folks decided to start a garden and so we worked it. I can remember my dad fighting with the brand new Troybilt Horse trying to till it up. After some initial backbreaking attempts, he realized that it might be easier if he watered it good and then let it sit for a few days to semi dry. That made it easier but it was still tough work to till that clay up. The garden didn't do all that well for the first few years, however my mother made sure that all scraps from the dinner table and food spoilage went into the garden. I can still remember going out in the middle of the winter to dig a small hole to bury the food. We had orange rinds and such showing up each spring as we tilled for years. Slowly but surely it started to pay off. The soil got easier to till and work, and it got brown and then started going black. By the time I went to college, it was very nice and easily produced a hefty selection of goods. And so I know it works and is the best way to replenish the soil and keep it healthy.

The problem I have is that the county dump keeps the organic matter to compost themselves and then sells it off. I purchased a couple of truckloads this past spring to fix up my old house to sell. At $30 a pick up load it wasn't too bad, but considering that they were charging to drop it off and then to pick it up, they had a decent racket going on. I'll have to start looking for opportunities in my area. I know that there is a dairy farm a couple of miles from the house and so I'll have to go visit them and see what I can get. Sawdust might be difficult to find, but hay shouldn't be too hard as that is a very common product in the area. It'll probably be a couple of years before I get my own manuer producers, but I'll see what I can do for now.

Thanks for starting this Forerunner I have really enjoyed it and will in time work my way through the whole thread to get caught up and learn a bit more.

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"I love a good debate but detest an argument, and get frustrated at those who can't tell the difference."

Ok, so now after a few days of heavy reading I have finally completed the assigned study material.

I've spoken with the wife about this and she is telling me that I am only learning something she's been trying to get me to recognize for a while. I don't know about that as I have been a believer in composting all along, but I guess it's the methods that she was trying to beat into me. Now I'm trying to figure out how and where I am going to get the necessary components to get started. As I am 8000 miles away at the moment and probably won't be home until spring time all I get to do for now is to dream of what I want to do.

As I don't think I'll be able to get much on to things this year, I am looking to set up the piles that will be used next year. My soil is already somewhat black decent, however I believe that it could use a good shot of compost to really spike it along. I am hoping that by this fall I can establish one or two piles (I'm looking at them being 60-70 yards long) and get them to start cooking for next spring. I hope to do this right where I plan on using it and then the plan would be to just spread it out and then work it in. Now that I've done the hard work I guess it's time to figure out the 'easy' part. That being I am slightly less equiped than frontrunner was starting out. I do have a Ford truck (3/4 ton) and shovels, but not much more. I'm hoping to find me a decent tractor with a frontloader which will make things a lot easier.

Well, I guess I have some big shoes (er piles) to fill as I try to jumpstart my homestead.

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"I love a good debate but detest an argument, and get frustrated at those who can't tell the difference."

well, im a little frustrated: I have a nice pile I built about 4 months ago (added to until last month) and its just not getting hot. Its so not hot that I have essentially created a very large red ant hill. I added water last week, since it seemed dry. I spread it a little thinking that might help.

The pile is composed of manure, sawdust, food waste, chicken bedding, shredded paper and more manure (horse and cow). The pile is about 10 x 10 x 3 foot tall. I tried to layer it properly and add fairly equal parts of everything. SHould I turn it and start it over? Thats harder than it sounds with the local ants thinking they own it!

Heavyrebel, I am new to this myself but, try stacking your pile higher, shovel the ends up on top of the middle. I learned they take ALOT of water.