Extreme Composting

Compost is a boost, at first, and a storage media, after.

Sand or clay just don't have storage capacity for basic nutrients. Clay holds the trace minerals, but won't even let the plants take those up without the enzyme activity in compost. But, once you get a good layer of compost in....I like Silvercreeks 10-12 inch start, with a 4-6 inch boost each year or every other.... your organic nutrients hang around and any nitrogen you might add will maintain a lot better in the event of excessive rain or drought. Same for potash and phosphorus, etc.
Ten years down the road, I'll take composted ground that has "quit" (though really not the case) over raw clay, sand or timber soil.
That said, a regular incorporation of any kind of organic mulch will sustain that compost and microbial activity, once the initial boost of heavy composting has been accomplished. ....and that can be sustained by hand work, for the duration.

Again, give me the heavily composted soil to start with...so that I can maintain by hand down the road, if need be.

__________________
“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

Thanks Guys. That helps my understanding loads. appreaciate it very much.

my old but new to me composting toy

[IMG][/IMG]

after completing the thinning logging, I've been left with thousands of stumps and slash everywhere. The loggers did put the slash in piles, but there is still so much to do I broke down a got the root rake. It is about 500 lbs too heavy for my machine so I'm going to cut off a foot from each end. It's so heavy that it busted through a couple of the board on that trailer bed so I also get to redeck the trailer before returning it to my neighbor. I'll use the old wood to corral compost.

I'm pulling acres of stumps with the backhoe, but that leaves me with stumps that are often in excess of 200 lbs. Using the loader bucket to pile the stumps was removing too much soil and didn't give me nice burn piles. Where I need to get 20 acres ready for horses, I'm stumping and burning. Elsewhere I'm either leaving the stumps in the ground to rot if tghey won't be in the way, or piling the stumps to let them compost. I'll put some manure on the piles to accelerate composting.

On the way back from picking up the root rake, I was eyeing this truck and thinking that it's load would be a great chip pile accelerator and I noticed their special message. Had to laugh.

[IMG][/IMG]

Now those boys have their heads in the right place.

Cesum.....it looks like you got plenty to keep you busy.

__________________
“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

I have a huge pile of stumps on the corner of my property, They are at least 10 years old and half rotten. By huge I mean 10 to 20 truck loads. Do you think this would work for them? Will you dig up the charcoal and incorporate it into the soil with your other compost?

__________________
Patriot Guard Riders http://www.patriotguard.org/

”Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe.”
~Noah Webster

I have been considering getting a chipper. If I had one I could get all the carbon I would ever need. The question is size and how much to spend. I have access to a 30 hp garden tractor but I don't think that would power a very big chipper. I was thinking self propelled with a hydraulic feed, but then we are talking big bucks.

__________________
Patriot Guard Riders http://www.patriotguard.org/

”Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe.”
~Noah Webster

If a man had to go broke, he might as well do it returning carbon to the soil.

__________________
“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

first, check you local fire dept, forestry office, or DNR and make sure burning is legal. In FL, I have to call the forestry fire dept and get a burn permit each morning that is good for that day only. When things are dry it can be months long waits for a permit.

Yes, burning will get rid of those stumps, at least it has with my oak and longleaf pine stumps. And that's one of the reasons I bought a root rake for the loader/hoe so that I could spread the charcoal from my burn piles. My preference is allowing things to rot, I think rotting piles create more life. But where i need clear pastures within the next year, burning has to be the way.

I have tried to burn stump piles before but the never burned. How do you do it? Do you burn above ground or open pit or burry them and burn them to get charcoal?

__________________
Patriot Guard Riders http://www.patriotguard.org/

”Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe.”
~Noah Webster

have done both open pit and above ground, no real difference in results. once they are burning hot, I mostly cover the piles with soil and they will burn/smolder for several days. I use waste motor oil to get them lit. I tried gas but it just flashes off without creating heat; oil burns slowly enough that it gets the wood pile going.

There is a lot of pine tar in these longleaf pine stumps. In fact, in the age of wooden ships and iron men, the highly flammable tar rendered from longleaf pine was used to caulk the ship's seams. So maybe it is easier for me to get a good burn going.

I did a burn two days ago and the piles are still smoldering. The main pile was about 80 ft x 20 x 10 ft high. It was mostly slash debris but also included 30 - 40 stumps. Some of them didn't burn, but the ones deepest in the pile or partially covered by dirt did burn long enough to get completely or mostly consumed. The second photo is 2 days later and you can see several stumps that remaining but still getting worked. I'll combine all the remains into another pile and stack up another 50 - 100 stumps and burn again in another month.

The char will get spread over that ~10 acre field along with compost and chips and hopefully get planted in the next couple of months. Being in central FL, I won't get much grass growth but no harm in getting the seed in ASAP.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Who was that little feller walking through the fire in the first pic.

__________________
“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

That is the devil himself. The fire got so big and hot that the devil thought he would open an annex. Either that, or it is my neighbor and occasional farmhand. An excellent worker who has saved me several times.

We should get together, buy 500 acres of wasteland, and show the world how to make things happen.

Why is it that ambition and drive are limited to single digits ?

__________________
“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

Because someone, somewhere is afraid you really would try to take over the world!!!

I would love to, but the trouble is you live in the great white north and I live where God intended composting to happen.

As you can see from my photos, there is lots of stuff to sort. Because I'm trying to get this field into decent pasture ASAP, I want to spread the fines to improve the soil and remove everything else. Mediums will go to the compost pile and large stumps will go back to another burn pile.

I've been noodling how to build a screener. A trommel would be just the thing, but i don't have enough of the materials at hand, like an engine to turn the bin or two axles and wheels to sit the bin on. What i do have materials for, like telephone poles for the corners and expanded metal for the screen, is something approximating this:

[IMG][/IMG]

My thoughts - my FEL reaches to 9' so I'll make the front (high sloped side) about 8'. Make it about 2' wider than my FEL bucket. Put it on skids so that I can move it around. Keep the front clear of supports so that I can either park a dump cart under the screen to self load or drive the FEL in to carry off the fines. Park another trailer beneath the reject end to self load with the items going to the compost or re-burn piles. My FEL has a 1.5 yd bucket with a load capacity of 5000 lbs, so the screen needs to be able to carry at least that much weight. I have plenty of 2000 lb chain, so that in each corner to hang the screen is probably good enough.

Any other ideas to make this deal more efficient or effective before I start sawing telepoles and the 2x8s left over from re-decking the flatbed trailer?

I would put more triangle braces in yours than this pictures has. The bigger the triangles the more stable it will be. I would also put some kind of sides on the screen to keep the compost from falling off the sides if you happen to dump to quick.

__________________
Patriot Guard Riders http://www.patriotguard.org/

”Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe.”
~Noah Webster

I'd just buy an 800-1000 HP tub grinder and call it a day.

__________________
“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