New compost bin

[MoMan]

Just dropping in to pat myself on the back: This weekend I finally tackled a project I've been planning to do for months.

We've been composting our veggies, etc. for several years now. Most recently, we've used a commercial plastic barrel that spins to mix stuff up. It works fine, but there are some minor annoyances. Namely, the stuff isn't done in time before I add new stuff. It's also a little on the small side. And I don't like the tiny hassle of removing the lid.

So I dug into some former fencing material I had stacked away. 1X6 cedar boards, a couple of 2x4s and my only expenditure: hardware cloth. I'm especially proud of the fact that 99% of Americans would have discarded the fence boards, so I am recycling so I can recycle.

The new bin has 3 compartments separated by hardware cloth. So I will be able to let one section continue to stew while I start a new batch in a different compartment. It's also about 3 times the space of the barrel, so I can add my growing piles of woodworking sawdust and chips. And leaves.

Now, I just need to take up vegetable gardening to complete the cycle. That's on the list for my post-FIRE life.

[CheapScholar]

Good job!  I also have a large plastic tumbler, which is nice because it keeps out pests but doesn't break down stuff as fast as I'd like.  I also compost in an old gardening bed.

Composting is so easy.  It can significantly reduce landfill waste.  I'd recommend it to anyone on this board, even if you don't garden.

[Mezzie]

I have a tumbler because of space contraints, but it does take a lot longer for things to break down. I doubt my neighbors want me to make a compost pile in the front yard, but that's the only place I have room. Oh well... tumbler it is.

Congrats on making your own bin!

[MasterStache]

Good work.

I built a cheap compost bin made from cedar board and PT lumber. Most if was leftover from home projects. The cedar boards are cheap. I even made a door and put fencing on top to keep out animals. I created a little hatch in the fencing so we can open it up and toss in the compost stuff with ease.

[MoMan]

Composting is so easy.  It can significantly reduce landfill waste.  I'd recommend it to anyone on this board, even if you don't garden.

Yes! Between our composting and recycling, our regular trash rarely has more than one bag in it

[mbl]

Our "compost" pile exists as just that, a pile of materials in a corner of one of our fields out back.
I keep a bucket on the deck during winter and then go out and dump it.

I turn the piles over when I'm out there in the warmer weather and it all decomposes as nature would have it.

[Del Griffith]

Would anyone mind posting a picture (or pictures) of their DIY bins? I am interested in doing this in the not-so-distant future.

[Rufus.T.Firefly]

I'm thinking of building something like this in the spring/summer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZSGrh3xKfA

[MoMan]

Would anyone mind posting a picture (or pictures) of their DIY bins? I am interested in doing this in the not-so-distant future.

A google search for compost bin plans will give you hundreds of pix and downloadable plans.

[Linea_Norway]

We used to have a self-built compost bin, made of styrofoam and chicken nettings. It composted well. But some night we had a badger in the garden that thought it smelled irresistibly and that used it's claws to try to remove the styrofoam from behind the netting. The animal managed to make quite a mess of it. It also made a lot of noise outside our bedroom window, the claws scratching the iron. It didn't help scaring it away either, it kept coming back. We dismantled the bin.

Last year we first bought a big plastic bin. First a new, cheap model. After putting it together, we thought the locking system for the lid was hopeless to operate. We brought it back to the shop.

Then we looked for an expensive model and after a while we found one second hand, for the same price as the el cheapo model new. This one has been working fine. There is no rotating system though. We need to shovel it around manually. We have been gotten nice earth from it.

[VeggieTable]

I "made" a compost bin out of an old trash can the previous owner left at our house. It's a 30-gallon round one with a latching lid - the bottom's only held on by duct tape, but I figured that helps with air flow. I drilled holes every few inches on every surface. It runs into the same problem others mentioned - takes a long time for food waste to break down - but it cost me nothing. It's actually easy to turn b/c I can just roll the trash can on its side on the ground every once in a while.

[Linea_Norway]

Long breakdown time can be solved by insulating the compost bin. Our commercial type has quite thick walls and is gets very warm inside. It's only now in the winter that the top content of the bin is frozen. I hope it will start again when it gets warmer. Maybe I should also shuffle the contents more often.

[RetiredAt63]

I make a bin with pallets - nail or wire them together for three sides.  The 4th side "door" attaches with hooks and eyes just screwed into the pallet frame. Good size, the spaces between the boards make for good ventilation, and it is easy to take the front off.

[The Guru]

I'm surprised to hear about how slow the tumbler type bins are to finish- I thought that was the advantage of such designs?

In some areas- including my less-than-progressive community- you can get a bin cheap or free just by signing up for a composting workshop. My wife got a really nice one like that.

The easiest, cheapest route is to score a 10 foot or so piece of chain link or other wire fence. roll it into a cylinder, secure the ends together with zip-ties and you're done.

[MoMan]

I'm surprised to hear about how slow the tumbler type bins are to finish- I thought that was the advantage of such designs?

In some areas- including my less-than-progressive community- you can get a bin cheap or free just by signing up for a composting workshop. My wife got a really nice one like that.

The easiest, cheapest route is to score a 10 foot or so piece of chain link or other wire fence. roll it into a cylinder, secure the ends together with zip-ties and you're done.

My tumbler does work fast, but it can't keep up with two or three additions a week.