Compost bin
 

I've knocked myself up a compost bin today from four old shipping pallets
donated by the farmer next door. So far they're just tied together into a
square with twine so they'll come apart again easily enough if required. A
couple of the pallets have quite big 50mm gaps between the planks and I'm
wondering if this is a bit big for keeping both the contents and the heat in
for best results, especially once the stuff has broken down into powder and
might just fall out through the gaps. There's also a couple of spare pallets
so I suppose I could in extremis lever up the planks from the two pallets in
question and rebuild them without gaps using extra planks from the spare
pallets. Or am I just making work for myself for no good reason?
--
Dave Baker

Compost bin
 

On Monday, June 23, 2014 4:44:04 PM UTC+1, Dave Baker wrote:

I've knocked myself up a compost bin today from four old shipping pallets
donated by the farmer next door. So far they're just tied together into a
square with twine so they'll come apart again easily enough if required. A
couple of the pallets have quite big 50mm gaps between the planks and I'm
wondering if this is a bit big for keeping both the contents and the heat in
for best results, especially once the stuff has broken down into powder and
might just fall out through the gaps. There's also a couple of spare pallets
so I suppose I could in extremis lever up the planks from the two pallets in
question and rebuild them without gaps using extra planks from the spare
pallets. Or am I just making work for myself for no good reason?

the latter :)


NT

Compost bin
 

On Mon, 23 Jun 2014 16:44:04 +0100, Dave Baker wrote:

A couple of the pallets have quite big 50mm gaps between the planks and
I'm wondering if this is a bit big for keeping both the contents and the
heat in ...

For decent compost you want air to get in ... Old pallets tied
together is a very common container, as you say easy to take apart to
get at the compost. Even though good compost is quite crumbly, it
does hold together quite well until disturbed so I doubt it'll fall
through the gaps.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Compost bin
 

On 6/23/2014 11:51 AM, wrote:
On Monday, June 23, 2014 4:44:04 PM UTC+1, Dave Baker wrote:

I've knocked myself up a compost bin today from four old shipping pallets
donated by the farmer next door. So far they're just tied together into a
square with twine so they'll come apart again easily enough if required. A
couple of the pallets have quite big 50mm gaps between the planks and I'm
wondering if this is a bit big for keeping both the contents and the heat in
for best results, especially once the stuff has broken down into powder and
might just fall out through the gaps. There's also a couple of spare pallets
so I suppose I could in extremis lever up the planks from the two pallets in
question and rebuild them without gaps using extra planks from the spare
pallets. Or am I just making work for myself for no good reason?

the latter :)

+1
My compost bins (a set of three, next to each other) were made from wire
fencing.

Compost bin
 

On 23/06/2014 16:44, Dave Baker wrote:
I've knocked myself up a compost bin today from four old shipping
pallets donated by the farmer next door. So far they're just tied
together into a square with twine so they'll come apart again easily
enough if required. A couple of the pallets have quite big 50mm gaps
between the planks and I'm wondering if this is a bit big for keeping
both the contents and the heat in for best results, especially once the
stuff has broken down into powder and might just fall out through the
gaps. There's also a couple of spare pallets so I suppose I could in
extremis lever up the planks from the two pallets in question and
rebuild them without gaps using extra planks from the spare pallets. Or
am I just making work for myself for no good reason?

I have s similar bin made from pallets - nothing falls through the gaps...

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Compost bin
 

On 23/06/2014 16:44, Dave Baker wrote:
I've knocked myself up a compost bin today from four old shipping
pallets donated by the farmer next door. So far they're just tied
together into a square with twine so they'll come apart again easily
enough if required. A couple of the pallets have quite big 50mm gaps

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a decent
hot compost heap. Ideally you want to have three on the go at once. One
building, one being used and one maturing. The first time to bootstrap
it you might find Garrota (sp?) useful as a seed culture/initiator.

between the planks and I'm wondering if this is a bit big for keeping
both the contents and the heat in for best results, especially once the
stuff has broken down into powder and might just fall out through the
gaps. There's also a couple of spare pallets so I suppose I could in
extremis lever up the planks from the two pallets in question and
rebuild them without gaps using extra planks from the spare pallets. Or
am I just making work for myself for no good reason?

Just making work for yourself. Ignore all the stuff online about N to C
ratios - if you add a cubic metre or so of stuff at a time and don't
pack it down tightly it will get hot enough to devour almost anything.

I have had mine smouldering once or twice and it regularly gets to 70C
after a bit grass cut or hedge trimming. Takes about a year to become
good compost but partly because I don't turn it as often as you should.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Compost bin
 

Thanks for the advice chaps. I'll leave well alone then. I've situated the
bin where's there's space next to it for another to be added on with three
more pallets when the first bin is full although I suspect it'll take a
while to fill a cubic metre from my little lawn and borders. However I can
always get t'farmer to drop me off a loader bucket full of soiled cow shed
bedding straw if I want to kick start the process. He gets through hundreds
of tons of the stuff a year and composts it in huge heaps out in the fields
where it turns into beautiful black loam after a few months gently steaming
and then gets spread on the barley fields.

I could just ask for a loader bucket of his finished stuff I suppose but
it'll be nice to have my own bin and make better use of the lawn clippings
and autumn leaves than just dumping them.

Also hopefully it'll turn into a worm farm so I'll have a ready supply for
the trout stream down the lane.
--
Dave Baker

Compost bin
 

On 23/06/2014 17:31, Martin Brown wrote:
On 23/06/2014 16:44, Dave Baker wrote:
I've knocked myself up a compost bin today from four old shipping
pallets donated by the farmer next door. So far they're just tied
together into a square with twine so they'll come apart again easily
enough if required. A couple of the pallets have quite big 50mm gaps

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a decent
hot compost heap. ...

I thought baler twine was the agricultural equivalent of gaffer tape;
the world would fall apart without it.

--
Colin Bignell

Compost bin
 

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a decent hot
compost heap.

It's nylon twine. What t'farmer uses for lashing the sheep pens together.
--
Dave Baker

Compost bin
 

In message , "Nightjar
\"cpb\"@" "insert my surname writes
On 23/06/2014 17:31, Martin Brown wrote:
On 23/06/2014 16:44, Dave Baker wrote:
I've knocked myself up a compost bin today from four old shipping
pallets donated by the farmer next door. So far they're just tied
together into a square with twine so they'll come apart again easily
enough if required. A couple of the pallets have quite big 50mm gaps

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a decent
hot compost heap. ...

I thought baler twine was the agricultural equivalent of gaffer tape;
the world would fall apart without it.

I don't think they bother with UV protection. Only does one year in my
greenhouse.


--
Tim Lamb

Compost bin
 

In article ,
Dave Baker wrote:

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a decent hot
compost heap.

It's nylon twine. What t'farmer uses for lashing the sheep pens together.

I thouht it was polypropelene, not nylon.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

Compost bin
 

On Monday, June 23, 2014 6:42:21 PM UTC+1, charles wrote:
In article ,
Dave Baker wrote:

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a decent hot
compost heap.
It's nylon twine. What t'farmer uses for lashing the sheep pens together.
I thouht it was polypropelene, not nylon.
Looking at my reel of baler twine it certainly feels like polypropylene to me...

Compost bin
 

Dave Baker scribbled...


"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a decent hot
compost heap.

It's nylon twine. What t'farmer uses for lashing the sheep together.



Fixed your post

Compost bin
 

On Mon, 23 Jun 2014 18:33:33 +0100, Tim Lamb wrote:

So far they're just tied together into a square with twine ....

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a
decent
hot compost heap. ...

I read it as baler twine. There is sizal or cotton but I'd call them
"string"

I thought baler twine was the agricultural equivalent of gaffer
tape;
the world would fall apart without it.

+1

I don't think they bother with UV protection. Only does one year in my
greenhouse.

I was going to say you haven't got proper baler twine but then I
spotted who had posted that comment. Seems pretty stable stuff up
here. B-)

Thinks, does UV get through glass? Perhaps there is some thing else
going on.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Compost bin
 

On 23/06/2014 17:45, Dave Baker wrote:


Also hopefully it'll turn into a worm farm so I'll have a ready supply
for the trout stream down the lane.


I put all my cardboard (food wrappings) and paper shreddings in my
compost bin, especially when adding grass cuttings. Larger cardboard
boxes with parcel tape etc. just get left out for a shower of rain and
the tape comes off easily from wet cardboard. The occasional bucket of
human urine in the heap also helps.

I get hundreds of worms in the top couple of inches of my maturing heap
but not in my active heap.

Don't worry too much if you heap is not steaming. I only get this when I
put in a very large amount of green material. Don't worry about ants
nests or the other millions of insects - they are all there to help
although ants may suggest the heap is too dry.

You may want to avoid cleaning out or turning out a compost heap during
the slow worm breading season. They like large compost heaps that don't
run too hot.

--
mailto:news{at}admac(dot}myzen{dot}co{dot}uk

Compost bin
 

In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Mon, 23 Jun 2014 18:33:33 +0100, Tim Lamb wrote:

So far they're just tied together into a square with twine ....

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a
decent
hot compost heap. ...

I read it as baler twine. There is sizal or cotton but I'd call them
"string"

I thought baler twine was the agricultural equivalent of gaffer
tape;
the world would fall apart without it.

+1

I don't think they bother with UV protection. Only does one year in my
greenhouse.

I was going to say you haven't got proper baler twine but then I
spotted who had posted that comment. Seems pretty stable stuff up
here. B-)

Lasts forever if you bury it. I have always assumed it is made from thin
strips of Polypropylene. I usually split about 3 *figure of eight* ties
from a short length for Tomatoes. There are several variants: thick
stuff for the big Hesston bales, thin stuff for round bales and then
regular for small conventional bales.

Thinks, does UV get through glass? Perhaps there is some thing else
going on.

Some does. Bear in mind this is horticultural glass not Pilkington K:-)


--
Tim Lamb

Compost bin
 

On Mon, 23 Jun 2014 18:59:25 +0100, Jabba wrote:

Dave Baker scribbled...


"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a decent hot
compost heap.

It's nylon twine. What t'farmer uses for lashing the sheep together.

Fixed your post

Welsh gangbang?
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

Compost bin
 

PeterC scribbled...


On Mon, 23 Jun 2014 18:59:25 +0100, Jabba wrote:

Dave Baker scribbled...


"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

I'd use nylon rope. Twine will rot pretty quickly if you have a decent hot
compost heap.

It's nylon twine. What t'farmer uses for lashing the sheep together.

Fixed your post

Welsh gangbang?


Last person nicked for that was a tyke.