Why 3 Smaller
Compost Bins
Several
years ago I built our family one very large compost bin out of old pallets. It
took us about a year to really fill it. Within that year I noticed some
problems with the design I used.
This is not the one I built. My phone ate that one but it is almost
exactly the same as what I built. the only difference is that I didn't
use cinder blocks at the bottom.
Problem #1 Bulging Sides
I did
NOT add a cross bar at the top to
help add structural strength. It didn’t even occur to me that I would need it.
It was a big mistake and here is why. As we filled in more and more compost the
sides would bow. If that doesn’t make sense picture a flower opening its petal;
very pretty in a flower and it slowly broke the structure of our compost
bin. This led to other problems.
If
you are considering building a compost bin I highly recommend you pick a design
that has a cross bar in the front so that the frame work is securely in
place. I looked around and not a lot of
the designs have this feature. I also
observed these compost bins were early in their use as in the images there was
almost no compost in the bins.
Yes,
if you add a cross bar it makes it harder to get in there with a shovel to turn
it. However, if you are willing to do the work of turning your compost to speed
up decomposition than you already know you are in for a lot of hard work. Why not kept what you built structurally
sound?
Problem #2 Side effects of the
bulging sides
/ pallet sides
When I
constructed the compost bin I used old pallets. I thought this would be good on
cost since I could get them for free and the bins could get lots of air flow
for help with decomposition.
Yes,
there was air flow and it did help break things down. However, I discovered
that as the sides bulged out, the pallet openings in between the wood slates
left such a wide opening that the compost would fall out of the sides.
Problem#3 Hinged Door
I
thought I was being so clever by putting a door on so that I could just have the
door swing open. Here were some problems
with my design. I had the door even in height with the side walls of the bin. I
did this so that no compost fell out of the bottom. However, as I filled the
bin, it got harder and harder to open the door to turn the compost. When the
compost got near the top third of the bin the door hinges had been stressed
from pressure so much that it was leaning out like the sides were. The bottom corner of the door had so much
pressure on it that the corner had dug into the ground so hard that I could not
open the door anymore.
Problem #4 Pallets are too big
In my
design I used one whole pallet for each side.
This produces quite a large compost bin.
It was so large that we couldn’t do any of the things to our compost bin
that help speed up the process once it was full. It took two years for what we had put in
there at the beginning to break down.
Once
the compost was ready we added it into our garden soil before planting time. We had one of our best crops that year. Our kids
loved eating all the things that came out of our garden that year.
Problem#5 Only one compost bin
When I
originally built our first compost bin I thought we would use what we composted
really quickly so I didn’t really need more than one bin. It took our family of six about five months to
fill this large compost bin. The problem
with this is it took about one year and seven months for the compost to break
down. This resulted in all the peelings, yard waste and other things that can
be added to a compost bin had to go in the trash because we had no where to put
them. What a waste of resources. All that waste because I didn’t have another
compost bin to start using in the middle of winter when the other one was full
but not ready to use.
When
building what I hope will be our last compost bin for a while. I tried to look
at all my design flaws from the previous one. I thought about how to prevent or
solve those same problems from happening again.
I won’t say what I built is perfect. I may discover some more problems
with this design. However, since I couldn’t find an old farmers advice on-line
about reliable compost bins this is my next (hopefully last) try at compost bin
building.
Unfortunately
I don’t have pictures of all the steps. I figured out why I have been loosing pictures
and it isn’t my computers fault. It was my phone destroying them while I put them
on my computer. My husband decided I needed a new phone instead of using one of
my families old phones when they decide to get a new one like I normally do.
Side
note: it’s the expense. To have a phone that takes pictures and all the stuff I
like costs so much. I start picturing all the things I could buy with that
money and decide I can just use someone in the families unwanted phone again, which
is probably part of why my phones only last about four or five months.
On
topic again. I do have pictures of the features I hope will make for a more
sound compost bin and I can explain the reasoning.
Change
#1 Cross Bars for Strength
I added cross bars for strength across the top.
I didn’t have a piece of wood that would stretch the whole length of the bins. So I had the pieces meet in the middle.
Change
#2 I used Chicken wire for the sides
for more strength and less
spillage
I stapled every single
small wire that came in contact with the wood for more strength to the frame
work.
Chicken wire allows for
even more air circulations but it has smaller holes so less should spill out.
Change #3 I created (with
my Dads help) wood slates as a “door”
I
created a slot for the pieces of wood to be slide into and out of to close in
the compost and my Dad helped me cut slates that would fit in the openings. Yeah
for Dads! This door will not get stuck in the ground.
Change
#4 3 Smaller Bins
If the bin gets so full that I can no longer
remove the slates or they are just full than I just start using the next bin. And
I won’t have to waste resources.
Materials Cost
Wood-
left over from a fence
I took out and a fence my Parents took out. 0.00
Screws- Gift card from family for Christmas yeah! 0.00
Chicken
wire- extra my parents had 0.00
Staples-
left over from another
project 0.00
Total Cost
0.00
