Quote Originally Posted by Bud View Post
For those with composting experience, do you think it's better to buy a composting unit, or build your own? I'm leaning towards building one.
The only difficult thing about composting is turning the pile. The trick is to add green stuff to brown stuff, mix it together, it gets hot and that's the process. As the pile gets bigger the more work you have to turn it. The microbes need air to flourish they are the ones who actually make the compost compost. Turning the pile introduces air into it.
Having said that, design you pile so that it can be turned easily. That's why the barrel types are so popular, they are easy to turn. My bin is three sides. I turn it with a front end loader on my tractor. I get about a yard of compost every year. Sometimes more if I realy keep up on it. I would hate to think about turning that much yard waste with a pitch fork or shovel. I'm guessing here but I think that to get one yard of compost i probably move 9 yards of material into the bin, that's 243 cubic feet.
I can post pictures if anyone is interested