Building a new composter under a tree

[Forage420]

Very interesting feedback on the plastic composters. I had not considered that the volume may affect the amount of heat generated. I assumed that the composter would keep in heat but to hear that this is not necessarily true has swayed my mind. This option is not looking like a goer because I do want the option of hot compost.

Back to the drawing board : I'm now considering using (and extending) the fruit cage which I built using discarded scaffold cut to size. So I will use scaffold in place of timber stakes to form the structure of the 3 beds.

The mesh will run in the same way as planned, except I'm not quite sure how mesh will hold up to being poked with a fork or shovel - and this is bound to happen. Perhaps it may be worth using timber planks instead of the mesh, but I would need quite a few timber pallets to achieve my aim. I don't see any significant problem with compost sitting directly up against the scaffold itself. Potentially I could run the mesh around the internal edges of the scaffold to keep the scaffold out of the compost.

[veggiechicken]

I picked up a plastic composter, like the one you were going to buy, from freecycle.
The other compost "bins" are made from pallets. I have an upturned wire mesh run for rabbits (also freecycle) for leaf mould.
Cost - nothing.

Just saying!

[Forage420]

I picked up a plastic composter, like the one you were going to buy, from freecycle.
The other compost "bins" are made from pallets. I have an upturned wire mesh run for rabbits (also freecycle) for leaf mould.
Cost - nothing.

Just saying!

Cost isn't so much of an issue so much as getting it right. The scaffold and mesh option is the cheapest of all, because the scaffold is free. The plastic compostor appears to be an inferior method as previously mentioned and subsequent research confirms to be valid.

Out of interest, which of your composters has a faster turn over, the plastic composter or the bins made from pallets?

Timber does have draw backs - my current composter is made from timber, but it's quite time consuming to source 3 pallets large enough to form an enclosure (7 in total) excluding the fronts, and timber has a tendency to harbour slugs and woodlice. The most important considerations are the size and how easy it is to muck out and turn what's inside.

[veggiechicken]

Sorry, I don't look for fast turnover, its as long as it takes!
There are 3 pallet bins (7 pallets in total), alongside each other, with removable fronts, so you can shovel out of one and into its neighbour. However, at the moment, 2 of them are full of logs!
The plastic bin is in another part of the garden and I chuck stuff into which ever bins are closest.

Most of my garden waste goes into the chook run and that's my primary source of compost.
Not a lot of help, am I.

[Derbydal]

you could use 1 ton builders bags on your scaf poles and fastern the handles over the top using tie raps , I use these and have 8 on the go 1 of them as a flap that goes over the top and covers the compost , but they dont get hot ! they do however break the compost down which can then be put into black bags (compost bags turned inside out ) and left in the sun to warm up and kill the seeds , ps all you have to do to empty the bags is cut the ties and let the sides down as you dig it out ! atb Dal.