Giant compost pile

[hwatkins]

I have a very large pile of debris left from some land clearing.


It would eventually rot away, but I'm trying to speed it along. I pull logs out with the tractor, then I've been slicing off 3 inch sections from the logs, lay them out on the horse manure.


Then I cover it with another layer of horse manure in the morning and start the process over again.



It will take several years, but hopefully I'll end up with some good fertilizer in the end.

Any suggestions on how to speed it up without bringing in a chipper for thousands of dollars?

I plan on getting a grapple bucket for my tractor to help with handling the logs, I'm putting the 3rd function kit on the tractor now.

 

[KennyG]

I would have split the wood and burned it in the stove. Looks to me like a 10 year project you've got started.

 

[Sodo]

Doing work for compost is just wrong. Can you flatten it some and just bury it with dirt? Do you "need this land area"? Or can it be "the place where you're composting manure (over logs)"? I'd look for solutions that "make the pile gone" in one afternoon.

 

[Utopia Texas]

You can speed the process up with nitrogen, oxygen and water. A bit of nitrogen fertilizer thrown in will increase bacterial activity even with the manure added. Stirring the pile occassionally with a FEL will add oxygen to the lower areas that do not get enough air and help out the bacterial action also. Rain is a plus......

 

[oosik]

Without help from some kind of equipment - I think you may have a lifetime project. Once you get the grapple - you could move the logs away from the tree line - into a new pile and burn them.

 

[hwatkins]

Unfortunately it's mostly yellow pine, so too much sap to burn in a fireplace, I did split all the oak.

 

[CalG]

Unfortunately it's mostly yellow pine, so too much sap to burn in a fireplace, I did split all the oak.

Lay the logs in a row (or rows) and stack them 5 -6 feet high, keeping as narrow a base as possible. Cover the log row with organic debris and soil a few inches deep.

Plant your garden right on the hillside you have created. The entire "strip mound" will compost down, and all the while, you will have a no stoop garden.

If you don't want to garden, let weeds replace whatever veggies you might have planted. Something needs to combat rain erosion however.

The growth on top of the pile assures rapid decomposition of the woody material below. Not like burying it at all.

 

[xzcVAbc5]

Lay the logs in a row (or rows) and stack them 5 -6 feet high, keeping as narrow a base as possible. Cover the log row with organic debris and soil a few inches deep.

Plant your garden right on the hillside you have created. The entire "strip mound" will compost down, and all the while, you will have a no stoop garden.

If you don't want to garden, let weeds replace whatever veggies you might have planted. Something needs to combat rain erosion however.

The growth on top of the pile assures rapid decomposition of the woody material below. Not like burying it at all.

What you mentioned is more or less called "hugelcultur". Instrad of piling up the woid and then covering I'd go one row and then cover. Another row and more cover, etc.

 

[edkemper]

If you're going to do Hugelkultur, do it right and reap the benefits. The experts say pile it up with the largest to smallest. Dirt and such on top. Cover with hay to keep it together and keep the moisture intact. The trees breakdown and start acting like a sponge for rain that is distributed all year long. Far better for the earth to bury carbon instead of releasing into the air by burning it.

 

[stuckmotor]

If you sprinkle some mushroom spores on it, they might speed up decomposition. On second thought, this looks like a job for termites.

 

[schmism]

burn?

this is why you make burn piles. wood goes away in about 12 hrs and you can grade out the ashes and cover it in dirt and be done with it in a weekend. Instead of a lifetime.

 

[edkemper]

burn?

this is why you make burn piles. wood goes away in about 12 hrs and you can grade out the ashes and cover it in dirt and be done with it in a weekend. Instead of a lifetime.

On the other hand, get rid of it in a day or use it for a mutual benefit for a few years. Burn it and it's gone. True. Bury it and use it for growing fruits and vegetables for years without continuing labor and watering, makes this a no brainer for me. I guess it's a question of immediate gratification or something a little less immediate to benefit good science for all around health for both us and the earth.

 

[SPIKER]

you can make some food from them if you like most mushrooms you can put spore on it and have a pile of goodies. I have some from fungiperfect place a few years ago that still produce a few shrooms for sauce or on the steaks...

I agree that a layer of dirt and straw can help them decompose faster and also help w some veggies, plant some squash or vine type in the mix or strawberries & enjoy for years.

but if the mess and time are issue when piled toss on some gas/oil mix and spark it up & be done in a few hours.

 

[jack707]

I burn almost everything! wood,weeds what ever and used motor oil helps a lot.

 

[Egon]

I have a very large pile of debris left from some land clearing.
-img_3400-jpg

It would eventually rot away, but I'm trying to speed it along. I pull logs out with the tractor, then I've been slicing off 3 inch sections from the logs, lay them out on the horse manure.
-img_3404-jpg

Shredder?

 

[brown40]

People scavenge for dead wood to make hugelkultur beds--you have the materials sitting right there to make a few. There are lots of instructionals out there for putting them together, but the idea is creating a giant nutrient and water reservoir. If you have the space and a backhoe, it'd be an ideal spot for berries... some use them as raised gardens too. Neat concept, especially for water-starved areas.

 

[Obed]

I wouldn't be surprised if that pile didn't rot in your lifetime without some help. From my perspective, I'd rather do something else than "helping" wood rot with that many hours of my time. But if you enjoy the activity, that's a valid reason for doing it so go for it.

Maybe it would rot faster with some dirt on it? Ok, maybe rot in 25 years instead of 50? Depending on the circumstances, burying the wood can actually preserve it, not make it rot. How do you think old wooden artifacts are preserved (viking ships, 150 year old steamboat in Kansas, etc.). If you put dirt on it, make sure you have done your homework or you'll end up with a worse mess.

If it were me, I'd find a match.

Obed

 

[Sprinklerman]

Get some tree companies to bring you wood chips , mix the manure with that and add water .

 

[corl]

I'm old and have had 2 experiences with letting the pile rot. The first was when I was a kid and my father cleared a woodlot for lawn. The pile of stumps, logs and dirt with leaves added yearly took about 25 years to go away. More recently in my adult life I had a woodlot cleared for a swimming pool. The pile was in the woods in the middle of a wet weather water supply. That pile is gone after 30 years. It looks like it was never there. Hope you are not in a hurry.

 

[CalG]

Heck, I can't keep firewood stacked outdoors for more than a few years, and it's all rotted to nothing.. ;-(

I guess it's all in how you pile it up.