Compost turning

[Barleycorn]

Did some turning a couple of weeks ago. A 'virgin' row and the finished product. Shows how much it loses volume, which is good for us as we take it to an outlying farm with no cattle on it, a lot less trips.

 

[sjt01]

Did some turning a couple of weeks ago. A 'virgin' row and the finished product. Shows how much it loses volume, which is good for us as we take it to an outlying farm with no cattle on it, a lot less trips.

Do you find you have to water the windrow to keep it going. We are composting newbies, got ours on Friday.
I would love to know how soon after tipping the fym you start to turn, how often? Do you measure temperatures, and moisture?

 

[CPF]

I use to do composting cow muck for Large estate near Burford I don’t know if they still do it . We used to just turn it once never use any water , used to go in when they got a row of muck out from the cattle yards it was all still fresh .
If you go on YOUTUBE and look for JRJ Agri life james works for that estate and if you leave a comment he will probably Answer you if they still do it.

 

[Barleycorn]

Do you find you have to water the windrow to keep it going. We are composting newbies, got ours on Friday.
I would love to know how soon after tipping the fym you start to turn, how often? Do you measure temperatures, and moisture?

We don't add water, just rely on rain. Like to do the first turn soon after the trailer loads are finished at full height, then go in lower a week or two later. In a perfect world, but always seems more important jobs come up! Don't measure temperature and to be honest the resultant compost is more of a dung/compost as the N runs out before it's finished, but it is rocket fuel on silage grass at 5 ton/acre.
Which turner have you got?

 

[sjt01]

We don't add water, just rely on rain. Like to do the first turn soon after the trailer loads are finished at full height, then go in lower a week or two later. In a perfect world, but always seems more important jobs come up! Don't measure temperature and to be honest the resultant compost is more of a dung/compost as the N runs out before it's finished, but it is rocket fuel on silage grass at 5 ton/acre.
Which turner have you got?

We have a Compost Systems CM300. Our FYM is quite dry as we keep the calving yard and fresh calver yard well littered to avoid mastitis, so we are thinking of putting on some dirty water to help the process.

 

[jonnieboy]

Have you done any before and after analysis of the muck ?
seems a costly pastime compared to heaping it up for 10 months

 

[sjt01]

Have you done any before and after analysis of the muck ?
seems a costly pastime compared to heaping it up for 10 months

The reason we are doing it is so it can be applied to cover crops without the need for incorporation, in a zero till situation.

 

[CPF]

If you going to put some water on get side delivery discharge pipe for your vacuum tanker then you can blow it over the top of the heap .
I did forget to say in my last post that they bought their own compost Turner in the end .

 

[Badshot]

The reason we are doing it is so it can be applied to cover crops without the need for incorporation, in a zero till situation.

If you're applying to a crop, and the cover would count, it is ok to topdress without incorporating.
A neighbour asked the question about chicken muck, environment agency said it's fine to topdress in the spring with no incorporation.
I dare say environmental health have a different view though.

 

[sjt01]

If you going to put some water on get side delivery discharge pipe for your vacuum tanker then you can blow it over the top of the heap .
I did forget to say in my last post that they bought their own compost Turner in the end .

That was our plan. We will try it today, and plan to use dirty water to add a few more bugs to the mix

 

[robs1]

We turn ours a couple of times with the loader or 360, not incorporated it for good few years just drill into it.

 

[sjt01]

If you going to put some water on get side delivery discharge pipe for your vacuum tanker then you can blow it over the top of the heap .
I did forget to say in my last post that they bought their own compost Turner in the end .

Nozzle fitted to valve on the side, this works well. It needed a bit of adjustment to get the best angle, but when it is right, the dirty water jets straight into the middle of the windrow and the dry stuff from above falls over the hole.

 

[Barleycorn]

We have a Compost Systems CM300. Our FYM is quite dry as we keep the calving yard and fresh calver yard well littered to avoid mastitis, so we are thinking of putting on some dirty water to help the process.
View attachment 1070485

I like that design of turner as you can always lift it out of work. I have had to dig mine out with the telehandler before now in a big swath. It's better now since I took the rear door off.

 

[sjt01]

I like that design of turner as you can always lift it out of work. I have had to dig mine out with the telehandler before now in a big swath. It's better now since I took the rear door off.

It is really nice when you hit a really compacted spot and break a shear bolt. You can lift it out, start the rotor and gently lower it to break up the lump. We are breaking up stuff which has not been moved for 9 months, so some bits have set quite solid.

 

[wrpugh20]

Has anyone tried composting plant material? We have some miscanthus and are thinking of chopping it with a silage chopper and composting it to spread onto our fields.

 

[hollister]

It will, but might need some nitrogen source and time

 

[CPF]

Has anyone tried composting plant material? We have some miscanthus and are thinking of chopping it with a silage chopper and composting it to spread onto our fields.

We used to do a lot for a very wealthy banker, used to go in once a year and compost all the gardens waste and waste products from the Arboretum used to compost through the muck spreader adding water to it then they would use it through the summer.

 

[Grass And Grain]

Did some turning a couple of weeks ago. A 'virgin' row and the finished product. Shows how much it loses volume, which is good for us as we take it to an outlying farm with no cattle on it, a lot less trips.

I'm intrigued. How long does it take to get from FYM to the composted row shown in the video, and how many times does it need turning?

 

[Lowland1]

We’ve gone from a compost turner to just using a forklift. Mainly because our turner is a big clumsy machine. We use a mix of cow muck and feed waste ( straw, Lucerne hay and vegetable waste ) and can usually turn it to compost in six weeks. We add no water but there’s not much dry in it. Heat is the key.

 

[wrpugh20]

We used to do a lot for a very wealthy banker, used to go in once a year and compost all the gardens waste and waste products from the Arboretum used to compost through the muck spreader adding water to it then they would use it through the summer.

That looks great and definitely could be applied to our system. Thanks