Compost Bin Design

A debris loader - sounds veeeeerrrrrrrryyyyyy impressive! I think we may not be big enough here to have one of those yet. I'll have to work on it.

I am only 3 acres but lots of pine needles, compost development, and it is the best source of leaf collection from the streets of your neighbors in the fall. I love it and have used it for many things. My favorite lawn/garden tool.

Huh - I have never heard of a debris loader.... but I think I'm going to start looking for second hand cement mixers!!!!

A debris loader is a huge vaccum hose 8" diameter that sucks up all materials (except rocks) and chips and shreds it blowing it into a truck box. This maceration makes it excellent to provide any plant, manure, stick, leaf, bark or needle to be readied to build the compost potential of any garden to a scale of ten-fold.

woowoo! I could go along the lane and just clear the entire road! What would the neighbours say except thank you.

exactly and in one day you could more than you could process in a year. There is my reason for Debris Loader. My neighbors love me, the city loves me, my wife loves me, my worms love me and most important my garden loves me.

Not to mention all on PNW thread.

Gee I feel honored. Thank you. Nobody is getting any of my compost on PNW thread though.

I'm sure they would know better than to ask.

Ha!

I also have incorporated the debris loader with a "dump trailor" because mostly I am getting wiser (Lazy). I now can vaccum, shred, stack and dump any of my garden projects with the energy of a machine and not my bones and joints that I need to finish this life with. You can always get another debris loader but not a pair of hips. I paid 720 bucks (I think, I remember) on ebay and picked it up in Michigan on a trip home to my parents. They run about 2500 to 3500 new. This one rolls around on wheels and follows my lawn tractor when I use it in the non-roaded garden area. I use the trailor also for large boulder, stump, and large hardscape hauling. The welder guy who did my design offered me 6,000 bucks for the trailor because he could use it for a million things at his shop. I am not on a place I can post photos so no picture.

I'm looking forward to photos Sofer.

Yes, Sofer, show us some pictures, please!

This is my trailer with the dump wagon. I haul bark, and shreddings. The hoist allows me to hook the debris loader (200 #) to the trailer without having to lift it. Then I pull it around with my truck and steal the leaf piles from the city. I as you can see can haul quite a bit. I don't have any pictures of the debris loader on this computer.

Oh I found one hiding. Here is the combo.

Neat trailer and dump wagon. Is that your landscaping in the back ground?

Sofer, I am genuinely envious! When I cut my day job down, I want one of these - I can just picture trawling through our lanes collecting everything up - I'm going to enjoy retirement when it gets here, wait til I tell dh!

Thank you for your envy. Yes I am not waiting for retirement because I want the soil ready when I retire. My 3 acres of land is only 1/2 developed in raised beds. Each year I have to build all of my soil from thing I bring home with the debris loader. I get a lot of mushroom compost from the horse/sawdust piles everywhere. And that mixed with my soil existing on my property is what makes my garden grow and go.
Dean I used to have a garden journal to go to but now Dave has removed all of those hard worked projects and I have no access to my pictures on this computer.

I guess you new ones haven't seen my garden of which I am proud. Dave took off the Garden Journals that had all of it but here is a couple of pictures. I have used a lot of hardscape with everything else.

another area of the back yard.

Very nice.

Nice Sofer, I like the way you used the rock for the beds.

Eureka! Jackpot, that's the one I was looking for!

I am slowly loading a new Garden Journal as I get time and will let you know Doc when it is finished. This is just one of the many old wood hardscape I am placing all around the garden. Steve

Has anyone tried planting pototes in mulch?? It works great & their is no digging into hard ground to get your pototes, If you like young pototes just move the mulch apart & after you get the size you want just cover the roots up. You will grow big pototes & the pile will stay moist. I bought 20 bales of sphagnum peat moss (oraganic) to start a bin, I will use most of it for 75 new roses that I am going to plant. Instead of digging 75 holes I am going to buy a auger a menards & that will save my back. Any ideas on what to put in my bin beside leaves.
Jerry.

Please give more details on growing potatoes in mulch. thanks!

Linda

Gymgirl, same method different cover..........http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/435/