Just made this from scarp parts, dense pallet, boards 2x 6, and chicken wire. Will this last long?Should I just put cardboard on the bottom?

by Overall-Machine-1984

8 Comments

  1. not_really_cool

    That looks like a pain to turn the compost since there isn’t an open side or door. Also IMO it’d be better not to have a pallet floor but just set it directly on the ground to encourage worms to get in. Depending on your climate, you may want to consider a hinged lid or covering it with a tarp to retain moisture during the dry parts of summer (open it up when there’s rain in the forecast).

  2. WasNeverTheOne

    I Bad a compost with Chicken Mesh once. It worked well.

    However, my latest builds all have at least one “solid” wall as this makes turning the contents easier. Fork-prongs and the corners of spades, sticks etc get stuck in the mesh. I saw someone put a cardboard on the INSIDE of mesh-wire.. that might be a work-around if it doesn’t rot too quickly.

    Tldr: will do, Sticky bits Like getting Stuck in Mesh though.

  3. jlamps1

    Chicken wire will rust away in 3 to 5 years. Get some chain-link fencing if you can. Also go with heavier wooden components, unless the plan is to rebuild every few years.

  4. the_other_paul

    Putting the chicken wire behind the crosspieces means that the weight of the compost is going to push it outward. You should probably add some more cross pieces on the outside of your vertical pieces to help support the chicken wire. Also, you don’t have a good way of turning the bin. You could cut off one side of it and then add a couple of vertical pieces at the corners of that side to act as rails for a [removable door](https://www.reddit.com/r/composting/s/ygh9xZPTEQ).

  5. PatBanglePhoto

    I would ditch the wire and go score a few more free pallets to make a 3-sided, dirt/cardboard floor setup. Then just screw those boards across the front for a barrier as the pile gets deeper

  6. Strong-Expression787

    Those pillars look unstable, i think you should add more wooden rows to make it less flimsy

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