Mixing Compost

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argonaut

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Mixing Compost
« on: May 18, 2015, 11:40 »
Hi …. My local council offer free ‘compost’ ……. It’s not quite the soft brown sweet smelling stuff you buy in a garden centre ………. It’s black, can contain ash (sometimes still hot)
It contains a lot of rotted stem & stalk that can be thickness of a finger and a couple of inches long.
I have taken about 3 tonne in past 3 years mix it in with rotted cattle manure, and seaweed form local beach, and it has transformed my clay rich heavy solid into a very good growing medium – and its free, as much as you want.
As I rotate each growing area to potatoes have prepared the bed with this dual mix.

My question is has anybody come up with a decent way to mix composts, I have just  filled up 4 of  the large 3330L bins with my own garden waste and this council compost …. Hoping the heat & mass of the imported compost will accelerate breakdown of my garden waste.
What I would like to do is then find some way to chop/shred/mix it  ………  just to get  it to reasonable size before incorporating into the garden. 

When it is in the ground I have in the past run a Mantis back and for and that does work …….. just wondered if anybody has found a way before I put it in the ground.
I did wonder about just emptying bins and trying tiller on those, but expect  it would be thrown everywhere.
I do have a branch shredder … but assume this would clog if I tried putting compost in.



« Last Edit: May 18, 2015, 11:44 by argonaut »
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Uzzy

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Re: Mixing Compost
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2015, 15:05 »
Could you not shred in the bin by modifying the lid to close with the tiller through the middle thus stopping it shooting everywhere.

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argonaut

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Re: Mixing Compost
« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2015, 15:32 »
I do have a 25 gall plastic cold water tank use for rain water ... I could use that as a pot to mix using the mantis.

Just seem to think the compost will be all the  better if I can get it 'shredded' and mixed.

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Uzzy

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Re: Mixing Compost
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2015, 15:59 »
Do the blades on the mantis not chop it up ? Maybe a spare of blades and sharpen them up, its only a suggestion.

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argonaut

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Re: Mixing Compost
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2015, 16:04 »
The Mantis does chop it well when used in the ground .... maybe I'll try it in water tank ...just think it might clog if not moving fwd

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Uzzy

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Re: Mixing Compost
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2015, 08:29 »
The only other thing I can think of is if the mantis is running and you feed it a bit at a time or make it so the manitis can be rotated like if you put a stick in a jar through a hole you can rotate it at an angle. I do hope that you understand that. That way it will always be moving in a forwards direction if only around the drum/ tank.


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