Pallet Compost Bin

Going green and creating your own compost bin isn't as hard as you might think. All those grass clippings, plant prunings, and other yard stuff is easily recycled into compost. The project is simple.
You need pallets, wire (to bind them together), some simple tools, and any extra hardware you would like to add for ease of use.

Step 1 Getting it together...The lay out.

Your going to need 4 pallets minimum. If you decide on a slanted base (floor), you'll need another pallet. Some people may choose a slanted base design to catch the "tea" that your composter produces when watering your compost. The "tea" can be diluted and sprayed on your plants.
We don't have a slanted base in this design. Simple is easier. We're going with 3 sides and a door.

Choose your lay out. I don't need a huge bin, so I opted to stand the sides up to narrow the bins depth. Plus, it gives me a 2x4 side to attach my hinges to.

Comments

[northcalgreens]

Ive been useing ground cloth( very cheap ) on the sides and a piece of old rug for a lid. I wrapped the pallets with chicken wire, which acts as a hinge at the corners. These work great. Remember to balance your browns and greens and keep it moist but not wet. Mulch happens!

[Spaceman Spiff]

This is so awesome I made it, cost me nothing. Thanks for the ible.

[KingLabs]

I'd worry about smells if the compost doesn't get enough oxygen.  However, like you, I'd be willing to try it.  I'm in AZ too and I get a lot of dry spots on the edges, but I'll water my compost pile once every other week and it stays wet in the middle.  I haven't tried plastic on the sides, but I had some luck with an old carpet thrown over the top.  It seems to keep the middle part wet for longer times.  Thanks for the instructions!

[leah_thomas]

If it smells bad your mixture has too much nitrogen. While air helps it does solve the main problem. The general rule is two parts carbon to one part nitrogen. High carbon items are usually brown and dry while high nitrogen is generally green and moist. Other high nitrogen materials are kitchen scraps and manure. Adding things like dry leaves or grass and sawdust can really help neutralize the smell. Typically some people I know only use nitrogen based products.

**Most of the above info came from The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book. The book is wonderful at addressing many gardening problems!!!!

[appieh58]

Great instruction, thank you!
If you want to view a video about this whole proces you can find it here :
homeandgardeneasy.com/how-to-make-compost

On this page I have collected three videos. The first two videos explain the process of making compost. The third video explains making a compost bin with four pallets. However the design of this compost bin is very simple. 

[yogadavid]

Very nice and helpful videos. Thanks

[dbldragons]

if thats what I think it is, I would worry more about what looks to be oleander around the left side of your bin..... I heard a story while living near Tucson about hikers taking branches to cook hot dogs on a fire from an oleander bush and it killed all of them.... its has digitalis (a cardiac glycocide heart stopper) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerium_oleander great instructable though.... we moved to "ugh humid" NC so I think I can skip the plastic and might use chickenwire or hardware cloth instead

[ei]

Thank you - this is just what I'm looking for, something easy to put together. This is going to be my weekend project.

[vanillasmoke]

This looks awesome, but one thing you want to be careful of with pallets is foreign insects.  In our area (Northern New Jersey) there are restrictions on pallets because of the Asian Longhorned beetle.  The larvae are in the wood of the pallet, hatch, and destroy local trees. 

Just something to consider, depending on your area.  It's a great instructable though!

[eecharlie]

A similar design I've seen calls for expanding this to two or three adjacent 'stalls' with shared walls, allowing you to rotate which pile gets fresh material while the others finish composting.

Also, if you use a pallet for the floor you may get better air circulation.

What if you put the plastic along the outside of the walls so it isn't abraded when compost is turned, and creates a layer of airspace outside the pile for circulation? You could even add a lid to catch condensation and get a greenhouse effect speeding things up.

[Haru]

just a reminder to all those who have or make a compost heap to turn it over every so often to prevent fire
and yes they can start smoldering then start a fire

[Darwins_Deathcat]

Hey, great instructable. I'm in Tempe, so I know how hard it is to compost here in the valley. I have a home built compost bin too. I built it into the corner of my block fence in the back yard, so it has concrete blocks for walls on two sides, and wood slats on the other two sides. I used chicken wire to keep the small bits from falling out. I didn't think to use plastic though! How has the plastic lining been working? If it works well, I might just add some to the open two sides of my bin... Also, one thing I wish i had was a lower door that you could swing open to pull all the good stuff out from the bottom. I hate having to remove all the uncomposted top stuff just to get at my good dirt below!

[kootsman]

The plastic lining ended up falling apart. Now, using FRP (Fire Resistant Panelling). Its very durable and will hold the moisture.  The plastic only took a year for it to fall apart. Good luck with your composter. Currently planting carrots, beans, peas, lettuce, broccoli, and califlower.

[Darwins_Deathcat]

Oh, wow. Thanks for getting back to me about this. That's some good info to know. I was planning to use some leftover "vapor barrier" from when I put in our flooring, but I guess I'll forgo that for something else (maybe some of that FRP like you used). Yeah, I planted seeds for carrots, Arugula, lettuce, bok choy, broccoli, and eggplants about two weeks ago. I'm already getting TONS of arugula! I just overseeded the lawn, so I have tons of lawn thatch to add to the compost bin! Time to get it all in order! Thanks again for the info!

[wanttobegreenthumb]

Has anyone experimented with a mesh-type floor for the finished product to fall thru? I really like the idea here. Am very new to this gardening thing and need all the help and suggestions I can get. I have an acre and a third yard, and my garden is 50 ft by 40 ft so I have lots to compost. Also live in the Dairy State so the weather is favorable and there is plenty of manure to add. What else do I need to know?

[kootsman]

Haven't seen any 'mesh' type bottoms. However, there are plans for a slanted 'hard' bottom to catch the drippings from the compost. Also, known as 'Tea'. This liquid is used on your plants. To complex to build on a budget. You definitely need something sturdy on the bottom so you can turn your pile. Good Luck.

[plantintimidator]

my neighbor was a docent at the zoo. To keep neighborhood cats out of her garden, she applied straw that had been used as bedding for the lions. It worked! It seems like this would compost well, and for you people in urban areas, your zoos might be really happy to get rid of this stuff....just a thought.

[thepelton]

That same straw would probably repel deer as well.

[gemgh]

This is simply beautiful and easy to do. We just put our scraps of eggshells and other debris on the ground and cover it with a black mat. The heat from the sun cooks it down and makes it into a usable compose for the garden. We never put bones, meat or citrus in our compose pile. We have a beautifully rich garden from doing this.

[thepelton]

I used pallets to construct a bin for cutoff wood scraps to help clean up my workshop, and constructed a workbench out of pallets stood on end with a four by eight sheet of plywood on top. To stabilize it, since it shook a bit when I first tried to use it, I bolted it to a support pillar in the garage with sturdy angle iron. Lots of things you can do with old pallets, and they can be gotten for free!

[Yerboogieman]

Or if you have pallets and little kids, you can make a fort thing for them.

[bosherston]

Great bin! We also have three like Dreino, keeping one empty for regularly turning and aerating the compost . Put a permeable lid on to keep humidity levels up and ( in our case ) excessive rainfall out! 4 stars :)

[SinAmos]

I appreciate the effort, but that's it.

[laconvert]

Great bin idea! We've had problems with mice and rats being attracted to our compost. Our local council has a good idea to line the bin with wire mesh on all sides. Then either cover the base of the bin with the mesh or put the mesh into the ground by a few inches to stop the mice/rats from digging down and getting into your compost from the bottom.

[dreino]

We actually welcome the mice (not the rats so much), since they tunnel thru the material and add air passages, as well as consume some of the stuff that won't break down as fast as we would like. We use beef cattle manure as a base ingredient for my compost, and it usually contains some whole kernels of corn. The mice dispose of this slow to compost stuff for me. We live out in the boonies, so there are mice everywhere anyway. We have three pallet composters, two of which are full at all times, with the third used to turn the other two into as required to keep the heat going.

[iPodGuy]

I like this design. It looks very nice and your pictures came out well.

[kootsman]

Thanks, appreciate the comment. The bin is full. I've got so much yard work that it keeps the bin maxed out. The plastic is definately needed here in AZ. The compost isn't breaking down as fast as it was in the summer. Composters don't favor cool weather. But it did yield some very good compost. My orange and peach trees dig it... Thanks, again. Jeff

[Zob]

Nice construction. At the last house I had three in a row and they work very well, Be sure to use some of the previous compost as a starter. Make layers and mix grass cuttings with some soil otherwise you get a slimey glob that stinks. Happy composting

[smrat alleck]

very nice. always happy to see simple, functional uses for discarded pallets!

[skincage]

Nice to see someone else in AZ making their own bin. I'm in Tucson and experimenting with one myself.

[turia777]

The great job comment above was not done by kootsman but by his wifie "me". I had to sign out of his acct first :-p