Wooden pallets for compost

[EnchantedDaisy]

I am starting a new compost pile at my new house and thought that I could use 2 wooden pallets to form the back corner. I thought they'd work well because they are sturdy and provide good ventilation and I could bury them a foot or so in the ground for rigidity.
Any concerns using them?
Where is a good place to get used ones? The place I used to get them is over an hour away

[Meatburner]

EnchantedDaisy, not sure what you mean by using only two pallets to make the back corner. Normally, one is built using 3-4 pallets bolted together and do not need to be buried. Just trying to help and welcome!

[EnchantedDaisy]

Okay, I was thinking on the diagonal...so a square compost area but only 2 tall sides that can graduate down to the front. I'm pretty petite and would not be able to reach over if the tall pallets were on the front side. I thought I could use 2 for the back corner (two sides) but finish off the front with chicken-wire or cinder-blocks with posts between them or somesort so I could access the pile.
Like this: pallets-----> |_

[tomc]

E.D. you certainly could use a lower access side. FWIW look over some of the banks of three pallet compost(s).

If you have the space a bank of three with low fronts may do you better...

One to collect, one to rot, one to break apart the contents of.

[toxcrusadr]

I use steel stakes for the corners rather than bury the pallets. They will rot faster if you bury them. You can use a lightweight 'tomato stake' or a heavier 'T-Post' - that's what I use. The pallets can be wired, screwed or nailed together.

You can cut one in half for the front so you can reach over it, or wire the front shut so you can open it easily and swing it out like a door. Lots of ways to do it.

[Marlingardener]

Like Toxcrusader, we use T-posts to anchor the pallets. Much sturdier than trying to bury the pallets a bit.
Why do you need a front to the compost bin? We simply make a U shaped one, and adding, tossing, and digging out is a lot easier.
Pallets are great for compost bins, for all the reasons you mentioned. Try looking at construction sites (some materials come on pallets) or at big-box stores. Ours came from a small manufacturing plant that was paying to have them hauled off!

[rainbowgardener]

"Why do you need a front to the compost bin? We simply make a U shaped one, and adding, tossing, and digging out is a lot easier. "

I never understand how this works for people. I have to have not only a front, but a top on my bins. Otherwise the raccoons and lots of other 4 legged critters have a field day in there and spread the left overs all over the yard. (And I am vegetarian, no meat products ever go in there. And I always bury the kitchen scraps well under a big layer of leaves. None of that makes any difference.)

[Marlingardener]

Rainbow, our compost piles are in the barn lot where there are few pests except rabbits; we have coyotes patrolling the pasture which takes care of raccoons, 'possums, etc.; and birds will seek out some of the kitchen scraps, but don't toss them about. I guess we are just lucky!

[rainbowgardener]

I'm in the city. Besides squirrels, raccoons, possums, woodchucks, we have rats, mice, shrews, voles, cats and dogs... no coyotes, but one was spotted not too far from me.

[Lucius_Junius]

Pallets are da bomb, especially for compost bins. I slide one across as a front to keep my dogs out of it, but leave the top open to let the chickens in to hunt around for treats.

[rot]

..
For ideas about bins you can just do a web search on 'compost bins' and somewhere in that search should be a collection of photos and you can just browse those for a start.

Otherwise maybe:
http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/compost-info/

to sense
..

[ElizabethB]

My 2 cents - bolt 3 pallets in a "U" shape. Stake the corners with re-bar or tie the back panel to a fence. Don't bury the pallets. You need the height to cook a good bin. Make 2 side by side. Real easy to turn when you can go from one to the other.

G built 2 bins for me using scrap lumber and chicken wire. The bins are 4' x 4' x 4'. The front is 2 6" boards that slide into the bin so I can pull them out to dig my compost.

Good luck.

[EnchantedDaisy]

Thanks for all the ideas and variations. I need to get this thing put together before my pile gets any bigger