Does finished compost degrade?

[starry night]

Sorry if this subject has been discussed previously. I tried a search but didn't find it. What happens to a pile of finished compost? Does it become less effective in any way? From heat, cold, wet, dry; or by any further biological or chemical action in the pile?

[Kiril]

Sorry if this subject has been discussed previously. I tried a search but didn't find it. What happens to a pile of finished compost? Does it become less effective in any way? From heat, cold, wet, dry; or by any further biological or chemical action in the pile?

It will continue to decompose, and when it rains you are leaching out stuff you would probably rather keep there.

[Smallaxe]

I think the last stage of decomp is the humic acids etc.
Any 'black' soil will turn back to the original color of the parent material over time. Especially in fields that have not been tilled for a long time. Forest floors are a good expample of : Where did 4000 years of decomposing leaves and trees go?

[pt03]

What kind of time frame are we talking here?

The materials that go into compost are normally being continually digested. At first, the easily digested stuff gets consumed quickly, CO2, H2O and heat are given off. Over time, once the easy stuff is consumed, digestion really slows down. A large pile will decrease in volume by about 50% in the first few months but after that it is much slower.

As far as heat and cold, once the compost has gone through a thermophyllic stage it is unlikely to reheat no matter what the ambient air temperature is. Externally cooling or even freezing a pile can slow down consumption of the feedstock materials but the micro-organisms are still there. If someone were to sterilize the compost then these would be killed off. Excessive wetness may cause some odor issues and excessive dryness will cause the consumption to practically cease.

I've stored finished compost in an open top plastic barrel for a couple of years (by accident, I forgot about it), all it did was get finer.

Lloyd:canadaflag:

[starry night]

Just for clarification, it was a general question but on the other hand I was talking about my storage of yard-waste compost from a pioneer company in composting. In this case, piles that start out 25 cubic yards and whether it needs to be used quickly or if it ought to be protected in any way over a period of a few weeks. ******Excess rain sure hasn't been a problem this season. In my area, we have been in drought conditions for lawns.

Also, if you are thinking 25 cubic yards isn't very much. I've only started getting in to topdressing this year and only have a couple clients signed on. I need to invest in a topdresser to cut down on cost (=charges.) !!

[Kiril]

I might consider tarping it if you were going to get a mess of rain, otherwise don't worry about it.

[ICT Bill]

Just for clarification, it was a general question but on the other hand I was talking about my storage of yard-waste compost from a pioneer company in composting. In this case, piles that start out 25 cubic yards and whether it needs to be used quickly or if it ought to be protected in any way over a period of a few weeks. ******Excess rain sure hasn't been a problem this season.
In my area, we have been in drought conditions for lawns.

The dryer it is the easier it is to handle, it will also weigh much less. I vote to keep it covered, it will save your back

[ICT Bill]

Just for clarification, it was a general question but on the other hand I was talking about my storage of yard-waste compost from a pioneer company in composting. In this case, piles that start out 25 cubic yards and whether it needs to be used quickly or if it ought to be protected in any way over a period of a few weeks. ******Excess rain sure hasn't been a problem this season. In my area, we have been in drought conditions for lawns.

Also, if you are thinking 25 cubic yards isn't very much. I've only started getting in to topdressing this year and only have a couple clients signed on this year. I need to invest in a topdresser!!

If you can stage your compost near the customers you could rent one for a day and knock it out

[starry night]

If you can stage your compost near the customers you could rent one for a day and knock it out

Topdressing is unheard of in my area. No rental places have them.

[ICT Bill]

Topdressing is unheard of in my area. No rental places have them.

They are a common tool in sports turf, golf courses, universities, sports complexes all use them, maybe you know someone in that industry and can "rent" one for a day or they can point you in the right direction

Sand based fields are top dressed several times through the year, golf courses commonly aerate and top dress at least twice a year

[Ron D.]

Bill has great point about where to look, and many municipalities list currently unused commercial landscape equipment with online auction companies. In Texas, we have an auction company called Rene Bates that sells everything that cities, counties, and others don't want or don't use. You can come across some pretty good stuff if you watch. Cities' have many municipal sports fields, common areas, medians, etc that they care for, and it's not unusual to see topdressers, areators, seeders, mowers, etc. in these auctions. You can inspect everything by appointment prior to bidding.

As an example, a recent auction in my area had an older 7' aera vator that went for less than $400 (in fair condition), a lesco walk behind gas powered seeder that went for $330 (in real good condition), several groups of multiple equip suh as mowers and trimmers (can buy 5/10 at a time for $40/$75, great for parts if they don't run), a 300 gal sprayer on a tandom axle trailer for $1,800 (this looked to be great deal, very good cond), Jacobson diesel powered reel mowers in good cond. I bought a Turfco Meter Matic III F12D topdresser for $900 for personal use on my 1.5ac. Mine only needed a new wire for the electric clutch.

[Smallaxe]

The biggest drawback for the topdressers is that they don't hold any more than a wheelbarrow does - in most cases.
I do most of my seeding by hand. I can do as good a job covering the lawn evenly with seed as a spreader and use less seed in the process. The same with spreading compost from a wheelbarrow.

I distribute from the wheelbarrow with the same motion as if seeding. I have a partner keep the wheel barrow moving and can empty a pickup truck in about a have an hour. These lumbering machines will be moving to slowly back to the truck for refill.
Plus, for the cost of one of those machines, I can hire help for a lot of pickup loads. More than I have clients for right now anyways.

[phasthound]

We all have our own ways of doing things. I would offer compost top dressing if I didn't own a self propelled top dresser.

[starry night]

We all have our own ways of doing things. I would offer compost top dressing if I didn't own a self propelled top dresser.

Does that read right or did you mean to say "I would NOT offer........"?

[phasthound]

Does that read right or did you mean to say "I would NOT offer........"?

Oops. I would NOT offer ......
Thanks.

[starry night]

I have spread compost with a wheelbarrow, shovel, and rake on small lawns but many (maybe most) of my residentials are 10,000 to 12,000 sq ft.
My commercial properties (banks, restaurants, professional offices) range from 10,000 to 35,000 sq ft. So handwork is not reasonable.

[Smallaxe]

I have spread compost with a wheelbarrow, shovel, and rake on small lawns but many (maybe most) of my residentials are 10,000 to 12,000 sq ft.
My commercial properties (banks, restaurants, professional offices) range from 10,000 to 35,000 sq ft. So handwork is not reasonable.

Wheel barrow and shovel and rake is way slow.

For large areas, 2 wheelbarrows and 2 fillers and 1 person flailing would be much quicker than lumbering back to the truck with one of those power topdressers for another 7 cu.ft.

[ICT Bill]

Wheel barrow and shovel and rake is way slow.

For large areas, 2 wheelbarrows and 2 fillers and 1 person flailing would be much quicker than lumbering back to the truck with one of those power topdressers for another 7 cu.ft.

The short answer is NO
The application is done faster and more evenly, the time saved allows for more acres per day without wearing out the applicator(s)
I am sure the effeciencies are 10X or better

[Smallaxe]

How do you load the hopper? What are you going to do with a 5 yd load of compost dumped on the edge of the property, 500 ft away, to cover 35,000 k?

1 guynot getting wore out?!? Really?!? :)