I read all the directions and tried to follow them turning the pile first by hand then with the tractor with the front end loader. I got lazier every year and did less, but still have a 'steaming' pile every year which means it's composting and breaking itself down. It will get hot inside the pile so be careful. I have heard of them catching fire, mine never has. First off, you don't have to have the manure pile far away from the barn/paddock area. Make sure that the pile is convenient for you to get to. We located it just about 10 feet away from the barn and towards the back of the paddock. Just behind there is where we end up 'spreading' the composted pile each year. Behind our barn and paddock area there is a fairly steep hill that goes on a ways down. We use the compost to build up a flat area. It seems like you've got a lot of material, but it breaks down to just about nothing. Do not use the composted material for areas that the horses will travel or to fill in low areas. It becomes slippery and will hold water. It ends up looking a lot like peat moss. People love the compost and we used to have a neighbor that would come and fill his pickup truck bed full several times for his garden. It's great for garden areas especially if you till it in with dirt.
I think the most important thing is that you don't just have one pile that gets taller and bigger. Air and water needs to get to the material inside for it to compost. I didn't want to build boxes etc. so I just start a pile in one area, and once it gets a few feet high, I start another mound next to it. I layer some used hay, leaves or other organic matter in. I use a circular area about 10 feet across. I have little mounds that blend into each other going all the way around so that I eventually have a plateau instead of a mountain. If anything, you want the center to be lower like a volcano so that it will absorb water. If it is a mountain shaped pile, the water runs off and it doesn't work as well. Every so often, when I have 1-2 feet of poop, I sprinkle powdered lime on it, using a large old strainer. It looks like a big powdered donut. I'll add a light layer of hay when I see nothing but poop, but I don't use much hay in the pile it takes up a lot of space and takes longer to break down. I like to throw the "this is over 12 hours old and not good enough for us to eat" hay down the hill under the pines where the deer will eat it or it will break down into the forest floor. The pile looks like it is getting bigger then it seems to shrink as the manure composts. Having it in a fairly sunny area is good too. We only get rid of the pile once a year and it was only about 3 feet tall when we got rid of it this September. As a bonus, the horses seem to leave many of their piles right next to the big pile, so I don't have far to go. Between the powdered lime, the composting, picking out the stalls and paddock twice a day and the fly predators in the summer, we do not have a fly or odor problem. My farrier always comments on how we have so few flies. Hope this helps. I'm sure I've forgotten something and I'd be happy to try to answer any questions -- Anna Southern Ohio
