Building A Cylindrical Turkey Wire Bin
Something as simple as a four foot tall column of wire mesh makes a good holding bin for yard waste, with storage for about 40 bushels of material. A turkey wire bin can also be used for final composting as well. It is easy to construct and very inexpensive. It should last for many years. Turkey wire is fencing material with rather wide mesh or openings. A typical turkey wire has horizontal wires 4 inches apart and vertical wires 2 inches apart. It is stiff enough to stand by itself when shaped into a cylinder. Chicken wire, with a much smaller gauge wire and smaller openings is also useful, but it requires supporting stakes to hold it up.
This example uses a 12 foot long piece of turkey wire fencing that is 4 feet wide. Unroll and flatten the wire mesh so that it is able to be fashioned into a single large column. With a pair of heavy duty wire cutters, cut the end wire along the four foot length of the piece leaving a couple of inches of wire sticking out at each cross piece. Now set up the length of wire into a column. Fasten the ends where they meet by bending over the wire ends to assure that the circle stays closed. This creates a holding bin four feet tall and about 4 feet in diameter. Set the wire bin on level ground and fill it with yard waste. As it fills, it becomes more stable. To turn the pile or to get finished compost, simply lift the bin off of the pile and set it down in a new location.
MATERIALS:
4 inch mesh turkey wire 4 x 12 feet long 1
TOOLS:
Heavy-duty pliers and wire cutter.
CONSTRUCTION STEPS;
1. Cut one end of the vertical wire away leaving the ends of all the horizontal wires clear.
2. Bend each of these back on itself so to make a loop.
3. Set the length of turkey wire on one edge. Taking advantage of the pronounced curl in the previously coiled wire, form a large cylinder with the ends of the length of wire meeting to form a seam. Hook each loop formed of strands of wire on the one edge inside the vertical wire at the other end of the 12 x 8 foot piece.
4. When all of the loops are engaged, bend each one tightly around the vertical wire it encloses to assure that it stays fastened.
5. Position the wire cage on any level piece of ground and it will maintain an approximately cylindrical shape even when empty.
