Owner's Report On "Making Compost"
By Jim Houtsma, Associate Editor

Reprinted from FarmShow Vol. 22, No. 3, 1998

    Arnott K. Duncan, Goodyear, Ariz.: Duncan Farms produces 8,000 to 9,000 tons of compost a year out of six to eight semi loads a day of horse manure and straw that Arnott gets from a nearby race track. He applies all the compost to his 2,000 acres of specialty crops, which include 200 to 300 acres of organic lettuce and carrots.
    "We just bought the 1998 12-ft. turner from HCL Machine Works and we're generally well pleased with it. What I like best is that it leaves a nice, peaked pile.

    "I used a Wildcat Mfg. 10-ft. turner for two years before buying the HCL. It was a good machine but it simply wasn't big enough for my needs. It also left piles somewhat flattened."
    He believes composting is the coming thing.
    "It's conceivable that everybody will be doing a certain amount of composting in the future."
   
    Kenneth Stone, Winton, Calif.: "These machines are so low-maintenance and reliable I plan to buy a third one this year to keep up with the growth in my business," says Kenneth who owns both the 10 and 12-ft. HCL Machine Works turners. He uses them to produce 40,000 tons a year of compost from cotton gin trash and dairy manure.
    "Before I bought these machines, I used a big self-propelled Scarab machine that sold for $160,000. I like these $20,000 machines better because they make a better quality compost and more of it. The self-propelled machine turned the windrow too fast and made windrows that were too big. Besides having to hire skilled operators, the self-propelled machine also used $100 a day worth, of fuel. The pull-type machines I use now cost less than $20 a day in fuel to operate and they don't require skilled operators to run them. That's important because we use them nine hours a day, six days a week, spring through fall.
    "The advantage to the farmer is that the product I sell him is a lot better than the raw product. It's already broken down and ready to go to work in the soil when he gets it."

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