Hi All ;
I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I
have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps
a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms
of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit.
my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at
the table I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would
handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ?
Any other suggestions are welcome.
John T.

On 8/6/2017 9:21 AM, wrote:
Hi All ;
I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I
have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps
a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms
of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit.
my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at
the table I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would
handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ?
Any other suggestions are welcome.
John T.

Maybe a chipper like they use for small branches/etc ? Band saw or a
miter saw ? Clamp a tube big enough to pass the cobs to your chop saw ,
holds the pieces without having your fingers too close to the blade .
Might have to figger out a way to keep them from spinning though .

--

Snag

wrote:
Hi All ;
I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I
have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps
a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms
of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit.
my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at
the table I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would
handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ?
Any other suggestions are welcome.

i have some pretty heavy duty pruners/loppers
that will cut them easily enough, but more often
i just bury them in a garden whole down deep
enough that it doesn't matter how long it takes
them to break down.


songbird

On Sun, 06 Aug 2017 10:21:24 -0400, wrote:

Hi All ;
I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I
have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps
a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms
of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit.
my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at
the table I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would
handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ?
Any other suggestions are welcome.
John T.

Corn cobs take years to compost, so do corn husks... books on
composting say not to bother. If you have a fireplace you can burn
them and then sprinkle the ashes around your plants. I toss them in
the woods... if you don't have a wooded area nearby simply bury them.

Hi All ;
I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I
have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps
a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms
of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit.
my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at
the table I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would
handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ?
Any other suggestions are welcome.


i have some pretty heavy duty pruners/loppers
that will cut them easily enough, but more often
i just bury them in a garden whole down deep
enough that it doesn't matter how long it takes
them to break down.
songbird


Thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought of using a lopper.
... maybe mount it on the work-mate and use it like a paper shear ?
I wouldn't be bothered to dig a hole for a bushel of corn cobs -
that's a big deep hole ! in my clay. .. and I would like to have
the compost - not just dispose of them. Disposal is easy.
John T.

Hi All ;
I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I
have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps
a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms
of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit.
my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at
the table I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would
handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ?
Any other suggestions are welcome.
John T.


Maybe a chipper like they use for small branches/etc ? Band saw or a
miter saw ? Clamp a tube big enough to pass the cobs to your chop saw ,
holds the pieces without having your fingers too close to the blade .
Might have to figger out a way to keep them from spinning though .
Snag


Thanks for thr reply - if I had more use for a chipper/shredder
machine - that would work fine. The new/good ones are hundreds of
dollars, and the cheap used ones are junk.
I can't see myself putting a bushel of corn cobs through my shop
tools - just imagine the wet messy clean-up afterwards !
John T.

Hi All ;
I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I
have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps
a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms
of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit.
my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at
the table I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would
handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ?
Any other suggestions are welcome.
John T.


Corn cobs take years to compost, so do corn husks... books on
composting say not to bother. If you have a fireplace you can burn
them and then sprinkle the ashes around your plants. I toss them in
the woods... if you don't have a wooded area nearby simply bury them.


Thanks - my back-up is to feed the livestock at a nearby farm.
They feed corn sileage through a TMR mixer.
I was just hoping to use our household compost in our own compost bins
- rather than _drive them_ somewhere ..
John T.

On Sun, 06 Aug 2017 20:45:09 -0400, wrote:


Hi All ;
I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I
have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps
a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms
of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit.
my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at
the table I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would
handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ?
Any other suggestions are welcome.
John T.


Corn cobs take years to compost, so do corn husks... books on
composting say not to bother. If you have a fireplace you can burn
them and then sprinkle the ashes around your plants. I toss them in
the woods... if you don't have a wooded area nearby simply bury them.


Thanks - my back-up is to feed the livestock at a nearby farm.
They feed corn sileage through a TMR mixer.
I was just hoping to use our household compost in our own compost bins
- rather than _drive them_ somewhere ..
John T.

Livestock wont eat cobs, nor will they eat corn stalks... farmers plow
them into the ground. If you toss cobs into your yard birds will peck
out the last specks of kernals but they won't eat the cobs. If you
have a lot of corn cobs I strongly suggest you bury them. I toss corn
cobs into the hedgerow where I dump Norway spruce cones
from the wind break, the cones that drop where I mow get mowed with
mulching blades on my 7' mower. I spent the day mowing from 10 AM
till 6 PM, too tired to eat dinner, went the entire day without eating
a bite... gotta do the mowing while the sun shines, been too much rain
this year. I'll eat tomorrow.

On Sun, 06 Aug 2017 21:24:30 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 06 Aug 2017 20:45:09 -0400, wrote:


Hi All ;
I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I
have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps
a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms
of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit.
my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at
the table I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would
handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ?
Any other suggestions are welcome.
John T.


Corn cobs take years to compost, so do corn husks... books on
composting say not to bother. If you have a fireplace you can burn
them and then sprinkle the ashes around your plants. I toss them in
the woods... if you don't have a wooded area nearby simply bury them.


Thanks - my back-up is to feed the livestock at a nearby farm.
They feed corn sileage through a TMR mixer.
I was just hoping to use our household compost in our own compost bins
- rather than _drive them_ somewhere ..
John T.


Livestock wont eat cobs, nor will they eat corn stalks... farmers plow
them into the ground.


I don't know where you farm, but around here corn sileage is
everything from about 6 inches off the ground - chopped by the
harvester and packed into bunker silos, leaving only stubble
in the field. Cattle eat it - mixed with hay.

http://www.americasdairyland.com/on-...ion/cornsilage

John T.

wrote:
....
Thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought of using a lopper.
.. maybe mount it on the work-mate and use it like a paper shear ?
I wouldn't be bothered to dig a hole for a bushel of corn cobs -
that's a big deep hole ! in my clay. .. and I would like to have
the compost - not just dispose of them. Disposal is easy.

i keep worm bins, chop them into pieces and the
worms and fungi eventually break them down.

but for a bunch of them at a time it would be
easier for me to bury them as i usually keep a
trench or hole going for garden debris. i don't
waste any organic materials around here if i
can help it. we have clay with a little sand.
all the organic materials i can find and the
worms do a great job in keeping the gardens
going.


songbird

wrote:
....
I don't know where you farm, but around here corn sileage is
everything from about 6 inches off the ground - chopped by the
harvester and packed into bunker silos, leaving only stubble
in the field. Cattle eat it - mixed with hay.

http://www.americasdairyland.com/on-...ion/cornsilage

yep, obviously not someone who's been in the
country...


songbird

wrote in
:

On Sun, 06 Aug 2017 21:24:30 -0400,
wrote:
Livestock wont eat cobs, nor will they eat corn stalks...
farmers plow them into the ground.


I don't know where you farm, but around here corn
sileage is
everything from about 6 inches off the ground - chopped
by the harvester and packed into bunker silos, leaving only
stubble
in the field. Cattle eat it - mixed with hay.

http://www.americasdairyland.com/on-...hecows/nutriti
on/cornsilage

John T.






is an idiot.

wrote in

On Sun, 06 Aug 2017 21:24:30 -0400,
wrote:
Livestock wont eat cobs, nor will they eat corn stalks...
farmers plow them into the ground.

I don't know where you farm, but around here corn
sileage is everything.

Where I live in NYS (Northern Catskills) corn silage is not
economically feasable, for that reason the dairy farmers shy away from
the practice. In fact NYS has cut way back on dairy farming and are
more into beef cattle and other livestock, especially horses, race
horses specifically. I own some large acrerage that I lease to a
cattle farmer, it's more profitable for him to grow organic hay, most
of which he sells to the down state race tracks and to those who breed
and winter race horses in this area. Growing corn for silage is not
compatable with growing corn for human consumption, thereforethe vast
majority of those who grown corn here chose to grow corn for human
consumption... for silage much different equipment is required for
planting and harvesting and then there's the storage problem. Here
it's more economical to plow corn stalks under.

https://reeis.usda.gov/web/crisproje...-new-york.html
"Corn silage yields less in New York compared with other dairy
states.If New York dairy producers wish to remain competitive, corn
silage yields and quality must inprove. The purpose of this study is
to improve the management practices of New York corn silage producers,
which should improve profitability of the New York dairy industry."

Most dairy farms in NYS have shut down many years ago... for one the
Feds forced them out of business.

Livestock wont eat cobs, nor will they eat corn stalks...
farmers plow them into the ground.

around here corn sileage is the whole plant

Where I live in NYS (Northern Catskills) corn silage is not
economically feasable, for that reason the dairy farmers shy away from
the practice. Here it's more economical to plow corn stalks under.


Here in southern Ontario some farmers have started to bail the corn
stalks, when the whole corn plant is not harvested for silage.

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/.../ct-1116a3.htm

John T.