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i am collecting a load of horse manure this weekend and would like to know how best to store it?
on the ground with a waterproof cover or would i need to put it on pallets to let the air through?

Plastic bags is probably best, no nutrient loss and matures very quickly. But if you are getting loads then I think a big heap on the ground is fine.

super tanks graham

I read this as "how do I ...horse manure" and I though to myself well first get a horse....hmmm

very good jessie

ok so it should read ow do i store horse manure

If you have a wall then it is best stacked up against a wall in a big heap in a sort of triangular shape and if possible covered with some corregated iron sheets. Don't cover it with plastic or indeed store it in plastic bags as it will sweat and turn rancid. The reason of the metal sheeting is that 1stly it keeps the rain off it and secondly as it heats up and sweats the steam will hit the sheets, cool down and the water will run down the chanels of the sheeting to the base of the heap. If you don't have the wall and metal sheeting then try to find a place out of the way and stack it in a pyramid type heap then, if possible you can rig up a tarpaulin over the top but not touching the heap. Again this keeps the rain off and lets it mature at it's own pace.

Obviously this is different to other sugestions but this is how i was told to do it and have done for a lot of years so essentially this is my method, maybe not the best but it's the one I choose to do.

Also if possible ask if the horses were in a field that had been sprayed with chemicals and if so which ones as some of these can be passed through the grazing animals and into the manure AND REMAIN active so when you lump it on your veg plot it kills the plants.

tanks for the advise folks... big al i dont hava wall so a pyramid seems like the way to go... il find something to cover the pile!

giggles wrote:tanks for the advise folks... big al i dont hava wall so a pyramid seems like the way to go... il find something to cover the pile!

4 sticks in the ground with a tarp suspended above like those posh triangular sun sails etc.

When we kept horses all of the manure was stacked at the end of the field, uncovered, it was fine to use on the garden being kept in this way,I suppose it would be better covered as it will remain dry. Prepare for it to smoke though, the middle of the muck heap gets really hot and starts mini fires so be careful if you are in warmer climes.

in my research i have come across a system that captures the heat from the manure pile

it involves coiling a water pipe underneath the manure and a 12v pump which slowly moves the water around.
this can be grey water from your house which is pumped through the coil under the manure and through piping under the floor of your house... also this pipe can coil under compost piles and through the green house

sounds like a great idea to me and hope to be installing such a system soon

has anyone done such a system?

giggles wrote:in my research i have come across a system that captures the heat from the manure pile

it involves coiling a water pipe underneath the manure and a 12v pump which slowly moves the water around.
this can be grey water from your house which is pumped through the coil under the manure and through piping under the floor of your house... also this pipe can coil under compost piles and through the green house

sounds like a great idea to me and hope to be installing such a system soon

has anyone done such a system?

Load of S** manure if you ask me. Sure underfloor heating is a good idea but it's a daft idea to do this if you are thinking of using manure as your heat source. The cost and disruption of underfloor heating is high so you need to look again at this........ unless April the first is tomorrow and not in 5 months that is.....

"only the curious find life a mystery"

Hadn't noticed that before Big Al!

how do you figure it will be costly? only a 12v pump run from wind turbine/solar panels via 12v battery... and some black piping... thats not costly.... anyways yes it can be done and i am hoping that someone on the seffsufficient site will have setup a similar system

Millymollymandy wrote:"only the curious find life a mystery"

Hadn't noticed that before Big Al!

It's been there a while MMM but thanks for noticing it.

giggles wrote:how do you figure it will be costly? only a 12v pump run from wind turbine/solar panels via 12v battery... and some black piping... thats not costly.... anyways yes it can be done and i am hoping that someone on the seffsufficient site will have setup a similar system

On second reading this morning in the light of day, my post last night could have upset you. If it did then I appologise as I didn't mean to. I was trying to be a bit whimsical playing of the word S** with the word manure. I haven't edited the original post as it would make this appology worthless but I do appologise if it offended you giggles. Maybe I shouldn't post when I'm aching like a stuck pig and at night after no sleep in the previous 36 odd hours.....


If I read your original post correctly you want to install underfloor heating using horse manure as your heat source, a 12v pump powered by alternative energy to move water around the system and grey water to supply the warm water to the house. If that is correct then here are my reasons for challenging your ideas.

I don't think it will be viable on a house project but I would say it could be interesting useing clean water and horse manure for the likes of a greenhouse. I'm not saying it can't be done just not wise because of the initial set up and instillation costs.

Firstly you need an absolute unending supply of horse manure to provide the heat but more "costly" would be the distruption to either lift floorboards and install your black pipe under the floorboards which to save energy would also have to be on top of a form of insulation in order to stop the heat dissapating into the cold void under the floorboards. If you have concrete floors then you need to have the black pipe covered in a screed or fixed into a polystyrene base then topped with wood or a solid flooring of your choice. These both would involve a lot of cost in materials and labour.

Thirdly the 12 v pump might be run off a wind turbine or solar panel but these either need to be bought at considerable cost unless you already have them in which that might save money but you will need a regulator and timer because if you just put a pump on a system it may well be too powerful and push the water too fast.

This has the edffect of not pushing hot or even warm water round the system but instead cold water because the water has not spent enough time in the heat source, in your case the manure to warm it up sucessfully enough.

Fourthly using grey water is not recomended as grey water goes stagnant very quickly and even if it is a sealed system you will have problems with blockages.

Hopefully this explains my thoughts and helps you.

Big Al