I have heard great things about simply wiring 4 used pallets together to form a box. They can be painted a lovely shade of green to not offend HOA sensibilities, or perhaps flamingo pink, depending.......

Anywho, chief advantage is using the sides of the bin as a fulcrum to fluff compost up with pry bar, eliminating all that tiresome turning and stuff.

Azura, I seem to have more composting success by focusing on moisture control rather than aeration. Therefore, I have dug down into the ground about 8" and then built the pile in & over that hole. The soil can be used in the pile as it grows. Concrete blocks have worked fairly well but I think that solid blocks would be a better choice than the standard construction blocks I used.

Below is a link to WSU cooperative extension. I clicked on the "Down to Earth" pdf and it has bin plans but there seems to be other useful info on the main page here.

The "stackable bin" looks like a good idea to me. The plan calls for using plastic deck boards but you wouldn't need to do that. Six foot cedar fencing should be just as appropriate.

digitS'

Here is a link that might be useful: WSU cooperative extension composting

Thank you both for your ideas. I showed my hubby the WSU plans and he decided the current bin was fixable after all. :)
Its funny what a little motivation can do.
I will save the link you provided, Digit, because when we build a new deck in a few years I will need to build a new compost bin in a different area.
Go Cougars!!

Greetings and Salutations:

I (likewise) and not the best at woodworking, so I did a site "woodworking for the rest of us". In it I have plans with pictures for a 3 bin composting bin:
http://digital.net/~gandalf/woodcb.htm

The plans are in PowerPoint or PDF.

If you have any questions please ask.

Ken

Here is a link that might be useful: Compost Bin Plans

My DH made a bin for us using some old fence wood. He made it appx. 3 ft square (recommended size told to us at a compost workshop). The bottom is open, so all the good critters that help break down the stuff can get right into it. I took some pics of it for you, azura, in case that would be helpful to your husband. It looks similar to the one in your pic, but maybe the wood post my husband used on ours are providing more strength to the structure of it (as I see yours is coming apart at the seams).

We've never done composting before, but I think we are off to a good start. When I turn it about once a week, I can see some good stuff forming on the bottom of the pile! Our plans are for him to make another one sometime soon so we can start a new batch in it, while the other one is finishing it's cooking without adding more to it (this is what the said to do at the compost workshop we went to).

Here are the pics:

Here is the whole view of it:

This shows you the insides:

And here is the underside of the lid, which shows you the supports he used: