Aaron,
I found a cool web site that seems to be right up your alley regarding your compost questions:
http://vegweb.com/composting/The following is an excerpt from that site:
Two Bin and Three Bin Systems:These systems consist of two or three adjacent bins, and may be made out of the same materials as a one bin system. The advantage of having more than one bin is that one can have a bin for the pile being built (as ingredients are accumulated over a period of time) and another one (or more) for a pile already built that is in a more advanced stage of decomposition. If you have the space for such a system, and are generating or gathering enough materials to keep the bins in use, this can be very convenient. When you start using a system like this, build your pile in one of the bins. When this bin becomes full, 'turn the pile' by transfering it to the adjacent bin (a garden fork or similar tool will help). This will aerate the pile and hasten decomposition. An alternative that I have found to be very successful is to let redworms do the turning 'in place' (this way I save myself labor and just leave the pile in its original bin). Whatever you choose to do, you can now begin to build a new pile in an empty bin while the first pile continues to decompose.
I find that a two bin system works well for me, but other people generate more compost or like to have a bin for storing finished compost, and therefore choose a three bin system. In a three bin system, you might start by building a pile in the leftmost bin. The original pile is turned into the middle bin when it's time to begin building another pile, aerating it to accelerate the composting process. Another pile is then built in the leftmost bin. When that pile is completed, the old pile (which is now in the middle) is turned a final time into the rightmost bin for finishing, and the just-built pile is turned into the middle bin, making the leftmost bin available for yet another pile. Finished compost will eventually be removed from the rightmost bin.
