Hot compost dreams

I have tried many times, but fail to make hot compost every time.
I have said more than once I'm done trying to make hot compost. Then I watched a hot compost video by the permaculture consultant, and he made it seem full proof.  https://youtu.be/BE8GQBT0onE?si=kz89RUezEgQLCmvN
I have a compost bin full of dry kitchen and garden waist. Most places it would be a slimy stinky mess because it's all green, or was, but now it's a lot of dry crispy stuff.
In a perfect world I would have followed the very simple instructions exactly. Unfortunately it's not a perfect world. I'm using my pallet/wood box compost bin. I didn't think I had any fencing that would work. (I did find some when I was done, so I may use it when I flip it.  I don't have 10 5 gallon buckets. I just don't have to money to buy a bunch of buckets. To compensate I used the 5 gallon buckets I had to measure out the browns and greens, putting the measured stuff in what ever containers I had. I don't have a source for manure.
I cut up the greens into small pieces, and used lots of different greens, so I would have a diverse compost. For browns I used 6 buckets of wood chips, and 12 buckets of shredded cardboard.  Everything was soaked in water overnight (this broke a couple of my bins, bummer 😞). I couldn't find my tarp, so I mixed the browns and greens on the ground in front of the pile.  I hope it will heat up. I worry it doesn't look like a large enough pile. I may do one more 10 bucket layer.
I did find a dollar tree tarp that is thin, but just the right size to cover the top.
I didn't use weeds. I trust the recipe and process, but not the execution. I think I did it right except for the manure, but it did get confusing. I may start keeping my eyes out for cheep buckets. It would be a lot easier if I had 10.  Any way with luck in about 4 days I will be turning my pile. The great thing about this system is not only does he make it very simple to get the browns and greens ratio right, he says you only have to turn it 3 to 5 times. Which is great because that's the hard part for me.  If you struggle with hot compost check out this guy's video, he really makes it simple. Wish me luck.

What are your ratios for green vs brown?

Sympathy here - I must admit I never do hot composting, although the idea of weed and pathogen free compost is appealing! Let us know how it progresses.
I think tumbler compost processes would probably make turning most easy.

His recipe is 3 buckets of greens, 6 buckets of browns, and 1 bucket of manure, times at least 3 layers. I used 4 buckets of greens (1 was all comfy) because I don't have a source for manure.  I do have chickens, but didn't want to scoop up thousands of little piles of chicken poop. I wouldn't have filled 3 buckets anyway. I thought about buying a couple of bags of composted steer manure, but I was trying not to buy anything for the compost. Also I don't know if that would work considering it's already been composed.
If it doesn't work I'm not going to lie, I will be very disappointed, but eventually I should still have useable compost. Time will tell.

If it gets going well I might try to incorporate the crispy pile.  I watered it well, and we are expecting rain tomorrow, so hopefully it won't be crispy. I may use the cultivator to chop it up. There's a lot of large stuff in there.
The other reason I would like this to work is I have enough tomato plants that need to come out to fill at least 9 buckets, even if I cut them up like I did for this pile. I didn't have that much cardboard left, but I have a new pile of wood chips. Also with fall coming I'm about to have a ton of English walnut leaves, and I would feel safer if they hot composed.
One way or the other I will have to make another compost pile.

Do you have any idea what part of the country he is in?

If his method works for you that is great.

I think he's in Texas

One place to check for free buckets is at Swimming Pool Maintenance companies.   Their chlorine tablets come in 6 gallon plastic buckets with screw down lids ...super nice buckets and some companies will save them for you.

A dollar tree kiddie swimming pool might make a nice bottom for you if things are getting too dry.  

Finally, you can't go wrong going big.   When you get it right, you will want more and more and more of that compost ...and your friends and family will want it too.   Those buckets would be handy to give all your friends and neighbors to collect food scraps for you ...the screw down sealed lids make it not gross.

I must be crazy 🤣 I'm so excited. My compost pile is 157 degrees. I can't believe it, it's  working.  155 to 165 I'm supposed to wait 24 hours, and turn it. I work tomorrow, so I hope I have enough time to do it.
I did cover the pile with a tarp, but it doesn't touch the pile. I also put some black pots in front of the pile, I thought they might add a little extra heat.

I've made lots of hot compost, and am no stranger to 75-degree piles, but I think it's overrated. The more a pile heats up, the more C and N you're losing to fast exothermic reactions, and more bad stuff is going into the atmosphere. I'm a fan of just throwing stuff in the bin and letting time, bacteria and fungi, insects and worms all do their thing.

I know some people like the autoclave effect and are big on cooking weeds, but even my best hot piles still had plenty of viable seeds at the end.

I get what you are saying Phil. If cold composting worked well for me, I probably wouldn't bother. It's so hot and dry where I live, it takes forever to break down.  I thought I found the perfect solution a few years ago. I had an old garbage can that had a hole in it. I added a bunch more holes, and dumped kitchen scraps and some garden stuff. After 2 years, I finally dumped it in the compost pile. Everything was still recognizable.
I'll just be happy to have usable compost.

I went out after work to turn the pile, and the temperature was 140 to 145, so I decided to wait. At that temperature I'm supposed to give it 3 days. So I plan to turn it on Thursday unless the temp goes way up. I think it cool down because it's quiet a bit cooler today, and we had a nice little rain this evening. The tarp blew back, so the pile got rained on.
Even with the cool down, it's still hotter than I have ever managed before.