I have no answer to your questions. But I'd say - If you have TWO bins, build one and try it. If it didn't work, you would always have the other bin to build the other way.

I'm not sure I understand what you are going for here. I'm guessing that, basically, the rods will only be attached to the back of the bin. The front of the rods will be held up by some device that will then be attached to the top of the bin for easy lowering. This will allow you to, once the front is lowered, have direct access to the compost, without reaching through the bars.

If that is the case, why not just hold up the bars from the bottom with a piece of wood or something? It sounds a lot easier than having something hanging from the top.

Or, get a grill grate, attach it with eyehooks to act as hinges in the back, and a latch on the front. I would be concerned with the rods ripping out of the back of the trash can.

Otis,
I don't understand completely what you are trying to describe but it seems like you want to have a bottom grate that tilts forward? If you ask me, sounds complicated to build and operate with some potential failures; not making things "easy". To me, easier harvesting is scratching the bottom of the pile with a garden fork rather than dumping out a mucky bin and sorting. If I were you, I would build the simple design and get a feel for how it works. After 6 or 12 months of operating it, consider changes that you want to make to the 2nd bin. I bet you change your mind!

Otis,

Before you build your composter I think you need to take into consideration the weight of the compost. I am just in the process of replacing a hanging bag bin. It was hanging from 1/2 inch rods. And they bent. I took out 10 gallons of compost and they are still bending.

Finished or nearly finished vermicompost is extremely heavy. Nylon rope will stretch. Have you considered if the ropes will hold the load of the finished compost or how you are going to get your knots untied with all that weight pulling them tight.

I am currently building a blue barrel composter and i purchased a dolly to sit it on. I don't believe i will be able to move even a half full barrel without it. The dolly is built for a large tool box and is rated at a thousand pounds. I am hoping that the dolly will hold up under the weight of a full barrel.

I'm not sure you could get it back together after harvesting the first time, though I have a very tentative idea of what you're describing.

I don't see that harvesting with a 3 pronged garden fork is all that difficult. It doesn't seem worth it. I'm in a studio apt, so I have my flow through in a tall kitchen waste basket. I use my fingers to harvest from the bottom. I've harvested 3 times and haven't had a single worm in the vermicompost.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but none of the fancy harvesting mechanisms seem indestructible and even with a big outdoor garbage can, I can't imagine that getting the stuff down with a garden fork would be any harder/easier than getting it from the catchment area to a container.

Oh well, so much for that thought.
susan is right, it will be very heavy to hoist it back up.

If I remember correctly, several posters who used the garden fork mentioned initial problem about the compost not falling down because it got too compacted just by the sheer weight pressing the entire contents down.
Come harvest time, I can always ask my neighbour to help flip the bin on its side and scrape the bottom loose. That should work too.

Thank you all for your comments.

Otis.

otis,

In my opinion keep it as simple as possible. If you are concerned about the VC not coming loose maybe you can implement a manual scraper above the grid. Construct an oval from PVC pipe (sort of like this (-) ) then attach 2 strings of rope to it and feed it through small holes front and back (like this =(-)= ) then you can have a knot on one side and pull the oval back and forth over the grid.

Problem solved?

Alex

Just my opinion, but methinks you're trying to reinvent the wheel - making things a bit complicated in the process.

By the time the castings at the bottom are ready to harvest, they should be dry enough to scrape off and fall through the grate. If they seem a bit "stuck", a simple rap on the side of the barrel ought to loosen things up a bit. And since the worms migrate upwards, there should be minimal chances of getting any stragglers and/or eggs. Again just my opinion........I could be wrong. Mine aren't ready to harvest yet, but soon.

My experience with a large trash can flow through resulted in the following:

1) The compost at the bottom is still very moist. Drier than the stuff at the top often times.
2) If you aren't able to get the compost through the bars with a garden fork, it's unlikely a pvc pipe on top of them will help.
3) Tapping, rapping, hitting, and kicking the sides of the barrel don't do much of anything, with regards to knocking the compost down to the bars.
4) A broom handle inserted from the top, poked through the compost to the bars, and moved around does the job of breaking up the compost. It then drops to the bars, or through, and the garden fork then does its job.

After I harvested for the first time and the compost was hung up above the grate, I pushed down on the top of the pile with my fingers, just slightly, and more compost came tumbling down on top of the grate.

When i harvested my bag the compost slowly settled down. It took a couple weeks before it was on the bottom again. For me there isn't a need to harvest any more often than that.