In production since last week this TexasRedWorm Flow Through 2 has been a work in progress for several years. I have been looking at examples of flow through bins homemade and commercially available for some time. This latest design is the latest version predated by several prototypes. This latest evolution has been a success thus far. I ended up purchasing the metal racks from Costco for about $137. Easy to assemble and very sturdy, these were a great buy at a good price. I spent about $70 on hardware (nuts, bolts, screws, washers, 20′ of .25″ cable, and cable clamps). Key to a long lasting box built around the metal rack, were cypress 2×6′s from TexasDozer.com cut from my dad’s saw mill. Cypress will not rot and in it’s natural state (no chemicals used to preserve the wood) and will not leach out anything harmful to the worms or castings.
The cutting diamond bar was fabricated out of scrap and square tubing for the guides. This will be pulled with winches mounted to both sides of the rack to cut and harvest castings from the bin.
Two mason tubs purchased at Lowe’s for around $13 each rest on the bottom rack just below the flow through bin to catch castings. The bottom of the bin was lined with newspaper and worms and compost were added. We will let the worms go to work for several weeks feeding compost as needed. Over the next few weeks the newspaper will break down and the bin will be ready to harvest. For the initial harvest, remove by hand the newspaper from under the screen. Use the winch from one side to move the cutting bar across the bottom of the bin one time.
