The Worm Harvester is a three-way casting, cocoon and worm sifter on wheels with an electric motor driving the sifting screen. As the sifting screen shakes, the user places vermicompost with worms, castings, and cocoons onto the screen. It’s like magic, the castings sift through the 1/8″ or 1/32″ perforated screen and fall into a chute directing it to a container or conveyor. The worms and larger material like cocoons move down to a 1/4″ or 1/8″ perforated screen where the cocoons fall through to the next chute where they are directed into another container or conveyor. The worms are moved back to the low end of the screen and fall off the rear into a prepared worm container or bucket
The Brockwood Worm Harvester works with all types of worms, even mealworms, and crickets. Optional screen panels are available for special uses such as pre-screening the bedding or making potting soil.
Yes it will with our red worm screen, it is a 3/32″ perforated aluminum screen followed by a 1/8″ perforated aluminum screen. No other commercial machine will sift red worm cocoons as efficiently.
Yes, with the quick change option. Quick change screen inserts are available for Red Worms, Nightcrawlers, and pre-screening bedding. It takes only a few minutes. Check the Options and Prices page to see pictures of the procedure and get prices.
I built the first Stall Shi*fter in November of 1996 and introduced it to the public at the Hoosier Horse Fair in Indianapolis in April of 1997. We have been improving and fine-tuning it ever since. The Worm harvester is exactly the same basic machine with the screen being the only difference. It is proven technology and field tested for 20+ years.
Your worms should be kept in a moisture controlled tub or bin so it will easily crumble and sift. 75% moisture is considered ideal.
Most people are using peat moss or coconut coir however many are experimenting with other bedding such as composted manure and pulverized hemp stems. The best bedding is the one you can get for a good price in good supply that works for you. Peat is a limited resource where composted manure, coir and hemp are renewable.
This condition is aggravated by repetitive palms down labor like shaking a hand screen. This action is replaced by dumping bins or buckets onto the shaking screen.
As mentioned above it will reduce the drudgery of hand sifting and cut that time by up to 90%. It will also save you money on doctor office visits for things like carpal tunnel and tennis elbow. Customers report an increase in recovered castings by 20%. Now that there is an effective way of quickly sifting red worm eggs, that harvest can be increased greatly over hand picking, maybe 1000% or more.
The worm harvester has four wheels and pushes around much like a baby carriage. It is well balanced so that the weight is placed over the 20″ wheels making it easy to turn with about 10 pounds of pressure on the handle.
The worm harvester is 30 inches wide, 72 inches long and 36 inches high and weighs 125 lb. when fully assembled. It ships in three boxes. The box dimensions are: Box one is 64″ x 9″ x 28″, box two is 31″ x 12″ x 12″ and box three is 20″ x 20″ x 9″. Box one weighs 75 lb. and Box two weighs 50 lb and box 3 weighs 21 lb.
There is some assembly work required but nothing too difficult for the average person. There is a fully illustrated assembly manual with many photos. It takes about 45 minutes to assemble.
We expect them to last a lifetime if they are well maintained. We have many of our original wooden models still operating every day. We honestly don’t know how long they will last but it is many years. The very first shifter sold in 1997 is still in daily operation.
A regular drop of oil on the tie rod ends or bearing when it squeaks and normal reasonable cleaning.
Our worm harvester is designed and built so that no special tools would be required for repair. All repairs are simple and seldom required. There are normal wear parts that will require occasional replacement. They are tie rod ends and roller bearings and wear rails.
No adjustments should be necessary, the pitch, speed and screen grid size is optimized for the most efficient worm harvester operation.
Most of our customers harvest worm castings which are sold for fertilizer.
Fishermen purchase night crawlers for use as bait.
This machine separates cocoons from the bedding and the cocoons can be sold to other worm farmers.
Vermiculture is becoming popular in the cannabis cultivation industry as well, where worm castings are used as an environmentally friendly high-quality, organic fertilizer. Under the 2018 Farm Bill, certain producers and tribal lands are licensed to produce plants such as hemp, medical and its genetic offshoots.
The worm Harvester should be considered an investment in equipment, not a cost. As any business person knows, the best way to improve profits is to control costs. The best way to control costs is to eliminate waste and improve efficiency. The worm sifter does both. It will return your investment many times over for years to come. The investment can be recouped in labor savings alone in a very short time depending on the size of your worm operation. When compared to manual hand sifting which includes two sifting passes, the Brockwood Worm Harvester typically reduces sifting labor time alone by 90%. It also greatly reduces back shoulder and arm pain caused by repetitive movement. Check Prices.
Simply pick up your telephone and give us a call at 812-837-9607 or you can email us at theoriginalsifter@gmail.com and we can call you. We accept PayPal, VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. PayPal customers may apply for credit through PayPal.
We can ship via ground transport to anywhere in the Continental United States or Canada. Alaska orders will include some sea travel. Shipment is by UPS. We have also shipped to Alaska, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Great Britain, Norway, Germany, Antigua, The North Pole, China New Zealand, and Australia
Referral Policy
Our satisfied customers are our best advertising resource. With that in mind, we established a Referral Fee program. It is a simple program and benefits everyone involved. There are two ways to get referral fees.
If you have a friend or acquaintance that is a good prospect for purchasing a Shi*fter and you demonstrate your Shi*fter to them and it results in the sale of a shi*fter to that person, we give you a referral fee of 5% of the sale price. You must tell that person to inform us they were referred by you or we won’t know and you won’t get the referral fee.
If we call and ask you to demonstrate your Shi*fter to a prospect in your area and you do so and that demonstration results in the sale of a Shi*fter we will give you a referral fee of 5% of the sale price.
Our customers are our best salespeople and we show our appreciation with these fees. We will never put you in contact with anyone who wants a demonstration without your prior approval.
In all cases, it is your responsibility to inform us that you made the referral or did the demonstration. We want to send out referral fee checks, the more we send out the better off we all are. The referral fee will apply only to the first Shi*fter your referred customer purchases and will not apply to subsequent purchases.