The other factor that works in conjunction with slope is the amount of material put in at any one time. Slowing down on the input quantity is usually needed when decreasing the slope, or the Harvester will overfill and not screen the material completely. When using large mesh screens, and a higher slope, usually more material can be put in at once.

Screen Mesh Size

Jet stocks three size screen meshes: 1/8 inch, 1/4 inch, and 1/2 inch.

1/8 Inch screen mesh is very fine, and your castings will look the best, but you will get the least amount of volume. Most of the worm eggs will not go through this size screen. If the material is very wet, this size screen will do very little without vibration.

1/4 Inch screen mesh is the most commonly used. The castings will still look very good, and you will get more. Some eggs and very small worms can go through. On wet material 1/4 inch mesh screens out much more than 1/8 inch.

1/2 Inch screen mesh is mostly only used when trying to harvest large worms, and as the second or third screen size on a multi-screen Harvester. Many eggs and small to medium worms can go through, and this material would be added back to the bed. Wet material will go through much better than with any smaller size.

Jet builds Harvesters with one, two, or three different screens. This allows for more different types of screened material at one time. A two screen model, like the 2420 or 3620, can have 1/8" on the top and 1/4"  on the bottom, 1/4" on both, or 1/4" on top and 1/2" on the bottom. A three screen Harvester, like the 2430, is suited for separating large worms, as most everything but the largest worms will have gone through one of the screens before reaching the output. The screens are easily changed with only a screwdriver on a Jet Harvester, so you can set it up the way that best suits your beds and needs. You can specify which mesh you prefer installed when ordering, and order additional sizes if desired.

Output Cone and Worm Diverter

The Output end of a Worm Harvester is generally a cone shape. As the material insides the harvester rolls around, the larger or wetter particles will form into balls, like making a snowball. When these reach the end of the Harvester and get into the cone, the increased slope of the sides of the cone cause them to roll out quickly. The worms tend to stick to the metal of the cone, and do not roll as easy, and therefore will stay in the cone longer. Since the cone is rotating, the longer something stays in it, the further over to the side it will come out. The longer a cone is, with the same slope, the further to the side the worms will go, and the better the separation you will get. The output cone on a Jet Harvesters has been designed for optimum worm separation.

With the Jet Diverter shaped like an upside down "V", these two streams are separated enough that you can have the worms land in one container, and everything else in another. The Diverter can be adjusted from side to side, to be able to place it at the right place no matter what the conditions are.

Input Cone on Jet Harvesters

When material is put into any other Worm Harvester, some of it will fall back out. This problem has been addressed with some Harvesters by having the input cylinder be very long. A solid cylinder is doing no screening, and these only make it take longer before the worms can get out. Other put a "ring" around the input cylinder to try to keep material from falling back out. This ring looks very much like the blade on a meat slicer in reverse and can be dangerous for the operator. It also is not entirely.

Jet has taken a different and unique approach, by putting a reverse cone on the Input end of all of our Harvesters. The increased slope of this cone pushes the material forward and onto the screens. The decreased time that your worms spend in the Harvester is another plus. Cones are considerably more expensive to build than a cylinder, but Jet is able to offer this advancement for less money than its' competitions obsolete designs.

When you know how they work, and you know how they are built, the Jet Worm Harvester stands out as not only the Best designed and built Harvester, but also the Best Value. We came up with our innovations because we use Harvesters, and the other designs just didn't cut it.

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