We have a cheap "dalek" worm bin for food waste. When I scraped some
fertilizer out of the side hatch in the autumn, I had trouble digging
material out & there is basically a cavity about 20 cm high in the
bottom, with the rest stuck in place at the level of the top of the
hatch. I'd expected gravity to work it loose, but it hasn't. (The
bin is tapered so it widens downward, although it has a slight dent on
one side about halfway up.)

What's the best way to deal with this --- just bang on the contents
from the top with something heavy until it drops down?

On 09/01/2019 11:21, Adam Funk wrote:
We have a cheap "dalek" worm bin for food waste. When I scraped some
fertilizer out of the side hatch in the autumn, I had trouble digging
material out & there is basically a cavity about 20 cm high in the
bottom, with the rest stuck in place at the level of the top of the
hatch. I'd expected gravity to work it loose, but it hasn't. (The
bin is tapered so it widens downward, although it has a slight dent on
one side about halfway up.)

What's the best way to deal with this --- just bang on the contents
from the top with something heavy until it drops down?

Poke it from the top with a fork or sharp stick. Some air holes in the
bulk material will speed up decomposition.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 2019-01-09, Martin Brown wrote:

On 09/01/2019 11:21, Adam Funk wrote:
We have a cheap "dalek" worm bin for food waste. When I scraped some
fertilizer out of the side hatch in the autumn, I had trouble digging
material out & there is basically a cavity about 20 cm high in the
bottom, with the rest stuck in place at the level of the top of the
hatch. I'd expected gravity to work it loose, but it hasn't. (The
bin is tapered so it widens downward, although it has a slight dent on
one side about halfway up.)

What's the best way to deal with this --- just bang on the contents
from the top with something heavy until it drops down?

Poke it from the top with a fork or sharp stick. Some air holes in the
bulk material will speed up decomposition.

I conveniently found a broom handle in the garden, but it broke after
about 8 holes. I've tried to loosen it a bit with a shovel down the
sides, but not quite knocked it loose yet.