Go for it!

yes you can definitely use it, Ive known people who used old fridges for this exact thing and it has worked a treat for them. youll need to figure a way of keeping the lid (door) open though for air and ventilation. I think a fridge would have good insulating properties aswell from outside temps

The door is actually not on the hinges and I think I can just pull it back across over part of it to keep it mostly covered. We've had some pretty cold nights here, down in the 20's and the worms that are already in there looked ok. So....I guess that is my next project, build up the bedding a little more and find some worms......Thanks for the help!

Several years ago, I bought 4 damaged bathtubs at a lumber yard liquidation. I only needed one to prepare flax fiber for spinning but they came as a lot. Anyway, I sold one, one has become a water plant holding area, the third is a stock watering trough and I have been looking for a use for the last. I'd been thinking about making a huge worm bin with it for use outdoors in the summer time--glad to know it will work! I decided to use an old window screen to keep out the cats and other animals and now I need to come up with something to help shade it/conserve moisture. I'm leaning toward cutting open some feed sacks and putting them under the screen. With the tub's own drain hole, I won't need to worry about its getting too wet and if I put it up on timbers or something similar, I can catch the leachate to water plants.

mo you absolutely have it figured out :) yes get those feed bags and put them under your screen or you can also use cardboard or old carpet and that will help keep the moisture in. with the drain you can also use an old strainer like what you would use for draining vegies but not like the mesh ones the more solid metal ones (or an old steel bowl with holes drilled in in would do) and put that upside down over the drain hole first and that helps to keep it from blocking up. If you can find a shady tree to put the bath under then you will have a great worm setup. bathtubs are perfect for worms.

Hello: First time in "Worm Country". Have been buying castings in 50 pound bags, and would like to see if I can try my hand at starting a more readily available (and cheaper) source, because this stuff is Wonderful on plants!
Have 2 large Coleman ice chests no longer being used. Could these be used for raising worms? Would they need holes drilled into the bottoms? Should the covers be removed and replaced with screening? Lots of questions ... TIA Gloria

They certainly can. You would need to drill some holes for air circulation and drainage. I suggested in a separate post using old carpet. I do not have any tops on any of my bins now, inside or outside, and they are working great. I use old discarded carpet cut to the top most dimension and kept damp by spraying with a water bottle sprayer. Easy to lift for adding food or visual inspection and dark for the worms 24/7.

billr12: Thanx for the advice, most appreciated. Think I will try my hand at this. In my temp zone (So Cali) could I keep the bin outdoors in a partially shaded area? Any tips on how to keep hordes of hungry Raccons from demolishing worm farm?

Coons are going to be tough to keep out if you feed table scraps! They think you placed that bed out there as a feeding station for them. They have all the time in the world every night to get to them. Put the beds in a dog pen mabye, or on a 4 ft. slippery pole, you have to protect them every night and the coon has to get lucky only one night to destroy it. I have a lot of coons in the woods behind my home but they don't bother my beds because I only feed cardboard, newspapers, and compost. I feed the coons on my back deck some nights, you should see them eat ramon noodles and pasta, they slurp them up just like kids!

Hey gee8ch, the first post in this link has your answer! Use an old refrigerator or freezer as a bed and keep a latch on it so the door will stay open about an in. so it can get air but the coons can't get it open any wider to get in.