Hey Mike here I go sticking my neck out but I am going to say 3 mos for the first harvest with the 4 bin system. I got one back in Feb of this year and that's the way it seemed to work for me. I messed around and loaded up all bins within the first month with bedding material but always fed from the top. So far it has worked for me. I think once you get going about once a month per bin as you cycle through. I started with a tote type system and as near as I can tell it has alot of merit. So far in my adventure I couldnt recommend one over the other but the totes can help with management issues. Good luck Bill