Harvesting Tool?

I'm trying to figure out what this item might be. It's about 4 ft long, and has handles on both sides. It's oval in shape, and the slats are open on one side and closed on the other. See pics below ...

 

Welcome, @Wavy. An interesting looking device. As you have not received any other replies yet, I suspect you may have us stumped. Can you tell us where you found this item? If it is agricultural, it may not have traveled far from where it was originally used, and that may be a helpful clue.

I am not quite sure what you mean by the slats being open on one side and closed on the other. Is there a liner inside on the bottom, (which we can't see), that would prevent things falling out? Is the 4 ft measurement the entire length (handle end to handle end), or just the length of the drum? Could it be carried horizontally by one person, or does it need two people?

As it is oval, and with fixed handles and no axle, it does not appear to have been intended to rotate. Is there any evidence of anything having been attached to the slats - perhaps used to form something around the drum?

 

Thanks for your reply. I picked up the piece outside of Raleigh, NC. The "slats" that I refer to are the spaced pieces of wood around the oval. I've included another picture of the other side. Since the other side is closed, I would guess that this was used for either harvesting or separating out something. The spacing between the slats is 1". The tool could be held by one person, but due to its width, it doesn't seem like you'd have much range of motion. There is no indication of anything else ever being attached to the tool, are there doesn't appear to be any missing slats based on the absence of nail holes. There are also no movable pieces.

 

It looks a bit like an attachment used in cranberry harvesting. It attached to the bottom of a push cart and the cranberries would fall into a box in the back, but I can't find a wooden one. My friends owned some bogs and they had an antique wooden harvesting thing hanging on a wall of their barn. I don't remember if the slats were that close together. This is a more modern version of it.