Tagged with 'cannabis trimming'

A Triminator XL Review: Worth the money?

By Jack Nichol
Aug 4, 2021

Hi fellow Trimmers! Jack here, and I’m back with another blog post about cannabis trimming---everyone’s favorite activity.

Yes, trimming cannabis really sucks. That is why we have engineers and technology to create more efficient ways to help us do things that we hate. One of the contraptions that the mechanical cannabis trimming industry has created is called a Dry Tumbler. There are a couple different variations designed for this method of volume cannabis trimming, but the most popular and effective way I’ve used and seen it deployed are from Triminator and Twister. The XL Dry and the BatchOne from each manufacturer respectively, are the most widely used volume mechanical dry trimmers on the market. I have used the Triminator a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I have not used Twister’s version as much (hit me up with a demo machine Twister!) The BatchOne uses the same physics to trim as the XL so I think that they do a comparable job. Triminator also makes smaller, more craft and home-sized dry trimmers, that perform at a high level.

Specifically, this review is based on the XL Dry from Triminator. I’ve used this machine for hundreds of hours, have put all sorts of flower through it, and feel like I have a good idea of what it is capable of and how best to use it.

When properly prepared flower is put into this trimmer, the XL Dry does a great job giving your flower a high-quality machine-trim and doing it quickly. I have seen a lot of strains of all major cannabinoid types go through the unit. It gives a consistent quality level in output and does it in a reliable and easy to maintain package. **Friendly reminder that a lot of the time when troubleshooting why output isn’t up to expectations when using mechanical trimmers, it’s usually the parameters of the input not matching the machine’s operational strength.

I use the XL in a couple different ways, short bursts of time of low chamber volume runs, around 2 pounds of input, or longer 2/3 full chamber runs of about 5-6 pounds per run. You’re going to have to find which works best for you and your process. I typically find that processors that have products destined for the shelf as pure flower prefer the shorter smaller runs. If your goal is high quality extraction, and you have a lot of flower to process, then conversely, high volume longer runs can be achieved as well with good results using the XL Dry.

It’s a very simple machine and I mean that as a compliment to the engineers that made it. I know from personal experience owning a mobile trimming business that it can take a banging and continue to perform. The XL is easy to clean and maintain because the design is simple. It breaks down in 5 minutes and with the proper equipment to clean the parts, like a hot water pressure washer, can be turned around in less than 45 minutes. Cleaning this unit regularly, as with every other type of cannabis plant processing equipment on the market is important.

It uses a low amount of energy to operate-- powered from a 115VAC power source and is quiet when it runs when compared to their wet-biased cousins and their vacuums. The only real complaint I have about it is that the wheels (or at least the ones on the unit I have) don’t swivel. I move mine around a lot and they’d help.

So to answer the question in the title of this blog: is it worth it the money? Yes, absolutely. I have used it for many hours by this point in so many different capacities and it has always performed well. If you’d like to know more about the Triminator XL after reading this, or just have trimming questions in general, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me! Thanks for reading and Happy Trimming!

Dealer Day in the Desert II

By Jack Nichol
May 18, 2021

Jack was lucky enough to be invited out by Eteros for a Dealer Training and Demo Day in Las Vegas last week May 13th and 14th. For those that don't know, Eteros is the parent company of the Mobius and Triminator brands. Both are very strong cannabis processing OEMs in their own right, but now that they are both under the Eteros umbrella both can benefit from advantages the other provides both in the manufacturing and distributing arenas.

The first day was solely devoted to Eteros dealers at their new Las Vegas facility. This facility will be used as a final assembly destination for both brands as well as a stock holding area for US consumer base. About 15 dealers from around the country flew in to meet each other and learn about Mobius/Triminator products. Eteros were fantastic hosts and provided food, drink, and a live demo station for everyone to learn from and enjoy.
The second day of Dealer Day in the Desert II was devoted to the customers. Anyone and everyone interested in trimming and processing cannabis on a macro level was welcome to show up and did they ever. The interest in trimming and processing cannabis is already very high and will only continue to grow as legalization across the US increases.

KLR Farms was nice enough to provide real plant material for the machines to process in front of the crowd. People were excited to see the Mobius M108S in action as well as the Triminator XL. Eteros set up the M108S in tandem with another one as well as an inlet/outlet conveyor system to show what a fully functional system in a facility can look like as well as how efficient and fast this equipment is when implemented correctly. It was a great time had by all!

Wet Vs Dry Machine Trimming: What is Better?

By Jack Nichol
Mar 24, 2021

This is a question that I get all the time. And it is usually the first question someone asks me when looking at piece of trimming equipment. I won’t even make you scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answer: It is neither. Or Both. What really matters is what type of variables you have in your own personal process or grow that determines the type of machine to use for cannabis trimming. Factors like how much help you have during harvest, your intended market/product types you wish to focus on and drying/curing space size all get taken into account when answering what type of mechanical trimming (wet vs dry) is best for your grow.

Do you have a large temperature and humidity controlled environment to hang dry whole plants in? No? Then you may want to look at trimming your plants wet since the footprint of trimmed flower spread out to cure and dry is much less than that up hanging them up whole first. Not to mention, once that has happened—you are done! You can then bag, label, go to market or process from there. Most wet trimmers either have constructed large stackable screens in a humidity and temperature controlled area or have an industrial dryer after the trimming process to accelerate the drying stage.

Do you have a reliable 5+ person crew for harvest to help support the machines or is it just you and someone else? Small crew? Then trimming dry is really your best option. During harvest, your biggest task will be getting the plants harvested and hung. You will get the benefit of being able to trim at your own pace, maybe even just to order. The machines in this category are typically less expensive as they have less parts to them. They are also much quieter to operate, making the working environment easier on the ears of the operators. Trimming machines that are wet biased, have large blowers that are generally very loud when turned on.

On the other hand, if you have a team that can focus on harvest and supporting the bucker and trimmer, I’ll usually recommend that growers then trim wet. Buckers go hand in hand with machine trimmers during harvest. Trimming wet can be much faster and being able to reduce the time and footprint of the curing/drying process gives you an advantage getting to market earlier than those who choose to trim dry without sacrificing quality. Yes, I know that there are those that swear by only trimming dry because they feel trimming wet sacrifices flavor quality. I do believe my friends that say that they can tell the difference, but I cannot.

Some of the leaders in the wet trimming sector are CenturionPro and Twister. Both have been in the business since the beginning of the mechanical cannabis trimming era and both make fantastic machines.

If you choose to look into dry trimmers for your process, Triminator makes a great volume dry trimmer for the money. Hope this helped answer some questions and thanks for reading!