Best 6 Plant & Bud Trimming Machines Reviewed: Which Trimmer Is Best For Your Operation?

Buyers Guide to Automated & Commercial Plant Bud Trimmers & Trimming MachinesCoupon codes for bud trimmers mentioned (coupons may or may not work depending on time of year and cannot be combined with other sales or discounts):


  • TrimBag Coupon: TRIMBAG10 for 10% off


  • CenturionPro Coupon: CENT7 for 7% off


  • Twister Coupon: TWIST5 for 5% off


  • GreenBroz Coupon: Add to cart for 10% off


  • Triminator Coupon: TRM8TR for 5% off


  • TrimPro Coupon: Add to cart for 10% off




When business is booming and humans can no longer keep up with production, it might be time to automate. It's an unavoidable fact of our modern world that machines can work faster than people and the same is true for flower and bud trimming. Although hand trimmers can produce a high quality product with artisan appeal, the result can be inefficient in time and money when it comes to larger harvests and ever increasing higher flower and bud production rates. At GrowersHouse we try to provide the information you really need to make decisions about equipment, so we have assembled a list of the top automated bud trimmers and bud trimming machines on the market. We've done the leg work and asked each company not only how they approached designing their trim machines for ease of use, but also how to maximize product quality, time efficiency, and reliability.



Let's take a look at 6 names currently leading the pack in bud trimming technology:





TrimBag Collapsable Hand Held Dry Trimmer





Trimbag Trimmer



The Trimbag is the first collapsible, hand-held dry trimmer on the market. The Trimbag trimmer helps you trim large quantities of flower in minutes. The Trimbag can hold up to 2 lbs of flower material at a time. The Trimbag is an affordable, portable, durable friction trimmer. The Trimbag Collapsible Hand-held Dry Trimmer is quite simply the lowest cost, quality friction trimmer you're going to find. The Trimbag Collapsible Hand-held Dry Trimmer is a multi-functional tool that can be used to trim, sift, and sort medicinal herbs and hops. It is a hand held dry trimming device that gives you customized control of the finished product. Lastly, every Trimbag includes two pairs of trimming scissors for FREE with every order, only from GrowersHouse.com.



Friction is the key function to the Trimbag system. For the device to work efficiently, the product must be dry and the humidity in the environment low. Ideally the dried flower will retain some moisture and the outer leaves will separate easily when gently rubbed. Over dried product will require fewer motions, adjust accordingly.



What some commercial operations have done is buy one trim bag per person of their staff and when trimming time comes they have everyone use the Trimbags at once to finish trimming the product quickly and inexpensively. The Trimbag can trim 2 lbs of flower in 5 minutes. If you're looking for a low cost trimming option but have staff or friends who can participate in the trimming process, this might be the best option for you.



Ideal Conditions: Allow product to dry until outer leaves easily flake off when gently rubbed. Cut flowers from the main stalk. Separate water leaves (leaving large, medium and small flowers untrimmed). Test a batch (results will vary depending on strain, dryness and motions).





Cleaning & Maintenance: Use an alcohol wipe on the inside after use to keep it clean. We recommend putting hemp oil or rubbing alcohol on the zipper after prolonged use to keep sticky plant material from jamming the zipper. You can also wash your Trimbag in a washing machine.



Twister Trimmers





Twister Trimmer Logo Twister Trimmers



Twister trimmers are designed with production in mind. The through-put, "one piece flow," design allows for continuous trimming, while the rail and conveyor systems make gravity work for you while streamlining the entire process, maximizing efficiency. The stationary bed-knife coupled with the rotating blades mimic the sheering action of scissors, assuring the cleanest cut and a final product comparable to a hand-trimmer. One of the most unique aspects of Twister bud trimmers is their ability to link together back-to-back, allowing the product to spend less time in the machine while also covering more trimming surface area. This reduces machine handling and trim time, increasing quality and speed. All of these features are available on both Twister models, the T2 Trimmer and T4 Trimmer, the former of which is the companies' industrial flag-ship, hearty and ready for anything, the latter being the lighter and more compact sibling best for tight spots and mobility. Although Twister designed these machines for wet-trimming, they do provide a dry-trim option in the form of the dry-trim barrel/tumbler.Twister-T2-Trimmer-Complete



Ideal Conditions: Before each use of these bud trimming machines it is recommended that Clear Cut, a refined hemp oil, be used to lubricate the blades and shrouds to reduce friction without compromising the product. Spray ice water on the nylon brush located by the tumbler every 5-7 minutes to lubricate during trimming. By doing this you can run the Twister T2 and T4 for hours on end. Two T2's can be used in tandem, while it is recommended that a maximum of three to four T4's be used at one time, limited only by the height of the adjustable legs. With all prep work complete the system requires 1-3 people to run based on the set-up and quality control.



Cleaning & Maintenance: Both the T2 and T4 have completely tool-less disassembly which takes less than a minute to complete. All parts, except the T4's control box (see manual), can be cleaned with a pressure-washer. Any detailed cleaning can be done using Simple Green or any cleaning alcohol. Twister T2 bud trimmers use Stay Sharp blades which don't require sharpening. The Twister T4 blades do not have Stay Sharp blades, and need to be replaced every 400 to 1000 hrs.







Centurion Pro Solutions Trimmers





Centurion Pro Trimmers Centurion Pro Trimmers



Like the name implies, Centurion machines are commanders of trimming technology. With four models increasing in size and power, from the Mini to the Gladiator, CenturionPro Solutions caters to farmers producing anywhere from 5-250 pounds of material a day. With all components manufactured in North America, and D2 hardened steel blades, CenturionPro trimming machines are durable and long lasting. A unique feature of the stationary blade is held in place magnetically, which can easily be removed and cleaned in 5 minutes or adjusted to preference. All CenturionPro trimmers come with high horse power blowers which suction the product to the tumbler and ensure the tightest trim. Along with the single motor to synchronize the turning motion of the blades and tumbler and extra-large hoppers, these trimmers are designed to maximize time and energy efficiency with top quality final product.

Ideal Conditions: It is recommended for farmers in warmer climates to use lubrication on the tumbler, whether it is water, organic hemp oil, or just vegetable oil. The easiest way to increase the production rate of these machines is to purchase an extra tumbler and bed blade to reduce the down time of occasional cleaning. Centurions can handle the largest of fan leaves and thus do not require pre-trimming work, and with bucking complete can all be maintained and operated by one person.



Centurion Pro Trimmers



Cleaning & Maintenance: Cleaning of the bed blade, reel blade, and tumbler should take place every 3 hours. Complete disassembly can be done with only two Allen wrenches, and all components except the motor and bearings can be hot water pressure washed. The total cleaning process takes roughly 10 minutes.



 



GreenBroz Dry Trimmers





GreenBroz Dry Trimmer GreenBroz Dry Trimmer



To GreenBroz, the primary concern of automated trimming is quality. It is a known fact that automation (across multiple industries) produce more, lower quality material compared to hand craft trimming. That is why these machines are designed to be extremely gentle with your flowers, slowing rolling buds across the trimming surface for the closest trim. GreenBroz standard trimmer model is roughly the size of an old desktop computer. It is a top load machine with circular rotating blades on which the buds sit. The slow rotation and gentle rolling action ensures a delicate and consistent overall trim. Both the standard and the commercial GreenBroz trimming machines can be operated while open allowing for occasional detail work. The GreenBroz commercial model is larger than the standard, and comes on a roller stand to compensate.



GreenBroz Blade
Unique blade design



Ideal Conditions: GreenBroz produces dry trimmers only, and suggest the room be kept at around 55% humidity. By using a moisture tester you can get a direct measurement from the plant material to ensure it is dry enough, ideally flowers should be around 8% percent humidity and leaves around 5%. The standard model can hold up to ¾ of a pound, while the commercial can hold up to 3 or 4 pounds of plant material. Both GreenBroz machines finish a load in between 10-15 minutes depending on the plant, and again the lid can be lifted to check the progress during trimming. With all prep-work complete, these can be operated all day by a single operator.



GreenBroz Trimmer



Cleaning & Maintenance: The top blade easily lifts out of the machine after removing the central hub nut. A light alcohol wash is sufficient for beginning of the day cleaning, but refined hemp oil is suggested to remove build up throughout trimming. The hub nut should be only finger tight. Before use, place a small amount of oil at the hub and the edges to reduce friction between the blades. The standard model can be cleaned in only 5 -10 minutes and the commercial in just 10 – 15, but it really depends on the amount of wear and tear and user's preference. These GreenBroz bud trimming machines can run all day and will provide consistent and quiet quality.



 



Triminator Trimmers





Triminator TrimmersLogo Triminator Trimmers



Like the name implies, Triminator bud trimming machines are futuristic bad-ass machines here to destroy those wasted hours of hand trimming your buds. Designed and built for commercial growers, these trimmers will speed up production and get your product out on the market. Triminator produces both a wet and a dry trimmer to cater to any preferurence. The Triminator Dry trimmer is easy to use and easy to clean due to the removable drum. The Triminator Industrial Wet Trimmer comes with a unique self-cleaning "resin repel" mist system, which sprays during production at timed intervals. This allows for non-stop trimming and maximizes efficiency.

Ideal Conditions: Depending on the amount of product, the Triminator Dry trimmer can finish a load in anywhere between 2 and 20 minutes. It is recommended that the user purchases an extra drum to clean in between loads, to keep production going and cut down time. The wet bud trimmer comes pre-adjusted to a tight .0025 inch cut, but can be tuned to preference. The Triminators self-cleaning system's spray frequency can also be adjusted for strains with more or less resin. It is suggested to trim in a lower temperature room to keep the leaves "perky" to ensure that they are easier to clip off by the machines. Once you're ready to go with all pre-production work out of the way, both trimmers can be managed by a single operator for non-stop production.



Triminator Trimmers



Cleaning & Maintenance: Triminators utilize composite materials for their cutting, so with no metal-on-metal action there is no need for oils or lubricants. Combined with the resin-repel system which keeps a constant layer of water on the tumbler, there isn't even a need for periodic cleaning. Just once at the end of the day, remove the drum of either the dry or the wet trimmer and pressure wash the parts.



TrimPro Trimmers





TrimPro Trimmers Logo TrimPro

With a huge catalog of 11 models and counting, TrimPro has something for growers at any stage of development. All TrimPro bud trimmers are based around the work-station model and include the original branch/grate design, the rotor design with elastic fingers to gently roll flowers, and lastly the industrious Automatik models which instead use whirlwind airflow to move buds across the trimming grate. These three designs come in varying sizes and work requirements from the TrimPro "unplugged" hand-crank to TrimPro XL for large scale producers. TrimPro bud trimmers are built for ease of use and cleaning with automatic unloading systems and non-stick components which require minimal cleaning.



TrimPro Family



Ideal Conditions: TrimPro produces wet bud trimmers only, thus it is ideal to use the freshest buds just after harvest when they are still resinous and flexible. It is even suggested to lightly mist some water over the product just before trimming with automated machines. Many components are adjustable, including trim height, rotor speed, airflow, and roller finger pressure, to allow for fine-tuning and grower's preference when dealing with specific flowers. The amount of material that can/should be in a machine at once is also more or less up to the user, with the exception being the Automatik and Automatik XL which have a hopper or pre-loader for consistent load sizes. Despite this, one "load" generally takes only 30 seconds to a couple minutes before the release shoot can be opened and finished product can fall out of the trim chamber. One operator could run a single machine or up to 3 or 4 at once for any post-harvest plant production line.



Cleaning & Maintenance: Cleaning is made very easy with the non-stick grates inherent in all of TrimPro's product line. Any resin build up can easily be wiped or scraped off in between loads, or every 2-3 hours with alcohol, though this depends greatly upon the specific plant and the amount of resin it produces. No lubrication or sharpening is required at all, and the grate can be removed be a couple screws shown in great detail in the instructions manual.

Tell us what you think.



What do you think about automated bud trimmers such as these? Do you have any of these bud trimmers and would like to share your feedback and impressions? We hope this information can help you find the right bud trimmer for you.
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