How long does it take to trim a pound of weed? It depends on what kind of tools you’re using.
If you’re hand-trimming with a pair of pruning shears and some trim trays, the process might take you 4 to 8 hours by some estimates (make sure to wear disposable gloves and a mask and clean those tools with rubbing alcohol).
If you’re using a conventional bladed bud trimmer, you might be looking at anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes for a pound of dry trim or 1 to 4 minutes for a pound of wet trim. It all depends on the size, power, and capacity of the machine you’re using, as well as the size of your load.
These speeds are adequate, but if you really want to start trimming in record time, you need The Original Resinator.
The Key to Trimming Buds More Quickly
If you’re working with high volumes of cannabis and you want to process large amounts of untrimmed buds in the shortest amount of time, you need a commercial-grade trimmer. There’s no getting around that. And although hand trimmed-terminology is often marketed as superior, this is often anecdotal, especially when compared with a Resinator when looking into the science (COAs) and under a microscope.
Trimming tends to be one of the biggest post-harvest bottlenecks, but you can streamline your operation by mechanizing the trimming process. If a machine can process 6 pounds per hour (a very conservative number), it would take up to 20 workers to hit the same speed by hand. For serious commercial operations, professional bud trimmers are a no-brainer.
But not all trim machines are created equal. For instance, there are entry-level trimming machines with a dry capacity of 2 pounds per hour, and there are professional-grade trimmers with a capacity of 60 pounds per hour. You have to assess your own production needs and shop accordingly.
In addition, there are other considerations besides speed. For instance, what features does the machine have (if any) besides trimming weed? What type of trimming technology does it use and how does that impact the overall quality of the trim? Does it support only dry trimming, or does it support both wet and dry trim?
How the Original Resinator Makes It Easy to Trim Weed
When it comes to bud trimmers, The Original Resinator is miles above anything else you’ll find in the cannabis industry. This cutting-edge machine can trim a pound a minute, with a 5-minute cycle time to process all of your cured or freshly harvested cannabis. The Resinator OG can process 1.5 pounds of fresh cannabis per batch, and the Resinator XL can process up to 7 pounds per batch.
The process is simple: It takes about 30 seconds to 1 minute to open the CO2 valve and filter carbon dioxide into the vessel (you’re inserting liquid CO2 as a freezing agent to bring the biomass temperature down). Then, the Resinator rotates gently to complete the cycle. The whole process takes about 5 minutes altogether.
But while the speed is impressive, it’s the technology that really sets the Resinator apart. The vessel’s low temperature gets the trim leaves just brittle enough that they break apart and fall right off. There are no blades involved. The Resinator bladeless trimmer eliminates up to 85% of the trim labor.
A traditional trimmer uses blades to complete the trim cycle. The blades have to come into contact with the leaves and shave them off, kind of like getting a haircut. Not only does this take longer, but you also lose substantial cannabinoid content. With the Resinator’s bladeless approach, you lose less than 1% cannabinoid content. So if you load up a batch with 20% cannabinoid content, you’ll still retain 19% after the cycle is complete. No other trimmer can compete.
Another advantage with doing bladeless is that blades dull and need to be sharpened or replaced, which is inconvenient and can be expensive at high-volume operations. Plus they need to be oiled, which can contaminate buds and show up in lab-test results.
With the Resinator, you’re left with the kind of whole-bodied trim that’s sought after by producers and processors. Sharp blades cut into the plant material, leaving behind chlorophyll and plant particulate, but that’s not a problem with the Resinator. You can see the whole-bodied trichomes perfectly intact under a microscope. That makes for better extracts and trim.
And as if that wasn’t reason enough to invest in a Resinator, this multi-use machine does more than just trim. It’s also effective for dry or live kief sifting as well as ice water hash washing. So once you’ve trimmed your cannabis plant, you can easily create premium live extracts using the same all-in-one vessel.
Don’t Let Your Trim Go to Waste—Use the Whole Cannabis Plant
Once the trimming process is complete, the real work begins. Marijuana buds are great, but there are still some valuable cannabinoids in those fan leaves, sugar leaves, stalks, and other bits of biomass. Your trim can be used to make pre-rolls, edibles, and even certain extracts like dry sift and bubble hash (another area where the Resinator excels).
So equip yourself with the right tools to trim quickly and efficiently, but then remember that the trim itself has value as well. Be sure to get the most from it.
