DIY Homemade tumble trimmer

[Fermented_Fruitz]

So I hate hand trimming with a passion and whether real or imaginary think my hand is getting some carpal tunnel as revenge against my former ocd trim habits! Decided to make something since I can’t afford no ready made tumble trimmer for $500! Saw couple DIY tumble trimmers so went that route! Besides what I spent getting some drill bits cost me maybe $30 for supplies!

20gal tote (mainstays Walmart brand) $8
5gal bucket $5
1/4” fence (Home Depot) $8
100 pack of zip ties $8
3/4” pvc (just what I used) $2 10’
2 T joints (1 side threaded) 3/4”x3/4”x1/2” $.74
2 1/2”:3/4” male female pieces (all in Home Depot pvc fitting section) $.74 each
4 3/4” sleeve pieces $.34 each
2 90deg elbows for handle if u want!

Step 1: Drill holes! I did 8 rows of 6 side by side with 1 1/4” drill bit! Then 4 X 2 holes around top and bottom (did these after fitting fence in and getting it shaped)

Step 2: Get fence cut to proper size to line inside! U can wrap around outside of bucket at first to cut the excess of roll for length AND HEIGHT IF U WANT! My trimmers sucks I only did length first round! Also I had releasable zip ties so used them at 1st to hold steady while got sized! Got fence cut to size so lid could still fit on! Then took back apart!

Step 3: I took back apart! I used a tapered drill bit so was lil easier to put hole in lid and bottom to fit the pieces to make it tumble! Don’t have pics of those holes but I’ll show how I assembled pieces thru it!
Step 4: AFTER MAKING THE HOLES THO WASH IT OUT WITH A HOSE TO GET SHAVINGS OUT!
Step 5: Put the T piece with thread side poking thru hole in lid and bottom! Put the lil extender pieces on T on the lid side since it’s more pliable so adds extra rigidity to it! Then zip tied tight to hold it steady!

Threaded side of this T is poking out thru top.....

Female/male piece (male is 1/2” threads.... female is 3/4” smooth)

Bottom side of bucket here!

Didn’t need the extenders but also zip tied into place! Obv same piece as top which is the T piece to male/female piece!

Step 6ish I think...
Fence shaped and sized to inside I zip tied it in place plus added some extra in couple rows to help fluff the buds apart as it tumbles!

Example just of handle there! Also I noticed that the direction I have handle going into lid made bucket flop when it spun!
These are what I use to lock it into place inside tote.....
3/4” sleeve piece with a tiny piece I cut off end of my 6’ pvc pipe! (TIP PUT EMD OF PIPE INTO SLEEVE BEFORE USING PVC CUTTER AND PIPE END WONT SHATTER)

Insert plug thru hole made in tote 3/4” in size or just big enough for a 3/4” pvc to fit snug! That side goes into the lid side and whatever handle u make gets fit in thru opposite side of tote into bottom piece! Did this so it wouldn’t flop and put plug into lid side and handle will go into bottom side of bucket!

Like so......

Hopefully can understand that process and next up after my weed break I’ll post some photos of weed before/after and video of it working! Pretty dope in this size tote I can set it beside my bed and turn handle to rotate with minimal effort WHILE ACCOMPLISHING OTHER STU IF NEED BE!

 

[Trichome farmer]

So I hate hand trimming with a passion and whether real or imaginary think my hand is getting some carpal tunnel as revenge against my former ocd trim habits! Decided to make something since I can’t afford no ready made tumble trimmer for $500! Saw couple DIY tumble trimmers so went that route! Besides what I spent getting some drill bits cost me maybe $30 for supplies!

20gal tote (mainstays Walmart brand) $8
5gal bucket $5
1/4” fence (Home Depot) $8
100 pack of zip ties $8
3/4” pvc (just what I used) $2 10’
2 T joints (1 side threaded) 3/4”x3/4”x1/2” $.74
2 1/2”:3/4” male female pieces (all in Home Depot pvc fitting section) $.74 each
4 3/4” sleeve pieces $.34 each
2 90deg elbows for handle if u want!

Step 1: Drill holes! I did 8 rows of 6 side by side with 1 1/4” drill bit! Then 4 X 2 holes around top and bottom (did these after fitting fence in and getting it shaped)
View attachment 1255772
Step 2: Get fence cut to proper size to line inside! U can wrap around outside of bucket at first to cut the excess of roll for length AND HEIGHT IF U WANT! My trimmers sucks I only did length first round! Also I had releasable zip ties so used them at 1st to hold steady while got sized! Got fence cut to size so lid could still fit on! Then took back apart!
View attachment 1255771
View attachment 1255773
Step 3: I took back apart! I used a tapered drill bit so was lil easier to put hole in lid and bottom to fit the pieces to make it tumble! Don’t have pics of those holes but I’ll show how I assembled pieces thru it!
Step 4: AFTER MAKING THE HOLES THO WASH IT OUT WITH A HOSE TO GET SHAVINGS OUT!
Step 5: Put the T piece with thread side poking thru hole in lid and bottom! Put the lil extender pieces on T on the lid side since it’s more pliable so adds extra rigidity to it! Then zip tied tight to hold it steady!
View attachment 1255782 Threaded side of this T is poking out thru top.....
View attachment 1255783 Female/male piece (male is 1/2” threads.... female is 3/4” smooth)
View attachment 1255784 Bottom side of bucket here!
View attachment 1255786 Didn’t need the extenders but also zip tied into place! Obv same piece as top which is the T piece to male/female piece!
View attachment 1255774 Step 6ish I think...
Fence shaped and sized to inside I zip tied it in place plus added some extra in couple rows to help fluff the buds apart as it tumbles!
View attachment 1255775 Example just of handle there! Also I noticed that the direction I have handle going into lid made bucket flop when it spun!
These are what I use to lock it into place inside tote.....
3/4” sleeve piece with a tiny piece I cut off end of my 6’ pvc pipe! (TIP PUT EMD OF PIPE INTO SLEEVE BEFORE USING PVC CUTTER AND PIPE END WONT SHATTER)
View attachment 1255787 Insert plug thru hole made in tote 3/4” in size or just big enough for a 3/4” pvc to fit snug! That side goes into the lid side and whatever handle u make gets fit in thru opposite side of tote into bottom piece! Did this so it wouldn’t flop and put plug into lid side and handle will go into bottom side of bucket! View attachment 1255790
Like so......
View attachment 1255792 Hopefully can understand that process and next up after my weed break I’ll post some photos of weed before/after and video of it working! Pretty dope in this size tote I can set it beside my bed and turn handle to rotate with minimal effort WHILE ACCOMPLISHING OTHER STU IF NEED BE!

pretty cool idea hope it works for you

 

[Frank M]

I'm Interested if it will work. nifty idea.

 

[olbobcat]

I can't wait to see your results. Like the concept of the zip ties, I was thinking of building one myself like Tom's with netting.

 

[Blu_tri]

Nicely done

 

[OttoCBD]

Pretty cool idea. I had made something very similar for sifting worm castings using a wire waste basket from Staples rather than mess with the hardware cloth.

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

Ok got few lil videos of it working! I can tell it woulda worked 100X better if plant hadn’t had the ph abuse! All the usual leafs came off in trimmer but the sugar leafs that were all burnt up and stringy looking I had to break off after pulled out the trimmer but took all of maybe 30min total between tumbling and lil clean up afterwards!

Finished tumbler before adding anything....

OK INSTEAD OF ADDING VIDEO AS PLANNED SAYS FILE TO LARGE TO UPLOAD! Anyone know how to add video onto here? It was only 12 sec long and still said to large!

Here’s some before and after pics til I figure out video thing!

Definitely can’t do as well as hand trimming but seen as I hate trimming with scissors it accomplished what I wanted! I coulda got more off just using my fingers but was going more for speed seen as it’s my personal! Don’t need perfection since can just break em off when I break it up to smoke on some! Got another load of smaller buds to tumble up and good portion gonna wind up as tincture/infusion components for holiday baskets of edibles! Made an assortment for a friends Halloween party and now have my tcheck so I can check thc levels and know dosing on what I make for the next batches of goodies!

Can say I figured out gotta tumblr it really slow so the buds continuously fall and actually tumble and changing directions every couple dozen rotations also helps to mix it up! Think this kinda accomplished what @Mañ'O'Green hand crank trimmer accomplished but was lil cheaper I just had to make it! Doesn’t do that perfect hand trim cleaning but not sure any small scale mechanical trimmer is going to! Maybe those $5000 centurion pro beasts but never even seen finished product off it so could t tell ya! Gets the job done with less mess and less stress!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I think you should make the openings bigger?

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

That was as big as the tapered drill bit would go but can prob overlap couple holes with it or just order a 2” drill bit! I only had a single bit that came with drill so bought a small set and a 3/8”-1.25” tapered bit for bigger holes! May also help to add some extra zip ties inside it so it’ll make the buds do some more tumbling and separating! This was initial build going off med-man video off you tube! Wanted to make sure it did the job before I tried to customize it!

Thinking in those cross spaces I should put extra row of zip ties and just cut em down some so not so long and May need to snip some out from the current rows of them so it has more room to tumble and separate the buds but still fall thru the gaps between them so it keeps going round and round as I spin it!

 

[JSH1973]

Absolutely class.
How about attaching a drill bit to it so you could use a battery screw machine to run it instead of turning the handle yourself?