Guess which one is machine trimmed?

[amstercal]

Since the quality of machine trimmed buds is a source of constant debate around here, I grabbed the chance when some friends decided to use a Twister on their harvest. It took them about 19 hours to trim 6 pounds with three people, first time using it. They said any possible loss in quality was more than compensated for by the reduction of hours and added security. They rented the machine from a newer hydro shop. The people told them not to worry about cleaning the machine, knowing what was being trimmed. Cool people in general.

I personally hand trimmed two of their plants three days before their harvest. Both the machine trimmed and my hand trimmed were dried on drying racks. They are both the same strain grown in the same room etc, just different plants.

As far as the trim, the blades on the machine can be adjusted for a tighter or looser trim. They tried a really tight trim on some, and there wasn't a leaf in sight. However, they also thought it had possibly mulched some of the smaller stuff. It took them a little to work out the blade height to get the tightness of the trim right.

First, I know the photography sucks. The camera was dying, forcing me to rush, and died before I had a chance to go back and tweak all the settings, and I don't think I'll have access to their jars again to retake, but I'll try. Oh and I suck as a photographer anyway.

Second, I'm just posting single bud shots and macro shots for now. I have some group shots, but I think it's a little more obvious in those so I'll post them soon.

Everyone please chime in with which you think is which. This is just meant as fun, so please anyone post your guess. I won't post the answer until after I post the group shots and give everyone a chance to guess again. I'll also give you my opinion about the final product then too. And the two sets of "A"s go together and the "B"s together.

A:

B:

A:

B:

 

[Giddeon]

My guess is that B is hand trimmed and A is machined

 

[ibTheMan]

My guess is , u cant really tell.

 

[paulycali]

My guess is the ones with the trichome heads chopped off are machined cut while the one with the trichome heads still attached are hand trimmed

 

[Farmer Jon]

My guess is the ones with the trichome heads chopped off are machined cut while the one with the trichome heads still attached are hand trimmed

I would say the opposite, due to the fact that the picture of chopped tric's was most likely put there to throw us off (the post is presented in a fashion that leads you to believe the poster is pro-machine).....but honestly it is really hard to tell.
FJ

 

[primeform]

point taken

 

[lil miss lone]

Jeez, I can't tell Amster, but if I had to guess I'd say A is hand trimmed and B is machine trimmed.

Great Thread!!!!

I saw some machine trimmed buds in person and couldn't believe how good they looked.

 

[DowNwithDirT]

B is hand trimmed

A is machined trimmed
Unless you suck at trimming and clipping out petiole stems

I'm 99% sure

 

[Seamaiden]

I'm with Giddeon and DowN. A is machined, B is hand-trimmed. The trichomes really are the tell, and it's something I see time and time again because I have a neighbor who likes to bring different samples for me to share. There has only been one time he's brought me something that I actually liked the looks of, the smell, the flavor and it had a good high--everything else, especially the machine-trimmed junk, has been just that, junk. I finally told him to stop leaving samples with me because I was just going to throw them in the fireplace if they didn't taste good.
(Yes, I will burn crappy bud in the fireplace.)

 

[Tobor the 8th Man]

They all are trimmed fine IMHO and I am guessing they were all machine trimmed. Just a different adjustment.

 

[Blaze]

Most likely A is machine trimmed and B is hand trimmed, unless you have someone who does a very rough hand trim. A has more rough leaf on it and less trichs.

 

[BUDOGHI]

time to give us the answer

 

[CelticEBE]

I'm actually going to go the opposite of everyone else. I think A is hand trimmed and B is machined. In the macro pics the Trichs in B seem to be "bent" and I think that's caused by tumbling in the twister.

Either way....great thread. Perhaps you should turn it into a poll and let people vote.

 

[amstercal]

I added a poll. I wasn't going to because I love seeing everyone's responses. Seamaiden's is priceless. I LOVE the mental image of her chucking weed into the fire. I wonder if she would have chucked the same piece if it had been hand trimmed? Was it always hemp or just from the trimming?
I hope people will still post responses because it is fun, but I added the anonymous poll in case people didn't want to make their guesses public. I'll post the group shots tomorrow and the answers the day after.
Honestly, I didn't pick any macro pics to throw anyone off. That being said, I think I did crush that piece trying to get the pic with the Bionicam. I suck as a photog. Lovely how the next two aren't even in focus. What's funny is I do graphic design. If someone gave me one of those, I'd tell them to go reshoot. :-)

 

[CelticEBE]

Seamaiden's is priceless. I LOVE the mental image of her chucking weed into the fire. )

I find Seamaiden's presence here at the Farm priceless.

 

[amstercal]

This is a totally high thought, but hopefully Seamaiden will get a kick out of it. She has inspired the next Agribusiness, the Toker B&B. Normally I loathe B&Bs but my mental image of Sea's bud sweetened fires ran amok. So from other stuff she's said, you arrive at the B&B greeted by home brewed beer. You are given a tour of the indoor farm, along with a sample bowl, of course. At sunset you have things made from Sea's garden in a picnic out among the outdoor farm. By evening, you smoke poorly rolled joints as you argue politics. If anyone tries to bug you on your cell, her young niece takes care of the problem by yelling obscenities at them for you. In the morning you wander the property, greeted by gnomes here and there in the morning dew.

So I'm not obsessed with you or anything, Seamaiden, you just say the funniest shit and it sticks. Search for Shrutte Farms on tripadvisor for a good example on how to set up your B&B. :-)

 

[UCtestn]

I don't care which is hand trimmed, but love my machine!

With the right crew and a couple runs, you can be twice as fast, easy. Here is 16#'s in 6.5 hrs Probably a little to quick and we'll slow it down next time, none the less, it was acceptable to everyone I took it to.

Who knows though, maybe it was simply added to a fireplace somewhere!

 

[baba G]

Wow, was thinking 3 people and it took you longer with a machine then it would take to hand trim. 3 people can easily trim 6 pounds in 16hours or less....If you had more herb I could see the machine helping but 6 pounds is a minimal amount for a machine it seems, just my 2cents.

 

[420alldaze]

hey all, my guess would be a is machine and b is hand trimmed. and the winner is...........lol nice lookin nugs.

 

[amstercal]

Wow, was thinking 3 people and it took you longer with a machine then it would take to hand trim. 3 people can easily trim 6 pounds in 16hours or less....If you had more herb I could see the machine helping but 6 pounds is a minimal amount for a machine it seems, just my 2cents.

You're right about that. I hadn't thought about the numbers at all, just wrote down what they said. I asked and I guess that time included the whole time they had the machine, so drive time, set up and tear down, blade adjustment, learning curve, cutting stalks, detaching yoyos and stakes, tidying up, the whole bit. They said one of the people was also gone for several of those hours, and they were pretty leisurely about the whole thing. They said they most definitely could have cut the time down significantly.