whats the goin rate for trimmers this year?

[MariJuanita]

After growing and harvesting for over 30 years -- I've come to the point that managing/paying harvest 'helpers' is just not worth it to me.

My health and my time don't allow me to stand or sit for hours on end, day in and day out until I, alone, get my harvest trimmed by hand. But I don't like the idea of my buds getting mishandled in ANY way by man OR machine...

But last year was hellish managing trimmers.

So this year I bought myself a machine trimmer. It's a TrimPro/workstation knockoff. I use it only to trim the branches after harvesting directly from the plants, and before hanging the branches to dry/cure. Once dried enough, I then buck the buds off the branches myself and do a final bud trimming by hand.

This method is so far getting my harvest initially trimmed and hanging 6 times faster which has virtually eliminated any mold or rot in cut harvest that's WAITING to be processed. And it also makes the bud bucking and final manicure faster too.

From the looks of the first couple pounds I've put through the full process, the buds overall look gorgeous. They buds look hand trimmed because, in fact, they ARE lovingly finished by hand.

This is FAR more acceptable to me than paying trimmers 10%, all the while having to watch them like a hawk and worry.

I also found that offering alcoholic refreshment to trimmers during 'work time' ended in disaster. Alcohol makes people -- trimmers in particular -- clumsy, slow, and do stupid things that RUIN the buds. Far better to wait till after work hours to offer a 'cold one' to the crew.

JMHO

 

[Northwest Skunk]

Holy shit you guys get great prices in the States. Our prices here in Canada dropped out over the past 8 months or so. For indoor OG we used to get up to $3000/lb for trips, now we're seeing only the average of around $2500 for the same indoor OG trips.
Has come up a bit the past two months but if Cali legalizes i imagine our weed prices are going to drop right out again because a lot of it goes over the border.

Here we pay around $25/hr for hand trimmers but that's supervised fast good trimming.
The larger scale grows are all using tumbler trimmers.

 

[vonwolfen]

I am starting to think outdoor growers should unionize. Every year they do the same amount of work, bring in the same basic product, but get paid less, and less. Co-ops buy it cheaper but sell it to their customers for the same price as the year before. The difference in price never seems to get passed onto the customer(opps sorry patient).

 

[strawD]

I am starting to think outdoor growers should unionize. Every year they do the same amount of work, bring in the same basic product, but get paid less, and less. Co-ops buy it cheaper but sell it to their customers for the same price as the year before. The difference in price never seems to get passed onto the customer(opps sorry patient).

LOL i dont know where you live or what you think is happening, but the outdoor growers are NOT making the same amount every year. people are growing SO MUCH MORE herb in the last few years than ever before because of their perception of the medical laws. colorado, which used to be a consumer destination and waypoint for cali buds moving east is now a virtual roadblock to the east. with many other states, the entire PNW, and canada all also producing large amounts of nugs, indoors and out, the prices are gonna go down. even without corporations the supply is way way way up and if you know about supply and demand...

 

[Buddy Flowers]

:fighting0040:

 

[sanvanalona]

Okay, here you go. Clockwise from top left: Killer queen, Sage, Diesel, Lifesaver.

Wow man, I have never seen finished product like that from a trim machine, I assume you hand trim after the machine right? If not what machine are you using again? This is my problem with the machines, I enjoy supporting my friends with a little of the cannabis economy, hence my want to use hand trimmers, but sometimes I understand that it is just a little too difficult.

 

[markscastle]

I`m changing my mind about trim machines also! I still want one that trims a cola at a time and don`t expect it to be completely trimmed but if it cuts down the work load and speeds the harvast I`m in next year! I`ve had a hard time this year finding good trimmers who want to work every day and have been fighting rain and some bud rot because of it.:mad0233:

 

[Seamaiden]

I can absolutely see the difference between the machine-trimmed bud and the hand-trimmed bud. I would expect to pay a good bit less for machine-trimmed.

 

[markscastle]

Well if it`s between machine trimmed buds or having it rot from rain damage because trimmers aren`t showing up to work I`ll take the machine trimmed buds! I plan on hand finnishing it anyway, just want the bulk of the work to go faster.

 

[DeRail]

I got a spinpro automatic and love it found it on eBay for $600 new with free shipping not bad for a $1300 list price. my time is worth more and nobody can tell the difference in the buds.

 

[Fbm]

I do both . One farm has a twister and the other hand trim. To keep the twister busy it takes a crew of six people. Bud looks good on first look with the twister but look through the scope and you see the damage. Hand trim rocks but the machine saved my but this season.

 

[Fbm]

My crew makes20 an hour . At that rate costs me 150 a pound for the trim. It's not a twister ihave it's a tumble weed. Machine pot came in at 82 bucks a pound.



Fbm

 

[TreFarmer]

I have a group of 15 I call from. This last year? Sour-D, great dense pheno outdoor/greenhouse, $200 per lb. hand trim, pre-bucked. 3 meals fed and housed! You want it going to the [quality] shops?? Gotta pay to hand trim!! Take care of your trimmers and they take care of you!! I got a crew of five that does 35 lbs. in 4 days, quality! :character0029: Have sheers will travel:)

 

[MrTwister]

I trimmed 6000 pounds in 57 days. Okay wet pounds, but still... The twister is more than dollars/cents. For one, you can be faced with "mersh" and at 200/lb you're looking at, in one example, 14.2% of the total yield. In this same particular example we were able to take down 70lb/day and it didn't change the selling price at all..

But more importantly there are those who need it for time sensitivity reasons. For one, you see a lot of loser trimmers hangin around your place for 5-10 weeks after harvest when instead you can be done with them in 7 days. Not just mouths to feed but all you need are a couple of losers and you get stolen from. I saw some people steal pain and anxiety meds. This particular group took 15 loaded losers to keep up with my twister. Now the farmer was a solo act and liked his peaceful abode.

Another example is one where a bunch of guys lied to their wives and said they were doing construction work all season. Turns out their strain was not what they had thought and didn't finish till about november 10th. So they were running out of fibs to tell their wives and they needed 500 pounds trimmed in 7 days... and we did it. I just about stroked out from too much red bull on the last day.

I have seen a clever farm plan where the early bird was harvested and machine trimmed super fast. This accounted for 15% of the total harvest. By the time the stuff was "mersh quality" dried, it was able to support the whole harvest operation by hand trimming high quality longer season bad arse weed. When all your bills are already taken care of you can relax and recover all the hash and keif that you would have otherwise steped on.

 

[half baked]

out of curiosity what is the sketch for a trimmer at a legal medi grow , does the trimmer need to have a med card? or is it get who u want sort of thing? cheers hb

 

[97739]

What State?

 

[TheRealBoss]

To be legal, the trimmers should have a card in Cali to cover their bases too.

 

[half baked]

thats mad, im from the uk and it just confuses me thats all, im used to illegal grows and having to chop it urself lol, so what if u worked in medicine but didnt medicate or smoke cannabis would that person be able to do it, say if they were out of work?, also do you get taxed on the money that u earn?

peace hb

 

[Seamaiden]

Let's put it this way--if you pay taxes, no one is going to come after you for doing that.

 

[MoneyMike]

I need me a trimming job..after being laid off for over 3 months this seems to be the next best thing.