Are you running an already-thriving cannabusiness? Do you have a hard time keeping up with all the orders you get? You might want to invest in a brand new industrial cannabis grinder that can handle the kind of volume you are dealing with.
Have you recently started your own dispensary, and have you noticed that pre-rolled blunts sell like hot cakes? You might not have quite as much to invest, but you will still, unquestionably, benefit if you get a commercial cannabis grinder as soon as possible.
This in-depth guide takes you on a journey through the modern industrial grinder landscape. Why do you need one? What do you need to look for in a grinder if you already know that you want one? What commercial weed grinders are the best on the market today, and fit snugly into your budget?
Industrial Commercial Grinders vs Consumer Hand Grinders: What’s the Difference?
Let’s put it this way — the (truly superb, by the way) HØJ Klip Pro cannabis hand grinder, that is, the largest the company offers, can process up to 1.6 grams of weed at a time. This grinder is going to be on the larger side for you if you were hoping to, say, take a weed-infused picnic in the park and you want access to a great grinder on the go, but it’ll be just right for regular recreational home use.
A grinder like that won’t quite cut it if you’re running a cannabusiness, and you sell products like:
If this is you, you might have to shred anywhere from about 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) to well over 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of weed a day to keep your customers happy and expand your business.
We’ll be the first to admit that we haven’t thought the math through very deeply, but that makes a large commercial grinder about 28 times as powerful as a solid cannabis hand grinder.
If you’re running a dispensary or online cannabis store, you need a commercial grinder to keep up. Your only reasonable alternative is to enslave an army of elves to grind all your product up with the help of a whole bunch of hand grinders. (PS: We’re told elves don’t actually exist.)
A good commercial grinder is, basically, either a Very Big Grinder (yes, with all caps, just like the Very Large Telescope), or a Really Very Big Extra-Large Ginormous Grinder that might as well conquer the world tomorrow. No matter how much product you have to process, a commercial grinder can handle it with ease, and with minimal effort on your part. An essential part of the promise a commercial grinder makes you and your business is that all those terpenes stay within the weed, and don’t wind up on your employees’ hands.
Even if you’re running an up-and-coming boutique dispensary or cannabusiness, you very much benefit from investing in a commercial grinder as soon as possible. That’s true for a multitude of different reasons. Let’s have a quick look:
- Modern cannabis consumers are a diverse bunch. As the green wave expands, they very much include folks who have never smoked a joint before in their lives, and who may even be entirely clueless about how to roll one. If you don’t sell pre-rolled joints yet, you absolutely should. Your bottom line will thank you, but first you need a commercial grinder.
- Modern cannabis consumers are also picky. They want a product that’s consistently excellent, consistently fluffy and rich, consistently offers an even burn, and is consistently consistent (that is, when they buy a pre-roll from you a week later, they expect it to be the same). A good commercial grinder can make all of that happen for you.
- A good commercial grinder will save you money, paying for itself in almost no time, because you won’t have to waste your time hand grinding, or pay others to do it.
- Commercial grinders catch the kief, so it doesn’t wind up where it shouldn’t and you can put it to good use.
Now that we’ve explored how a commercial or industrial grinder can work to your benefit, you’ll be curious about your options. Onward! Let’s see what to look for in a grinder for your cannabis company or dispensary, and highlight some of the premium industrial grinders on the market today.
5 Key Features to Look for in a Good Shredder Sifter Machine
Before you go grinder-hunting, you’ll need to know what sets a good commercial grinder apart from a mediocre one. These industrial machines can easily set you back thousands of dollars, so it is absolutely critical to determine how good a grinder is before you buy it.
1. Look for Quality Construction & Materials
The best commercial grinders have casing made of food-grade stainless steel. Never settle for less. Stainless steel lasts forever, ensures that your end product is completely safe and hasn’t come into contact with potentially harmful substances, and additionally keeps your product from sticking to the grinder.
2. Look for Quality Blades
Good commercial grinders feature food-grade stainless steel blades that are polished to fight against the buildup of product, which would interfere with the shredding process. The blades should be easily swappable, both to be able to give your grinder a good clean and to replace the blades after they grow blunt.
3. Look for Multiple Particle Screen Options
These sift your product. Screens are typically available in coarse, fine, and extra-fine options, each of which will allow you to put your product to use in a different way. With multiple options at your disposal, your grinder is instantly more versatile.
4. Demand OSHA Compliance
Only ever buy an OSHA compliant commercial grinder — to ensure your safety and that of any employees you may have. As an aside, you’ll also want to pay close attention to two other things — customer reviews, and the length of the warranty the manufacturer offers for the industrial grinder.
5. Look at the Price
You’ll have to do some market research first, because the truth is that you can’t really get a decent commercial grinder for less than $2,000. After that, though, the sky is the limit — but more expensive doesn’t necessarily equal better, and you’ll have to evaluate the grinder’s other features in the context of your budget as you make your choice.
With that look at key features out of the way, you’re more than ready to see the best the modern cannabis market has to offer. Let’s dive in!
Top Cannabis Shredder Machines on the Market
Obligatory disclaimer — these aren’t the only good commercial cannabis grinders available today, but they’re all really good, and they’ll also save you time, money, and effort while you are growing your dispensary or online cannabis store.
1. Sensi Shredder
Sensi Shredder offers some of the best commercial grinders for sale today. The company is notorious for shredding your weed consistently and excellently, and offering multiple screen sizes so that no matter what you’re hoping to achieve, you can do it with a Sensi Shredder.
If you’re looking for a smaller industrial grinder for a boutique business, consider the Sensi Shredder Pro. The Sensi Shredder Pro Package can grind between 10 and 100 pounds of product a day, and ticks all the right boxes:
- It’s customizable — different settings exist to allow you to work with the right density, humidity, and size of bud. Whether you’re making pre-rolled joints, edibles, or concentrate, the Sensi Shredder is there for you.
- The Sensi Shredder Pro is made with durable stainless steel that’s easy to maintain and clean.
- The stainless steel blades, of cutlery quality, have adjustable speeds.
- You can choose from three different particulate screens.
- The Sensi Shredder Pro ships with a 3-year warranty, but you can extend this to five years if you wish.
- This grinder costs $2,500.
Are you processing upward of 1,000 pounds a day? You might want to invest in the Sensi Shredder IND Package, which offers the same advantages but on a much larger scale. Every five to 10 minutes, this beast of a grinder is able to deliver 100 pounds of beautifully ground product. The price? You don’t really want to know (it’s $12,500).
2. Futurola Original Commercial Herb Shredder
Futurola’s Original Commercial Herb Grinder deserves an honorable mention because it’s been on the market for a relatively long period of time, and is well-known in the industry. This industrial grinder famously grinds three pounds of herb in a mere two seconds.
Futurola’s OG Commercial Herb Grinder is manufactured with food-grade stainless steel. It features a removable pin that allows you to load your product in quickly and easily. It’s got a plexiglass lid, which seals with a magnet, so you can see your herb as it’s ground. One of Futurola’s best features is its timer, which ensures that you process precisely as much product as you can without wasting time.
This grinder will set you back $5,000.
3. STM Canna’s Mini-Revolution Premium Grinder
These grinders take the art of industrial grinding to the next level, with the help of low-heat, low-friction processes that grind and fluff your product to perfection every time, without damaging it. The manufacturers of the Mini-Revolution Premium Grinder pride themselves on the facts that:
- This industrial grinder is made with food-grade stainless steel.
- The durable blades, which will nonetheless eventually go blunt, are easily replaceable.
- The grinding takes place at extremely low temperatures, which preserves the quality of your cannabis every step of the way.
- It’s easy to use and easy to clean — and if you’re new to using this machine, you’ll master it in no time.
- This grinder is quiet as it runs.
- It comes with a one-year warranty.
- The Mini-Revolution Premium Grinder processes an ounce of herb in one to two minutes.
The costs vary depending on the features you opt for, but the Mini-Revolution Premium Grinder’s base model can be yours for $,6000.
4. High-Tech 5LB Plant Shredder Machine
The High-Tech 5LB Plant Shredder Machine is another popular commercial grinder that’s gained fans in the cannabis industry. This grinder, which is a step up from a smaller option the company also offers, is able to process around 150 pounds of cannabis every hour. It has a powerful motor, is UL-listed, and comes with a safety lid. These shredders, which are also aesthetically pleasing, have a starting price of $5,500.
5. Mobius M210 Mill Plant Shredder Machine
Are you in search of a versatile and durable industrial grinder for a large-scale cannabis company that’s been doing really well? Are you not afraid to invest in your business, knowing that every ounce of love you pour into it will just as readily come back to you in the form of growth and profits? In that case, you might be tempted to splurge on the Mobius M210 Mill Plant Shredder Machine. This industrial grinder is one of the most expensive ones (no, that’s a lie, the most expensive one) we’ve looked at, but it does offer:
- The promise of processing up to 110 pounds of dry herb every hour.
- Not one, not two, and not three, but a grand total of five different screen sizes — an area where it differs from its competitors.
- Stainless steel construction and operator safety as a top priority. It’s CSA compliant.
- Plenty of much-needed accessories like a hopper, tote, and rotor.
- A powerful motor.
- A grinder that is easy to use and easy to clean, no matter how little experience you have.
- An ergonomic design, so that you and your workers don’t burn yourselves out with repetitive stress injury.
The downsides? Well, there’s the price tag. It very much falls into “I could buy a house with that — at least a small one and at least somewhere in the US” category (otherwise known as $33,800, and no, there’s no extra zeros or threes there). When you’re making that much of an investment, which could definitely pay off if you are running a thriving business, you’d expect the manufacturer to do a little better than offer a mere one-year warranty. Just saying.
Herb CEO Summary
As we’ve outlined, there are a dazzling myriad of commercial grinders out there designed to enable processors and dispensaries to quickly and efficiently break apart nugs of weed for bulk cone filling, blunt wrapping, or joint rolling.
At the end of the day the most important thing to look at is your required volume, as in, how much cannabis you need to grind at a time, and use that as your guiding light in selecting a grinder. Having a machine that can match your desired output is a critical requirement.
After that, how it grinds, what it is constructed of, the different settings and adjustment features, these are all extras that are more of an a-la-carte selection of things that would make your specific grinding application more efficient. Everyone will have slightly different needs and that’s where cross-producer model differentiation comes into play.
The nice thing is, if you do buy a grinding machine that turns out to be too small for your business growth these types of equipment hold their value well and there is a healthy resale market for cannabis processing and packaging equipment where a prudent business owner could easily recoup most of their costs.
