I have been asked by some to post pictures of my tumbler I made from a Clothes Dryer. Yes they can be built bigger for more fur at onetime, but this one works for me and doesn't take up much room.

A regular clothes dryer can work, but it spins to fast for fur to properly drum. This is why I tore the Drum out of one and reduced the speed down to make it Drum Fur Properly. Here is some Pics.





The shaft does not go thru the Drum.

And here is the door and Fastening Latches I use on the Drum.

This is the type of Corn Cob Grit I use. 2040 type


Any Questions, feel free to ask.

looks good, does the fur turn out pretty well?

When do you tumble? I assume after fleshin. Does it not leave stuff all over the pelt?

I like the ingenuity!

And... whats the thinner for?

Very Nice DC

that look familiar.
from your set up to the kinda grit you use.lol

it makes a HUGE different in our fur.

SWEET!!

AND... WE NEED MO PICS OF THEM POSTERS!!!

Before Fleshing.

So ive never tumbled what are the advantages and when and how do you tumble

3 big coffee cans of Grit and 1/2 cup thinner to clean and shine the fur up. Works really well and the buyers pay me good for my putup fur.

dead yote that is nice ,heck you ought to market them......Ringtailtrapper

Made in USA

Is the drum large enough for 6+ fox?

did you assemble that door system? i assume that the dryer opend at the top and you cut the door solt out and stuff right? what for motor is on that?

How much a bag for the corn cob grit ?

Ever try hardwood sawdust ?

Approximate RPM's of the tumbler ?

Is there a big difference in the finished product between using the regular dryer tumbling speed and your pulley reduced tumbling speed ?

How many fox or yote can be put in the tumbler at once ?

Ten minute cycle ?

Are those your helpers pictured on the wall?

Nice set-up. thanks for sharing

tell them how long to tumble. Very important.

No problem!

thanks. Was going to make one. Plans are now modified to copy yours. Thanks for the replies. Hope I can get some help like yours LOL

Will you post some pics of what fur looks like before and affter tumbled please?

HOw many batches can you do before you have to change the grit?

I've seen some tumbled fur....HUGE difference

You can duct tape the vent holes closed too

I closed the openings off with plywood and cut in a door on the side. The motor is a 1/2 hp 1725RPM

Sorry, all done for the season.

I keep adding grit as I tumble more critters, as I pull the drummed ones out and shake them in a barrel to save the grit for fleshing. A 40# bag will do around 150 coon.

Shannon,

How many coon can you get in there?

How long do you tumble them?

Do you comb them before to get rid of the burs?

forgive my ignorrance, but why tumble? I guess I am not sure what it does-

thanks,

heres mine use drill to turn it for now going to hook the motor up soon.

heres what the fur looks like after it has been tumbled


and ready for the fur buyer

2
10 to 15 minutes
Yes
To get mud, dirt, blood out and gives the fur a gloss finish. Makes dull fur look great. More $$$ in my pocket and 2nd place at the State Fur Handling Contest! Next year 1ST!

buck, do you have any pics of the way your drill is connected to the barrel. i like the idea of the plastic drum. do you have any plans for that one?
thanks

a rottiserrie rod welded to a pipe flange and then bolted to the barrel.

Is there info on tumbling fur in the archives anywhere? how to when to?

This should be put into the archives.

Good job. Thanks for posting such an informitive article.

Sweet,

Thnks Shannon. Great post and should head to the archives!

I'm here to help!

Every try corn cob bedding for pets? Nice post and pics....

Great pictures. When exactly do you tumble, after fleshing???

Before fleshing. That way the sawdust or cob grit comes off with the fat.

dead coyote, where your barrel for the lack of better words, connects to the top wooden frame, did you make those metal spindles or where they in the dryer? im interested in making one but i want to see what all im going to need first.
thanks

dead coyote

have you ever tried another cleaning/degreasing agent other than thinner. would thinner not be somewhat dangerous? If not what type of thinner are you using? Looks good. I went out and bought a tumbler from a mink rancher that was retiring. Just trying to figure out a proper mixture for my solution.

we tumble ours fur side out before fleshing and skin side out after fleshing and weve figured that we save at least a days drying time by tumbling the skin side.

jerrys drummer has 2 compartments where he can have different grit in each compartment.

we do everything that way except rats,possum and beaver.

the coon are so much easier to handle after theyve been drummed skin side out because the grit absorbs all the grease off the hides.


we dont use any solvent and dont use hardwood sawdust because its too sharp and can scratch the leather.


heres a pic of jerrys homemade drummer and some fur after its been drummed

Interesting stuff.What is the average price difference you get from critters tumbled and not?

Cathryn, that is how we do all of our mink pelts as well, the pelting plant that is and it makes a big difference in drying time. Love all the homemade enginuity in this post. Keep em coming.

I made the spindles.

The Paint Thinner I use is the Low Vol and safe for most applications. No I have not tried another product, but Melby Fur out of New London, MN has a secret concoction.

Thanks for posting. These types of posts are exactly why I keep comming back to t-man, to learn.

That motor looks like its really covered with grit, is that ok? Any concerns about fire?

i was thinking about doing this but nafa does it for me.. so they said it is a waste of time for ME but if you sell to a local buyer i can see how it would help.. i guess they dont tumble coon or beaver so maybe it could help with that.. but for me because i sell direct to nafa i would think it would be a waste

I ship alot of my fur to Nafa also, and they are only grading the fur for potential buyers. I know they drum the Pelts that are fur side out, but not the ones fur side in. This is why I drum my coon and mink, to get the best I can out of it, to make the better grade and receive more $$$ in my pocket when it's sold. Alot of my Fur that is sent to NAFA makes a Grade and is Labeled for that grade. (Labeled means that the pelt was pulled out of the graded lot to show the potential buyer.) If there is 300 coon in a lot, the potential buyers are not going to look at all 300 coon in the lot, but just a few labeled pelts from that lot. Maybe it don't mean anything to some, but to me it means the best looking pelts in the lot.
By the way, the reason Nafa drums all Fur side pelts is that they can't pick choose the 90% that don't get done at all.

i see your point now.. so you would not tumble any fur out pelts then?? because they get done at nafa so why do them twice.. i will make a drum and do all my fur in pelts... do you ever drum your beaver?
did i read your correct that you drum after you flesh or before?? i would think if you did it after it would be the best...

I don't put up many beaver, so I don't drum them.
I drum before fleshing.

Dead Coyote

What paint thinner do you use then if you don't mind me asking? right now I am using L.O.C. from amway. it seems to work but I haven't used anything else so I don't know how good it really works. Pelts look good but got nothing to compare it to. I have the same feelings as you when it comes time to taking pride in your fur. I drum all of my fur both the ones fur in and fur out. I hand wash all my coyotes before hand and then drum them. This helps to take out alot the water and they come out nice and fluffy.

we drum the fur again after we dry it and before we ship it, like they would.
we mark do not drum on the ticket and it sint drummed again so it saves the 100.00 a pelt fee on cats,coyotes, and foxes.

some people will disagree with them charging anyway, but they dont. they never have as long as hes been drumming it and senidng it to NAFA with the tickets marked.

we drum both before and after we flesh.
fur side first, then flesh them we drum the skin side and drun them again after theyre dried but before theyre taken to our agent for shipping

THANKS FOR ALL OF THIS.

this my first year, wasn't lookin to sell nothin.
next year will be different.
you guys are really helpin by posting all of this.

cathryn, do you say you dry the pelts after they are dried and off the stretchers? wouldnt this bend them or possibly rib a thin skinned fox? maybe this is a dumb question, but i dont know anything about tumbling. and another question Cathryn, when you posted a picture of a tumbler yous aid it was johns. is that the same set up you use? could you post pics of the spindles and motor sets up on that one?
thanks

and another question? are there ribs inside of the drums? and buckbuster, i ask this because i thought i saw a 2X4 or so inside your druma nd i figured its a rib. if so, how did you get that wood into the drum? i have the base built on my so now im just waiting to get some more information.
thanks

Yes there are paddles.