Have been conceidering building a fur tumbler but see some have converted an old dryer and forgonethe expense. My question is if I convert an old dryer will it work on larger hides such as coyote? I only catch about 2 dozen coyotes per season so drumming 2-3 at a time is doable.

Yes,
I like to drum them when the leather is just dry to the touch.
Now they get drummed them turned at the same time. This way there's little chance of tearing the hide.
Large feed sacks or industrial garbage bags can be used to hod your medium and you hide.
Just be sure not to use the heat setting.

If I go with an old washer I'll remove the heating element before using.

I'm sure you meant dryer, but removing it is not needed. If it were a gas dryer there will be no heat if it's not hooked to gas.

If it's an electric dryer, what I do is just open the top, cut all the wires going to the dryer. I then cut a hole for a light switch and using an old drop cord or appliance cord I wire just the two wires that run the drum (the blower will still run too but that doesn't matter) through the switch. The tumbler then runs off 110 vs 220 (or whatever). Use a good high quality duct tape and cover all the vent holes in the dryer before use.

The trick is figuring out which of the two wires it is. I can tell you it will be the smallest wires and not green. Other than that they vary between dryers. I've done a bunch of them over the years. My very un-OSHA approved method is to hook one side of an unplugged drop cord to one of the small wires then plug it in and touch all the other small wires with the other side of the cord one at a time. Most will do nothing some will blow your breaker, if you're lucky, one will start the drum, if not, cut off that first wire and start over with another of the small wires and so on until you get the right combo of two wires. I'm not advocating this method, just saying it's how I do it.

So I have a question for us guys new to putting up fur. What is the reason for this? And do you do it to all furs? Raccoons coyote fox muskrat etc? Just trying to learn

Tumbling gets the dirt and foreign matter out of the fur and fluffs the hair. It can also dry damp fur prior to put up.

Your right, dryer not washer but this still does not answer my original question.

I use the dryer for coyote, fox, coon beaver, fisher, cats and rats. I buy hardwood sawdust graded for tumbling.

Thank you, that answered my question!

Newbie question, would ground walnut shells work? I have some that might have been used for sand blasting or maybe parts cleaning? Was left from one of my buildings from a tenant.

Try them and see how they work. My guess is they are too fine.

Yes you can do 3 big coyotes in it at a time easilly. I do up to 5, 3x coons at a time.

I use a 1/2 gallon of corn cob horse bedding in my fur tumbler. Shop vac it out when it gets really dirty and put in a fresh 1/2 gallon or so. A 40# bag lasts a LONG time.