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How to start small: the processing build order
You do not need a closed loop extractor to start making money from a harvest. The build order that makes sense for a small operation, with what it costs at DIY level:
One: static sift. Screens and a static tech rig, roughly R5,000 to R30,000. This processes the D class kief and produces the highest value per gram in the whole pipeline. Solventless, so it is the easiest to license later. This is the backbone. Build it first.
Two: ice water bubble hash. Bags and a washing machine setup, R3,000 to R15,000. Processes the C class popcorn into temple balls and hash rosin. This is the traditional SA market, and the easiest entry point for a new processor.
Three: QWET, cold ethanol. A Buchner funnel and a rotovap, R15,000 to R60,000. The final pass on the D class sieve oversize. Golden shatter from material that would otherwise be compost.
Four: hydrocarbon closed loop, R80,000 to R300,000 plus an explosion-proof room. The B class to vape cart system. Best terpene retention, highest regulatory bar, most capital. Year three stuff, once the B class volume exists to feed it.
The order is not random. Each step pays for the next. The static sift rig takes the first harvest's trim and turns it into the cash that buys the bubble setup. The bubble setup takes the popcorn and buys the rotovap. By the time you look at the closed loop, the first two seasons have taught you drying, grading and extraction on the cheap.
A few lessons from our side. Keep the dry and cure process boring and consistent before you build anything. Extraction cannot fix bad dry. Freeze the trim before you sieve it, cold heads pop off clean, and run a single big screen so you keep the full spectrum of heads. Sieve oversize is not waste, it is the QWET input. And weigh every class every harvest. The season to season numbers tell you more than any forum post.
The full pipeline and the comparison behind it: https://420forums.co.za/processing-pipeline-farmer-economics/
The last post in the series ties it all together with the sources.