peat moss and antifreeze

[scott kimball]

I will be using peat moss this year instead of waxed dirt so i have a few questions for you guy's who have used it.

1.which is the better antifreeze to use in combination with peat moss
(glycerine or proplylene glycol) taking into consideration the temperature.

2.what is the best way to apply(the better antifreeze) to the peat? in layers at the set or mix the 2 together and let dry pre-season.

3.at what ratio would you mix the two together(in various temps).

4.also what ratio on the anti freeze w/ water( in various temps ).

also if you can give me any hints on what you have found using peat.

thanks in advance
scott

[Bristleback]

Just curious, why not continue using WD?

[scott kimball]

pain in a$$ to make.just my opinion.

[Wright Brothers]

I have used all of those.
WD is tops.
Peat is good.
Layer spraying was PIA for me in my conditions and I scrapped that.

Did you try peat straight?
Here's how I do it, even a cave man like me can make it work.
Dig trap bed small, dig another hole in center of bed for stakes.
Stake trap, test for bedding trouble, adjust if needed, remove trap, add vapor barrier if you want, "insulate" sides and bottom of bed with peat, jamb twist push bed trap, cover with peat, tamp, add dry dirt to surface , tamp again, add more if needed collect possum in morning.

[bobwendt]

never mix anything with the peat, maybe on top or underneath, but never in. peat can`t freeze, impossible, as it has no water in it ( dried) and it refuses to take on water, even if submerged for weeks under a lake. the thin layer of dirt top dressing may need a little sprinkle of table salt is all. I mean thin, like 1 granule thick layer, just enough to keep the peat from blowing or floating away.

[garman]

just wondering I am unfamiliar with the whole peat moss thing, could you use waxed dirt as the thin layer, I could see no reason why but just wondering? Save on amount of waxed dirt used and have to make.

[redcoyote]

top dressing with waxed dirt would be perfect. I just use straight peat for most sets because it rains everyday. if its dry, i will top dress. nothing is needed in the peat, because like others have said, it doesnt absorb water.

[17HMR]

garman, I do use wax dirt over peat when my WD starts getting low, no trouble.

[bobwendt]

that sounds perefect to me. send me about a bushel or two of that waxed dirt ,and used only as a thin top dress over peat it should last thousands of sets.

[17HMR]

Bob, it would be perfect, except for having to carry a extra container.

[rn]

What is the best way to dry the peat as the bail I got is a little moist due to heavy plastic wrapping?

[scott kimball]

bob; let me understand you.you are saying that i need no antifreeze with peat no matter what the conditions are outdoors rain,snow ,freezing temps,ECT....

[bobwendt]

yep, none. my peat I just cut the whole top off the bale and then set in the barn loft all summer. I think there is enough summer left, if not you`ll have to break it open, but you`ll never get it back in then either. scott, you need a skiff of dirt over the peat or it blows away or washes away, so you need to salt or whatever ( wax) that thin top ral dirt layer. I`ve had the river go out of it`s banks and the sets go under 10 feet of water for maybe a month. water recedes and the sets pops with dry dust peat under that top layer of dirt holding the peat down. the stuff is a miracle covering.

[scott kimball]

bob i have bought 2 bags of peat (sphagnum) from wal-mart, is this the same peat you are relating all this info to.

[bobwendt]

yes, same near as I can tell. mine comes in square packed maybe 40-50 lb plastic wrapped bales, not bags at all, but bales. it looks like brown dust with a few course twigs or leaves in it that crumble right up except the odd little stick.

[scott kimball]

wright brothers; jab ,tamp,twist check again then collect oppssum in the morning.LMAO i'am saying aint one in the whole county.i caught them all last year. 20+ I would rather see trap empty 4 days in row than pull up to see one of them **@$ grinning back at me.

[scott kimball]

Bob ; that be the stuff. if this game is so easy (peat moss game ) why in hell do people go through the pains taking labor of waxing dirt?

[bobwendt]

nobody ever told them I guess. maybe someone wants to sell wax. looks like too much weight to tote around to me,and too pricey and time consuming. I just peat, wet or dry dirt and salt. cheap and as fast as it gets and as good as about any other method that I can tell. I`m sure the waxed dirt works great, but the volume and weight and expense, man, I do 100 sets a line and rotate weekly and the remakes daily are sometimes 40 sets or more out of 100. a guy would need tons and tons of waxed dirt and a triple axle dump truck to haul it all. It`s just not rpractical on a large scale operation.

[Richard Nelson]

Peat works but here in Vermont I have had it freeze under the wrong condtions. I like it abunch and pplan on using it forever.

Can be a pain to set trap in but with a bit of practice you will get the hang of it.

[Bristleback]

I may be on an island alone with regard to peat........ran out of WD and needed to keep rolling, finally found a couple bales at Wally World or Home Depot?........bottom 1/4 of the bale was solid....hard as a rock, it was dead of winter and it was outside?

I sure don't care for it much when trying to bed a trap I like a good solidly bedded trap and I've just never fallen in love with peat.

Pain to make? Depends on how you make it. I sure know I'm not remaking sets.

I sleep very well knowing my sets are in WD.