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peat
Feb 24, 2008 10:02:07 GMT -6
Post by trappnman on Feb 24, 2008 10:02:07 GMT -6
how much peat does the average guy use per set?
If I'm making them true freeze proof, I can't get more then 70-75 sets out of a bale.
If just sandwiching the trap in peat, with site/dry dirt over top, can do maybe 100.
Am I in the ballpark?
cause if so- I'm going to need a lot of peat this year- no running out like I did last year and making Rube Goldburg inventions to get it dry...
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 10:10:25 GMT -6
Post by bobwendt on Feb 24, 2008 10:10:25 GMT -6
I fill a bread bag with peat , that fluffs out tremendously from it`s baled state, and carry that bag in my basket. light weight and handy. I keep a tub at the truck for refills. if my bread bag gets beat up I just pitch it and get another. anyway, #3s in soupmud I can get 3 sets from scratch. one and 1/2s on rock hard ground, maybe 8 sets/bag. by "thebale" who knows, as I`ve seen many different sizes of "bales". kind of like what is a rick of wood"? well we all know its 4x8x2 but that isn`t what everyone calls it.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 10:27:06 GMT -6
Post by trappnman on Feb 24, 2008 10:27:06 GMT -6
I thought bales were standard size?
thats sounds about right- I carry mine in ice cream bucket...I'm guessing about the same amount as your breadbag-
so how much peat do you predry?
Im thinking Im going to need at least 5 bales, so that means buy 6-7.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 10:42:16 GMT -6
Post by garybenson on Feb 24, 2008 10:42:16 GMT -6
Seems to me peat would be too spongy to get a good solid bed. Can't argue with success however.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 10:44:10 GMT -6
Post by trappnman on Feb 24, 2008 10:44:10 GMT -6
its no different from any bedding such as dry dirt, that doesn't compress. I actually find peat easier to bed in than plain dried dirt.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 11:02:33 GMT -6
Post by bobwendt on Feb 24, 2008 11:02:33 GMT -6
well now, I wouldn`t go that far. generally your second choice is soup mud or frozen rock hard soil to try to bed in. so while the peat is lousy lay imo, it beats the alternative.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 11:13:43 GMT -6
Post by trappnman on Feb 24, 2008 11:13:43 GMT -6
stored dry dirt I'm talking about- it has a lot more "motion" in it than peat. like trying to bed in styrafoam beads...
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 11:22:51 GMT -6
Post by bobwendt on Feb 24, 2008 11:22:51 GMT -6
plus the dry dirt sucks water, peat repels it. then the weight factor. nothing is better than october normal thawed semi dry natural dirt, but heck, who has that?
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 11:58:27 GMT -6
Post by Bob Jameson on Feb 24, 2008 11:58:27 GMT -6
dirt is always the better medium to bed dry or wet in my experience.Peat takes practice and works well once you learn how to layer and pinch the trap so its relatively secure.I never measured how many sets to a bag.I do presift and dry when I can. It does volume out considerably once the bale is opened. I get lots of sets from a bale but depends on the trap size as to how many that will be and if I am mixing it with dirt at the set or brought in dirt mixture. It all works good until the freezeing rain,snow/ thaw/ice/ mud period comes. The bed is most always ready to go its the darn surface that takes the beating.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 12:08:51 GMT -6
Post by trappnman on Feb 24, 2008 12:08:51 GMT -6
nothing is better than october normal thawed semi dry natural dirt,
me...during october...
bob- have you used much of stored dry dirt? I find it terrible stuff to bed in as far as stabilizng trap- peat conforms to the trap more or somethin'- best of both worlds is a 50/50 mix if only rian and not freeze is a concern.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 12:32:38 GMT -6
Post by romans117 on Feb 24, 2008 12:32:38 GMT -6
I put the peat in one gallon ziplock bags. The cheap kind form walmart. I can get four sets with number 2's per gallon bag. That is a hand full under and one on top. Three's and fours are two to three hand fulls. I am getting rid of most of the threes and fours I have due to the number of sets I can make with peat. If the trap is not real solid I dug the trap bed to big. If I got it right the trap will twist right into it. I also do not use pan covers with peat. Phil and Jeff convinced me to give it a try. I didn't believe it would work with just peat over the trap, but it did. My traps are pit pans or night latched. I did learn about halfway through this season that I was using way to much peat per set. But I was so burnt out from last years dirt only frozen in traps I wanted no mess ups. There are three sizes at walmart of peat. I did three mid size bales and got another bale from a Friend. I will be doing at least six big bales of peat this year. Four mid size bales got me through the season running 80 to 100 traps for about eight weeks.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 13:14:44 GMT -6
Post by lumberjack on Feb 24, 2008 13:14:44 GMT -6
A plastic bag wouldnt survive a half a day on my line. I use the plastic folgers coffee cans and get 2 + or - sets per can using both 1 1/2 victors and 2 northwoods. You have to replace the cans after a good while the lids get worn and cruddy and the seal wears out eventually. Couldnt tell ya how many coffee cans I get per bale though.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 13:45:19 GMT -6
Post by Bob Jameson on Feb 24, 2008 13:45:19 GMT -6
I use a lot of stored dry dirt. I dont have any problems working with it. Its the bed development that makes it work the best.Tapered sides to a narrow bottom and enough bed material to work with it is very quick for me.Been using it for long time now.You can build basic hole sets remarkably fast when you are hustleing useing put up dirt once you are on to it. I prefer 50/50 mix the best.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 13:56:25 GMT -6
Post by bobwendt on Feb 24, 2008 13:56:25 GMT -6
pretty hard to get a bed just so so when chipping out frozen soil with a mattox and swinging with all your might and chips blinding you and raging winds and brutal temps. lot of these ideas sound great on paper but in the field not so easy as described. heck, I do the best I can and pray a lot and figure at least its set, a catch is possible, I`m out there, doing the best I can, which isn`t a candle to the results of that sweet sunny fall trapping.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 14:09:55 GMT -6
Post by trappnman on Feb 24, 2008 14:09:55 GMT -6
the older I get, the more I find out bedding isn't a big deal. all I'm saying is that peat is no harder to use than dry dirt.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 14:15:46 GMT -6
Post by bobwendt on Feb 24, 2008 14:15:46 GMT -6
you been hanging around me too long is all,and finally figured coyotes run a field to death the first night after its chisled or plowed. kind of shoots the shaky foot deal down the tubes.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 14:24:01 GMT -6
Post by trappnman on Feb 24, 2008 14:24:01 GMT -6
the older we get, the more simple things are.....
speaking of soils- given my druthers, I'd take that sandy western soil over anything. KS was more like here in places, but some pastures had that sandy packed stuff.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 15:18:39 GMT -6
Post by Bob Jameson on Feb 24, 2008 15:18:39 GMT -6
I agree on the conditions. Many a winter I just try to get a bed deep enough to get a trap deep enough to bed below ground level.I did alot of chipping last winter and some this winter. Frozen ground work is just that work, and hope you can get it in.
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 16:24:38 GMT -6
Post by briankroberts on Feb 24, 2008 16:24:38 GMT -6
Sorry I've used peat and I find it to be inferior to waxed dirt, had some coyotes that just wouldn't commit. Just don't like it, I can make waxed dirt and not have those problems, but its all about what you want to do with your time, myself, when I'm in the field I don't want to have problems....B...
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peat
Feb 24, 2008 16:40:47 GMT -6
Post by bobwendt on Feb 24, 2008 16:40:47 GMT -6
brian, you are 100% correct, but, it`s about weight and volume too. a guy is running 100 sets and rotating 20 a day, and dirt, waxed or dry, is just too heavy, so he gets by on a lesser product that is servicable, even if not best. I try to balance what will get the most fur inthe truck the fastest with the leastest hassles. sometimes that turns out to be a mix of seconmd rate nmethods and stamina as much as anything. kinda like a big hootered woman can look good , even PERFECT! then you find out she is mean as a snake and decide thay can`t make hooters big enough to make up for that. so the sweet gal with the medium hooters wins the day.
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