We made some dry peat today...

[longbeard2372]

Finally got atleast half a day off on a good weather day and Kendall and I decided to make some dry peatmoss today and hopefully get a early jump on prepping for our upcoming trapping season. We went to the hardware store and bought some Sphagnum peatmoss in a 3.8 cubic feet bag and some new 5 gal buckets with rubber gasket lids.
My little partner starting the sifting process.

She loves to help even with a broken shoulder.

She says "it just feels good to get dirty"

Back into the sifter after drying in the sun for a hour.

And into the buckets, sealed and stored in the shed waiting for the first dirthole to be dug.


Next chore will be sifting and making dry dirt... coming soon!

[Dutch]

Gotta love it.

What are those railroad track looking things?

[longbeard2372]

They are railroad tracks... We have a minature railroad here on the farm. It's a 20 min ride out and back over wooden trestle and through a tunnel and woods. Have two deisel locomotives and a coal fired steam loco. The deisels are 3 cylinders and can haul approx 20 people at a time. Good times for everyone!

[Deleted]

That's awesome. My god if I let my daughter play in the dirt like that my wife would have my hide!

[Deleted]

Two questions: What's the peat moss for in regards to trapping? And how's your cell service?!?!

[Dutch]

Jul 29, 2013 17:48:59 GMT -5 longbeard2372 said:

They are railroad tracks... We have a minature railroad here on the farm. It's a 20 min ride out and back over wooden trestle and through a tunnel and woods. Have two deisel locomotives and a coal fired steam loco. The deisels are 3 cylinders and can haul approx 20 people at a time. Good times for everyone!

Man, that gotta be cool with the train.

[Deleted]

Peat moss goes over the trap to keep water out and to keep the trap from freezing so it goes off. Right longbeard?

[longbeard2372]

Here you Dutch

And yes stroupy you are correct!

[longbeard2372]

And cell service is great! LOL

[longbeard2372]

Jul 29, 2013 18:17:45 GMT -5 Dutch said:

Jul 29, 2013 17:48:59 GMT -5 longbeard2372 said:

They are railroad tracks... We have a minature railroad here on the farm. It's a 20 min ride out and back over wooden trestle and through a tunnel and woods. Have two deisel locomotives and a coal fired steam loco. The deisels are 3 cylinders and can haul approx 20 people at a time. Good times for everyone!

Man, that gotta be cool with the train.

Dutch stop by anytime during good weather and we'll get them out of the engine house and go for a spin !!! We have bus loads of people stop by to ride the Conestoga Northern. So many that we get both deisels out at once just to keep things rolling.

[Dutch]

You kidding? I've never heard of it before.

[longbeard2372]

Kidding? About what? I'm kidding about nothing. If you would like a ride just let me know. Evenings are typically the best if my work schedule lines up. Saturday/Sunday evenings are best. I'm only 40 min or so south of Lititz in the river hills.

[Dutch]

That would be interesting.

How'd your daughter break her shoulder? She seems to be doing ok that's for sure.

[galthatfishes]

Wow! I'm slightly more impressed with your little trapper than I am that train! Both are awesome! KUDOS!

[longbeard2372]

Being the adventurer she is she thought it would be a good idea , after her mother and I told her several times not, to walk up a sliding board the opposite way you are to slide down. And when she got to the top she got dizzy and fell from the very top. That was on the 17th so yeah 12 days later she's doing pretty good. Her summer of swimming is done and cheerleading is on the brink but she will be good to go for trapping season she says! We are just happy she didn't need surgery. It broke on a angle into her rotator area.

[acorn20]

Hey Longbeard,

I would think that peat would tend to draw and hold moisture thus having a tendency to freeze when temperatures dip below freezing. When I trapped during my twenties, I would seek out uninhabited ant hills along mountain roads. That material, once sifted and dried, made excellent cover materials for trapping.

One other thing...I don't know how many people watch the "Mountain Men" series on the History Channel but the fellow in Maine sets conibear traps on leaning branches of wood with the hope of catching martin and other weasels. I don't know if I've seen the fellow in Alaska using them or not. I've set conibear traps in front of muskrat holes and slides but always below the waterline. Does Pennsylvania still require conibears be set below the waterline? Just wondering because it's been so long since I've trapped.

Dan

[longbeard2372]

Dan... Dry peat does not draw moisture. It actually sheds it. When making a set I leave about 1/2" of lose dirt in the bottom with a dusting of sifted peat. I bed the trap and cover and some what pack the peat into the trap. I use polyfill (pillow stuffing) under the pan to keep anything from stopping the pan movement. Polyfill also sheds moisture. After the trap is covered with about 1/4" of peat I put approx. another 1/4" of sifted dry dirt on top of the peat to keep the wind from blowing off the trap. I then sprinkle a little bit of antifreeze on top of the dirt. I've never had a frozen trap or a trap not fire due to moisture or freeze. I have had step down dirtholes swamped and look like small ponds one day and have temps go below freezing that nite and had a fox or coon the next morning.

As far as keeping conis under water I believe here in Pa. they must be within the water coarse. There's has been and will continue to be arguements about just what a water coarse is. It is one of those "gray" laws the PGC needs to make clearer. I say a water coarse is any area water may run. A creek, river or even a dry gutter today but runs full after tomorrows thunderstorm a water coarse but the local WCO may feel differently.

[acorn20]

Thanks LB for the follow-up information. I'll have to remember your set-up if I ever decide to get back into trapping part time.