I know it's been discussed a lot but can your dirt actually be too fine to take the wax? I have access to some that's like baby powder almost. It's river dirt/sand way up high on a hump under a bridge. I am planning on making up about twenty gallons. Of course I'd top dress and not leave the fine showing at the set.

That's what I use. My dirt blows away on dry windy days. It makes excellent waxed dirt. We also have blow sand here that works really well for regular dry dirt after every thing is froze

A problem or potential problem i have encountered with the fine dirt as you speak of is that my normal screen covers i have used for years will let that dirt roll right on through like nothing was stopping it. I am not having issues with my pans getting blocked or nothing and the screen cover still works fine and traps function flawlessly but i do use 25% more dirt at a set than usual because of the fines rolling through the screen. I have very fine soil here like you speak as well as very fine sand.

Here is what I use and why. I wait for a windy day with a steady 15-20 MPH wind to go look for dirt (badger mounds mostly) the idea is to blow that baby powder dirt away and keep the course stuff to wax. The baby powder can be used for throw dirt if you want to make a messy looking set just don't wax it. Sifting chest high will allow the powder to blow away and the course dirt will drop into the 3-4 buckets I have bungeed together. If you want more throw dirt add more buckets down wind a bit.

I find that sand and the fine dirt will hold water on top of the sets when it's absorbed into the normal ground all around the set and that stands out when it should not (surface tension). The fine powdered dirt uses a lot of wax and you lose the looseness for drainage if you wax it to much of that powder. It takes twice the dirt to sift to get a years worth of dirt but I find it worth it for my usage here in the windy plains.

With the course dirt the water drains well and with the wolf fang hole from driving it in helps the water to drain away easier. Courser dirt is harder to freeze with less contact between the pieces being courser. It also won't blow away as easy as fine dirt will.

Sounds good