Saw this yesterday. Wire screen cover looked good, not chewed on. Do coons generally chew the pan cover up?

mice be my guess.

Darn raccoons (I call them "Jeffies) and skunks do these kinds of things to us.

Rotten creatures. Especially with a coyote track right on the periphery of my waxed dirt. How do you guys get that screen pan cover to lay nice and flat? I'm starting to entertain the thought of trying polyfill.

Darknight,

Come on into the polyfil water. Temperature is fine brother!
Once you go poly, you'll never go back and the coyotes will not like you as much either cause you'll cull more of their kinfolk.

Mark

Will give it a try, will it freeze if it's wet below 32? Does that stuff have odor to it or just use it right out of the bag?

I use it and yellow pipe insulation have not made up my mind yet. The only problem I had was battling last years weather that we had here monsoon rain, freeze, snow, thaw, repeat. Even with wax dirt it was really tough to keep a trap going one thing I did notice, poly and insulation won't absorb water but they will suspend it enough to freeze up if you get enough water in the bed. But I will admit I was using way way to much poly under the pan. After seeing one of Marks demos he's using just a tiny pinch so that right there is going to make a difference.
Two other thing I'm going to experiment with this year. One is from Jame Lucero's book. For bad weather he was using yellow pipe insulation putting it in a sandwich bag (not a zip lock) with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. And then punching a small hole with a knife tip to let the air out. The salt was there just in case it drew any moisture to help keeping it from freezing. The other experiment is my own doing I'm folding over my black fiberglass screen cover that I use for pipe dream sets and putting them under the pan. They stick out far enough to keep dirt from getting under the pan but will let water filter through if it makes it into the bed.
Justin

I like that idea with the fold screen. Let us know how it works for u

I can do that
J

Thought the screen went on top of the pan and under both jaws to hold it down? Not understanding it under the pan. If it’s over the pan there’s no since in anything under the pan. I’m not knocking, just trying to learn.

Under the pan I'm assuming it works like polypill or pipe insulation but let's water pass through better

Fold your wire screen in half like your making an airplane, but don’t crease it flat, just slightly pre bent. Are you using peat on top of your screen?

Wanna Be this is how I'm experimenting with it. Dont have to mess with trying to get it to lay flat or getting the corners tucked in. I did mess around bedding this way in the shop with a tub of waxed sand seemed to work fine. If this works I will have an all weather system that can go under or over the pan depending on how I bed the trap.
J

I've noticed my wire pan cover tends to dome up slightly over the pan. I cut a v-notch for the dog and put the screen under the free jaw of the mb550. I then try trimming the wire pan cover so it ends just inside the free jaw. Am I doing something wrong here? Why do I have that upward dome in my screen? Maybe it's because I'm not using pipe insulation instead!

I have 550s and I cut my screen to fit inside the jaws. Still won't set perfectly flat but doesn't seem to be hurting anything. All catches are deep. I am bedding with grass when I use screen. If I bed in dirt inuse polyfill. Just made a dozen sets today that are half grass and half dirt. Supposed to be warm the next week so I may have wasted some waxed dirt but better safe than sorry.

Thx guys, I may have missed it but do you guys buy polyfill at hobby lobby or Walmart? Do u have to air out any scent or use it right from the bag?

Gotcha. So I’m guessing you can cover with dirt this way. I don’t have to deal with freezing temps, just rain.
I first started using Polyfill, then peat moss. Both worked but I’d deal with washouts or dirt eventually under the pan.
Went with screen and Zags way of bedding. At first cut the screen to fit inside the jaws and worked pretty good, but like some said, sometimes I’d have that “bubble”. Eventually went with it under both jaws. Someone on this site way more knowledgeable than I posted pics of how to do it without cutting out a notch for the dog.
I don’t know if I do it right or wrong, but I dig the bed probably 3” deep under the pan for water. It works for me through those massive storms we get that’ll drop 3” of rain in an hour. I’ll even use it on a dirthole set with grass on the screen then a little dirt over the top. Still works.

Any polyfill right out of the bag. I use poly mainly because I hate fiberglass insulation and don't plan on carrying it around or handling it any more than I have to.

We use right outta the bag. A pinch is all you need.

The bag I am using is what I bought 5 years ago. It is almost gone but a little goes a long way and I use it over and over when I pick it up from sets when I can find it.