I got my 1st opossum this morning in a coyote set. It was a big male and I was excited to put up a new species of fur. Unfortunately, I ruined it while fleshing. I know opossums have thin skin and was careful not to cut the hide but my cheap Minnesota Trapline fleshing knife would not push off the fat and membrane at all with the dull side. Even the "sharp" edge was virtually worthless. So i ended up having to press harder when pushing for it to work at all.
I decided to stop and refrigerate the hide to stiffen things up. When I flipped the hide back to fur out, all the fur fell out in 2" wide strips the length of the hide. The hide was not cut. I am assuming i pressed to hard and thinned the hide even farther?
I have to sharpen that knife between every hide. It does not hold an edge worth a darn and the dull side is rounded. It did not come with a "dull" edge. It came with no edge at all.
This is my 1st year trapping so I didn't want to spend a lot of money until i was sure my curiosity would turn into something I really enjoyed. Well, it has and I do so I am looking to invest in either a Post knife or a Necker. Suggestions?

I have not fleshed any of my possum on the fleshing beam after the first one, I have done them all after I boarded them. I'm sure there is a gentle method using the fleshing beam, but as a beginner, this is how I found the easiest way to do it.

The fur that fell out I can almost assure you that you cut the root hairs, unfortunately I did the same thing on a massive male. They have paper thin hides, like rabbits, all of mine like I said I just do after I board them. Goodluck!

Had the horrible horrible fleshing knife from Minnesota trapline for several years. Hated putting up fur. Got a knife from Lee Steinmeyer and wow the difference that made. I think the anti's design the MTP knife.

Do you still use a fleshing knife? Or a scraper?

Should be able to flesh a possum with any fleshing knife, sharp or dull. Its all in technique, at least for me....

It has been my experience that any possum caught after mid January will leave about half its fur on the beam, doesn’t matter what method you use to flesh.

One thing you can try Is instead of placing the hide with beam Inside the pelt. Try laying It on the beam. This gives you some cushion between the hide and the beam.
Take a look at the dull side of your knife. Is It rounded off? If so take a file and square up the edge. This will help when pushing fat.

I found that thawing oppossums in cool tap water with a little woolite in it facilitates fleshing and makes for the best put up . Just squeeze the water out while you flesh . It sure helps the hair hold .

Same here. Sometimes it just falls out in clumps. I always wondered why that happens.

Do you release them late season because of this or just discard them?

Don’t go by a possum as a standard in fleshing pelts they are the worst hides I ever worked on just heartbreak waiting to happen the way I see it.

I am using just a rounded knife, a butterknife i'm sure would work fine. Do you have a pic of your setup?

Yep. That's the way it goes with late season possums.

Wow looks just like the one I made years ago out of a scythe blade sounds like it worked just as well As you did I bought Lee's wished I had it 50 years ago when I wore the gristle off with a hog scraper

Carcass pile. And only bugs eat them

On the knife alone... I have a Ron Post knife and it's great. My understanding is the other knives like Necker don't bend (flex) but the Post does. It comes so deadly sharp though you must understand you need to keep it perpendicular to your body at all times, so you don't brush up against it which will send you to the hospital.

Coon Creek Stu made a great video a few years ago showing the differences in the fleshing knives. It's on youtube.

they are like handling wet toilet paper. I use a small dull blade and put a pillow case over the end of my beam. Keep trying you will probably come up with a system that will work for you.

You need to adapt your technique to the blade you have or purchase a blade that suits your technique.

I used a draw knife for fleshing for a while, Currently using a lawn mower blade.

Got to admit He's done 1 more possum then i did Course a lot of my trapping was done before we had possums They showed up bout the same time we started electing democrats

What knife brand is that in pics ? I not sure I like it even by looks