I'm going to try my hand at making some waxed dirt and was wondering if people use a crockpot or turkey roaster for it. I know I've heard of people doing it but I didn't know which one of the two people use. I also have a normal propane cooker but am worried about scorching it.

get a laser thermometer..harbor freight has one...don't get it hotter than 130-135

I use heat lamps I have 2 large vent covers I use with 2 lamps per cover just roll the bell shaped cover on its edge to mix it up plus it holds in the heat. I’ll try to get a pic up but it’s not downloading

I use my driveway and a hot sunny summer day. But I have used a turkey roster pan on a gas grill before that works too. Lots of ways to make it, just use what works best for you.

Pour two 5 gallon buckets of sand on a sheet of plywood, add in a bucket of sifted dry dirt, mix in 10 pounds of shredded wax. Get out your propane weed burner and warm up portions of the pile and stir it with a shovel. Do this until there is no dry sand/dirt, it all looks damp. Shovel it until it cools down a bit. Then I run it through a large sifter I made into a wash tube. It makes a little over 15 gallons of waxed dirt. 15 gallons takes about an hour. Some say there is too much scent with this technique. It makes no difference for cats and I haven't notice much difference with coyotes.

Cement mixer and propane torch/weed burner/s. Use a inexpensive ir thermometer to check temps.

I like to keep the courser dirt pieces like small fish tank size gravel for drainage. I like to sift dirt on windy days that keeps the bigger piece out from the sifter, then if you sift at chest level the courser sifted pieces fall into the catch containers and the flour texture dirt blows away from the catch containers.

I find the powder dirt waxed holds moisture on top of the set and still pancakes in colder weather. Just the way I do it, it takes a lot of dirt like that to fill a few buckets but it’s quality stuff.

Good Idea

Thanks

Lots of things can go wrong when making waxed dirt the less you handle it the better IMO. A lot depends on the dirt used as how rough you can get with it before it’s pulverized into useless flout dust. Here the same field could hold the best and the most worthless dirt just yards apart. I avoid sandy soils that breaks down so easily, the shoulder/ ditch of the road yields to many rocks you that don’t want in the mix.

Badgers do most of the dirt selection for me as the dry clods around the hole allow me to get a good idea what I’m dealing with. Run some through a sifter to see how it stands up to movement. The nice thing about badger dirt is it’s often around when other dirt is not available even if it’s wet out. That fresh dug dirt dries quickly in the sun and wind above the mound.

Some things to avoid and some can be fixed with using heat lamps, like lowering the lamps in slow increments to avoid scorching the wax. Cool the finished dirt by either adding finished cooled dirt from a previous batch or pour it from bucket to bucket to cool it to avoid it making one big lump in a bucket. If your mix is too wet add dry dirt and mix while the “wet” is still hot. I’ve also added a batch of cooled finished dirt that needs a bit more wax in it.

I dry my dirt before waxing it even if I think it’s dry so I don’t have any mold issues with it. I’ve stored waxed dirt for years with no issues and I’ve had some leftover stuff that got wet and molded. Menards buckets tall or short with the cheaper lids stored the best. The shorter buckets are easier to move around in a truck full of gear. Gamma lids seem to be hit or miss if outside in the weather very long indoors out of the sun or a short time in the truck should be fine get the lids tight.

Try using a course dirt in your next batch and see how it preforms for you at your sets. .