I am look for ideas on making a rack to hold maybe 50 or so to dry before skinning if anyone has made something.

Get some wire fencing and some 2X4s and make a rack.

I have a stack of milk crates. Used to just line them up and lay out the rats in top. We don't have large number of rats around me much anymore.

And if you make a wire rack and you have a open box pick up put the rack in the back when your trapping those rats. And they will be dry by time you get home as long as It's not raining. LOL

I have 6-7 30 inch long cage traps. I line those up and put about 4-5 per trap and use 3 fans to blow air on them. The idea of a rack with an open surface is the air gets to the whole rat.

Bryce

Switching to a couple wire shelves on wheels. So I can roll over to the skin table. My drying racks are on wheels and that’s the way to go imo.

I don't think we have that many rats in all of Kansas!

So this is what I came up with on wheels so it can move out the way I can add more layers if need be . Thanks for the input

Looks like a good start.

Wrap the rat in newspaper as soon as caught. When I get home I hang rat by front foot with piece of wire. Skin next day.

So I made one more level


Made a table top for other stuff.

I would leave plenty of room for air flow

great idea for smaller quantities for sure but large numbers not so much

I admit I am a hobby muskrat trapper . Never got more than 350 rats a year. Always sent to NAFA back in the day. I made sure rats were dry and brushed before skinning. Poked the front legs inside the pelt after placing on stretcher. Made sure not to over stretch. Got many top lot awards. These days with $2.00 rats maybe don't need to be so fussy.

From my experience in selling with lower prices and weaker demand, poor fur or poorly handled fur gets lowered or docked at a higher percentage of higher values then when demand was higher and prices better.

Bryce

hang by teeth on stretcher nail

Old deer stand ladder section and some clothes racks…

We used to roll ours up in newspaper initially. The newspaper will soak up a lot of water.Then laid them on a wire rack to finish drying.

I have a small wet dry vac that I sometimes can use on really wet rats. I also have a larger one that really works on coons.

Bryce

I use a clothes dryer converted to 110 (no heat only tumble) and then I plug the holes in the back with duct tape and put wood shavings like what you would use for animal bedding and tumble 7 rats for 15 or so minutes and they come out perfectly dry and ready to skin. The time and such depends on what dryer and how wet the rats are. I wouldn't do more than 7 big rats as I have tried 10 before and wrecked a dryer. Luckily, I get them for free so it wasn't bad. The only issue I have run into is that if you're doing a lot of rats, the fluff does get wet after a while but I just stick a fan in there on low and the fluff dries out rather quickly. I like to put a 1/4 bale in and then add more as needed. After they're dried, I stack them in milk crates belly up, get a few rounds of them dried, and then start skinning.