Trapping in central Wisconsin and having some troubles this year with traps freezing down. I’m using wax dirt under and on top of the traps which include MB550’s and No BS Juniors both 2 coiled. Same thing I’ve done in years past but this year they are almost all freezing tight to the ground. I tried a layer of wax paper in the bottom, then wax dirt then covering the trap with more wax dirt but same thing, frozen tight. I’d rather not use salt cause I have done that and it is a deer magnet here. Temps have been fluctuating from below zero for a few days to 20’s and 30’s. Really frustrated at this point. Does glycol attract deer like calcium chloride? Does it corrode traps?

Glycol dosent seem to attract deer

Sounds like your dirt doesn’t have enough wax. Do you have a way to melt in more?
Bad thing with salt or glycol is when you get snow on top it will melt and make your trap beds obvious.

Try wax sand instead of dirt. I had problems with wax dirt, it would work great for about a month, then it would freeze into a solid clump. I've had traps in waxed sand from November to March and still functioning well. Also make sure you are making your trap beds plenty large and deep enough that you can put lots of waxed dirt/sand under and around the trap, with absolutely no place where the trap is touching native dirt.

bearcat2 nailed it,make your trap bed larger so the metal of the trap isn't touching the native dirt and you should be fine.

When the temps are in the 30's how well do your trap beds drain water? Are they freezing down, or is the bed filling up and freezing them solid?

I have used plenty of wax dirt under and over the tap so there’s nothing in contact with native soil. Not sure how well the trap need drains? My guess based on responses so far is that I didn’t use enough wax. I started the season with 5, 5 gallon buckets of waxed sand. After making it I made sure it held water like I normally do and it seemed fine. Guessing there’s a difference between repelling water and not freezing. This is the first year I’ve had this problem so I think I did something different with my wax to dirt/sand ratio. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Just a thought,but are you sure the dirt you mixed the wax with was completely dry before mixing the two?