this popped up for sale , they want 275 for it , I am not buying it I just though it interesting , having not seen one before

this is supposed to be the fox and coon cone.



anyone here used one ?

That looks just like an old style of the more modern ones can't see why it wouldn't work, probably would take some practice though.

I've seen them before but never used one.

I used one on a few coon. It did a good job, but was slow. I was not impressed.

That looks like a Mills Fleshing Machine. Impeller model. After seeing a guy use one at a fur dealer’s place, I wanted one. About 5 years ago, I bought one (vibrating knife model) that had been owned by Ludy Sheda. It was then owned by Neil Ziegman of Z-Traps. I bought it from Neil.

It took about 7-8 small coon to catch on how to use it without tearing holes. Neil gave good instructions but, well, I guess I’m a slow learner. I think I did ~60 coon with it before I sold it to Dean Bartz of Iowa. Dean and his son, have fleshed literally thousands of coon on this type of flesher.

As has been said by those who actually use them, it’s much easier on the hands and shoulders. Plus, it gives a very clean pelt. On the down side, it’s slower than fleshing with a Necker, Caribou, or the other sharp fleshing knives on the market. You still have to comb out all burrs, etc. it’s easier to do coon tails on these machines. These cones can be used for otters. If you skin beavers cased, you can scrape them on these cones too. But it takes some doing to hold them tight to the cone and may not be worth the time.

You might want to buy it just to fiddle around with it and see if you can improve on its performance. Dean Bartz (Eedup) may be able to help you understand how to make this machine a work saver for you. He’s a decent guy to connect with