Making wax dirt

I’m a novice in all things trapping. Making my first attempt at making wax dirt. I’ve read a lot on here of different methods and watched a few videos. Here’s my two questions
For a newbie what would you guys that have made it recommend to do it. Solar, roasting pans on grill or wood stove or I concrete mixer and thermal gauge to shoot temps.
Second if I do the mixer there is a bit of residual concrete in the mixer not alot but a little. Is this a big issue?

Feel free to say anything you want tips and tricks

I like LawDog's method, although I've never made any. If I were to, his would be where I'd start.

Depends how much waxed dirt you plan on making and how much time you have. Sounds like you have the mixer. What do you have as a heat source? Making 5 gals = any method works, 55+ gals = I use the mixer and a couple of weed burners.

Scott good point I took the tractor over to the hill dig out the hillside and got two 5 gallon buckets worth of dirt that I have already pre sifted twice. And dried on a tarp for two days. Actually probably about 11 gallons. Gotta thin it down just a touch before adding wax.

First time use I would go solar, especially if you don't need alot. But then again I do about 40 gallons a year using solar. Temps never get hot enough to burn your wax but you need to do this while it it hot enough. Wait too long in the season and you'll have to use another heat source.

I have a mixer and do about 30 up to 40 gallon a year , if the mixer broke I would go back and get another it’s just handy as I also use it for cleaning traps. It’s nice being able to put 5 gallon of dirt ( sand ) in the mixer I put heat to it for 4 minutes add my wax and turn the heat off . It only takes 4 minutes to get the dirt hot but takes 40 minutes for it to cool down . I just talked to a guy Sunday that uses a green house and 2 heat lamps and he gets a lot of clumps if he quits mixing to soon. I just leave the mixer on until cool.
Another tip would be to find dirt with the least amount of organic matter in it. My dirt at home is high in organic matter and it takes 16 oz to a gallon of dirt. I go to one of the farms I trap on for black sand and it takes about 8 oz of wax per gallon . From what I’ve heard play sand takes even less, maybe one of the guys that use it will chime in .

I run 40 oz. of granulated wax per 5 gal. bucket. Works well for our conditions. A little more or less I don't think makes much difference in its effect. I have never worked with waxed sand. Just to much weight in my opinion.

I used the mixer and did it in two batches. I gotta say to easy. I tested both batches and both tested just fine. Thanks guys

I make waxed sand with a mixer. I use 1 pound of wax to 5 gallons of sand. Usually make around a 100 gallons each year. Bedding in the sand is a dream, packs really good. The sand is about as good as it gets. The one downside is the weight, but I trap off of a side by side so weight isn't an issue. If you're concerned about the difference in your soil, just top dress with a very thin layer of the native soil.

In general you'll use about half or a little less as much wax with sand that you would in an equal amount of dirt. Of course, test to ensure a correct mix ratio.

My test samples held the puddle of water all day. About 10 hours before I threw them out. I’m pleased.

You should be good to go.

Getting to be about that time, we need to make some up.
Maybe these days off I will get sand.

Getting is pretty easy and free this year, all the flooding we had.

We have a heck of an operation but we also sell it conveniently sewed up in 25lb paper feed sacks. We use a concrete mixer and a drill powered sifting table I'll post pictures next time we do a batch.

I looked forward to seeing these pics.

Years ago, a trapper by the name of T.B. Gannon out of the Yellow Springs area, showed me how he would 'melt' a solid chunk of wax
and then pour it into a container of bone dry dirt, stirring as fast as he could with a * 'gloved' hand *.
This system worked on a small scale and although there was some clumping, it did a fair job of making waxed dirt.
He was using 60 lb solid blocks and cutting off a chunk of wax as needed.

I personally like a cement mixer and a custom torch using granulated wax, but that's just me.

* Gloves used were heavy cuffed rubber gloves