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Post by skeeter on May 21, 2016 10:21:51 GMT -4
Here's a few pics of the donut dryers I made last season. I was frustrated with moldy spoiled bait. Also my baiting method needs a bait that flows (like sand in an hourglass) and doesn't clump. These drying racks are outside in the sun and within 48 hrs the donuts are as dry as any dog food. I weighed a bag of donuts and it was 57 lbs. After drying it was down to 40 lbs. WOW! 17 lbs of water. The best surprise I got was last summer Aug 17 when I went in to check on baits that were deployed July 28. The bait in the barrels was just like the day I put it in. No mold - no spoilage. And I still had my flowability and gravity feed. Fantastic.
A bird screen was added halfway through last year. Never had it at first but then all at once it got bad real fast!
Another plus was the overall weight savings. There is some work involved but I need dry food for my gravity flow feeders. As long as I can get FREE bait then it's worth it. I cut up the donuts and bagels/buns with a sharp little garden spade. The smaller the chunks the faster they dry.
This year I'm going to save some donuts and put them into a big blue plastic barrel or a garbage bag and see how long they will actually keep. Maybe I can get rid of my 5 freezers and the hydro expense.
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Post by tuketu on May 22, 2016 8:44:55 GMT -4
That's such a great idea Skeeter !
Any issues with hornets ?
tuk
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Post by skeeter on May 22, 2016 8:55:18 GMT -4
no issues at all - actually from now until aug all I get are some houseflies. no ants, no yellow jackets, no bees,
kinda makes ya wonder what's in these products!? HAH.
2nd week in august and after - the yellow jackets are horrible.
I guess my best advice is to start now and let the hot june/july sun work for you. Overcast days they dry slower.
This is my second year doing this and I've got 3 bags already done.
both my table are 4x4 ... |
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Post by skeeter on Dec 19, 2017 21:55:15 GMT -4
I guess I should finalize my findings.
Last summer - July 2016 - I put about 5 or 6 gallons of sun dried donuts into a smaller garbage bag and tied it off. This was placed into a mice proof container ( a non working freezer) and was left there until April 2017. The dried donuts were just like I had packaged them up almost 9 months earlier! WOW! this did work. Moving forward, throughout the 2017 summer donut gathering timeframe, I just bagged my donuts, and tossed them into my non-running freezers. ALSO what a bonus to save on electricity.
If any of you are having problems storing bait then you should give this a try. I have since made 4 more tables. 2 for my hunting partner to share the work with me. 2 at my house and 2 at his house.
The other 2 were made for a fellow bear hunting friend.
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Post by skeeter on Apr 4, 2018 18:25:00 GMT -4
Well - time waits for no man - so I'm at it again!
The latest is solar heated donut dryer. I made a 48" x 46-1/2" x 3" high frame and added two 24" wide x 46-1/2"long light aluminum sheets to the bottom of the frame. The aluminum is the kind guys use for flashing etc. Comes on a huge roll and is 24" wide. I made a futuristic divider down the middle to impress my friends. I painted it all flat black. I then fastened this frame - metal side down to the top of my donut dryer lid.
I added two 3" x 3" computer fans - 12v .12 amp each
I then stapled on some heavy clear plastic to the top. I run the fans with a 12v power supply ... it costs about 10 cents per day to run. I looked into solar panels BUT the price on them didn't justify the 10 cents per day for the hydro. Also I have been running the fans 24/7. Any airflow is better then none. And solar panels don't work at night.
Anyway the black metal heats up in the sunlight and the fans push that warm air out to the opposite end and then it spills down through six 1-1/2" holes into the donut compartment. The warm air travels over the donuts and exits out at the other end below the fans. There's a 1" gap between the donut compartment and the heat box above.
When the sun shines it dries the donuts real fast. I even impressed myself with this one. The other day it was 3C outside. I could see my breath but the air passing over the donuts was warm. One day and I had dried donuts. BUT we've had some cloudy days and the donuts DO NOT DRY. This needs sunny days. I'm sure as I get to the end of April and onward that this rig is going to save me time - BIG TIME!
  
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Post by skeeter on Apr 4, 2018 18:52:45 GMT -4
last few pics
 
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2018 19:10:18 GMT -4
And I just got my 2 tables done! Back to the shop. I happen to know were there’s a computer graveyard.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2018 21:31:08 GMT -4
Sun powered donut dryers! My education continues. Skeeter, you mind & hands are always busy...I think you found the Fountain Of Youth.
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Post by skeeter on Apr 5, 2018 7:37:21 GMT -4
And I just got my 2 tables done! Back to the shop. I happen to know were there’s a computer graveyard. Huh? another bear bait gathering fool? FYI I was going to put some very thin plexiglass on top but the stuff is way to pricy. AND - I did want to keep the lid as light as possible hence the plastic. Also the first time I made it I had 4" x 4" fans and the air flow was so much that it never had time in the box to heat up. I then went to 3" x 3" fans. These may even be too much. I'm trying to find that happy balance between heat and air flow to dry those donuts. I'm not sure if I got it 100% correct.......YET! I imagine come May when the outside air is 23C (74F) the rig will work even better. Warmer air going in therefore hotter air going out.
another FYI Last fall we had four big bags of dried donuts left over from our hunt. Mark wanted to dump them and I said NO! He brought them home and put them in the corner of his basement. He checked the other day and they were just like dried dog food. dry, light, crunchy and mold free. We've been storing our dried donuts in contractor sized black garbage bags. Seems to work OK. I'm going to also put some into a few of those oversized brown paper leaf bags that everyone uses for yard cleanup. Ideally something really durable would be the ticket.
I might even try those DEMO BAGS. used for demolition projects. pretty pricey but darn near indestructible and can be reused many times over. •tested over 7 mil strength•Environmentally safe & Sustainable•reusable up to 5 times•tear resistance & impact resistance•42 gallon size•saves money by reusing the bag
NOTE: DO NOT overfill the donut compartment. A single layer dries quickly. Donuts covering other donuts protect them from the drying process.
Keep us posted if you come up with anything. Only a fool knows everything. 
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2018 18:52:21 GMT -4
Huh? another bear bait gathering fool?
It’s your fault. Not going to Minnesota this year, but have to be ready for next year. Have a good supply of doenuts now, so might as well get started. And now that my son’s going, got to pick up his slack. He did help with the rack building.
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Post by tuketu on Apr 5, 2018 20:28:02 GMT -4
Skeeter with good drying conditions what's the average drying time for donuts in your Dryers?
I'm still trying to figure out a way to keep them rodent free once they're bagged. I live out of town and have big back grassy yard. Mice, rats and squirrels are a real problem for me and living in an old farmhouse my basement is damp.
Don't think I want to go to the expense of buying a trucking container to put them in, nor do I want the eye sore of having it in my yard.
Any suggestions ?
Drying season will soon be upon us.
tuk
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Post by skeeter on Apr 5, 2018 23:08:26 GMT -4
Skeeter with good drying conditions what's the average drying time for donuts in your Dryers?
I'm still trying to figure out a way to keep them rodent free once they're bagged. I live out of town and have big back grassy yard. Mice, rats and squirrels are a real problem for me and living in an old farmhouse my basement is damp.
Any suggestions ?
Drying season will soon be upon us.
tuk
Tuk
3 bags fill a drum completely to the top! sometimes overflowing to give you a sense of my bag sizes.
When I was drying last summer I would get one bag of donuts every day on average. This would fit on to one of my 4' x 4' tables. I ran two tables so I guess it would take approx. 48 hrs to dry out each table. This was from mid May onward with nice sunny days. I'm hoping my solar assisted setup reduces the drying time during ideal conditions (to be determined) and it has also allowed me to start earlier. I've got 2 bags done right now and the tables are full. We're having a real cold start to April which is not good but I'm trying anyway. This morning the donuts on the tables were frozen. GRRR! Today was snow flurries and cold wind.
The best thing for varmint control is an old freezer. The dry donuts do NOT need freezing - only protection. Trust me we have mice rats squirrels coons possums cats birds bugs etc. and homeless people too!
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Post by skeeter on Apr 12, 2018 17:37:49 GMT -4
Well I'm at it again! I sure wish there was an instruction booklet for this or a YouTube.
I guess I'll have to write the booklet or make the YouTube. HAH!
Anyway - some things I have noticed.
The donuts are drying faster just below the six MAIN 1-1/2" holes. So I added 1" holes between these six MAIN holes and the fans in an effort to get balanced drying right across the entire donut bed.
A friend of mine stopped by with some suggestions. He's a solar guy from way back. He suggested baffling perpendicular to the sun for the most heat transfer. The heat transfer will be from both sides of the baffles. I went on line and found a solar calculator for solar panel positioning for my location. Turns out 70 degrees for June, 65 degrees for May & July, 58 degrees for Apr & Aug. see link. solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-angle-calculator.html
These baffles are 32" long, 3" tall, with a 1" bottom. I made my baffles at 65 degrees - the happy medium for May/June/July. Even 45 degrees is better then the flat I had. And the flat I had worked pretty good. I recovered with heavy plastic and the fans still bellow up the plastic so I know my fans are supplying more air then what is exiting. The air hopefully will have time to gather more heat.
I only altered one box to see the difference if any.
Forecast here is 5 more days of overcast GGRRRR!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2018 19:14:35 GMT -4
I vote for a YouTube video.
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Post by skeeter on Apr 12, 2018 19:49:05 GMT -4
I vote for a YouTube video. Come hell or high water I will figure this out. I have a supply of donuts. I get about a full 55gal drum every 4 days. My baiting system requires dry feed. The added bonus is the weight savings and the shelf life. I'd rather be looking at them then looking for them later.
We have record class bears here - but very few of them get killed. My entire baiting system is geared to that end goal! Getting the biggest bear in the district to find me, then keeping him, then hunting for him. I do know they really like the dried donuts for whatever reason. This year we're expanding on our teaser bag presentation during the actual hunt. Less bait and hopefully competition between the bears. I'm real excited about this year. I have about 80 teaser bags already made. 60 granola bags, 18 gooey donuts (need 40), (12) Mr Big chocolate bars. I will get (20) beef scraps and later (20) apple and pear bags right before we go to hunt - when the season rolls around.
If anything I will be able to see what they prefer after eating dry donuts for 4 weeks.
FYI My partner and I bought 40 of those DEMO bags. I got to admit they are way nicer compared to the plastic contractor 3ml garbage bags.
I've got 3 DEMO bags filled. These will be reusable for years with our dry donuts. No fuss, no mess, just dump and fold up for the next time.
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