fleshing muskrats

frshwtr · January 21, 2008, 12:21:22 AM

is there anybody out there knows how to flesh muskrat with the old type hand crank wringer from a washer. an older friend of mine showed me how to do it years ago and now i have a chance to pick up a wringer if someone doesnt get it before me. i know you had to put a fold of clothe over the head to get it started but after that i'm lost.

keekee · January 21, 2008, 09:51:12 AM

I have no idea. I fleah my rats on the streacher. There is never much to take off just a little around the bottom and a little around the face. A dull knife and just a few min and its done.

Brent

frshwtr · January 21, 2008, 01:11:32 PM

i know there isnt much to flesh one, its like you said except here they have a good amount of fat in the armpit area. i just wondered if anybody else knew about the wringer method and thought it would be neat to try if a different way. the old fellow i knew said it was faster; but he is trapping in the great beyond.

keekee · January 21, 2008, 04:15:55 PM

It would be interesting to hear about for sure. You don't see many of the old ringer style washers around any more. I would buy it just to keep.

Brent

studabaka · January 21, 2008, 05:07:54 PM

I vaguely remember hearing something about that. Never saw it actually done so always thought it might be a 'good story'. Maybe there is something to it

FinsnFur · January 21, 2008, 07:27:41 PM

I had to give my bro ham a call and get his input on this, since I've only heard of them myself.

He said basically the cloth over the face is just to help pull it through, since it will be slippery. The skins are fed into the rollers which constantly need to be adjusted or you end up with some fleshed good and some fleshed bad, and some ripped in half. And that all it does is squeeze the fat off the skin.
He said it's pretty easy to rip them in half because there is a lot of force there. On the automatic wringers, nothing was consistent, I'm guessing due to not adjusting it for each rat.

He said he wasn't real impressed with the results, and when it's all said and done, scraping them was still the best way to get the job done with less work and less time.

frshwtr · January 22, 2008, 06:49:37 AM

jim that sounds about what i think i was told to begin with, myself it seemed like a lot of fuss to flesh a hide that is easy to do in the first place. kee kee if there is an amish community somewhere around you it might be a olace to find that wringer. the one i was looking at was thru an outfit that picks stuff like that up to re-sell to the amish, depending on what sect the amish are they shun a lot of the more modern ways.

cathryn · January 28, 2008, 08:07:56 AM

if you run them through the wringer flesh side out twice they re fleshed.

it isn't that hard to flesh them by hand though and if you aren't doing very many i wouldn't invest in a wringer but that's just my opinion. Ive fleshed several of them by hand.

you can always find used and new wronger in the Amish country of Ohio. that's where my mom got hers.

Good Luck.

keekee · January 28, 2008, 11:02:23 AM

Welcome to FNF Cathryn! Good to see you over here!

Brent

cathryn · February 04, 2008, 10:29:42 AM

ty for the welcome. its good to be here.