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Meat box/Storage/cooler

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Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby DKanouse » 01 24, 2016 •  [Post 1]

Wondering if you were to build a meat box to store meat
Dry foods and other goods in would you build it out of wood or metal. Witch would keep things colder longer. Thanks.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby Indian Summer » 01 24, 2016 •  [Post 2]

First off welcome aboard. Second sorry for moving your thread to our Gear Forum. I usually send a PM to tell members where their thread went but you have to make 3 posts before you can send or receive PMs.

Anywho.... Either one is fine really. Wood will be heavier. It's not what's on the outside that counts. Insulate it with some of the rigid foam board stuff from Home Depot and you will be fine. Then a liner inside that. The thicker the insulation the better and make sure the lid fits nice and tight. Use dry ice and you don't have to worry about having a drain.

Building one will cost a few bucks. You might want to look for a used chest freezer.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby Lefty » 01 25, 2016 •  [Post 3]

I use two larger Conoco (SP?) tool boxes about $55.00 at walmart
Otherwise If in bear country have an aluminum bear box made.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 01 25, 2016 •  [Post 4]

A buddy of mine from SD built and has used this cooler box many times with great success. I believe he still hunts CO and uses the box in camp, and, to transport meat back to SD.

Notes: One inch Styrofoam lines the box; he packs the box full of tarps or whatever on the trip to hunting state/spot; green thing on top is an old T shirt, stapled to the inside of the lid to hold dry ice; no need for a drain if you use dry ice; sealed with the overlapping foam joints; he made corners for the box so the lid doesn't slip around; handles are just some scrap metal he had laying around, wrapped in electrical tape; foam is glued in place with liquid nails (or you could use sheet rock screws with a washer); he used a ratchet strap that runs through the handles to hold the lid on tight.

Just an option to consider ;)

Here's some pics of Zane's cooler box:

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meatbox%20013[1].jpg (11.59 KiB) Viewed 8469 times

meatbox%20006[1].jpg
meatbox%20006[1].jpg (20.5 KiB) Viewed 8469 times
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby six » 01 26, 2016 •  [Post 5]

If your planning on insulating it either one would work. Wood is a little easier to work with and you would get a little R value out of it. I personally have a 200 qt cooler. Going to elk camp its full of cloths, dry foods, canned goods and gear. I have 2 heavy duty garbage bags tucked away that everything can get dumped into for the ride home when the cooler is full of meat.
Elk are where you find em...
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby Elkduds » 01 26, 2016 •  [Post 6]

Before I got a hitch hauler, space in my Pathfinder was @ a premium. I got the biggest heavy plastic storage box sold in Walmart automotive. It holds camping gear until meat needs a ride home. Great bench and cookstand in camp. Considered sheets of styro to insulate it, then realized I had lots of heavy plastic tarps in my camp gear. Box holds 4 bone-in quarters and fits in the back of the SUV.

Easy, right? Well, it can't really be loaded while upright inside the vehicle, sides are too tall. And it is nut-popping heavy w a whole elk in it, sliding it into the vehicle is harder than packing out quarters. Solution: Start w well-cooled meat. Unsnap lid hinges so lid is separate. Line box w multiple tarps. Set box on tailgate, load halfway. Slide it inside vehicle while still portable. Bone the rest of the meat, it will load over the side of box or, wait for it...open the sunroof :o . Tarps over meat, lid on top.

Meat still very cold 6 hr later, also still heavy. For longer or hotter trips, add ice in sealed containers or dry ice. And/or insulate the outside of box w blanket, tarps, tent, sleeping pads, jackets, because it all has to fit back in the vehicle anyway. This in NOT how I did it the 1st time, that's a whole other 3 Stooges movie. Hunting solo has its own set of opportunities disguised as challenges.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby husky390 » 01 26, 2016 •  [Post 7]

If you can find a local food supplier that's moving out of their warehouse, or a warehouse under construction, try to buy some cooler walls. They're usually 4" thick polyurethane insulated steel skins (like a garage door) and are usually about an R-value of R30. Figure out a way to cap the corners and build your box.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby DKanouse » 02 19, 2016 •  [Post 8]

Lots of good idea. Thanks for the info.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby saddlesore » 02 20, 2016 •  [Post 9]

DO NOT USE DRY ICE inside a closed vehicle.. It is solid CO2 and when it melts that CO2 becomes gas that displaces oxygen.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby Lefty » 02 22, 2016 •  [Post 10]

When I was a kid the neighbor made a 6x8 trailer as a big cooler. They had the trailer designed so he could increase or decrease the size of the area kept cold. Extra space was used for storage. Steel trailer reinforced corners from heavy sheet metal, sheet metal clad over plywood and insulation.
A taxidermist friend and metal fabricator were his hunting partners 8-)
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby Erniepower » 03 18, 2016 •  [Post 11]

Here is a portable meat locker I built a few years ago. It's powered by a window air conditioner and a coolbot

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2389043
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby Lefty » 03 19, 2016 •  [Post 12]

Erniepower wrote:Here is a portable meat locker I built a few years ago. It's powered by a window air conditioner and a coolbot

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2389043

That is a serious meat locker.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby Erniepower » 03 19, 2016 •  [Post 13]

Lefty wrote:
Erniepower wrote:Here is a portable meat locker I built a few years ago. It's powered by a window air conditioner and a coolbot

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2389043

That is a serious meat locker.

Lol its for a camp of 6 or 7 guys during rifle season so I built it big. Storage at the meat locker in town was super expensive so this is a great alternative
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 10 17, 2019 •  [Post 14]

Figured I’d bring this one back up to the top. 8-)
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby Swede » 10 17, 2019 •  [Post 15]

Wow! RJ is really proud of this thread. He has it on several of our forums now.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby >>>---WW----> » 10 18, 2019 •  [Post 16]

I used to have an old 7 CF freezer that no longer worked. I took the compressor out to get rid of a little weight. It fit nicely in the back of a pickup. Before the hunt I would freeze up a bunch of 1 gallon plastic milk jugs. They would last over a week in the freezer and I could always pull one out to thaw for extra drinking water if needed.

You can find these old freezers for free at the dump or appliance stores tat take them in on trade.
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Re: Meat box/Storage/cooler

Postby Lefty » 10 18, 2019 •  [Post 17]

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