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#2263 - 01/21/09 02:46 AM Snapped traps and more learned lessions
dodgetrapper Offline
Member

Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 118
Loc: Virginia
Well getting off for Christmas break had me pretty excited so I started laying steal pretty much as soon as I could get things loaded in the truck. Planning on setting mostly for fox I loaded my Sleepy Creek 1 3/4 os in the truck and went to setting. I got about 14 sets fox sets out to check the next morning so I was happy. After a sleepless night I got to checking and had about 6 or 7 snapped traps. Now my pre-season excitement was still in full swing so I just kind of brushed it off reset the traps and spent the day making coon and beaver sets. Well After about a week of getting more and more snapped traps I pretty much tucked my tail between my legs, stepped back and tried to figure out what was wrong.
Now here is the learning part... Sorry this is so long
I have had these traps for about 3 years now and apparently the springs were too weak to even hold a big footed red fox ???(found hair)
So I turned to just coon trapping for the rest of the season. I figure I’ll order some #3 replacement springs and try that.

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#2264 - 01/21/09 03:44 AM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
skipper Offline
Member

Registered: 06/28/05
Posts: 676
Loc: .Manheim Pennslvania
leg hair is very short are you shure it wasn't belly and or neck hair. too much lure.I have had my sleepy creeks longer than that and they still do the job. I boil wax and tune every year they are well kept but weak they are not.
Not a big fan of that trap for coon though.the offset will let some coon pull out(the front foot catches) and the big jaw span will let a lot of chewing go on. bigger steel doesn't cover up trapper error eg. bedding , over lure , trap location.ect.

Don't loose that burring excitement! Keep trying and learning.

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#2265 - 01/21/09 02:27 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
Ric Offline


Registered: 07/22/00
Posts: 3695
Loc: Wellington,OH=USA
Let's not jump the gun here........

"I got to checking and had about 6 or 7 snapped traps"..

I admire your perserverence but with half your traps sprung without a catch didn't you think that there may be something a tad wrong?


"I have had these traps for about 3 years now and apparently the springs were too weak to even hold a big footed red fox ???(found hair)"..

Unless you go to great pains to abuse your equipment it is not a spring strength issue.Doesn't take much of a trap to hold a Red Fox.

Best way to correct your problems is to first find a mirror and take a look at the culprit.

Now..

How did you have those traps adjusted?

Were the traps solidly bedded?

Where were the fired traps..still in the bed?..pulled out the length of the chain?

Catch circle?None,light,readily apparent?

You found "Hair". What kind? there are several types of "hair" on a R.Fox they will all tell you something

What other sign did you find at your set locations?

Putting #3 springs on a #1.75 sized trap isn't going to solve the problems you are experienceing.Putting that size spring on that trap frame is just going to lead to more and different problems.Frankly it is just a sign of inexperience to assume that it is a "spring strength" problem(you will get over it).You have a whole lot of other things to look at first.Let's work on them and then we can come back to trap springs

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#2266 - 01/21/09 08:00 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
dodgetrapper Offline
Member

Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 118
Loc: Virginia
These traps have been base plated.(Actual base plated not just to factory job) night latch with the play taken out of the dog and the pan is all but free falling and about 8" of #2 straight link chain.
The traps were pulled from their beds mostly and I found black hair, like what is on a fox’s foot in the jaws with a light watch circle. (no skunk smell)
The main reason I suspected the springs was that I made a dirt hole set on a pond dam and set a crawl though with a snare on the far side of the dam. One day the trap was sprung and out of its bed and there was a coyote in the snare. After getting the yote out (it was dead) I snapped the traps in its foot and it didn’t take anything for me to pop its foot out of the jaws.
Now I know a fox’s foot is much smaller allowing the trap to close more witch would result in more holding power but I mean shoot my new Bridger 1 1/2s have more spring power than those 1 3/4 do

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#2267 - 01/21/09 10:25 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
Ric Offline


Registered: 07/22/00
Posts: 3695
Loc: Wellington,OH=USA
OK. Now lets get an idea of your pan tension.Water is 8.3 lbs per gallon or 1.04 oz. per fluid ounce.I measure my pan tension in the center of the pan useing Hal's pan tension tool.I'm going to assume you don't have one.Get a plastic bottle,note the number of ounces.Flip the loose jaw up and set the bottle on the pan.Your probably not going to be able to get to the center but rather from the center to the outside edge.A 16 oz bottle should not fire the trap a 20 oz bottle may fire it.I'm makeing an educated guess but that 20 oz bottle should give you about 2lbs.pan tension if you measured in the center of the pan.Let us know what you come up with

Dog engagement...How much of the dog is under the pan shank when the trap is set?

The traps were all pulled from there beds or just the one you found the fur in?

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#2268 - 01/21/09 10:28 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
dodgetrapper Offline
Member

Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 118
Loc: Virginia
All right Thanks ill have to get back to you after the week end on the pan tension but I don’t have and pan fall.

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#2269 - 01/22/09 01:57 AM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
Ric Offline


Registered: 07/22/00
Posts: 3695
Loc: Wellington,OH=USA
The notch the dog is in when in the set position should be about 3/64".
"no pan fall" tells me you have a very short pan notch.Probably too short

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#2270 - 01/22/09 02:19 AM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
dodgetrapper Offline
Member

Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 118
Loc: Virginia
But if you have about 2 lb of pan tention then dose haveing a short pan fall matter.

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#2271 - 01/22/09 11:24 AM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
musher Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 07/22/03
Posts: 2376
Loc: Qc.
The weight of your trap cover, humidity (water is heavy!) and even metal contraction,, due to cold, can make a hair triggered trap fire.

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#2272 - 01/22/09 12:16 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
Ric Offline


Registered: 07/22/00
Posts: 3695
Loc: Wellington,OH=USA
There is a difference between No pan fall and a short or slight pan fall.Put "No pan fall" and minimal pan tension together and you get problems.Were not working on a match trigger for a firearm.Some of the same principals apply but each needs to function in the enviorment we use them in.

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#2273 - 01/22/09 12:57 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
redsnow Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 3002
Loc: WV
It sounds like you've got the "creeps", we had a lot of freeze/thaw days around Christmas, you're weather was probably about the same. If your dirt covering expands/contracts a smidge, the trap fires. (above you said the pan was free falling)
Let me ask about your baseplate. All my SC 1 3/4's came with a center swiveled chain, did you remove that center-swivel setup?, and how did you weld your baseplates on? It's possible you got enough heat on the springs to ruin them. My S.C. traps are about the same as they were when I took them from box. smile

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#2274 - 01/22/09 05:54 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
dodgetrapper Offline
Member

Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 118
Loc: Virginia
Minnesota trap line products did the base plating so that could be but they do seem weaker than when I got them.
Also what amount of pan far are you looking for?

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#2275 - 01/22/09 07:44 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
Ric Offline


Registered: 07/22/00
Posts: 3695
Loc: Wellington,OH=USA
One thing at a time DT.
How much pan tension do you have and how much of the dog is engauged in the pan.

Forget about the pan fall for now.Find out what those two are.

I'm fairly certain that the folks at MTP know what they can and can't do when welding on a trap.So once again.This doesn't sound like a spring issue

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#2276 - 01/22/09 10:37 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions
2870express Offline
Member

Registered: 03/09/08
Posts: 73
Loc: New Mexico
DT Ric is tryiing to point you in the right direction.I have some old long spring #3 trap's my grandfather used in the early 1900's, and I have passed them on to my grandson who is 8 years old, and he can set them because they are weaker but he has caught several yotes this year.

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#27085 - 01/07/20 06:20 PM Re: Snapped traps and more learned lessions [Re: dodgetrapper]
Archive Offline


Registered: 03/12/03
Posts: 1486
Dated for search.

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