Trapping tips 101...Part 3 Strengthening traps



...with Ted Mitchell

A cheap style of trap which has been mangled by a wild dog.
It has been dismantled for repair and modification.

Now getting back to the actual traps, I suppose we should spend some time talking trap strength. This can vary considerably, depending mostly on where they are manufactured.

Traps that are actually made in America are generally pretty good, with decent metal being used in their construction. Some traps are made in places like Korea, Taiwan and other Asian countries, and are made from inferior materials.

This of course compromises their strength. If the metal used in the manufacture of a trap is too soft, then there is a good chance that the trap will be destroyed by a hard fighting animal, resulting in failure of the trap and loss of the captured animal.

I have personally seen this happen. Bent base plates, bent and popped jaws, chewed and mangled pans and dogs.

Of course, these same traps can be successfully modified to add strength and make them much more user friendly. For the most part, however, I find that by the time you buy the extra bits and pieces, and spend the time to make those modifications, you may as well have just gone and spent the money on a decent trap in the first place.

Some of the modifications can be to weld the base plate at the crosspiece, weld the pan post, weld the pan and tower, bubble tip or fold up the jaw tips, file the till, tighten the dog eye, night latch the dog, add spring retainer,..the list goes on.

I have done all of these, and in fact find myself doing these types of mods quite often, as it is a relaxing way of spending an evening in the trap shed with a cigar and a Bundy rum. We all have our vices I suppose.