pan adjustment

[sweatybetty]

i bought a dozen dukes 1 3/4 traps and have squared up the pan notches and the dogs. they all fire real nice and crisp. now i need to know how tight should the pan screw be? should the pan be floppy loose or should it take a certain amount of pressure to fire. i will be after coons, fox and bobs.
thanks guys   

[RShaw]

I like to put a neopren washer or brass washer inside the pan post. This allows for even pressure on the entire surface area of the shank. If you simply tighten the screw, the pressure will be uneven because the post is wider than the pan shank which causes it to pinch it. Tighten the screw down enough to hold the pan out level on its own. You will get a feel for this after you adjust some.

Randy

[pitw]

sweatybetty I use 3lbs of tension on my coyote traps in order to not catch target animals.  I suppose you wouldn't want that much for coons but I never like a sloppy pan.

[Coulter]

I have gone to about 2 pounds of pressure on all of my traps with the exception of my mink and rat traps. Those are pretty much set at 1 pound or below. If you want to miss some fox then I'd jump it up to 3 pounds, I'm not sying you will miss all fox at 3 pounds, but you will miss some.

Steve

[keekee]

Fox and Coyotes I run at about 2 pounds. I cant trap cats here "yet"! But 2 pounds has done real well for me on Grays, Reds and Coyotes, and coons in dry land sets.

On water sets I run no pressure at all, I let the pan almost free fall. More for Mink than coons. Just make them work the pocket hard and keep the pan break real sharp.

Brass washers will serve you well Randy is spot with that post. I changed mine over a few years ago, the traps fire real smooth and are worth the effort!

Brent

[sweatybetty]

thanks to all of you for the advice. i have ended up replacing all the pan screws with stainless screws and locknuts with a nylon washer between the pan and post, very easy adjustment. i also filed nightlatches in the pans. WOW, what a difference! makes setting a lot easier.  now if i can just catch something. i may try for some of the ferral cats around here.
thanks guys    sb

[Coulter]

I love nightlatching my traps too. It makes setting them almost effortless. Every one of my traps has this modification done before they hit the fields - except for my dogless Montgomery's and Montana's.

Steve

[Randy Roede]

Sweaty, Shaw gave you some excellent advice, great post Randy, securing up the pan and eliminating as much wobble in the pan as possible is like fiine tuning a trigger on a rifle. The real benefit shows from a less than center step on the pan that will cause a toe catch at best or a total miss. The even pressured pan will not fire as quick from that kind of pressure. Your doin the right things the fur will come.

[sweatybetty]

thanks to all of you
i bought 12 more duke 1 1/2 and got all those set up. then i boiled them in de-greaser and got the nice and clean. now they are hanging up waiting to rust.
am i right that the next step is dying and waxing?
how much should i let them rust, and what is the best way to wax them, and what kind of wax?
thanks all

[keekee]

Yep, next step is to dye and wax. Just let them hang till they get a good coat of rust all over them. The dye them up. I always clean my traps good after season then let them rust over good and dye them. Then I just put them in sealed boxes till I start getting ready in late summer. That way I don't take the chance of the traps picking up any kind of scent over the summer. I wax right them right before season. I have a box that has dirt, leaves and sticks in it. I store my traps in there when I am getting ready for the start of season.

You can pick up bricks of wax from about any trapping supply store or order on line. You can even go down to the local deli and by the wax they use, but it cost more. Wax is fairly cheap from most trapping supply stores.

Get you a deep metal bucket, or a cut off clean drum of some kind. Just make sure it does not have any holes in it. And be very careful. I wear safety glasses and gloves when I wax. It will flame up very fast if it gets to hot. Just bring it right above the melting point and keep it at that temp. Get you a piece of wire and hook the trap or traps on and slowly drop them in the wax. Let them stay in the wax till the trap is the same temp as the wax. This will give you a good even coat of wax. Pull them out, and shake them off and hang to dry!

Brent