Good job MThound. Coil spring traps have been around a long time, so I suppose the arguement could also be made that the #9 is a knock off of a previous trap design. IMO it doesn't really matter since there is always room to "build a better mouse trap".



I like the change you made in the jaw levers. Looks like it took some heat to get the bends made
without distorting the holes, but that would still be faster and easier than making and welding
on clips to the outside of the levers. Making the hole in them a rectangle shape rather than a
trapizoid shape would add a little more leverage at the point where they contact the jaws. Doing that might speed them up a little and give them a little more strength to fire in freezing
conditions. Just a thought.

ps. You won't need to laminate the jaws, unless you make them out of thinner than 1/4" steel.
The 1/4" is strong enough and anything more will only slow them down in closing.

isnare , yes there is always something above the open jaws but it is the amount the matters. If you drop the pan down level with the jaws then you don't have to put as much snow over the jaws to cover. I believe that having the spot over the pan just a bit lower than the rest of the trap will naturally guide a wolfs foot to the center of the trap. I could be very wrong on that idea. If you have dry powdery snow then it does not matter how much is over the trap. If you have wet snow that refreezes at night it makes all the difference in the world. A 9 is strong but not that strong. If it can't get moving it wont' snap.

The AK #9 is on the right

Fine job right there podnah!!! In making dp's I was going to try and coil some regular #9 wire and anneal it after it's coiled then heat treat it and see what I come up with... i figured it might make it tough enough to produce some power... not sure... maybe I'll go the route you took... did you anneal the wire or just heat treat it a couple times?

Nooksack, what is the trap on the left?

Wow that photo says a lot nooksak. Very telling. I think you are right on in your comments about wanting the pan lower. That bugger looks like it would be a lot harder to cover. You would end up with a lot of thickness over the jaws in order to cover the pan and appear flat. I have not set a number 9 yet. I bought 4 last winter so this might be the year.

Nice trap. You must have more than a hammer and a vice grip in your toolbox.

MThound, nice work on your trap, I should have said that originally.

smalltime, the trap in the picture is a Wolf creek #9.

Nice job, hope you get to test it soon!

You could use a TS 85 type pan on it and be dogless. That's what I installed on my home made single spring 4 1/2. Works really good.

Nooksack, that wolf creek #9 is a pretty rare trap. You should put it on Ebay.


or not.

All save you the trouble Nooksack, next time you stop by to talk trap shed just bring it with and we'll add it to my collection

Ahhh it can't be worth too much it's just another knock off of an AK #9 Ha Ha!

LOL.

hey a nut is missing! grat looking work there!

The picture does tell a lot. I had the same thought about the high pan when I was setting my (one) #9 last year. Mine sets the same way, with the jaws kinda katy whompass. Very strong and fast, but kinda rough around the edges. Hard to rag on a trap thats caught as many wolves as those things, but would be nice to have a little more refined product for the money they go for. Maybe someone on here will go for it and produce a model for sale.

Very nice looking trap there. From one metal worker to another I can see a lot of time and thought has went into that. I would also like to suggest a dogless trigger. Helps to keep life simpler as in no lost or tore off dogs.

Drifter

Awesome, wish i had all the tools to do that! It would be fun, especially when you catch something!

The dogless set up has to have the pan hinge point under the trap jaw which makes them
more susceptible to freezing up in freeze/thaw conditions.
You can do a full fledge mod on the #9's and lower the pan down level with the jaws, and at the same time shorten the dog up an inch. Takes some time doing it but it is worth it, especially if you are in an area with the above mentioned conditions. (actually IMO it needs done regardless of where you're at).
If you don't have the means to do the full mod then a quick and simple way to bring the
jaws up so they are closer to level with the pan is to leave a fairly big eye in the
dog where it attaches.Or bend a hump in the dog, or do both. This lets the jaw on the dog side come up higher when the trap is set. You can raise the free side up some when you bed the trap. This will gain you a little and cut down on the amount of cover you have to put over the jaws on a stock trap. (but it still leaves that extra long dog sticking out there for a wolf to hang a toe on).

So I made a few changes and come up with this trap. This trap has an inside jaw spread of 8 7/8ths inches..outside spread at 9 and 3/8ths inches. I have to change the nuts to lock nuts, but other than that it is one powerful trap. Any tips or comments before I make a bunch more are appreciated. Thanks

That is a nice looking chunk of steel!!!
Excellent workmanship
Is there a night latch?

You might have problems selling to Alaskan, I believe there is a 9 inch outside limit on jaw spread.