It's all about the angle of the contact point of the pan notch. Ive adjusted a few Montanas to less than 2 # . No need to replace, there always good to go. The KOs,Bridgers,Jakes,MB650s all have tension screws. Hey Boone or Red ya ever had a pan notch where out??

So what do you do when your notch wears out. Because you grind that sucker down. Do you buy a new pan? Duke steel is nowhere near as strong as US made steel. Inquiry minds want to know

Trappergbus no, incorrect filing can cause a you a pain.
Like anything there is a learning curve to it I believe Andy Wieser use them right out the box on tension.
I like little more do not got gray fox here.

Be easier imo just buy a pan start over.
You can make a dog less pan a nite latch also this will put your pan below jaw level where the screen fits in and there is no bump or bulge in it.It lays flat.

I apologize I can not get pictures off my phone to Load here but still trying too.
Maybe Boone can, how to put in notch.

Thanks red mt I note latch every trap I use.
The ? was ment for the Beav

Opps my bad

Why would I grind down the pan notch On dog on trap?
And I'm betting that dogs and pan iron are pretty cheap steel on all traps. And we really don't know If these American made traps are made with American made steel know do we.

Besides we were talking about dog less trap not dog on traps.

Well on another thread you stated that you don't nitelatch you file the notch short. You said you didn't need that cute little click. I was just wondering how much time you spend filing those notches down. Just trying to get you to see there is more to trapping than your final word. Jm2cents

You do It your way I'll do It my way I think I have the right to ask questions and explain the way I do things Your way Is not the only way wetdog.

I don't night latch but I do shorten the notch and square It up a bit. It takes about 3 seconds to do It. I take very good care of my traps In fact all of my canine traps are powder coated. So rust and wear on the dog notch Is non existent. I might after the season square up the notch and get them ready for the next season.

There are 100s of ways to skin a cat and the things I do I do for a reason because they work for me.
So the individuals reading these posts have several ways they can go when buying traps or adjusting traps or tinkering with them.

This post was about dog less traps. I asked questions about these traps since I have never used them Is that Ok with you?

My bad. Just yanking on you chain old man. Did not mean to get you all railed up.

Hey being old gives me some privileges. Hey I'm not riled you haven't seen me riled.

WE need to listen to all Ideas posted here. I like to stir the pot a bit since It keeps these important threads going. No sense In having 5 posts on a subject when It's not answering all the questions that may be asked. Lots of trappers are lurkers on this forum and don't ask questions so by stirring the pot more questions are asked so more are ansewerd.

Have a good day wetdog.

Thanks Beav
There is some pot stirring on the talk side,and I made popcorn
God bless and stay safe out there

I use #3 Montana's right out of the box, basically, all of the time. I de-grease, rinse off, boil in log wood dye.

I set them once at my shop, and adjust the pan to be lower, if needed. It's usually 2-3 per dozen, that need a slight tweek.


Then, I go set them. NO filing. I use stiff screen, which keeps dirt from going under the pan. I don't use anything under the pan.

I put 1/2" dirt or waxed dirt, coal shale, pine tree duff, sand, or whatever type of soil I'm using over the trap.

If I want a little heavier pan tension, I might position the pan on the jaw so that it comes in contact with a little more jaw,

I've used these type of traps for 35 years now. I've been around 100's of people that use them.

I've had countless conversations with people, about the beauty of them being the SIMPLICITY of using them.

You don't have to overthink traps like the #3 Montana. But, I know people that tend to do that.

Not all, but most of the over thinkers have the smallest piles of fur in the end.

Ask a guy that's caught 2-300 predator in a few months in foothold traps, and usually their comment on pan tension is about 5 seconds. Most realize the variables, and just settle on 2 1/2 -4 pounds. Any more calculating and second guessing is a waste of time in my opinion.

I went on a friends trap line a few weeks ago. He was using another version of a dog-less trap.
I won't say which brand for obvious reasons. After the first few catches, I started doing the remakes for him, while he was dispatching the coyotes.

I was shocked at how hard it was to get the mud and other frozen stuff out from under the pan. Levers needed tweeked a lot, and some I could hardly get reset. Pan tension was very hard to guess, because of all the extra stuff being full of mud, AFTER a catch in real trap line conditions. I deemed them not 'user friendly' by the end of the day, and I assure you I was being very objective. I'm way more concerned with catching coyotes than I am will selling traps.

My thought was that the people that designed them were trying to appeal to some trappers' need to adjust and play with traps, NOT catch fur. I came away glad that I deal with the people that I do. Oh, and his partner did have one in a #3 Montana that he'd just set. After seeing the difference, they ordered more. A lot more. Real life trapping calls for traps that work, and work without babysitting them.

Have a great year, and I hope to see some of you this summer somewhere.

Here's a Montana / Monty style dogless conversion

All my traps are dogless...Zagger taught me this many years ago

I also like traps with low sitting pans

It's all personal preference on style, night latch, etc

Use what works for you and puts fur in the truck.....but I always listen to the advice of John Graham, Mark Zagger, etc because of their experience and skill

As far as the jaw engagement notch wearing out, hasn’t been an issue for me and I got Monty’s in my collection that are 30+ years old.

As far as nightlatching one, why would you?

I never bought into nightlatching even when I used dog on traps, and certainly see absolutely no need for it on the Monty/Montana style dogless.

Like John said, simplicity. I set the trap, pull the pan up till it stops coming up, and bed the trap and move on.

I don’t have the time, nor inclination to tinker and tweak and fart around with traps, even in the off season. Since going exclusively to this style of trap, I do t have to do so.

I am ditching chestnut rings. So I’m dreading cutting off 250 or so and replacing em with a lap link. That’s gonna be my big maintenance project this summer.

Mmmmm, me like.

Curious Boone what don't you like about the chestnuts? Thanks

They’re kinda intrusive and make me angry sometimes the way they get in the way in the bottom of the bed.

And I never use em. Can’t remember the last time I cross pegged a trap.

I use a lot of wolf fangs or single stakes. Knock 24-30” of rebar in a lot of my country and it’s not going anywhere.

Thanks, wish I could drive 1 rebar, don't work here. Chained supers mostly.