Pulled out a Bridger 2 from last season, and it's nearly impossible to set off. I tuned my traps last season to 4.5 pounds max, but I swear this must be 12#. Other than rust, what could do it? And no, I won't put it on the line until I mess with it and get the tension fixed.

Thanks.

make sure the pan bolt isnt bound up as that can really mess you up.

Make sure the tabs the pan bolts to are not bent inward or it will cause the bolt to bind up and give you unwanted tension. If the are bent I always bent them back straight up and added a washer or two.

I had the same problem with every dogless bridger i had. It would work fine until it rained. I use polyfill under the pan. Seems like when it rains dirt settled under the pan and i had the same problem you had. I had to dig the trap up and smack it with a hammer to fire it. I gave them to a buddy of mine and after he played with em i think he chunked em in the woods. I had 2 #2s and a #3. I missed several animals with them. stepped directly on the pan and not fired. I adjusted and tuned and messed with them. They would work ok as long as they hadnt been in the ground too long and no rain. I went to all mb550s. I never have had one of those that didnt fire. Rain rust or anything else and they always fire and the pan tension doesnt creep up while they sit in the ground. I heard all kinds of people praise the dogless bridgers and how awesome they were. After my experience with them it made me wonder if the people singing praises ever actually used them.

Possum man are you still using the poly under the pan on the 550’s ? I’ve tried the poly with several types of traps and always had issues with dirt under the pan . I don’t know if it’s my dirt or what ! I’ve seen traps tighten up over time but not too tight to catch a coyote . I used to worry about it until I saw Mr. Sterling do his demo and he talked about trapping lion and using 13 # of pan tension to avoid coyote , with no success!

I'm going to mess with it after I finish my coffee. That's the only one so far that's being weird. Have about a half dozen from last season.

Yes i still use polyfill. I dont ever have any problems with it. I use 550s and some modded northwoods 1.5 coils. I dont fool with peat either, dont have a need for it. It rarely gets cold enough to freeze anything down here and if it does it only lasts a couple days.

Alot of this can be fixed by filing the notch to a 1/16th and drawing the pan down before bedding. So you cant' move the pan without it firing. No creep like the trigger on a fine rifle.

I really like the few dozen # 2 and 3 bridgers I got last year; didn't experience any of the problems mentioned above and had them set in rain and wet snow; caught fox, coyotes, and a few timber wolves with mine and no problems with changed pan tension; used only peat moss with dry dirt covering plus glycol when freezing. Plan on buying more. Really like the few mb550s I have but couldn't afford to lose them on public land; dogless bridgers much better price.

Rust can definitely change pan tension.

Checked again, and only my bridgers are giving trouble. Was planning to switch over to Sterling pans anyway, so I guess now is the time.

Another thing that may help is to add brass or stainless #10 washers to each side of the pan between the pan and the pan post. You may have to file the thickness down on the pan surface where the tension screw goes thru with a file to make room for the washers.

Were those waxed properly ?

are they dogless? I ask because bridger uses a crappy metal sleeve the pan bolt goes thru dissimmalar metals and rust cause total lock up I broke half mine trying to loosen then two years ago!

Nope. Dipped, not waxed.