Which would be easier to bed in wet river bottom soils, double long springs, coils springs or no difference ? This would be for coyote sized traps.

I was thinking the larger footprint oh the long springs might be more stable but haven't tried them.

Longs definitely.

I would say longs bigger footprint

Next order I'll add a few.and try them out.

Make your trap bed with a layer of cover hulls and use a 20 penny nail on the trap frame to hold trap solid in place , Cover trap with hulls and peat moss

Freezing ground in Wisconsin can one use nails or will they freeze down and not allow trap to pen?

Freezing ground in Wisconsin can one use nails or will they freeze down and not allow trap to open?

Show the critter where to step and don’t worry about whether your trap wobbles or not. Push it in, give it a little twist and cover it up.

You're placing the nails on the frame of the trap ,,, trust me the trap will fire

I'm not sure this nailing in traps is a good thing. Gonna be a lot of ticked off landowners ending up with nails in tires, I think. Just learn to dig a trap bed right. That's most of the battle. Quit messing around and get more sets in.

You would be wrong. That's a common misconception. The nails are rarely out of the position in the trap bed you placed them in. At times you have to move a little dirt to find them inside your trap bed. I've had multiple people complain about digger animals in which they've used most everything to catch them, until they finally give up and try the nails. It's simple, fast, and effective. This season was the first season I went 100% nails, and I am pretty confident in my speed. There's no question when I walk away they are rock solid, and I don't mess around with packing etc.

I cannot imagine ever using nails to bed a trap on anyone’s land, my own included. One ruined tire costing $1,000 or more and a couple days of down time would be a horrible foreseeable result. Just the liquid ballast in a tire can easily cost $500.

I guess my trap beds are below ground? I'm not sure what you guys think happens? It's not like the points on the nails are pointing towards the sky, and strung across a 2x4. Even if they were at ground level and got run over it would simply push the nails deeper into the ground. Every person I see that's against it has never tried it. It's really pretty simple to do, and I sleep well at night with no worries of a tire being ruined. Mine or anyone elses.

to each there own in a perfect world your rite . Throw a handful of nails on tour muddy gravel road and see how many your tires pick up.Tire tread picks up objects. I don't disagree with how they will make a trap solid. But convincing my land owners they will never get a nail in a tire. Is'nt a conversation I want to do. I foresee the discussion ending with get your nails and traps and get off my land.

Rarely are the nails out of the trap bed ,,,, put 3 nails in , dispatch your catch , find 3 nails , reset trap

Actually I have tried it. And the original power bedding system was wooden pegs. Actually, the first one that came out was three wooden pegs and then later, Jim Cutriff came out with a super simple version where the trap frame was wedged under his rerod stake, and he just had one wooden peg on the end of the dog. Actually saw his method at a convention and discussed it.
To really pin a trap takes a pretty hefty nail. What's wrong with dowel rods? Or better yet, learn Zagger's bedding method if you're after coyotes. For fox, all you need is a trap bed that fits the trap. If it rocks, put a rock or stick or the swivel under the loose jaw. If you more or less hang your trap by the levers and have the loose jaw and dog end on solid ground, it will be solid. But, it's harder to explain than to do. Most flipped traps or traps pulled out of the bed are coon from what I've seen.
But, back to the original question, yes long springs are very easy to get solid, they just require more digging and more cover.

Would wood golf tees work?

Probably - but not long enough...
I'm using small (thin) wooden dowels driven in at angles where the jaws meet on the frame. and one under the loose jaw.
I do use nails but not where any bush hogging or hay equipment is used at.

Jim Cundiff wrote a great little book and made a video showing his power bedding. Good method.
Lon, long before there was another system as PAskinner mentioned.
Back in the 70s I learned of a pegging/bedding system from Josh Phonix. It is fast and works real well when you are forced to use super dry un-packing trap coverings. It works anytime actually.
Charles Dobbins predator trapping book covers this well and he gives Josh credit.

Mac

Thanks, Mac, I thought it was Josh Phoenix, but I wasn't 100 percent sure.