Looking for opinions on the best way to stake traps in frozen ground and the best way to get them in the ground.

They all have their issues I'm still driving rerod and wolf fangs but all my cat traps are on drags but the true frost is not in yet here.

rerod and a BIG hammer.

A driver can only be beat on for so long before it starts to bend.

i have 2 24 in x1/2 in rerod on my shop wall that came outta the ground in a shape that almost defies gravity.

I anchor to logs, trees and fence posts etc. I hate fighting the frozen ground with stakes then it is work getting them out.

It's been mentioned on here previously. Pre-drill the hole with a long masonry bit. Do a search in Strictly Trapping.

By golly that looks like my old wolf fang driver,lol.it finally took it's last beating and I just replaced it .

I just switched out my wolf fangs for the good old double stake swivels with 1/2" rebar stakes on all my cable restraints.ground isn't too hard here yet but depending on the amount of snow we get from this incoming storm it may since it is supposed to get pretty cold here for awhile after storm passes.

I use fox hollow super stakes and they are annoying to get out of the ground when you need to pull a trap, thinking about switching over to the butterfly rebars.

Another vote for rebar

Drags

Drivers get bent like that because your not hitting the driver at the right angle. Most of us when we swing a hammer finish our swing toward your body. But of coarse some drivers just don't hold up because of their make up.

I went to smooth stakes this year and they go In a lot easier and they also come out easier. You will need to cross stake.

That driver got bent in ground that was frozen like a brick I had to go back with a pry bar to get it out! LOL I have used the same kind of driver this year with less ground freezing and it's still straight as when it was new.

The ground around here can get harder than chinese algibra so alternative methods come into play later in the season. Most times I have to go back in the spring as my stakes won't come out. I'll run an extension cable to a tree or staple to a log, makes things much easier for me to find the sets when it snows too.

Getting rebar out can be tough, too. I sometimes hit the side of the top of the rebar with a hammer to loosen it. I think some folks put vice grips on the rebar and twist.

Drill for everything.

im not going to buy a 300 dollar drill and 200 more for an extra battery. I use 1/2 inch rebar with a 5/8 nut welded on one end. I cross stake with a butterfly swivel. 99% of the time two 18 inchers is plenty. To pull I use an estwing 28 ounce straight claw hammer. same hammer I use to drive them and dig trap beds. when pulling I take along a crescent wrench. between welding and driving a wrench wont always fit but a crescent will work to turn them when hard to pull. a couple turns is usually enough. sometimes you have to pull one up a few inches and turn it again. most of the time the crescent isn't needed.

drags are great if its brushy. drags wont hang up on trees. in thick brush they are great. mine have 10 feet of chain on them. you can tie one to a tree or something and use that chain for an extension too

Theres frozen, then theres Rock hard Frozen...in rock hard I try it with rebar or tie off to logs!

another vote for rebar

If you can drive in rebar you already have a piolet hole. Wiggle it back and forth and then drive in your earth anchor.
I don't think that's to difficult.

Wetdog that makes no sense at all. Why not just stake with the rebar your driving anyway? Disposable stakes are more trouble than they are worth. I dont believe you can wear out a rebar stake. Double as a nose knocker also

Use a vise grips to help remove re bar. If needed you can snap on the vise grips on the stake it's self then you have a new point to pry from. Just keep moving the vice grips down as you pry out the stake.
I make my stakes with a washer welded about 3/4 of an inch down from the top of the stake. This year I went to just about all 1/2" smooth stakes. It sure makes a difference when It comes to removing them.

Almost all my trapping are walk lines so weight is an issue. When I pull traps, I just cut the cable and go
I should have explained it better

I've been useing 3/8 cold roll round for a lot of years now. I started with a rebar and one 3/8 stake, works good through a lap link, and now set a lot with just two 3/8 stakes. Early in the season, I use longer ones, and as it freezes up, go to shorter ones. You can drive them in a steep cross, and have never lost a trap, even in the sandhills!

How long are they?

Yup.

f

Gary, the short ones are sixteen inches and the longer ones are twenty four. I don't care for those butterfly double stake thingys, but have never seen one fail. It bothers me to have a thirty pound lunging critter pulling against a 3/16 ths inch rivet sideways! I also quit the split rings a number of years ago when I lost a big yote to one in Ne along with an mj600. was not a happy camper. that split ring was still hooke on the anchor with one end and it was pulled out to where it looked like a pair of glasses.

Lee I use 16" 1/2" smooth stakes and cross stake. I use the butter fly connections but I run a cable loop through the hole then beat on 2 double ferrules and a washer to secure the loop. Then I make my connection to the trap or snare with quick link.
Or just weld the rivet closed with one chain link.

I was toying with the idea of using smooth 3/8s rods for stakes next year. But I would probably go with a length of 20" but still cross stake In most situations.

I use rebar with double butterfry 18in. stakes been useing for years. Work great for me.

In the Early '70's I found an article in my Ontario Trappers mag regarding "frost pegs". They were using 12" 1/2" nails. I found some 14" 1/2" smooth nails at a 4 generation hardware store. I used them in the dead of winter when the ground was rock frozen. My 1 1/2 Victors had a lap link in the end.... Never lost a trap.

Now, there were ZERO coyotes where I trapped and I trapped in alfalfa field that were composed of compacted soil, no sand.

I think staking types and depth depends entirely on the soil type you're trapping in.

Maybe I was lucky, but they worked for me. I slide a stainless 1/2" washer underneath and welded to the nail top, with a top bead only. The stainless washer took a lot of beating without distortion and a twist with vise grips released the peg.

Don't know everything, but trying to learn something... Just worked for me.