If a person wants to better secure the closure of j hooks, is soldering an option or is welding the only way to go?

not sure you could get solder to hold on a j-hook. never tried it tho i just weld em

Heat might be an issue soldering
I'm not sure if soldering would work on trapping stuff


I wish I welded.

Might be able to braze em.

Soldering should work. Clean the oil off. Maybe hit it with a wire brush, flux it up good and have at it. Make sure the gap is small before you start soldering. I suppose it would add a little strength.

But if you are trapping something big enough to straighten out J-hooks, I think you would be better off to braze them closed. It's a lot like soldering but done at higher temp with stronger filler material. Bronze requires the least heat (vs. silver solder) and can be done with a hand held MAPP gas torch. When you look at the brazing rods at the hardware store the package should list the temperature required. I'd pick the lowest temperature brazing rod you can get, and a cylinder of MAPP gas, and you're all set.

You using MB crunch swivels ?

JB weld would be a better option than soldering although if using good J hooks I don't do anything myself. Never had one open or even loosen for that matter.

Welding or brazing. Not soldering. The components for soldering would be too soft to do much good if type animal was strong enough to open your j hook. If it was a two legged animal one good smack with with a hard object would shed the solder.

Welding is quick and easy find a shop and see what they want to weld them shut.

^^^^This, and don't even think about JB weld! Just because it says weld in the name, don't be decieved! Any solder or JBCrap would get chewed off by the critter at the set. Been a welder running a shop all my life, and I couldn't count the times that people had that crap smeared all over a piece of metal trying to "weld" it! LMAO. It works good for temporarily sealing up a gas tank leak or a small imperfection in an aluminum casting that has a slight leak. That is all it is good for.

You may end up shooting yourself in the foot trying to solder them Get hot enough to anneal could well cause them to open easier.

Solder can be very strong. Especially silver solder. It's used to hold a lot of front sights on guns and such. Trouble is you need two mated surfaces to get the capillary action that fills the joint. A closed j hook will not solder shut. Think of how tight copper pipe fits together and you get the idea.

I've been there. I say pick up a cheap wire feed and a bottle of gas. I would add a hood that darkens automatically.
I'm not a welder and I don't play one on TV... but I can make two pieces of metal stick.
Like a lot of things, the best way to learn is hands on. You won't regret it.

Unless you’re after wolves I wouldn’t bother, just get the heavy duty j hooks from mtp. I’ve caught dozens of coyotes without welding the hooks and never had one even start to open up. If you want a little reassurance take one with j hooks that aren’t welded and stake it down and then grab the trap and try to pull one of the hooks open. 10$ says you can’t do it without mechanical help. I know I can’t. So if a 150 pound person can’t, what makes anyone think a 50 pound coyote could?

X2

how often has anyone actually had a j hook open up that was closed and not the same gauge as a finish nail? I am no big time trapper and have poor luck in general at catching coyotes but i have never had a j hook fail.

last year i had a coyote open a j hook and run off with the trap. Yes im positive it was a coyote and not a person that did it. I figure he got the shock spring in a bind on the j hookand took a hard lunge and it opened. Last time i dyed and waxed my traps i inspected all my j hooks and had at least a half dozen that were slightly opened and needed pinched closed. These are all stock j hooks and swivels on mb550s. So yes it is possible for a j hook to open up from a crazy coyote.

Pulling on the j hook with everything in a straight line they probably will never open. but with them flipping and flopping around and then lunging sometimes you can get a kink in the chain or in my case im running shock springs, if either gets in a bind on the side of the j hook and then they make a hard lunge it is very possible to open even a crunchproof swivel j hook. I have only had that one completely fail in a few hundred coyotes. I do remember one other that was opened up but it never disconnected the trap. Im not running long chains either..actually no chain. Swivel, jc conner shock spring, swivel, quick link, anchor

I use heavy j hooks and hit them with the stick welder. I do so because we have a lot of wolves and perhaps they can open them? If we didn't have the wolves I wouldn't do it.

Osky

get a little 110 flux core welder..they're cheap