I received a nuisance call (unexpected) from someone I had trapped a beaver for in the past. I need to scrap together a drowning rod if possible before the weekend. I think I am all set except for a lock.

I'll lay out my plan below, can those of you who are experienced advise if this is likely to work?

Purchased a 9/16" washer
Drill hole to accept J-hook in washer rim
Bend drilled portion of washer 90 deg. in vise with a hammer... bend would not extend into the washer hole

This should leave me with a short arm drilled to receive trap chain and the rebar would feed through the large washer hole, same direction as a standard angle lock

I already started welding up the rebar to accept a stake at the bank end and will add a stop at the deep end after the lock is applied,

If this link works, go down bout 10-12 posts to see how I use a pc of angle iron, hope you have some laying around!
I drill a 7/16" hole for it to slide down a 3/8" rod and a 3/8" hole for my quick snap to connect the trap.

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6675781/re-next-question-beaver-rods#Post6675781

Or you could use a piece of square tube that the inside dimension is slightly larger than the rebar. Weld a piece of flat bar to accept J hook. You still have open water??

Thanks traprjohn,

Not sure if I'll get access to any angle iron today but I'll file that in my brain for future use.
Those sleep ez locks look interesting also.

If ya an get some 1.5" or 2" square tube or 1"x1.5" rect tube , bout 2-3" long,, and cut 1 end at a 45* and drill a hole in the long side to hook the trap on, works well too, no welding needed.

All open water here.. It is about 45 degrees F out here right now. We had a cold snap in Late October/Early November but the ice didn't last

For those who don't know, I live as far south in Canada as one can get. I need to drive north from Windsor to get to Detroit.

If you know of anyone that handles chain link fencing or has scrap of same, those have a tensioning rod. On that rod is something that you can use as a lock. In fact those tensioning are rods are my first drowning rods that I found as scrap and the only modification I did was to bend the top to make a hole for the stake as I didn't have a welder at the time.

I made a couple of 90 degree washer locks and they work great! Very smooth run to the bottom and good lock up in reverse.




I tried 2 different stop methods, not sure if one is any better than the other.

You can also use 3/4” pipe cut at angle on one end like in pic below. For the stop on the deep water end, I like welding the washer, or chain link, with the hole exposed so I can wire a block or clip a sand bag to it if I’m worried about it holding in certain situations.

Ttt

On the bottom, all you need to do is smash the rod so the lock can’t slide over it. No need to weld washers or extra rebar to it.