Hey Fellow Trappers,
What is the best method of getting a good even coat of Rust on those MB 550 cast jaws ?.

Just degrease them and start using. Let them rust on their own time. Sure they won't be all even colored for a few years but as long as they are clean it doesn't matter. At least not to me.

That's what I started doing. If the OP wants a really fast rust, soak them in muriatic acid for a bit followed by a baking soda rinse.

What they said...they will rust up by next season.

They don’t need rust ! Why does everyone try to rust a perfectly good trap ? Degrease them , dye them and wax them or just wax them . They work perfect without rust . Trust me they will rust over time without any help, if you start dyeing them when they are new they will get a kind of gray blue color . With time they will get darker every year that you dye them .

I have said this many times. I have trapped for over 40 years, and could do it for another million and will still not understand why anyone would want rust on a trap? I have yet to have anyone explain why rust is good?
I have many traps that are a lot older than i am and yes some do have rust, but very little if any, and do what i can to remove it.

I'm certainly no expert on the matter as I'm pretty green, but I'm also on the no rust bandwagon. I degrease my traps, then descent/dye which turns new, degreased traps a flat gray-blue as Golf Ball said. Then wax. Then subsequent dyings and descenting baths get the traps darker. But they still rust.

I started to say something earlier about the no rust approach. It's what I do. But, I figured someone else would say the same thing and it'd be easier just to agree with them. Rust don't help a trap. I think they're pretty all dyed up and waxed. But it usually takes a few years on my line to get all the shiney knocked off so they'll take dye. When they're new, just wax 'em!

X2

Rust is not a friend to traps or the trapper but unless you have good stainless steel, you are going to have rust also known as ferric oxide due to the reaction of the metal with moisture. Dying traps with a tannin such as longwood dye or walnut hulls or sumac or leaves or bark helps protect the trap by converting the ferric oxide to ferric tannate which somewhat seals the surface of the metal and does not react with moisture to create more rust. When the reaction occurs, its makes the surface dark gray to black, hence the term dye.

Traps that do not have rust on the surface, do not have the reaction so they are said not to take dye. If there is no rust on the trap, the process of dying them does not protect them. And sice most are bedded under ground, the color is not important either.

So, if you can keep your traps from rusting without creating an odor that is likely to cause refusals or digging. Manufacturers use oil to keep new traps from rusting but the oil has an odor that causes problems on most traps. Hence, degreasing to remove the odor, allowing a light coat of rust to form on the surface to react with the dye, followed by wax is a time tested method of prepping traps.

Are there other ways to prep new traps? Sure.....some just wax after degreasing, some use various dips, some paint. The point of treating the trap is to prevent or minimize the damage caused by rust. But like others have said, after use, you are going to have some rust regardless of how you try to prevent it. I have had traps powder coated but they get chipped and bare metal exposed and they start to rust too.

Clean oil off by blasting at car wash. Or wash in a bucket of warm water and Dawn. Rinse. Let dry. Spray paint a dark flat color. The cheapest dark spray paint you can get. Let dry a day or two and wax/coat. I use full metal jacket. Follow the directions. Then go use them.

Next spring, I’ll blast off old dip, etc at the car wash. Repaint as necessary, dry, dip, dry and stick in totes till I need them.

I don’t rust anything; coat everything and bury in dirt or grass at the set.

Yep, you wouldn't rust a good hammer or wrench, why would you ever want to rust a trap.
Jim

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^
And there Is no reason to dye them. When doing so your just adding another smell to your traps. And when you wax over the dye the wax absorbs the dye smell.
Clean and wax.

Clean & wax is what I like. I boil prior to waxing. I powerwashed then boiled and it was surprising the amount of oil that came off.

I’ve only ever waxed mine. I never saw the point of Rusting or dying traps that I’m going to bury. So far this season 20 coyotes have been dumb enough to step in them

A lot of people seem to prefer dipping nowadays. The lion share of which seem to use FMJ. I'm not sure why FMJ seems so much more popular than the other ones, like Dakota Lines dip...

There are a million ways to treat traps and most work.I have been dying and waxing for 60 years and much prefer it,when done correctly.Dye needs an even coat of rust to work well,period.That light coat of rust doesn't hurt a thing and dyed properly,will be neutralized and won't advance.

I have dyed only and waxed only and again,done properly,dyed AND waxed,lasts and protects longer than either,alone.I have stashed dyed and waxed traps in the woods and they didn't need redone for 5-6 years.I used to go through the whole process,,.to every trap,every year.That isn't needed.I now pick through the traps,clean offall dirt-thoroughly,and only process the ones that need it.generally,I only have to treat a small pecentage of them.

Traps treated this way last forever.I used a few dozen BMI,K9 wolfers for twenty years.Every one would still easily hold any coyote and a few lions,this,with original springs.I sold them for more than retail.

I will say though,the logwood powder and even the crystals,don't seem as strong as the old stuff,so I double the recommended amount,and usually save it,by letting it dehydrate.The new steel in traps doesn't seem to rust the same as the old stuff.This may be a good thing but it won't take dye as well as the old,American steel.If I had access to walnuts,these days,I would probably use those.

I had traps that had rusted really bad from not treating last year (brand new traps). I soaked ALL my traps in vinegar for a couple of days and they came out looking like brand new traps. I let them sit for a few days and even though they didn’t really rust, decided to go ahead and dye them. After dyeing them, I waxed them all the very next day.
Don’t know what I did different this time than I did my very first time, but the way things looks now, I won’t have to do anything to them for next season. Or if I do, it will be very few. Really pleased how these turned out. I even waxed my DP’s and glad I did. It makes cleaning them off and out so much easier.
Any new traps will probably just be waxed next year.

"I had traps that had rusted really bad from not treating last year (brand new traps). I soaked ALL my traps in vinegar for a couple of days and they came out looking like brand new traps."

Interesting Wanna Be...the vinegar removed your rust that easy. Cool. I have some distilled white vinegar, but have never tried it on rust.

Curious, your new untreated traps that rusted really bad...had you degreased them prior to using?

Yes, got them for Christmas and filled up a plastic tub with Dawn dish soap and soaked them for a day, then rinsed them off and set them. Think I even posted a pic of a cat in a shiny new trap, lol.

The vinegar really really surprised me. I had no clue it would clean them that well. Don’t think I have any pics of the before and after, but I’ll look. I know I took pics after the dye and wax job.

I’m just a small time wanna be trapper. About 3 dozen 550’s and 1.5 dozen DP’s. They get the job done. I work for a living and trap around my work schedule. Do a lot of removal down here and landowners/managers pay to have it done. One place I’d trap for free based on all the other benefits I get off the place but they insist on paying so I don’t refuse anymore. Don’t make a ton of money, but did pay for a Mexico turkey hunt last year with my trapping money. All my traps and lures are paid for with “bonus” money from my actual job...this keeps the wife happy, lol. My turkey trips are paid with trapping money.