I've got a pile of about eight dozen or so smashed 1.75 Northwoods (my "go to" fox trap) and # 2 Bridgers that were run over by farm equipment over the years. I finally started working on them last week. I have found that they can be repaired no matter how badly smashed as long as the jaws aren't too badly damaged. I haven't tried any jaw repair yet but I will.

This one is fairly typical although there are quite a few much worse. One lever badly bent, the frame twisted and the spring pin bent:





I usually disassemble completely. I start by popping the springs off the levers with a screwdriver:



Then pull the spring pin out of the holes in the levers and frame and over the dog:



Next I compress the jaws with a quick clamp and pull them out of the frame:



With the jaws out the levers will slide off the ends of the frame. I take the pan off too.



Now its over to the cheap anvil I bought just for this purpose and the frame is hammered back into shape:





Next that badly bent lever is bent back into shape with pliers and hammered flat at the anvil:





Back over to the anvil to straighten out that bent spring pin:







Now that everything is straightened out, put it back together:



Taa-daa!







The chain assembly for this trap still staked with a Bridger # 2 attached to it. It's easier for me to swap at the J-hook next to the frame than it is to pull stakes. I'll swap them back next time out.

Now...only ninety-some more to do...

That's a great tutorial Lug. I can also see that helping out guys that want to change springs and have never done it before, well done!

I’d spend the 12.00 and buy another trap.......:).....
But seeing you got 90..... that would get a little pricey

Nice work if a guy has the parts he can put together a lot of usable traps in a short amount of time.

Nice salvage, now, can I hire you to come over here and teach my employees to work that fast?

I believe you should not be using a claw hammer to pound on an anvil. That is what a ball peen hammer is made for. Claw hammers can chip when hitting hard surfaces. Claw hammers are made for driving nails into soft wood. I have only seem a claw hammer chip once, but it did break a pretty good chunk off the head of the claw hammer. You should do some research on difference between ball peen and claw hammers.

A lot of blacksmithing was done with a cross pein

OK Mom

good job I believe that will help people out ,

x2

Looking good Lugnut. Good video

You have 8 dozen traps that have been ran over? That is more traps than i run altogether lol. I would repair them though just like you and thank you for putting t together. IT is not hard to do and a lot of folks pitch good equipment.

X3. A picture is worth a thousand words. I like your jaw removal trick. Is there anything to look out for when re-installing the jaws?

Lovely. ! One of the few things I've never done to a trap

ya realize that leaves ya open to some pretty funny interpretation in my messed up mind don't ya bud.

Good job, great pics!

I had to fix a couple number 3 Bridget's, #3 Northwoods, and 1-75 Northwoods, vice and pliers, vice grips, big hammer.
If your traps are 1/4" round rod laminated, base plated the will hold up a lot better if run over, worse thing is a liquid manure wagon, many tons of weight, some tractor, fertilizer spreaders ran over my modified #3's and traps we're not damaged

It took a lot of years to build that collection of smashed traps. LOL

I trap mostly two-track tractor lanes around home. We all know fox travel right down those tracks. So I crowd the edge with a dirt-hole set as close as I can without the trap being directly on the track. Obviously, sometimes I get a little too close.

I used to repair them right away but got lazy and just started tossing the damaged traps in a pile in the fur shed. After about fifteen years the smashed pile got bigger than the working pile. I actually ran out of Northwoods this season and had to switch to Bridgers. I just put laminations on all my Bridgers last year but they need new springs and I haven't gotten around to doing that yet (I told ya, I'm lazy).

I already had one red pop out of one of them as I was walking up to it. That made me get my arse in gear and get busy repairing traps!

I've found that the soft jaws of the Quick-Grips hold the jaws a lot better than other types of clamps. I tried the bench vise, some C-clamps and some regular Pony bar clamps but the jaws kept slipping out.

I just squeeze them enough to clear the frame. Keep them oriented the same way the came out, they are not reversible.

Want me to send you a few to work on?