Guys, there seems to be some confusion with my questions. First, I have been trapping on and off for over 25yrs. Mostly water and fisher trapping, I have never focused on canines. I have more traps than I could possibly use, it got to be an addiction to buy traps anywhere I found them, yard sales, auctions, etc, so I don't plan to buy anymore traps at this time. My time gets limited with work and chasing kids around so I don't want to invest too much...yet. I can do any welding mods needed right here and actually look forward to it. I hope to make a dozen or so coyote sets this fall right near my house. I have 1400ac of private land I can reach with a 4 wheeler ride. So with that, I plan to baseplate the #2s and possibly the 1.75s, add 8-10" of straight chain with a double stake swivel and a crunch proof swivel. What else is recommended with these particular traps?

I made a pack with myself several years ago when I sold all my Monties. I'll never buy a trap that needs modifications to get them coyote proof! Replaced them with MB450,550, 650s , and KO Juniors. Never looked back. No more losses no more added expense and maintenance . I trap around people so I need some smaller traps in some locations. If I trapped out west I'd use more big traps.. I getting real fond of dogless traps.. If ya like to modify and can weld then have at it. But do it all including reinforcing the dogs and thank us later.

Good advice right there.

", Victor 1.75OS, Victor #2SJ, Montgomery #2 standards. All of them are 2 coil, with adjustable pan tensioners, just the way they come out of the box. The 1.75s are newer than the #2s, although all of them are in fantastic condition. I have base plates/center D-ring that I plan to install along with straight link chain and a couple crunch proof swivels and double stake swivels. I have a handful of #2 Sleepy Creeks"


Answer: None of the above. Sell them all to a coon or fox trapper and get some coyote traps.

True statement Laz, even with all the mods you'll still have bent traps. If a yote bites and it gives he'll keep biting till it fails.. I used the #2 monties for years, 30 percent losses even tricked out..

I have a good bit of experience with 1.75 RJ and 2 SJ.
1.75 RJ, great design. lam with round or square rod.
IF I based, again round rod.
2 SJ, Chew guards to the outside, use for coon wet or dry.

The end of chain can differ from stake methods.
Chestnut ring I can make anything work.
A swivel makes cable stakes work well.
Buy more swivels than you "think" you need.
And a j-hook tool.

If you have questions for this,
Pm me cause I will not argue for 2 weeks with people
who have not done this lol.

I'm not going to argue about mods, tricks and additions. You can do all those things to a 1.75 or #2 trap and it will hold a coyote. I've done it. Lots. And my humble opinion is that if you put a coyote on a drag with a smaller or more marginal trap, you can increase your odds of actually holding him until you arrive to dispatch him, as opposed to putting him on a stake. In my experience, a coyote on a stake can and does punish a trap much more than a coyote on a drag. With a drag, the coyote spends his energy chewing down brush, pulling, running away, etc. On a stake, he's confined to a small space with nothing better to do than to test your equipment. And with a drag's long heavy chain he can't usually get the upward leverage to pull out. True, he has a long chain and can get a running start to hit the end of the chain but usually the chain is wrapped around brush or trees and has some "give" to it.

My argument with the 1.75 - #2 size trap is that your catch rate (not quite as much with #2's) will suffer. More misses, more toe catches, more problems. I'm just at the phase of my life, I don't want to deal with those issues. I still use some #2 fully modified Bridgers and love them. They have the benefit of being more deer/antelope/burro friendly, and if I have a set location that has a risk of theft, that location will get a #2. I don't think you have to have a huge trap -- I'm not a #4 or #5 kind of guy, but day in and day out, year after year, percentage after percentage, you're going to be happier with a GOOD #3 trap than something smaller.

Here's an analogy. Years and years ago I wanted a pair of binoculars. I bought what I could afford. They worked OK and I was pleased with them. Then one day I hunted with a buddy and he handed me his X Brand binoculars. WOW!!! It was amazing!!! Clarity, brightness and ergonomic comfort all in one! I had to have one and by then my budget allowed me to buy them. So I did. They worked fine and I was pleased with them. Then one day I hunted with a buddy and he handed me his Y Brand binoculars. WOW!!! It was amazing!!! They were as much an improvement over my Brand X glasses as the Brand X had been over my original binoculars. Now I've hunted all over North America with those glasses and I've yet to have anyone hand me something that I thought was any better. But see what happened -- I bought three pairs of binoculars to get what I wanted. All I'm saying is you can get by with marginal coyote traps, and maybe you're OK with that given the fur market, the amount of effort you're going to put into it, etc. I would just have you consider buying coyote traps ONCE instead of three times. But in the end, the choice is yours.

KO Extremes. Inside laminated to make legal in NY.
What steps in them stays in them.

I thought the question was how to make his traps work rather than what is the best.
No doubt about the misses. Remember Zags post, oh the misses?
I think, no I know, the misses is why I didn't pay up for 550s and 450s, I already have too many small traps, and I'm not rich enough.
Lots of variables and differing terrain too.

As far as the best. A guy would have to run 10 dozen of every modern model, for a year, to honestly answer.

If coyote traps start at 6", why are these 550s so great is what pops into my mind.
No matter though as I already have enough, Mrs.

My advice is to use what you have and do the best you can. That's how you learn what works and what doesn't. Very few short cuts in the coyote catching business. You will make mistakes and then learn and evolve from there.

I will reiterate what's been said above about it's not so much the coyotes you catch it's the coyotes you don't miss. Be careful you don't make a problem for yourself as in educated coyotes. Good luck and have fun!

OK, so I found a local guy that wants all of my #2s. So what is the best on the market or strictly coyotes? MB650s?

I started out with 1.75 Dukes for live market fox and coyotes. I inside laminated them and put 3 swivels In the chain and caught and held coyotes. But I had lots of sprung traps and toe catches. I remembered what a old fox trapper told me and then I started cutting down the pans. My catch ration came up some. So then I replaced all the 1.75 pans with a smaller round pan and that pretty much took care of sprung traps and toe catches. Sure I missed some critters but for the most part the trap wasn't laying In the bed sprung and empty.

The 4 coiled Duke #2 square jaw Is a decent coyote trap and won't cost you a arm and a leg.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I know the way of the forums, but I do appreciate all the positive thoughts. Before I posted the original question I thought about thinning out some of the traps I have and don't use and get some just for this. I knew the local guy would buy all the #2s I had, and I got quite a bunch of them. They are just collecting dust and truthfully, even though I can do all the mods, I would probably get sick of doing it and by the time I bought the mod parts and added the time, I could have what I wanted ready to go. Right now I have the time, but once this virus scare ends I am going to be crazy busy at work and won't be able to get the mods I want/need done. To those of you that have reached out via PM,Thank you for taking the time to help. I will keep you all posted as to our progress!!

Good luck to you on your quest, warning coyotes are addicting LOL..

So K9 Extremes are bullet proofed, and built in the USA. The only knock on them is a little higher pan tension than some guys like. They have a loose jaw and I enjoy that for my wire screen pan covers.

The MB650’s are also a bulletproofed trap, mine have the cast jaws. Both jaws lockdown so they are not quite as fast to set in adverse conditions and with gloves on. It’s also just a touch trickier to get the screen bedded right. Still an awesome trap and I’ve never heard anything about them being built overseas like the 550’s

MB550 is a very solid trap, they have next to nothing for pan tension, which I prefer a little heavier pan tension since we have so many coons, possums, etc... And don’t get me wrong they will hold any coyote that steps in them, but after running the No BS and the 650 It feels funny going back down to a 1 3/4 class trap.

I’ve used the above three traps extensively you can’t go wrong with any of them for quality and being ready to set nearly right out of the box.

I’ve also run a lot of Duke, Bridgers, Victors and Blake & Lambs.
They all required work out of the box, and even more work after a catch.
Out of the three higher end traps that I’ve run, I like the No BS traps the best

This is incredible advice and spot-on accurate.

As trappergbus wrote: I trap around people so I need some smaller traps in some locations. If I trapped out west I'd use more big traps.. I getting real fond of dogless traps.. If ya like to modify and can weld then have at it. But do it all including reinforcing the dogs and thank us later.

Not many even mention it, but you can see he did. You got to use your head when choosing traps. Where are you going to be setting?
What might fly in Montana might not be appropriate in a rural NY. Just a thought.