In Indiana traps with an inside spread over 5 3/4" have to have a 1/8" offset. I got a killer deal on a dozen Duke #3 regular jaw traps a few years ago and decided to use them this year on the coyote line. I ordered 6 pairs of offset jaws from F&T and replaced one jaw on each trap. This gave me the 1/8" offset required. Cost less than replacing both jaws and the offset won't be so big that skunk and coon can pull out. They look a little funny but should work just fine and meets the requirements.

Sounds like a good idea, thanks for sharing.

That will work. Here in Arkansas it just has to be offset. So when I find a good deal. U can spot weld a little spot on each jaw. Just a little bump out of the way. U will have offset jaws. I am going to help another trapper. He has a bunch of regular jaws coyote traps. Going to fix them for him to save money.

Amazing that the people we trust to manage wildlife make a rule for offset jaws in the first place. They dont have clue one what the design is really all about, so welding a lug in a regular trap makes them happy.

Its no wonder that rabbit, quail, prairie chickens, bullfrogs and muskrats disappearing don't bother them. They spend all their time in an office without a clue what is happening in the natural world.

Maybe we need to get them to drink a glass of atrazene every morning for awhile to get their attention. You know, like the kid who ate smart pills.

May not be legal in KS. But it is here I fix them with gap like a offset trap has . I have bought used traps at yard sale. Some had wire wrapped jaw on sides to make them offset but that was yrs ago.

Sometimes you can turn one jaw around to make an offset

Bobcat trapper you missed my whole point. Fish and game people are often unaware that the offset is to hold animals tighter something welding in a lug does not do. pS its legal here to

Just make sure your levers still come up high enough for a good lock up. I'm sure you have already but make sure you grind or file off any sharp edges to minimize foot damage. Worse thing imo with offsets is front foot caught coon but with 1/8 you should be good.

Hey danny, Atrazine is 8X's less toxic than aspirin so if your text was to blame it for a reduction in wildlife species I have to wonder about your source. Check the LD-50 toxicology on both if in doubt.. It does reduce herbaceous annuals (weeds) for cleaner cropping thus reducing the cover aspect of habitat but which one of those two,,, aspirin vs. atrazine is taken orally on a regular basis? It gets easy to "blame" things w/o digging into the science of the suspected culprit. And the better we qualify the sources of our science the better informed we become. Atrazine or aatrex got some bad publicity due to it hanging around in the environment with a longer half life than some ag chemicals. Lots of activist and politicians were geared toward long lived chemicals to make a name for themselves AFTER the DDT findings in the 70's and 80's. Plus our systems of testing were refined to fine molecules in the ppb range,,,,,,,,, but atrazine was not accumulative in living tissue like DDT or Mercury for that matter. Jimminy,,,,,,,all the studies I see show city/suburban dwellers put a lot more chem pesticides per acre on their lawns, parks, lots etc. (with higher runoff rates) than are applied by the ag industry on cropland..... my take

wonder why its banned all across europe? asprin is still legal. yet when i get a drink of water there is plenty of atrazine in it but no aspirin? just another mystery i guess

You can do this as well. Most cutoff grinding wheels are 1/8 inch and if you have a somewhat steady hand you can take that wheel right between the jaws. When done file smooth and done . This also keeps the levers able to lockup as high as they are supposed to. Did this years ago when I was poor.

The OP's method sounds pretty slick.I don't like the idea of welding a lug or wire etc to make the gap as it reduces lockup which is more important.Wolfdog51 had a good video on this and he went one step further and ground the jaws so the levers come up just as they did before the offset lugs were added.That is a pretty good way to go.

If you try any of these methods and end up with an offset that is uneven,like the offset gap is wider in the center,just put the area of the jaws in your vice and gradually tighten it till the gap is perfectly even.I is very easy.

If the trap jaws are closer in the center,put the proper thickness bar stock in that spot and use the vice to squeeze in the jaws on either side of it.Again,you can get a perfect gap.

Personally,if I need or want offset jawed traps,I buy them that way

In my mind grinding the jaws where they meet the levers Is going to weaken those jaws. In my opinion you would be better off grinding the Inside edges of the spring levers.

Beav, the hinge at the bottom of the jaw is always going to be less thick than the ramp area after grinding, in my opinion most traps will benefit from grinding the ramp areas so that the levers can not only come up higher but end on a relative flat spot that creates lockup. You won't grind enough off the outside of the jaw to make the jaw weaker until you have ground it down to the 1/8" or so at the hinge.
Put a 3/8" dowel in most coil spring traps and look at the ramp-lockup-lever relationship and most traps need the ramp (outside of jaw) modified, but most trappers just buy bigger springs.

Danny's point was that offset jaws on traps don't do what the people writing the regs think they do and that those people don't even try to find out what makes the trap work. The reason for making jaws gape is to let the levers come up higher, and that is not the reason given by the regulaters.
Even some trappers have erroneous beliefs about what a gape/offset can and cannot accomplish. I've read on this very forum things like offset making the animal more comfortable or putting less pressure on the skin and that is obviously wrong, all the mechanics of contact are the same until the offset is so large as to allow slippage.

What is called offset really is not offset but it is gaped, Offset would mean the jaws bypassed one another. I think a lug or weld bead that only creates 1/8" gape is not going to have any effect at all on a trap with 3/8" or larger foot in it, it can't close down to that lug anyhow and the levers can only rise to the point where the jaws grip the leg/foot. regardless of the lug. You can test this with a pencil, insert the pencil like a leg and see if you can get the jaws to touch at the lug.

The pencil test is a good idea, take a pencil and snap a offset jawed trap and see what happens to the pencil. Probably not much if the offset is between 3/16 and a 1/4 inch. Now remember how thick a coyotes foot bones are. Then put your pencil between a closed jaw trap and set it off. What is your pencil going to look like? (Smashed) not all bones will be broken but i prefer not to take that chance. Imo offsets were made for extended checks, but if you can't check your traps first thing in the morning i consider it an extended check because a coyote will really work the trap hard when daylight breaks. Anyone that has been trapping for very long should know that broken bones = bad news.
Also you can make any trap made lock up higher with a little grinding on the lever side of the jaws.

A pencil isnt a bone or a foot. Next time you catch a coyote in an offset trap look to see if the foot is wide enough to still hold the jaws open a bit. Even this little fox is still holding that big mb650 open a bit.

The offset allows the jaws to close closer together. Since the jaws are closer together the lever's can come up higher. When the lever comes up higher it creates more leverage, a mechanical advantage. So long as the animal caught is a target species, and its foot holds the jaws apart a bit, the trap holds TIGHTER than a non offset.

That is the reason for the offset jaw. We have people writing regs in MANY government agencies that have no knowledge at all of the thing they are regulating. I find that fact to be very frustrating.

Spot on Danny, great post.. The mechanical advantage is real.. Pop the springs off and use a grinder to create the offset. It's easy..

Got any pics of this easy grinder created offsets? Sounds really interesting and would love to see it. If no pics would really like to know what traps your grinding on.

So you don't think there would be more damage to that fox's paw if it were not for the offset? I agree with the mechanical advantage. Imo offsets help 2 ways, more lock up and less damage especially to non targets. But with that said a person has to be careful to get the right amount of offset vs spring strength so the foot does not slide back and forth in the jaws
It's possible to add more lock up with more spring strength but then should be laminated.

i think there would be more damage without the lamination. I have a few traps I should get around to laminating. Picked them up in a trade a couple years ago. That wider jaw face helps a lot to keep feet from being cut. The offset induced tighter grip keeps the foot from sliding around and being cut.

Ask the live market guys If they use offsets.

I like to take a piece of #9 wire and wrap around one of the jaws.

Sorry no pics sir, I ground 6 dozen old Monty 1.5s, 2s years ago. You just need to mark them with a sharpy so you can see how far to go, start in the corners first where the contact points will be. Just make sure to round the edges when done.

Combination of 3/16th offsets at least 3/8th wide jaw surface with ample power so the paw can't move has been the best so far. Wider maybe better.. but there needs to be a balance between jaw width, offset gap, and power. I've spoke with a bunch of trappers both fur and live market we all agree..

Good info thanks for sharing. I agree 100% on the sharp edges and the width to strength ratio.
Sometimes i wonder if off sets are the way to go???

I use what i do today because in 2014 i went to Ogorman, at the time he was using #3 bridgers inside and outside laminated offset and 4 coiled. His bridgers were regular jawed with 1/4 inch lugs welded on the jaws to offset. I didn't ask questions at the time because I figured if they worked for him they should work for me. And they do, because the #3 is a very high lever trap and can have a lug added and still have great lock up. I know it doesn't sound like it should work great but it does. As far as lock up and minimal damage i can't think of another trap i could switch to for better results. It takes a lot of welding and time to get it to this point but i feel it's worth it in the long run.
Sorry if i kinda hijacked this thread but hope the info will be considered and useful in the end.
I have a lot of respect for mr. Coyote and feel we should do our best to take it easy on him right up to the bitter end.

Danny, i agree with you 110% about folks making laws about things theys know nothing about. It's not right but unfortunately that's the world we live in today.

I want to know how to leg catch a coyote? I’ve yet to catch one on the leg. Even a full pad catch with the toes touching the pan don’t result in a leg catch.
Now I have caught coons by the legs without broken bones and even a few foxes that got caught up a little above the pads. Never a broken bone, but with MB550 offsets I have had what would be considered damage by live market trappers. Everything I’m acquiring now will be regular jaws...no more offset.

I have never trapped live market. I do trap sometimes where an offset is required by regulation. For some years now I have just gone to all offset. This trap i s a #4 sleepy creek. It is the closest I get to an ankle catch wannabe.



IMO the gap is too wide in these sleepy creeks. With smaller coyotes their foot slides back and forth and they get cut.

We leg caught a coyote during that coyotes study. It was caught In a #3 Duke offset It wasn't pretty.

1/4 offset is too big, and ya have to have at least 3/8th wide jaw contact. Wider would be best. OG has had it right except for the offset gap IMHO.. At that time they were state of the art, not any more. The goal is at the ankle or even lower. With wider jaw surface leg caught is doable without damage .

That's true but most of these guys trying to make offsets by grinding out a slot are doing It on regular jaws and not laminating. And that In my opinion Is asking for trouble.
I have some offset jawed traps but they have wide cast jaw faces. Or have been laminated.
If It's not a legal issue I wouldn't own a offset jawed trap.

I started out with a 1/4 offset, didn't take long to see that was too much. 3/16 for me anyway seems to be the sweet spot.
I can't think of anything i could do to get better performance out of a trap.
I'm thinking guys are having problems with offsets because of too much gap.

I see your traps are laminated. Offsets and no lamination's are the problem In my opinion. Once a coyote Is first caught It's foot hasn't swelled up yet and you can have some movement. But once that foot begins to swell then you won't have any movement. I still feel If you have a high levered trap and good stout springs you don't need an offset jawed trap.
I trapped the live market for 12 years and the only thing I did was to laminate both inside and out side. Inside being more important. Short chains and plenty of swivels. In those 12 years I never had a fox or a coyote or a cat turned down because of a damaged foot.
But of coarse not to sugar coat things for the fur market there Isn't market for feet.