I’ve never tried them so no help here and welding is not that hard. One of the great things about trapping is all the skills that can be or have to be learned. Good luck

what after market pans do you like? I cannot weld so that is not an option.

thanks!

mainly coyote, i was thinking about using jb weld

Depends on the trap and target species. For my trapline, stock pans are fine on coils and you can glue, rivet, slip on a larger pan if needed for something like cats. I just glue a shingle on.

I just use some 3M spray adhesive and a spring clamp. But to be clear - that is for gluing a shingle on a pan with the intended use as exposed cat sets. Shingles will get chewed up after a catch but you can scrape the old one off with a putty knife and put a new one on pretty quick. Riveting an electric box cover will work too. Have played with that for some floppy pan mink traps and it worked well. Never tried JB weld. There's a ton of good posts on pan covers here on T-man. Might take some creative sleuthing to find though.

Personally, I wouldn't enlarge the pan of a trap I was bedding for K9's. I think you'd be inviting a toe catch or the potential for the pan to be obstructed and not fire if you got dirt under it while bedding. A stiff screen over the pan during bedding might give you more surface area if that's what you're after and keep the dirt from under the pan.