New cage I'm tinkering with , what y'all think ? Wanna see if I can get the trigger completely self contained though, think this will be pretty good for smaller critters like mink ,weseal, muskrats rats ect when I get the bugs worked out

I would think smaller critters would slip right through the sides and escape.

Well done.

Shouldn’t there be an “Lol” at the end of that? Lol.

Looks like to much space between the rods. Smaller critters may not even set It off. A solid pan would work better In my opinion. Maybe wood or even a small diameter mesh.

my first thought is if a critter is walking around and bumps the trigger rod on the outside of the trap and trips it before getting to the door. moving it inside the trap?

lol. I thought the lol was implied.

That seems to work well. Nice job.

He did say it would be a solid metal pan. He's using the rods as a mock to test functionalism.

Do you build a car and test It without a engine?

I like it. I would reverse the door pivots though to give the doors wider distance to drop behind animal(they can still be powered), widen the pan by 50% to increase triggering leverage and make it harder to jump over. I like the inline pivot nuts along the top because it would be easy the use oversize nuts that you could insert nylon tube into for better freeze protection which is a major problem for cage traps this far north.

Y'all I know I'm not the brightest light in the chandelier but come on now. The first one was just a mock up so I can see how the mechanics would work. Here's the finish version

Got the new one worked up

Nice job

Excellent job

Looks very sturdy and functional, should hold what every you can get in them. If you want to try baiting them I have attached hinged all solid walled bait boxes(either wedge or box shaped) above the pan with open side against screen trap top(so they can only see bait from inside over pan). Then cover bait box when set with trash to discourage working it from above. Critters really work the bait well from inside and I like double ended box over one end with bait on the other(snow tracks show they work the bait on that end until no longer interested without finding open end and leave quite often. I only set boxes from fisher though and our season used to be very early and just after deer season so gut piles were abundant and fisher well fed. Our now mid winter season will probably see them hunger and more willing to thoroughly work box but I still think two doors is better thus the top bait box, better than wiring to inside above pan as shrew eaten bait can be replaced easily/quickly on set trap.

Let us know how they work out.