Not to start another duke thread but does anybody have any experience with the duke long spring “beaver special “ ? Pros and cons? Thanks.

Strong springs. PIT pans. Center mounted chain.

Couldnt set em over my knee until I waxed them.

Only have 2 of em. I like em!

Good beaver traps,very strong springs.

Love mine!

I haven’t had a chance to catch any beavers yet, but the dukes are extremely strong. Also have the pit center located already installed. I have a single bridger and while I don’t doubt the Bridger is just as good at holding beavers, I really like the dukes. The PIT pan is also a nice feature.

Very nice trap, well built and strong. Like Foxer states, The PIT pan definitely is a nice feature.

I agree with the sentiments above. Great trap in my experience.

Only Duke's I own.

Ok thanks for everybody’s input. I ordered one today anxious to check it out .

As stated, they are a nice trap for the money. No mods necessary. They are setup correctly right out of the box.

My only complaint is that I had a spring break in half. It broke during a catch but still held the beaver. That trap was around three or four years old. At that specific spot, it had been set for an extended period of time prior to the catch. I contributed it to a stress crack in the spring steel…as I have a mess of Duke 5’s and that is the only failure so far.

Where did it break? At the middle bend?

Yes, it broke in the middle of the bend.

Mr Bill will replace that spring free of charge.

Some years back, Duke had a problem with their springs breaking.

I sent him an email…we’ll find out.

Just tell him the beav said It was OK.

Beav, you were right. Bill is replacing the spring.

Again, the Duke #5 DLS is a great beaver trap straight out of the box...and now there's evidence that Duke stands behind their product if there is ever a problem.

Duke gets some negativity but that #5 longspring is a good'un.

Most of the negativity comes from those that never owned a Duke trap.

The Duke #5 long is much better than the Bridger #5 long...but, I much prefer a coilspring.

True

I've got a duke #5 I'm a big guy 6'2" and weight about 350 the springs just bounce me up and down only way I can get it set is to bounce and try to break the jaws over at the right time then set it not my favorite trap for this reason only.

Wax it...much easier to set then.

Last I checked they weren't legal for Illinois, even fully submerged. They have rough burrs on them, and they're too much for me to set by hand.

That being said, I still like them for the fact they're PIT and the biggest commercially available long springs, so they're beaver machines.

I just can’t imagine waxing a water trap let alone a #5…I like my fingers too much I guess. I speed dip mine. I agree they are stout…I’m not a small guy by weight and I definitely don’t consider myself strong…but if they are empty, I set mine over my knee. I only have to step on the springs to remove the catch.

I just checked the regs and they are fine for Illinois. 7.5 “ jaw spread and smooth jaws.

I will give that a shot i have some bridger #4s that are ridiculously hard to set as well.

ADC, the video says "this video is unavailable"

Does it work now?

Yep!

Good deal, that is Matt Duncan. He made that for me to use a demo on setting them.

I received the replacement springs in the mail today…great service!

I was thinking they were 8" inside. My bad.

Got my first Duke #5 yesterday, it won’t be my last. I have a few SC 4.5 that I will keep using, wish I had more but that Duke is pretty awesome.

Thanks for this thread and all the information.