No Profanity *** No Flaming *** No Advertising *** No Anti Trappers ***NO POLITICS
No Non-Target Catches *** No Links to Anti-trapping Sites *** No Avoiding Profanity Filter


Home~Trap Talk~ADC Forum~Trap Shed~Wilderness Trapping~International Trappers~Fur Handling

Auction Forum~Trapper Tips~Links~Gallery~Basic Sets~Convention Calendar~Chat~ Trap Collecting Forum

Trapper's Humor~Strictly Trapping~Fur Buyers Directory~Mugshots~Fur Sale Directory~Wildcrafting~The Pen and Quill

Trapper's Tales~Words From The Past~Legends~Archives~Kids Forum~Lure Formulators Forum~ Fermenter's Forum


~~~ Dobbins' Products Catalog ~~~


Minnesota Trapline Products
Please support our sponsor for the Trappers Talk Page - Minnesota Trapline Products


Print Thread
Hop To
Long spring and frozen ground #7813771
03/05/23 07:46 PM
03/05/23 07:46 PM
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 126
Somerset Pennsylvania
F
FarmerDan Offline OP
trapper
FarmerDan  Offline OP
trapper
F

Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 126
Somerset Pennsylvania
I’ve heard longs springs don’t freeze in as easy as coil springs. The reasons make sense to me but just wondering if anyone has any experience to prove it?

Just bought some Bridger #4 offset long springs. I base plated them and added PIT pans. I’m not overly impressed with them. Some are hard to set. I was planning on getting more and using them for when things start to freeze up but now I’m not sure. We get a lot of freeze-thaw so setting long springs isn’t an issue but looking for something that will be better when the ground does freeze.

Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: FarmerDan] #7813816
03/05/23 08:51 PM
03/05/23 08:51 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
B
Bob Jameson Offline
trapper
Bob Jameson  Offline
trapper
B

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
If you are dealing with any number of domestic animals I would stay with coil spring traps.

Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: FarmerDan] #7813898
03/05/23 10:24 PM
03/05/23 10:24 PM
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 34,751
Central, SD
Law Dog Offline
trapper
Law Dog  Offline
trapper

Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 34,751
Central, SD
Use waxed dirt to cut down on that freezing problem it improves your odds greatly under most conditions. Like said if your dealing with hard ground coils take less chopping to bed them and disturbs less ground.


Was born in a Big City Will die in the Country OK with that!

Jerry Herbst
Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: FarmerDan] #7814116
03/06/23 11:10 AM
03/06/23 11:10 AM
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 20,233
The Hill Country of Texas
Leftlane Offline
"HOSS"
Leftlane  Offline
"HOSS"

Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 20,233
The Hill Country of Texas
Setting them exposed for cats, it is hard to freeze them down. Buried I doubt they have any advantage over coil springs in the freezing department


“What’s good for me may not be good for the weak minded.”
Captain Gus McCrae- Texas Rangers


Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: FarmerDan] #7814150
03/06/23 12:08 PM
03/06/23 12:08 PM
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 3,035
wyoming southeast
D
danvee Offline
trapper
danvee  Offline
trapper
D

Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 3,035
wyoming southeast
I use mostly long springs Im old school I guess. LS are harder to bed in frozen ground but like them in water easy to open and reset when wading. As far as freezing I have pulled up just this year LS traps that would spring but were frozen solid to the ground at the bottom spring that had to be chipped out. I have had two fox over the years in a LS trap caught that were stationary in other words the trap and chain were frozen down solid and the fox could not move.

Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: FarmerDan] #7814170
03/06/23 12:50 PM
03/06/23 12:50 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,652
ND
M
MJM Offline
trapper
MJM  Offline
trapper
M

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,652
ND
More ground contact, means more area to freeze down.


"Not Really, Not Really"
Mark J Monti
"MJM you're a jerk."
Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: FarmerDan] #7815713
03/08/23 11:39 AM
03/08/23 11:39 AM
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 3,035
wyoming southeast
D
danvee Offline
trapper
danvee  Offline
trapper
D

Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 3,035
wyoming southeast
the top spring in most cases will still rise.

Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: danvee] #7816041
03/08/23 08:19 PM
03/08/23 08:19 PM
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 1,645
Wisconsin
Scott__aR Offline
trapper
Scott__aR  Offline
trapper

Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 1,645
Wisconsin
Originally Posted by danvee
the top spring in most cases will still rise.



X2. Which does all the work


Megapredator ... top of the food chain!
Member of WTA
Member of MTPCA
Member of NTA
Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: MJM] #7816201
03/08/23 11:03 PM
03/08/23 11:03 PM
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,417
Idaho
B
bearcat2 Offline
trapper
bearcat2  Offline
trapper
B

Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,417
Idaho
Originally Posted by MJM
More ground contact, means more area to freeze down.

But unlike a coilspring, they will still go off when frozen to the ground as long as the jaws aren't frozen down. Coilsprings have the springs under the trap and the levers touching the ground, longsprings it doesn't matter if the springs or the baseplate is froze down, the top half of the spring will still come up just the same as an unfrozen trap (as long as you don't have ice over it, freezing it down) and as long as the jaws aren't froze down it will still go off and catch something just fine. Coilsprings do tend to be faster and if not froze down they tend to "jump" a little bit and get a little higher catch, and are easier to dig a trap bed for in frozen ground. But not that much, because you need to dig it deeper and bigger than the trap to make sure and put plenty of waxed dirt under it so they don't freeze down.

Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: bearcat2] #7816228
03/08/23 11:38 PM
03/08/23 11:38 PM
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 126
Somerset Pennsylvania
F
FarmerDan Offline OP
trapper
FarmerDan  Offline OP
trapper
F

Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 126
Somerset Pennsylvania
This is what I was thinking would be the case. Anyone have an opinion on the Sleepy Creeks vs the Bridgers? At first I thought I would like the bridgers more because I can get them with offset jaws but I’m just not happy with the few I got to try. Maybe I can find some used Sleepy Creek #3s.

Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: FarmerDan] #7816399
03/09/23 07:46 AM
03/09/23 07:46 AM
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 13,964
Michigan
T
Trapper Dahlgren Offline
trapper
Trapper Dahlgren  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 13,964
Michigan
I did a test a few years back trying to trap in winter around here coils, long spring , had 40 traps out after 2 weeks only 4 traps would fire when I step on them , I try 10 with wax dirt 10 with wax paper under trap, 10 with reg, dirt dried. 10 with salt mix in dirt, all 4 that fired were in the shad and protected from overhead two were coils tow were long springs

Re: Long spring and frozen ground [Re: FarmerDan] #7816697
03/09/23 02:18 PM
03/09/23 02:18 PM
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,976
North Central Idaho
Jumperzee Offline
trapper
Jumperzee  Offline
trapper

Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,976
North Central Idaho
DLS are pretty much all I use for cat traps in our nasty freezing slushbombcrud weather. I run a few coils in places where theft could occur. All are exposed sets that I make on a couple handfuls of waxed dirt. The coils will eventually freeze down, the DLS always stay working. I couldn't imagine trying to run bedded DLS (e.g. K9 sets) in the same conditions though.

Some pics of sets that have all taken cats. [Linked Image]
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]

Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread