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Do Shock Springs Help Prevent #7829902
03/26/23 09:09 AM
03/26/23 09:09 AM
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 9,908
Arkansas
J
J Staton Offline OP
trapper
J Staton  Offline OP
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J

Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 9,908
Arkansas
jaws popping? No welder to bubble jaw ends.

Last edited by J Staton; 03/26/23 09:22 AM.

James 1: 19-20
Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7829921
03/26/23 09:33 AM
03/26/23 09:33 AM
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 10,057
Marion Kansas
Y
Yes sir Online content
"Callie's little brother"
Yes sir  Online Content
"Callie's little brother"
Y

Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 10,057
Marion Kansas
I'm sure they do but there's a lot of well made traps on the market today that can catch there target animals and hold them without welding on the jaw tips or shock springs. If your buying traps I'd start there.

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7829924
03/26/23 09:36 AM
03/26/23 09:36 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 20,958
St. Louis Co, Mo
B
BigBob Offline
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BigBob  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 20,958
St. Louis Co, Mo
Just lightly bending the tips1 up will do wonders too!


Every kid needs a Dog and a Curmudgeon.

Remember Bowe Bergdahl, the traitor.

Beware! Jill Pudlewski, Ron Oates and Keven Begesse are liars and thiefs!
Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: Yes sir] #7829929
03/26/23 09:47 AM
03/26/23 09:47 AM
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 9,908
Arkansas
J
J Staton Offline OP
trapper
J Staton  Offline OP
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J

Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 9,908
Arkansas
Originally Posted by Yes sir
I'm sure they do but there's a lot of well made traps on the market today that can catch there target animals and hold them without welding on the jaw tips or shock springs. If your buying traps I'd start there.

High theft area (public ground) traps I'm building. Use my good traps on private ground.


James 1: 19-20
Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7829934
03/26/23 09:55 AM
03/26/23 09:55 AM
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 10,057
Marion Kansas
Y
Yes sir Online content
"Callie's little brother"
Yes sir  Online Content
"Callie's little brother"
Y

Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 10,057
Marion Kansas
I get it but there's some very good budget traps out there that I'd feel very confident in holding coyotes without welding jaw tips or running without shock springs. Just out of curiosity what does a good shock spring cost.

I recently bought a dozen duke # 2 dogless to try. Haven't set them yet but for the money they appear to be a very adequate trap. Don't quote me but I believe they were around $140/ dozen. They came 4 coiled but they were way to strong for my liking so I took the second set of springs off.

Last edited by Yes sir; 03/26/23 10:00 AM.
Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7830058
03/26/23 01:09 PM
03/26/23 01:09 PM
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 6,004
alabama
steeltraps Offline
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steeltraps  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 6,004
alabama
Originally Posted by J Staton
jaws popping? No welder to bubble jaw ends.

YES. I have shock springs on all my traps. EVEN IF they dont need them ! Shock springs work well for = Extended checks , Big Mean Male Coyotes, less foot damage and incidentals of the Large kind ! So my gues is = YES. And at 3 dollars a peice? WHY not ? Especially in high theft place like you are saying WHY buy new budget traps when 36 dollars a dz and shipping may fix your problem??

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7830059
03/26/23 01:09 PM
03/26/23 01:09 PM
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 17,383
Central Ohio
LT GREY Offline
trapper
LT GREY  Offline
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 17,383
Central Ohio
I see a lot of tips in regards to keeping the animal from popping out the trap jaws, yet little to what the item is designed to do most. . .stop or lessen the shock to the animal when it hits the end of the chain !

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7830639
03/27/23 08:30 AM
03/27/23 08:30 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,733
Northern Illinois
M
MChewk Offline
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MChewk  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,733
Northern Illinois
LT just my opinion...but I think the shock spring does both reduce the '"jarring" to the caught animal and the vibration motion/activity to anchor.
The issue is for the lighter weight caught animals...the shock spring at times doesn't give at all. Then consider IF a trapper uses a lighter rated shock spring(NW traps and SoftcatchTraps)
and then catches a hard fighting bigger animal then the spring's value is lessened....catch 22. I think a trapper just needs to decide what set up and shock spring
to go with and see what the results are at the end of each season and either change or continue....KISS

My take

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: MChewk] #7830736
03/27/23 10:38 AM
03/27/23 10:38 AM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,425
Georgia
warrior Online content
trapper
warrior  Online Content
trapper

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,425
Georgia
Originally Posted by MChewk
LT just my opinion...but I think the shock spring does both reduce the '"jarring" to the caught animal and the vibration motion/activity to anchor.
The issue is for the lighter weight caught animals...the shock spring at times doesn't give at all. Then consider IF a trapper uses a lighter rated shock spring(NW traps and SoftcatchTraps)
and then catches a hard fighting bigger animal then the spring's value is lessened....catch 22. I think a trapper just needs to decide what set up and shock spring
to go with and see what the results are at the end of each season and either change or continue....KISS

My take


My thoughts exactly. Spreads the impact loading over a longer duration on both ends of the system.
However, we lack total control over the input force by weight of the catch. Best we can do is opt for a targeted weight.

But in my experience it's all more theoretical that actually practical.


[Linked Image]
Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7830744
03/27/23 10:52 AM
03/27/23 10:52 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
B
Bob Jameson Offline
trapper
Bob Jameson  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,590
SW Pa
I have never used a shock spring in my lifetime. I know how the device works. In my experience it is just something else I have to bury, add weight and cost to your set up. Nothing wrong with those wanting to add them to your system. The longer your chain set up is, the more benefit it will have. For medium length cable/chain set ups I see no need.

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7830750
03/27/23 11:01 AM
03/27/23 11:01 AM
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 6,545
NC, Orange Co.
QuietButDeadly Offline
trapper
QuietButDeadly  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 6,545
NC, Orange Co.
And in some places, regulations come into play as well. The following is our regulation that applies to foothold traps set on land:

Quote
Trap chain cannot be longer than 8 inches from anchor
point to the base of the trap unless fitted with a shock absorbing device with at least 40 lbs. and not more than 75
lbs. of pull


Drags are not considered solid anchors but I use shock springs on all my land foothold sets, even on DPs so I can run extension cables to something solid where stakes will not hold where the trap needs to be.


Life Member: NCTA, VTA, NTA, TTFHA, MFTI
Member: FTA NRA NWTF
Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7830815
03/27/23 12:20 PM
03/27/23 12:20 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
T
The Beav Offline
trapper
The Beav  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
I'm with Bob on this.
I know that a short chain set up and a few swivels will accomplish the same thing. I can see where If you were running 30" of chain where the animal could get a running start but a 8" chain set up with 3 swivels not so much.


The forum Know It All according to Muskrat
Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7830873
03/27/23 01:43 PM
03/27/23 01:43 PM
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 10,057
Marion Kansas
Y
Yes sir Online content
"Callie's little brother"
Yes sir  Online Content
"Callie's little brother"
Y

Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 10,057
Marion Kansas
I'd be curious if the op is buying new traps for the stated situation or thinking of adding springs to existing traps and if existing traps has he had issues with popped jaws or is it an imagined problem looking for a fix? Just don't here a lot of issues with popped jaws nowadays with better trap builds

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7830906
03/27/23 02:18 PM
03/27/23 02:18 PM
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 10,723
SW Georgia
W
Wanna Be Offline
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Wanna Be  Offline
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Posts: 10,723
SW Georgia
Could’ve swore I saw a study someone did on here about shock springs years ago and the end result was they were basically worthless. I’ve looked at some and couldn’t even pull them apart by hand. I don’t run long chains, just haven’t found a need for it down here. They can pump the trap chain all they want, it isn’t coming out.
I have DP’s out that I pushed in the anchor by hand in the wet areas. I can pull them up by hand, but a coon can’t. Done caught 3 in one DP and moved the DP because of how tore up the area was. Pulled it by hand and cleaned out the anchor and pushed it in right outside the catch circle area in “fresher” mud, lol.

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: Wanna Be] #7830915
03/27/23 02:24 PM
03/27/23 02:24 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,425
Georgia
warrior Online content
trapper
warrior  Online Content
trapper

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 25,425
Georgia
Originally Posted by Wanna Be
Could’ve swore I saw a study someone did on here about shock springs years ago and the end result was they were basically worthless. I’ve looked at some and couldn’t even pull them apart by hand. I don’t run long chains, just haven’t found a need for it down here. They can pump the trap chain all they want, it isn’t coming out.
I have DP’s out that I pushed in the anchor by hand in the wet areas. I can pull them up by hand, but a coon can’t. Done caught 3 in one DP and moved the DP because of how tore up the area was. Pulled it by hand and cleaned out the anchor and pushed it in right outside the catch circle area in “fresher” mud, lol.


I'm with you. While I like the "on paper" concept of springs in my overthinking it engineering type mind my actual in the field with and without springs says minor to no difference on coyotes, none on smaller critters.

Maybe there would be on long chains but I wouldn't know as I've never run long chains.


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Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: warrior] #7830919
03/27/23 02:27 PM
03/27/23 02:27 PM
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 10,723
SW Georgia
W
Wanna Be Offline
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Wanna Be  Offline
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Joined: May 2018
Posts: 10,723
SW Georgia
Originally Posted by warrior
Originally Posted by Wanna Be
Could’ve swore I saw a study someone did on here about shock springs years ago and the end result was they were basically worthless. I’ve looked at some and couldn’t even pull them apart by hand. I don’t run long chains, just haven’t found a need for it down here. They can pump the trap chain all they want, it isn’t coming out.
I have DP’s out that I pushed in the anchor by hand in the wet areas. I can pull them up by hand, but a coon can’t. Done caught 3 in one DP and moved the DP because of how tore up the area was. Pulled it by hand and cleaned out the anchor and pushed it in right outside the catch circle area in “fresher” mud, lol.


I'm with you. While I like the "on paper" concept of springs in my overthinking it engineering type mind my actual in the field with and without springs says minor to no difference on coyotes, none on smaller critters.

Maybe there would be on long chains but I wouldn't know as I've never run long chains.

I could see them on drags, maybe for the initial run. But every pic I’ve seen on drags shows the critter wrapped up to the actual trap chain anyways. I have some drags made up and a couple out now, hoping to really utilize them when the ground turns to rock and I can’t get an anchor in or out, lol.

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7831149
03/27/23 06:47 PM
03/27/23 06:47 PM
Joined: Sep 2021
Posts: 352
Southeast Louisiana
S
Slipknot Offline
trapper
Slipknot  Offline
trapper
S

Joined: Sep 2021
Posts: 352
Southeast Louisiana
I run JC Conner Shocks on mine with about 12 to14 inches of chain all total. I do like to drive up and hear that spring squeaking when a coyote puts pressure on it . Correct me if I am wrong but isn't a good solid base plate the main factor that prevents Jaws from popping out?

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: J Staton] #7831197
03/27/23 07:57 PM
03/27/23 07:57 PM
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 697
Georgia
sportsman94 Online content
trapper
sportsman94  Online Content
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 697
Georgia
I have a dozen or two shock springs that I have thrown on traps here and there so I don’t run them that frequently. I have noticed two things with shock springs. It seems that most of the coyotes I catch with shock springs on my chain fight the trap harder and more aggressively than just the short chain with multiple swivels I normally run. My theory is they feel the “give” and think they are winning so they try to exploit the perceived weakness. I have also noticed that they seem to have less of the cutting on their feet than the chains without. The cuts aren’t bad, and you may not notice them much if they were dead leaving the trap, but I seem to have less cutting with the shock springs. My guess is they don’t have the hard stop initially that causes the skin to bunch and cut. These are just two observations I’ve made with my limited experience using them.

Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: Yes sir] #7831219
03/27/23 08:33 PM
03/27/23 08:33 PM
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 9,908
Arkansas
J
J Staton Offline OP
trapper
J Staton  Offline OP
trapper
J

Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 9,908
Arkansas
Originally Posted by Yes sir
I'd be curious if the op is buying new traps for the stated situation or thinking of adding springs to existing traps and if existing traps has he had issues with popped jaws or is it an imagined problem looking for a fix? Just don't here a lot of issues with popped jaws nowadays with better trap builds

Not new traps just small traps for coyotes. Coyotes not the intended target but possible. Of course it being a coyote, it deserves to die, I just want to hold him if I get him.

Last edited by J Staton; 03/27/23 08:34 PM.

James 1: 19-20
Re: Do Shock Springs Help Prevent [Re: sportsman94] #7831236
03/27/23 08:55 PM
03/27/23 08:55 PM
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 10,723
SW Georgia
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Wanna Be Offline
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SW Georgia
Originally Posted by sportsman94
I have a dozen or two shock springs that I have thrown on traps here and there so I don’t run them that frequently. I have noticed two things with shock springs. It seems that most of the coyotes I catch with shock springs on my chain fight the trap harder and more aggressively than just the short chain with multiple swivels I normally run. My theory is they feel the “give” and think they are winning so they try to exploit the perceived weakness. I have also noticed that they seem to have less of the cutting on their feet than the chains without. The cuts aren’t bad, and you may not notice them much if they were dead leaving the trap, but I seem to have less cutting with the shock springs. My guess is they don’t have the hard stop initially that causes the skin to bunch and cut. These are just two observations I’ve made with my limited experience using them.

Thanks for sharing that. Good observations.

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