I'm having trouble keeping logwood dye on my 'rat traps. I used about 3 dozen of them all year and the rest of the 100 during the two weeks of the spring season on floats. And now they're very few with any dye left on them. So now I'm wondering what the best dip/dye/paint will hold up when 'rat trapping. I want to avoid waxing as I don't want to have to melt the wax off of the dog and pan to keep them tensioned where I like them.

The wax helps keep the dye on the trap. Without the wax, you'll need to continually dye them. You may look at dipping your traps instead.

Paint them now, let them hang till season starts.

99% o the logwood dye on the market is just that, a dye. the term "dye"is a misnomer when talking about why you "dye" traps. Real logwood powder is tannic acid, tannic acid penetrates the rust changing is to a compound that is no longer rust but it does NOTHING to unrusted steel which means it can be easily be washed off but it turns the rust a black color on conversion, hence,the "dye"!. Keg Creek Trapping Supplies is the 1% that claims, atleast a few years ago, they have the real deal log wood powder but I'm just taking his word for that.

"The tannin is the heart of a rust converter. It reacts with the iron oxide, converting it to iron tannate, a stable blue/black corrosion product. Tannins are a group of water- and alcohol-soluble natural products extracted from a variety of plants. Little is known about their true structure as they are complex and variable. Industrial research in the effectiveness of tannin solutions as rust primers began in the 1950s. Since then, tannic acid (a tannin) has become a standard conservation treatment for corroded iron artifacts found on archeological sites. (reference)"

Are your traps rusty? If they are alder bark works very well to dye them, walnut hulls also, I've used hemlock boughs when I was a kid, there are other plants that will do it also (I've heard guys in the desert use sagebrush) but those are the ones I've had personal experience with. If your traps aren't rusty, as Seldom says, they won't dye with any of these, the logwood dye is supposed to have the tannin in it like using alder bark, etc.; it may also have some black dye that kinda sticks to the unrusted steel, but it is powdery and will come off. I've only used logwood dye a time or two and so don't have a lot of experience with it. Did not care for it nearly as much as using the natural stuff.

I’ve always just spray painted my water traps. Works good. When the paint wears off it’s nothin to give it another shot of paint.

I'm glad Bearcat2 mentioned his sources for tannic acid because I forgot to do that in my reply. In addition to Bearcat2's sources I use black walnut hulls, hickory nut hulls, or shumac berries, etc. it's all good and you can make your solution as strong as you want.

Are you sure that is highly acidic? If you live in SD there is a lot of alkali water which is strongly basic, not acidic and that may help determine what you treat your traps with., If wax would get you 3-4 years of coverage then using a blow torch etc. to melt the wax off the dogs and pan notch would not be a bid task. If indeed the water is basic, maybe paint would hold up better, but you would still need to clean up the pan notches and dogs.

Bryce

50% rusty metal primer and 50% acetone. Dip, let dry, dip a second coat. No need to dye and wax, and it will last a very long time. Some of the areas I trap have brackish water and this coating holds up. I understand why dye and wax was used in the past, but I can’t see why anyone would want to rust their investment when there is much more efficient techniques in this day and age.

I've used the crystals and the powder that Keg Creek sells. Both work very well if boiled long enough. Marty suggests letting the traps sit overnight in the container and reheating before removing. I boiled this week and did some overnight and the rest 1-1/2 to 2 hour boil. All came out looking great. Just need to wax.

I went from wax and dye, to paint dip, and now back to just wax. Over the years paint builds up in spots and gets funky. Wax is refreshed to the same thickness every time. And no dry time. I skip the dye, but I wax everything one to three times a year depending on use. I even wax body grips.

After 55 years of treating traps here is what I have settled on. Dying with logwood, tree barks, walnuts, burrowing in black mud, maple leaves, commercial tannic acid - tried most methods spoken about today. Not the brightest fork in the drawer but always trying something new to see if it will improve the current process. Now I dye in logwood - either cold dye in a water mixture over a few summer months OR if in a hurry, fire up the boiler for 1 hour of cooking up a trap stew. The heat is the catalyst that speeds the conversion process but 2-3 months in the air temp water mix will dye them (rusty traps) w/o any energy added from flame heat. Either way remove and rinse the traps from the dye solution and dip them in some baking soda/lime water to neutralize any remaining acid. Let them dry thoroughly and THEN add a protective coating. All water traps and BG's get a petroleum dip as it is good enough for my use however any spray paint, wax, F-1, Johnson's floor wax, steel coat, galvanizing, rustoleum types etc., etc., can be, and should be used to further protect the dyed trap steel. On the Great Plains we may have a drought (common here) and I may not use many water traps for several years or coon prices may tank ( LOL) and not use many BG's so protected like this they can be stored for a long time w/o humidity starting any oxidizing. And it will in the humid Eastern states..........In the nutshell - stop the existing rust - clean/neutralize the surface - coat/seal the surface - store or use when the need arises. My Take from this side of the creek...................... the mike

You got it Mike. I am with you on this also. Hard to beat tried and true.

The only real way to deal with acid water conditions Is to powder coat your traps. All my land traps are powder coated. It's a bit expensive but I knew a guy so I went ahead and did them. I also did all my 160 body grips But I really don't see the need for powder coating BGs.

My suggestion is similar to what Bob suggested I'd first start with steel wool and knock down the rust and clean the traps up then rinse them off , hang to dry .
Then spray pain them on body grips I didn't spray paint them past the eyes of the springs then let the air dry then store then until needed .

You received many good suggestions which is overwhelming so try each and figure out which works best for you and your situation what I suggested worked well for me for many years in southeastern Montana so my guess is the water is about the same in both places .

Let us know what your results are and which worked best for you .
Allan

Paint for water traps there's a lot of videos online and infor in to archives to what ratio of acetone and rustoleum. I used dyed traps last year they didn't hold up I'm on my second year with some that were painted when I bought them and I haven't had to repaint