Hello,
I am wondering from the wolf trappers out there, if a #4 size long spring with a heavy chain and baseplate added would be okay for a wolf trap to get started? I am looking to go to MT and try with some friends and I have always used long springs, so I was planning to beef up some of my current #4's I have now. Thanks!!

You could get started with those. Doing the base plates and heavy chains are a must though. Probably even bubble tip the jaw ends also. That's my opinion any way.

I have caught and held them in MB550's without any issues so don't see why they wouldn't work with some mods. If I was going to do it every year then I would probably go with some #5 long springs.

You could definitely hold wolves in them, but I don't know that you would hold them all. And the jawspread isn't much bigger than a wolf foot, okay if you have good foot placement and no snow cover, but it doesn't leave any room for error. If I was going to do it, I would pick the stoutest traps I had, bubble weld the jaw tips and base plate them, and run them on a heavy drag so they can't hit the end of the chain solid when they are first caught.

Personally I would try and buy some other wolf traps though and only set the 4s when you ran out of your specific wolf traps. I'm a long spring guy myself, and I bought some Sleepy Creek 4 1/2s to use on the wolves. I caught a wolf in one last year and it worked fine, held it well. But they are not the wolf trap I was hoping they were going to be. With Montana's season you are likely going to be starting late and dealing with a lot of freeze issues. Longsprings don't freeze down like coils, but they are slow and #4s in particular don't have the jawspread to come up through much of any snow. I've pretty much relegated my longsprings to early season, bare ground. Now if you had some 114's they were the old timers ultimate wolf trap, but I'd be pretty leery on where I set them.

Yes, I should have mentioned the plan to bubble tip the jaws too. I would LOVE to run some 114's but I agree with the comment on set locations, too bad people don't understand toothed traps. I did think about finding some SC 4.5's, but they are not easy to come by. Also, looked at #5 longs too, but not seeing much I like there. I agree that there is much better options, but so far leaning towards the first attempt at it as running what I have to learn what worked and didn't and go from there. I know as some mentioned already they do get held in smaller traps so it is doable, but not preferred.

Dont screw around,you are just going to un necessarily educate a bunch of wolves.
Get some wolf traps.
Or better yet,kill them right off the bat with some properly set lethal snares.

I wouldn't set No. 4 Double long springs for Wolf.

Right from Montana’s wolf trapping guide:
• MB 750 Wolf 3/8” offset
• Bridger #5, coil
• Alaskan #9
• Braun #9
• Sleepy Creek #4 ½ long spring
• Livestock protection Company #7

An unmodified, Victor #3 longspring will hold a UP wolf or three. Not an ideal trap. Just because a trap might work, doesn’t make it the best tool for the job. If I were targeting Wolves, I’d use one of the traps mentioned above

I would add the NO-BS Wolf Extreme and the Koro Wolf trap to the list of acceptable traps.

Yeah, and the Duke 850 as another budget wolf trap. I feel that the list above was written a few years back before traps like the NO-BS Extreme and the Duke were on the market yet.
If I was looking strictly for longsprings and price wasn't an issue I would look at the livestock protection company traps, but they are very expensive. The Sleepy Creek 4 1/2s are a good dry ground wolf trap in my opinion, and will hold up to a wolf in them well, but are just not that good of a snow trap in my experience.

What issues have you had with the SC 4½'s in the snow?

Freezing issues, not the springs, but the jaws either not coming up or coming up slow, they just don't have the power of my big coilsprings. Plus they don't have the jawspread to come up through to come up through deep snow, nor do they 'jump' like a coilspring does.

The flat absolute best snow trap I've used is the Alaska 9 and the worst is the MB 750, but the SC 4 1/2 is on the lower end of the list.

I think the big traps that have 9 inch jaw spread like the Alaska 9, NO-BS, and Koro will always come up through the snow better than the smaller 7.5 inch traps.

Makes sense, while reading an old 1920s wolf trapping guide over the weekend they note the #4 as being used, but I noticed it was the Newhouse version which I believe was a 6.5' trap at least. I was also messing around with a Duke #5 and was wondering with some tweaking if anyone has used one of those? Short version is I will be spending some money on larger iron. Thanks