I try to keep things simple. The less stuff I need to complete a task, the better. Wax dirt can be a pain to lug around and it's not cheap to make. The weather here can and does swing wildly. Freeze thaw is the norm here as well as weeks below freezing. I'm looking at some Bridger #4 dls to add to my line, with the hope that they will perform better in these conditions than my coil springs.
What's the consensus on dls vs coils in freeze thaw conditions? From what I understand the top of the spring on a long spring is less likely to freeze down than a coil spring, which is bedded deeper in the ground. As long as the jaws can break free from the ground a ls should fire.

In my area wax dirt is important regardless of trap type.

Very good subject. Like you have “read” brief statements where long spring will out perform (whatever that means) coil spring traps in freeze/thaw weather; Now again, like you I’d appreciate more input from the trappers that has their feet on the ground in those condition's.

Freeze thaw is not too bad to deal with. It's freeze/thaw with snow and rain that locks them down.
I usually use waxed dirt all season but am going to try without this year. Reason being we have less and less snow every year now. Lot more thaw than freeze lately. Have waxed dirt as a backup plan.
You've got the right reasoning with the levers freezing down vrs the long springs. If I were you and don't want to go with waxed dirt. I would go with salt. Lot less weight to carry and doesn't take up much room.

Peat moss

Second the peat moss! I don’t use a pan cover with moss either. Just top with a thin layer of dirt.

If you are doing exposed trap sets the long springs are the way to go, it doesn't matter if the baseplate and the bottom of the springs freeze down, it'll still go off fine. But if you are covering the trap with soil then waxed dirt is the ticket. I switched to waxed sand myself, its lots heavier and needs blended better, but it just works. I've often seen waxed dirt fail after a month or two in the ground, while the waxed sand just keeps working.

Salt is a cheap antifreeze
And coil springs take up less room in the pak and the ground

Anyone else ever use blue waxed sand? Waxed sand works but if you use the blue play sand your catch rate should increase 10×

Long time long spring user here for coyotes. Longsprings have their own challenges for me in freezing weather.
It’s the design of the thing you have to work with.
Set a double long, grab the jaw with the dog and you can easily hold one open and not firing it with just one hand by simply holding down on the jaw when set. Very easy to hold the open. Now, if that were to freeze down with any material you are using to cover and blend it in, a little tough to make it fire, make sense?
Take a coil spring and set it…they are actually harder to hold open with one hand on the set jaw by trap design, more pressure on the jaws from the springs and levers the more open the jaws are as they compress down in setting it. Coils for me do bust up out of a crust better for this very reason.
When I set longs for coyotes in our mid winter freezing conditions here, waxed dirt is hands down the best I’ve found at freeze proofing, period. I’ve tried everything else in my 40+ years trapping coyotes here, believe me. Even cover hills will frost over in a couple nights and you have a crusty topping you can literally lift off of the set bedded trap when checking. Dry peat is all but it too will crust and frost. Just the freeze thaw works I have to deal with here. dry dirt soaks up moisture and has to be re bedded every couple days. Same with peat.
I’ll never set for coyotes again without waxed dirt. Game changer for my line, period.
Never had good luck with exposed traps for coyotes. Cats no problem, but not coyotes.
When I set for cats I still have to make sure only the long spring base is touching the bed but not the jaws unless I’m using waxed dirt. Bottom of springs can touch too, but the top cannot and the trap will freeze down. But if just an exposed trap for cats then the jaws cannot touch the bed or they could freeze down and you have the same issue as I described in very first sentence.
That is my take on what I’ve learned, cussed, discussed, tested, you name it on my lines here.
Jim

Hit the nail on tbe head

I was having issues with failure to fire last year. Missed quite a few critters because of it. I made some wax dirt but not nearly enough, and I used dirt from my yard, which is extremely alkaline so all it did was rust the trap real bad. If it didn't have enough wax it was a snot ball when wet.
Im going to make a lot of wax dirt this year, and it's time to get it done. Not looking forward to packing buckets down the trail, but like I figured, that's the only way to keep them working. Hay sets worked good for me last year so if it doesn't look out of place, I will throw some of those in as well. Make more sets in protected areas.
I'm going to add some long springs to my line regardless.
I tend to move around a lot. A set will stay in the ground a couple weeks at best before I pull up and move.
I'm looking forward to trapping season more than my first ever elk hunt coming up in a few weeks.

Thanks for the input folks.

You bet, good luck and keep us posted.
I had really good luck a few seasons running a sheet of waxed paper under my traps and a sheet also over the trap then blended in with waxed dirt. Those operated perfectly in some really heavy frost nights.
Have fun! Best time of year for for quality, just have to find a system that works for you and go get em when they are at their absolute best condition.
Jim

Freeze thaw is all season long here in KS. Longsprings are not as fast as coils. Pan tension helps. For the old style traps look up miles trigger. Guy that showed me called it a gun notch. Where they shine is those rock bluffs for cats. Lots easier to get stable than a coil spring when you cant get a bed. Pit pans on old victors are a real improvement.

Going to try a little pea gravel and some coal shale this year. Learned about both at Coyote Days. Pead gravel for bedding and coal shale for covering the set.
We use wax dirt mainly but looking for another route when the wax dirt stash gets low.

Yeah, no way around the wax dirt. I was talking about sets in the ground.

I am dead center of prime cat country as well. I didn't target them last year, I figured I had a good chance of getting them in my k9 sets, but I did not connect with any. This year I'm trying to catch new species. Badger, bob cat, beaver. If I get all three I'll be one happy trapper.

The only reason I can see for a person to bury a longspring once the ground gets hard is if they’re absolutely out of coil springs.

There’s a reason the coal bank set was so popular with the old timers in this country. It’s the only place they could get one of those in the ground come December!

Need a backhoe to dig the bed.