I use 1x1 wire instead of hardware cloth for the extra strength. Hardware cloth will work but I like the bigger wire openings so leaf litter and mud will fall thru easier.

Trays with wooden trap supports and without a wire bottom work good until the framing gets loose over time. Another negative is you will be limited in how you can place the trap in the tray. In other words, it must be do e same way every time, so tray position is more critical. I prefer to just stomp the tray down and lay the traps in how they need to be positioned based on the micro-location.

I used hardware cloth but never tried the 1x1. I'm gonna give it a try.

I used an air stapler with 1/2” staples on the hardware cloth. The hardware cloth is 19ga 1/2inch. I don’t think they are going to move much. I put a pile of staples in them. I built 4 more this afternoon.

I think some Victor #14 jumps are going to work well in this set up. They lay very flat and don’t wobble.

I don't have experience with it myself, but apparently if you catch a beaver too close to a dam break other beavers will build right over the top of it. I've seen several sources mention the possibility.

Again...the caught beaver will be down at the end of the drowning rod...dead....underwater. My rods are 9 ft...so the dead beaver is 9ft away (at an angle depending on drop off depth) and on the bottom....with a one way slide lock. ...live beavs can't bring him back up the rod to use him as filler....lol...although with the bites I've seen on a few, they've tried...lol

There is some wobble with every brand foothold I use in the trays....the center- mounted D-ring being the worse. TS85s are more stable because D-ring is on the side.

That said.....the wobble is not a problem, especially with the divider in the tray. Beaver crawls up on top and is all over the traps. A slot could be cut in the wire to allow the D-ring and base to fit in the slot....if desired.

Huh, I thought it was just incidental and they just didn't care, not that they were using the corpse on purpose. What do you know.

They dont use the dead beaver on purpose.

Have learned a bunch from this post...thanks all!

Swamp I see you have your wire about 2" down, and Windstalker has his at 3.5 ". Is one way better than the other? Thanks for starting this thread.

My trays frames are dressed 1x4s...so they're 3.5" sides. Also have a couple trays made from dressed 2x4s...still 3.5" sides.
Some of the trays in my pics have been gnawed on a lot by beavers.

Also...some of my trays have the wire tacked on the inside and others on the tray bottom. Doesn’t really matter as long as you maintain the step down aspect.

Thanks for the info sir.