OR: Post on the shed for some weak spring take off's, should be pretty cheap.

Yes, there should be some folks who have some “helper” springs laying around that they’ve replaced with stronger music wires! I’d think doing a little searching would be wiser than dickin around ruining stock springs! Because of this thread I removed the main springs on a Duke #2 but left the helpers on. Easier to set of course and certainly strong enough to easily hold a mink or rat!

Just put mink pans on them, the flat part of the pan engaging the entire width of the dog will cut the pan tension in half.

l dont know why anyone has not suggested using the right trap for mushrats for crying out loud. Maybe its just more trouble than its worth

Yup!! The Wild River Pans make a big difference. No need to weaken the springs.

Such as?

When I started float trapping seriously I wanted to mimic the 1 1/2 sized triumph single grip. Took a 1 1/2 duke removed one spring and lever. They were bought new. Just couldn't envision setting 75-100 (or more) of those every day for a couple weeks. Still have the levers and spring in a bucket in case I want to sell them. Work very well .

I second Killbuck. Takes less than 5 mn a trap and you haven’t damaged springs. Also one spring can be positioned away from path of travel like an underspring.

Do what trips your trigger. But I know what worked for me. And all those heat-treated 1 1/2 Duke coil springs caught me 1000s of rats. And I caught a few coon in them too.
And those large trap pans do not solve the problem for those overpowered traps.

ADJUSTED PROPERLY, the Wild River pans installed on brand new Duke traps work just fine and you don't have to weaken the springs unless of course you want to. I catch several hundred mink, rats, and coons, as well as some otters and a few beaver in them every year. I've got some Duke 1 1/2 coils that are 15 years or so old all the way down to brand new shiny ones and I have never heated the springs on them.

Different options achieve similar results.

It's not how many you catch it's how many you miss.

I agree.

And we will have to agree to disagree whether it is necessary to heat the springs. With how I adjust and set my traps up it isn't necessary for me to do that to achieve a light enough pan tension.