Hey so im working on making up some plates to mount 150s on for bottom edge sets and im curious what the minimum weight i should go with to make sure my catch or traps dont get washed away most of my sets now I have attached to bricks but I figured these steel plates could make a slimmer set up and easier to transport

the plates as they are now are 12"x4"x 3/8thick flat stock and im debating leaving them as is for the weight or if cutting them down to 6" long would still be enough to not allow a a trap with a floating mink or rat get washed away

Currently at 12" each plate is about 5 pounds

Thanks for any help or advise in advance

Wow, I wouldn't want to carry those around. I monkeyed around with bottom-edge sets for mink about a decade ago, and they did work, but the area I trapped, (coastal Alaska), didn't offer many places to use them
What I used was old red bricks I had on hand. I drilled a couple holes in the brick and tapped in plastic plugs that lined up with the 2 holes on a MTP bracket. I then screwed the bracket to the brick.
When I found a steep bank to place the set, I nestled the trap and brick pretty close to the abrupt bank or rock, then placed a few natural rocks around the brick.
As for your steel, 3/8" plate is pretty macho and certainly will be plenty heavy. What are you using to secure the trap? And how are you securing it to the baseplate?

I agree, that's a lot of weight.

Mostly I use a KB stabilizer and the trap is cabled to the bank, either staked or wrapped around something sturdy.

No way I would rely on a baseplate/support to anchor the trap.

The way I have my bricks set up is just one hole drilled thru then my trap wired off to it and I place the trap against the bottom edge then just lean the brick onto the trap for support but the bricks take up alot of space and the brick was like 3.5 pounds and have never had an issue with traps washing away

The brackets im going to use I got from TS trapline there called snuggy coni clips and was planning on bolting that to the plates then drilling a second hole thru the plate to cable to trap to the bracket that way it is one simple set up

Longbow therapy like mentioned above that is a crazy amount of weight to carry around when your looking for hummucks and cut banks one stake placed in such away on the bottom to snug the body gripper towards the bank in soft bottom situations
in my opinion more then suficiant and always wire your trap to the bank securely cuz when the animal is killed it will over time become boyont and want to float
its when you get into the hard bottoms and concrete walls and footer edges that your plates and coni-mounts will shine keep in mind when attaching the mounts you want them to sit so that the body gripper can be snugged right up to the verticle structure
and with the plates be sure to run the wire thru the plate from the trap to the bank i always wire hi enough that if the streams flood you can still find the wire
pick up the bottom edge by kenny smyth its a great read

My plates are 4" wide and 6" long. Never had any washed away and have used them for a long time with just 110s.

Use a sash weight on the bridge or hard surfaces. Put the trap against the edge and lean the sash on the spring to hold the trap in place. The trap is wired to the sash and no extra junk to carry.

Here’s mine. 1/4”x3 1/2”x8”. They weigh 2 pounds. They don’t wash away. At least not in the stream I trap and it has pretty good current.

im not a mink trapper at all. have a couple major creeks i trap every year for beavers and otters and coon. i see mink tracks but have never targeted them.

any advice.

The bottom edge set along bridge walls accounts for most of my mink. It's a great rat set, too.

Mine are like that plus added a spike in the bottom to a couple to make sure they stay put.

I have so much rock in my stream beds I don’t think I could get a spike into the bed.

Marty those look great you should sell them sir

Thanks thats exactly what im trying to make i just got different clips and no welder anymore unfortunately so ill be drilling holes

Window sash weights are my go-to

I thought about it but didn’t want to infringe on the Set-N-Go guy. He builds essentially the same thing and was building them before I started making these.

#150s on KB stabilizers. Length of paracord tied to spring eye, through the stabilizer, then up to a root, branch or stake. You can fold #150 down flat on stabilizer and wrap cord around both. Pack in dozens this way.

I used railroad plates and welded an h stand to them, then I had a handle sticking up to set it in place. That was for inside bridges and culverts for stream side I just used the h stands. But that was before they took our Right of Way trapping away.

The trouble I have found with those MB BG clips Is that some of the same traps out of the same box are built a little different and they don't snug up on the bracket.
Those Berkshire 110 stakes work pretty good as long as you have a decent soft bottom to work with. You remove the rivet and bolt on the stabilizer. It's got 2 legs, so it won't turn when set.

Or buy those MB super stands. They are a H stand that will fit 120 or 110. And have an extended handle that sticks up about 2' so you just set your trap on the H stand part and just stick it in place. You don't even have to get wet.

On those 110 plates I made do you think a splash of white or orange paint would offend mink and muskrats enough to avoid them. They can be darn hard to see under a bridge on a cloudy day.