where we live in Western New York the snow seems to be here to stay now and I am officially out of waxed dirt so ive been pinch-bedding all my sets
the canines seem to be paired up already here so switched it all over to post sets and pipe sets i try to dig the bed pretty deep and just big enough to accomadate the trap
then take my hammer and tap two divets for the levers to rest on about 1 1/4in below top of ground then just tap all around the trap to snug it in
this time of year i like to run a bigger trap where i can and
also like to use a mesh pan-cover to keep the inside of the jaws from dimpling in









once the trap is solid i cover with grass clippings
then rake-in the snow and level off evenly a good size area all around the set to eliminate any ridges and to make it easy for them to walk thru been running a matrix gland lure and clean urine
hoping the weather stabilizes and the rain holds off

Excellent job, looking like it's working good

Thats how its done Bob.

Hi Bob, a few questions if you don’t mind:
1. Are you using anything under the trap to prevent it from freezing down?
2. Would straw work on top of the trap once it’s bedded?
3. How big of an area do you rake?

That is excellent. Your posts are always extremely educational and I appreciate you taking the time to make them.

The trap doesnt actually sit on dirt the bed can be quite deep to take on any freeze -thaw water the two divets that are made at about 1 1/4 in below top of ground allows the trap to rest on the levers
the trap is made snug by tapping completly around the trap until rock solid this is one reason the mb650 is designed with wire for levers as apposed to punched steel levers to allow them to bust thru the frozen ground more easily
im not sure if straw would be my first choice for a covering the bigger pieces might want to jam-up a whole lot easier then grass if you decide to go that route you might want to consider hay for a cover
its a bit smaller then straw i have gone to field edges and pulled out what i need to cover a set and have used a sharp pair of scissors to make smaller pieces and collected it all in my sifter to bring back to the set area
i try to keep in mind to blend in as apposed to creating a big bulls eye area i like to have a no mess area instead of a big mess area although both would work

Great stuff! Perfect way to set up a scent post in the snow.

Another good use of Zagger's method of trap bedding at a Pipe Dream set.

nice job!!

i played with orchard grass as a trap covering this year once the bad weather hit. I made a hay type set using the orchard grass. I actually saw where canines walked right past a dirthole to go the hay set. I pounded an indentation just deep enough to line with either waxed dirt or cut orchard grass to prevent freeze down and still have the trap level on put on just enough grass to break up the outline of the trap and it worked way beyond my expectations. I will definitely be playing with grass coverings next season for sure.

the beauty of pinch-bedding is when done right the trap never rests on dirt just the levers rest on the 2 divets made to acomedate them the actual bed can be very deep
i have set right on top of hay before and have used gutter spikes to pin the trap to the ground one on each end of the base plate and one hammered in just under the weak jaw
so that the jaw rests on top of the nail to eliminate the trap from rocking this is refered to as power bedding
some times i file the head of the nail to make it smaller so it can never interfere with the firing of the trap i collect all the grass in the summer from lawn clippings and place them on a piece of screen up off the ground
so they can dry out completely then store it in onion sacs

Thanks for sharing, love those reds! I always use a small piece of wax paper under my levers for extra protection.

Super cool