Has anyone had their traps powder coated after they purchased them? If so how much did it cost and was it worth it? I also would like to know how a powder coated trap hold up to trapping with salt?

Powder coating requires a very clean metal surface. My son is doing a frame off restoration of a 72 Chevy Blazer. Many of the frame parts and brackets have been powder coated. He has a large oven and a paint booth. I prep the parts by sand blasting them. The frame was powder coated in a shop. His oven is not large enough for the frame.

I wonder if scratches from handling and using traps would allow rusting. Powder coating is not scratch proof. What type of salt are your traps subjected to in New Mexico?

I did all my 160s and they turned out great. But my mistake was that I left them set so it would be easier to coat them. Well, those traps lost a little spring strength when they got coated. But not enough to really make any difference.

I also did my # 2 Dukes. They turned out just fine and I didn't lose any spring strength. But I dd leave them in the sprung position. Yes, the coating does get scratched up a bit and those spots do get a bit of rust. But it's not a big deal. But cleaning those coated traps is well worth it. And they make a product that you can apply to those scratched spots.
I have a friend that owns a major metal fabricating company, and they do thier own powder coating. And yes, you guessed it I got them done for nothing. But I think it's pretty expensive.

I would be curious to know how those springs are after they've been set awhile.
I don't know what temp those powder coating ovens are, but I'd be more than a little concerned.

Sometimes in freeze thaw we use salt to keep traps working.

They take metal up to 350 to 375 deg in an oven. I’d remove the springs and paint them. 375 deg in an oven has to do some damage to springs.

Well, my #2 Dukes didn't show any spring weakness after they were powder coated. My advice would be to have one trap done and see the results.

quick lookup says 4-700 degrees before you start weakening spring steel

I powder coat my wolf footholds white. I picked up an oven at the thrift store for $25 (probably nicer than the one in my house, I probably should have switched them) and use it out in the shop. Been planning on building a bigger powder coat oven but haven't gotten around to it. I picked up a Harbor Freight powder coat gun and it works great for just doing traps. Doing it myself I can set the oven at the temp I want, and I do them at 325, higher temps should still be low enough not to affect the spring strength, but I err on the side of caution and the powder coating cures fine at 325. Slow process doing it myself in a regular oven, I can only fit two traps at most at a time in, and I do each one twice, once set and once unset, to get complete coverage where jaws and lever touch. But they come out really nice. Much tougher than paint, but yes they can still get chips and any of those spots will rust. I don't use salt, but if I did I might try waxing over the powder coat to add an extra layer of protection. The powder coating is tough though, even with a wolf biting at a trap they still look good. I've had some powder coated two years and am going through and touching up any spots on them now, as well as removing paint from traps I had painted and powder coating them. Out of the powder coated traps, I can't pick out which ones had catches, it holds up that well, with paint there is no problem telling which traps had catches.

I called some places, and I forget exactly what they quoted me, but it was a lot per trap to powder coat them. The places I called had done traps before and knew what they were getting into and charged accordingly. That is why I decided to buy a Powder Coat Gun and try it myself.

I had 2 or 3 dozen MB550s powder coated several years back with the anchor chains. I think I paid $3.50 each to have them done. They held up pretty well but eventually got nicked up and rusted in spots that I dyed and waxed them. But I got several years out of them before I dyed and waxed them.

If I remember correctly, it was around $20 a trap that I was quoted. Figured for that price I could buy a gun and oven for the cost of doing half a dozen traps. If it had been $3.50 a trap I'd have just paid to have them done.

I dye and wax most of my traps, but like most of my wolf traps white for snow sets, I can still use them in the dirt if I want, doesn't matter what color they are when they are covered.

By the way, frost doesn't stick to powder coated traps like it does paint, not quite as good as wax in that regard, but close. And they work much smoother than painted or dyed unwaxed traps, again, not as smooth as wax, but smoother than any other coating I've messed with.

Good point on the lubricity bearcat. I never waxed the powder coated traps until they got beat up and i dyed them. After dyeing, I did wax them.

I've not waxed powder coated traps, since a lot of the point was to have them as white as could be. But I've got a few SC 4 1/2 longs that are slow and not as powerful to come up through crust and ice, so I am going to try and wax them with straight parafin this year, see if they come out as white, and it should lube them up a little more. I never really thought about the lubricity of powder coating before I did it, but I really noticed it after the fact.