I ended up with what I thought was a 48 Newhouse but as I began to clean it up I am wondering. The pan appears to be a 14 pan, from what I barely read. The rivet holding pan appears to be original issue. The jaw nuts have lock washers under them? The base has very little rust compared to jaws. Also at the cross of the baseplate there is not the Newhouse rectangle weld but a round punch rivet? I was thinking it was a Frankenstein trap made of a more modern base, 14 pan, 48 jaws and springs, but as I said the pan rivet/post seems original? I understand without photos this isn’t much help, (it’s been a while since I knew how to upload a pic here). I’m thinking the weld and the fact that there is lock washers makes it a mix mash. Any thoughts?

TTT

It seems to me that the 48 has taller jaws. Taller from the base plate to the jaw when sprung. They may be a little wider too. I would think if you look at a picture of a 48 you would be able to tell if they are 48 jaws. The rivet could be an add on because of the base plate weld busting.

The #4’s I bought new in the 70’s had lock washers under the nuts.

Im trying to picture in my mind a Newhouse rectangle weld and a round punch rivet. All I remember is a square rivet or round spot weld on the newer ones. I can see cast iron rusting at a different rate than the steel frame.

OP, take a picture on your phone, then come back to this thread; scroll down and click on the little icon that has the upward pointing blue arrow. Then scroll up a bit and click on the box that says "choose file", then click on one of your pictures, tgen click "add file". As soon as your picture uploads cluck "all done". You can then use the green rotating arrows to orient the picture if needed.
Really easy.
Sounds like you may have a 14 whose jaws were replaced by 48 jaws. It is not too uncommon for 14 jaws to break.

Here are the versions that I THINK you are asking about? With the square rivet on one, and a spot weld on the other? If that is what you are questioning, both traps are indeed #48 Newhouse traps, just from different eras. I'm no expert, but if you want to learn more about these traps history, you can post questions about it on the trap collecting page. From what I recall though, I think once Newhouse production moved from Oneida to Animal Trap Company of America in 1925, from that Era forward, these traps would have transitioned to the spot welded cross, and I think perhaps also they transitioned from the flat link to kinkless chain around the same time frame. #48 Newhouse traps were made until 1976, so the newest ones with the spot welded cross are already 50 years old. The youngest ones with the square rivet are AT LEAST 100 years old. The base from these traps would also be compatible with a post and jaw set from #4's and #14's. Since all three traps ( #14's, #48's, and #4's) had compatible parts, there was a lot of trappers that would use parts from other traps, as components broke, or were lost/ damaged due to a catch, etc. The #14 jaws were a toothed offset jaw, so you may have a trapper modified trap, if the pan says #14, but the toothed jaws have no offset ( these would be #48 jaws).
However, I believe during some time frames, and certainly during this transition period, since all components were interchangeable, some of these traps were factory original with pans of other sized stamps, placed on these traps, that don't correlate with that jaw set on said trap.

Great info trapped4ever! Thanks...I love learning about these old traps.