Alrighty making a lil 12x16x36 ring lock and I think it's pretty well set up but wanted to see if y'all could think of something before I put the wire on it .
It's 1/4 hot roll frame , rod door , trigger bar is 1/4, chain is #2 import, pan is ... I'm not 100% sure on the gauge but it's kinda thick , goes off at like 2lbs , pan is a little closer to the door then normal rings are welded together via a rod so they can be raised easier. Was considering a bait door but have seen those go wrong with coon , so , anything else I should do or add before I put the wire on ?

Cool idea with the rings welded together like that, never saw that before, does it ever get cocked and hung up?

Otherwise I'd say you're good to go...

I like the idea of pan being a bit forward vs. way in the back. I use William's cage traps; I like their pan placement.

I like your idea of a bait door and would say if you do add one might suggest putting it on the top at the back of trap but far enough forward can hang bait behind it

Looks good to me.
I don't think the bait doors are all that necessary.
I put the bait under the cage any way.

Wire away

Coon will end up lifting up on that bar thus lifting both rings and away he goes.

Uhhhh...no. Not happening

But what might happen is if something gets the cage to roll, the rings can fall which will allow the door to open. I would say you should put something across it to keep it from rolling. Just a iron rod through the wire a couple of inches up..serves 2 purposes..no roll and the coon will step over that onto the trigger.

It looks like you’ve incorporated the best of the best in your design.

Personally, though, I’ve gone to the simpler hang-from-the-top design of triggers. Z-trap makes his cages this way.

Same here. Make a depression in ground, under rear of pan. Place bait in depression, under cage.

Not a good way to bait a cage trap in the Southern US. Ants will have the bait b4 you can walk back to your truck.

It's best to suspend the bait just beyond the pan.....use a zip lock bag, a metal can, or a hardware cloth "cup."

a powered door.

ive had smart coons and grey fox figure out that trick and dig the bait from the side.

Alrighty thanks everyone got them all weekend and wired up ! Wanted to make a double door but ran out of 1/4"

Good looking traps, I have a couple of the washer locking door traps, caught a big cat in one, flipped it up to get a catch pole in it and the cat ran right up my shoulder. Bad deal as I already text a picture to the farmer.

wws

Bad deal for sure ! Something I though about to avot that if I was making cat changes was to have like a actress port in the front beg enough you could get your catch pole in and do the deed but small enough they can't get out .. actually I think there was a company who did that , well either it was for the catch pole or a skunk pole I can't remember

The catch all's have a large knuckle on the front 1-1/2' maybe? would be nice to have a slot. After having several cougars on a four foot catch all I wouldn't trust a cheap catch pole.

wws

Built my live market coyote cages and transport trailer with catch pole slots in the door....so they could be closed and latched with the pole still on the neck. Also could reach in with pole and get one without opening or unlatching the door.

Would be easy to make a slot in cage trap door too. For door that slide up to open....you'd need the slot to be open to the bottom so once you got ahold of the critter you could raise the door open.

Has to be quite a depression if using a whole hind quarter of a beaver, whole muskrat or duck carcass and other critters, coyotes / cougars tip or dig under cage to get bait, just easier and IMO efficient to hang bait in back with back of cage inaccessible to critters from outside cage