TRAPS quality vs. quantity

I am a new trapper, started with conibears, then DPs, now I want to venture into footholds. coyotes/bobcats/foxes. I have a limited budget (medical bills). Should I go with a few top quality traps and modify? or a higher number of stock dirt cheap ones?
or something in between? most bang for the bucks.

thanks

Good steel lasts. Cheap steel does not. How long do you plan to trap is your question that may help you at this point. I have MB550's I bought 11 or twelve years ago that are 100% good to go. Were they "cheap" or "expensive?"

I'd say, "well worth the price."

Quality lasts.

Get a few of each and you decide. The cheaper ones can be used where you might lose them.

I plan on trapping, hunting, fishing as long as I physically can

look at it this way ,if I buy a car to go to work in do I need a Cadillac ,or will a ford do me just as well , i have the duke 550 pro series, and I've had duke #3 for along time ,and I've held big wolfs in the number 3 , I'm a ford man , never had a problem

Good quality gear only costs once. Poor quality costs you time, fur, and some sanity every season for the rest of your life.

I like the MB550, because there good to go right out of the box, but I also have the Duke 550 pro, and with a little tuning there a excellent trap also, and get the job done. I'll agree with Trapper Dahlgren's comparsion, cars to cars--traps to traps. Like any other tool, if you take care of it, it is going to last, if you treat it like junk, it will turn into junk.

The 550 is a good choice but there are a lot of great choices to be made. JMO Grahams Montana #3 coyote specials are possibly the easiest predator trap out of the box that basically never misses or needs more than a tiny tweak here of there (rare)

Buy some of both. Good quality traps that take little modifications right out of the box. Go to a convention, rendezvous, or swap meet and get some cheaper ones, they'll catch and hold fur also and these you can use in higher theft areas unfortunately Johnny Sneakum will never go away

For what bobcats,coyotes,and foxes quality.

This. I'd buy less of the traps you knowou want. You'll be glad you did.

I used to be a quantity guy to save a buck. Spent more time tuning, fixing, adding on extras, etc. That i should have just bought quality and worked on acquiring more over time as I could afford them.
Jim

If trapping public land- Cheap
Private land- pay for Quality

Are you going to long line or trap just around your area? I have a full time job and just trap within short driving distance or walking distance from the house. I have trapped this land for 40 plus years and dont really need a big quantity of traps. I like traps so have more than I need but only use a fraction of them. But the ones I use are probably on the high end of expense wise. I dont have a lot of time for trouble with equipment.

So true

A lot 0f good traps out there too chose from. Some will be on the more expensive side some more reasonable. As mention by lefty Grahams #3 is on the cheaper side of coyote traps and I never feel under equipped when I bed one. Us trappers are blessed to have a lot of good traps to chose from that will get the job done at a variety of price points.

year around , predator control

In this day and age there Is very little difference In trap quality. But there Is a big difference In price. You take care of your gear and you won't have any problems.

Most folks start with a used mix of traps then trade up to better traps or buy low priced traps and down the road buy better then.

MB 550 legal just about everywhere footholds are allowed. You can sell them easily if you dont like them for very little loss. Other brands you usually have to discount pretty heavy to sell.

Just remember in arkansas we can only use a trap with 6 inch jaw spread or smaller on dry land. And any trap over 5 inches has to be offset or have rubber jaws.I use bridger #2 that I modify and mb 550's if that helps you with anything.they both have there pros and cons.Lot of other good traps out there tho.

More traps in the ground equals more catches. 2 dozen lower priced traps will catch more fur than a dozen higher priced traps. It doesn't take long to tune a couple of dozen traps and how to do that is readily available on this forum.

Also we have our fur sale coming up next month in malvern.there will be vendors there selling traps and supplies and you can usually get pritty good prices and don't haveto pay shipping.also you will be able to hold traps in your hand and compare side by side on quality and what you may prefer. I will be there and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

X2 Excellent quality and not overly priced. I always have good paw catches with the MB 550.

More cheap traps will out catch fewer expensive traps every time. There is a limit to how cheap of a trap though. No weak spring rusted out flea market finds. New or lightly used Duke traps will be cheap and good enough to pile up the fur. Over time as your budget allows you can replace your stockpile with better quality.

don't go "cheap" as in crap, but try different price points, once you find what you like to work with, standardize to that. If you like brand X then go to that almost exclusively, it will make things quicker and easier for you if every trap you set is the same. If your planting traps in the dirt its easier to get consistent in digging your trap bed, spacing, etc if all traps are the same. You're not digging a base for some round jaw patterns and then some square jaw patterns.
Join the state and nationals orgs and you'll be tuned into their conventions which are a great place for accumulating new or used hardware and more importantly knowledge.
GOOD LUCK.

I can buy a Doz New Duke #2 for less then a $100.00. And It's a well built trap and It has some super strong springs. What traps do you think I'm buying.

Duke

Only made in USA traps for me. Mb or no bs come perfectly ready.

I would also echo what others are saying but add that I have found buying new is best for me.

I started out with used traps - a whole bunch of styles and brands. Ended up fixing / replacing parts. Each one had to be set differently etc.

For me, new traps allowed me to standardize which allowed me to keep my sets uniform which saved a lot of time. (On the other hand, I guess I did learn a ton by fixing traps that other people "modified" ).

Ask the guy that got the new Out-of-Site mole traps. You can buy a hack saw blade Harbor Fright or Low's and see how long they last.
JMO

I have all the traps I need other than filling holes brought on by attrition...stolen. I like the MB 550, it works for just about every critter I trap. It has caught everything from bear to bunny.

Quantity of quality

I started with a handful of duke #2s. Over the years I’ve added some high quality traps a few at a time, now I have piles and piles of mb550s and highly modified Bridger #3s. Cheap traps will get you started, but they won’t last. They’ll get bent up and you can only bend them back so many times. These days it’s quality only for me. I’ve got modified double longsprings that are 40+ years old and still coyote catching machines. No way in heck a duke is gonna last 40 years with all its original parts. Or even any original parts.

I have had duke traps that lasted for years muskrat,mink,beaver,otter,marten,and fisher trapping.

It really boils down to what your laws allow and deciding what your time is worth...

In general, more traps set equals more fur caught. However...

A less expensive trap will likely require a little more investment on the front end to get it where you want it. But it may require some extra time during season too... A thin flimsy dog that requires straightening after every catch can be a killer if you're rushing a small line before work or checking 300 on a long line.

Inversely, more expensive traps, well... they cost more. So you're probably able to get fewer of them with the finances you have. But if they're "good to go right out of the box" you can spend more time catching fur which (in theory and during a good market) might mean more profit... Extra profit can be used to buy more of the quality traps.

Your target animal might make a difference too... Coyotes are notoriously tough on gear. A trap that has to be taken back to the shed for repair isn't catching coyotes.

What will your regs allow?

What is your target?

How much time can you allot for your line and meet your legal check requirements? (If you have check requirements)

Are you in area where theft may be a big concern?

There are so many variables that a guy could write a book on which trap to choose.

Mike

yes that does help, how do you modify the bridgers?

Some people like to work on traps.
Some people prefer to work in the field.

Traps that need tending because they are lesser quality = more time at the bench = less time in the field.
Time is money as they say.

Not to mention the tuning can be done while watching a favorite dvd or television show.

I’m still using Duke 1.5s that I purchased almost 30 years ago. Take care of your gear regardless of what you paid for it.

I like my MB's
Thank You

thanks