Rebar Drag - weight for coyotes?

Hi Everyone.

I have just come into about 20' of 3/4" rebar and thought well might just as well make some coyote drags. I have some Sabertooth drags - that weigh in at 2.65 lbs but was wondering how much your homebrew drags weigh. I usually run them with 10' of #3 straight link chain.

I sent Wolfdog91 a PM but his box is full. I plan on running something like his design.

Thanks.

Brian

I have several home made drags of all different weights. Made one last year with some 3/4" rebar that I really like. Don't know the weight but it is heavy.

My homemade metal grapples are made with metal rings welded to the hooks for adding up to 3 auxiliary weights (up to 10 lbs each, 30 lbs. total). Here in this farm country it may be 1/2 mile to any " catching" cover in any direction. Adding auxiliary weight that you can clip on in a hurry makes a grapple useable where as even the best/heaviest manufactured ones leave much to be desired in stopping a coyote here. Totally different in your timber country. You won't set 50 of these in a day but having the option to add weight to 10 or so traps with grapples works for me. The rest can be wooden fence posts/logs, earth anchors, rebar stakes, cable slides or whatever you are comfortable with .............. my take.................. the mike

In my opinion It's more about how much chain you have between the trap and the drag.

You got that right.All the old time literature recommended 4' for fox and coon,6' for coyotes.Did I go on some adventures tracking coyotes down!Especially if they got into plantation pines,there was too much bounce so the grapple left very little sign.At 8'things got better,at 10' I stopped worrying.

If you will/can pre-hook, some can be 1 lb...6" wide x 9" long with 6 ft of chain, cuz WHEN you get a cat or coon, it will be no more than bout head high for easy dispatch NOT 10 ft up where ya must climb or log before dispatch.
since I trap old logging rds and trails pre-hook 95% of the time.

We just got a 20 ft piece of 3/4 rebar and some 1/2 rebar,haven't welded them up yet,cut the pieces tho,,12 inch main shaft,8inch t bar,2 spikes 6inch long.i tied the piece together, without the weld or the swivel welded to is was 3.4 lbs so welded up with a swivel end welded on will be 3.5 lb

Thanks everyone.

Hay sorry about that boss lol, cleaned out my pm s. Anyhow I don't have a scale to weight mine lol but just feeling I recokwn my coyote ones are in the 2.5 -3 pond range. That being said I feel to a degree the weight of the drag and be some whay if a mute point if you don't have a good Desigh. And the design is gonna depend in what you want the drag to do .
But that's a whole lot of typing so I'm just going to assume you want a good drag that will dig and plow in about everything and not be too heavy or bulky . O and I've actually had a friend of mine test a dozen of these in Midwest and he loves em ! Said coyotes don't go far at all .
Drag body is doubled 5/8ts rebar which I feel better stabilizes the drag than a single beam. Prongs are 3/8's cold roll ,originally used 3/8's spikes but in my testing haven't had many problems with the 3/8s bending . The eyes is a 3/4" lock washer ( can't remember if that's the exact size though. Prongs are welded on straight then bent at about a 30 degree angle and spend inwards two are the main shank. If you want digging and hooking action a can no stress how important bending your prong inward is. I'm not sure the technical terminology but basically it creates a better hooking and almost a cork screwing action and performs much better than a drag with it points orientated outwards. Any how here's some pics

I like the looks of those drags. I have never used any, yet, but have passed up some spots because of that reason. I do have a welder and enough iron and chain to make some like those that Wolfdog did. Thanks for the tip on the inward bent prongs.

Thanks Wolfdog. I should be good to go once this quarantine ends and I can get to a welder.

Nice looking drags Wolfdog!
And Beav and Buck hit it on the head chain length and I'll throw this in a heavy chain is better.
Like John mentioned pre-hook that drag if you are iffy territory...or you are using a light weight short chained drag.

Those look awesome! Will they work in timber as well as open ground? Looking for something that will work on yotes and cats.

Depends , generally I think yes but you may have to blunt the points a little

They should work in timber.Generally you don't need them to go too far in timber unless you are trapping on woods roads,traveled by people.

If you can pre-hook a drag, why not attach the trap to whatever you are pre-hooking onto?
Also, unless impossibly rocky, why mot use a stake?

If you can get the animal out of the set, it doesn't take as long to reset. Could be a double edge sword though, if you have to spend an hour untangling a bobcat in amongst a bunch of briers, with possible pelt damage.

I got access to up to 3 inch rebar. I got some 1 inch rebar to use as base. Then make points out of 3/8. Then weld a d ring on end to hook chain too. I live in ozarks. Rocks everywhere cant get a stake in 95% of the time. I pre hook most of mine. I get to reset the set because animal dont mess trap bed up on 10 ft of chain.

Made lots of drags like bobcat trappers mainly cause I had access to lots of scrap iron some are 10 lbs maybe more before I got on here and learned the error of my ways I used 4-5 ft of chain or cable coons didn't move and coyotes were close by even if they weren't hung up I believe towing that weight around tired them out in a hurry
Buck I also witnessed coyotes going a long ways in plantation pines and gravel roads with light drags and long chains
Wolfdog I like your style

What's everyone's experience using double-loop chain with drags? I have 100' or so I was thinking of using but...?

BTW, my homebrew drags are around 2-1/2 pounds.

It will work if it is of decent size and not compromised by rust.

I have a lot of different drags, The heavier they are the shorter the chain. If I have a drag that is a little light or doesn't hook up as well as some (or if I am in completely open ground) I just offset that discrepancy with a longer chain.

He is right so long as its in good shape its fine. It also carves a groove that's easy to see when it passes over a rise or around a tree trunk. I kinda like it. I got some that is yellow coated and heavy duty. It is basically my fav for cats because they will lay so still in tall grass you'd almost step on them. I can see they yellow chain before the catch sometimes.

critters don't care if it's heavy like WD's or not and pre-hooking in timber allows light drag use AND not wasting time looking for critters, PLUS they leave all their scent near the set to attract more.

IME heavy drags are best for open grassy areas

a few swivels in the first 2 ft of chain is essential regardless of weight or chain length

Most will say not to use/trust it...I have 2 yellow labs that are hard on everything, and my 1st double loop chains lasted a couple years (tied up all the time). The swivels mid chain actually wore out before the chain, although some of the loops were wore/stretched pretty good. I'm not sure of the size, but I'd say it was #3. My opinion would be to use it, and check it after EVERY catch, but I haven't used drags before either. Good luck.

I run 2+ dz traps with 10 to 12 ft 2/0 loop chain. I use a 3/8 smooth rod coyote drag. I use a Duke #3 offset 4 coil. I run 4 swivels the first 4 ft. I use this setup on public land. If someone steals it. Not like losing a mb 650 or bridger #2 dogless modified trap. With a sabertooth drag and 10ft of #3 chain. I prehook 98% of them. I make sure the loop chain is dyed good so it dont rust. No issue with the loop chain.

Just got a fish scale and figured I'd check. Turns out my 5/8" drags are right around the 4lbs mark

Those are bad-a no matter what they weigh! If you don't mind, I will fashion mine after yours. Thanks for sharing!!

Great looking drag. I bet they will work good. I have some 1 inch. Do u think I could make the frame out of it. Then make points out of 5/8. Just single peices not doubled on the 1 inch. I can get my hands on up to 3 inch I think it is. But way too big.

Do it!

I use old style fox grapples and ~8'-10' of heavy chain, think sides off tire chains of the chain that used to be used for play ground swings, chain stays in contact with ground and the grapple doesn't need any weight, in woods. I usually prehook but that long chain will catch at the first thing the animal runs around, which is usually the first thing it comes to as it tries to hide. (think about walking through a jobsite dragging a 50' extension cord and how many things that can get caught on- a 10' or longer chain doesn't need to be as heavy gauge as an 8' because as a chain gets long it will automatically have more ground contact)
Chain and hook together might weigh a pound or pound half. I can carry several with traps on a walking line. weigh about the same two 24" stakes and set faster.
You could not give me any three pound anchors if I had to use them, I'd take a few if i could sell them or give then out to guys I don't like..

My drag situation is different than most of you but my question is do you often get the chain wrapped around the base of the grapple without a modified v bar welded to the bottom?

I use drags occasionally but would like to use them more. I’m occasionally amazed at the distance a wolf can get with a drag of any material.

I run 10’ of chain, and 10’ of extension cable with a grapple. With a green log toggle I just have a short piece of cable for cinching on the log.

Weight is not an issue as all
My gear is in a sled.
These are what I’ve made and using.

nooksack,
How do those work on wolves? It looks like the one on the left has a quicklink welded to it to attach chain/cable to? Was thinking of making some here for doing blind sets for wolves in the deep snow. Just stick a trap in the wolf tracks and toss the grapple into the snow. Could do it without getting off the snowmachine and minimum of disturbance.
Never trapped a wolf on a grapple though, I know people do it but was always leery of coming back after it snowed a foot overnight and trying to track a wolf that was caught before it snowed.

That's a good idea bearcat, most have a link of chain welded on. The 1" grapple in the pic has a u joint bolt welded on. I use adjustable ends on both ends of my cable extensions to attach. I only started to use grapples the last two years. Always solid or a 8' plus green pole otherwise.

They work pretty good, but the smart ones will stay on the packed trail and go a ways sometimes before getting off or hooking up. I am always nervous towards the end of the week if snow/wind is forecast. The flip side is bad also when a chinook blows through.

Like Beav said, length is more important than weight. Anything can happen, I know of an instance where a wolf picked up the grapple and packed it a long ways. Its so fast to just set and toss, and its much easier to get them in the set out in the wide safe open. However nothing provides peace of mind like a solid anchor.

Finally got around to working on these. As I mentioned earlier this spring, I found some rebar and decided to get some drags made. A family friend who is a lifelong welder (He is currently 94) needed some work to do because work has been slow due to Covid 19 so I brought it in to him.

Did a great job. The picture shows five drags but he did a complete dozen. These should last me a lifetime.

Thanks for all the ideas.

Brian

Get a concrete block drill a hole through one end place a eye bolt In that hole and hook up your chain. Trust me no matter what kind of country your In a coyotes Isn't going very far.

We were involved In this coyote study and we were trapping 100 of acres of harvested bean fields. The land was all cap rocked so you couldn't get In a stake anywhere. But there lots of small areas of heavy brush. We just tossed the block back In cover and made the set up tight to the edge. That way we didn't have to hide much chain. In most cases the coyote moved the block enough so It didn't destroy the set. And we just left the blocks In place for next year.

This has always been my experience too. I use a lot of drags and my fav set ups allow the catch to get to cover b4 anyone sees them and a surprising number don't fight the trap much if you do it this way. Heavy well made drags, I don't need as much chain as I do on the old grapple type.

The JC Conner drags, Freedom Brand, and some super slick homemade ones I bought off the trap shed all go between 3 and 4 pounds and I would use any one of them setting for lions but I might add an extra spring (wolf strength) and a few more feet of chain.

Those should do a fine job for you. If I ever saw my chain going over the points I might be tempted to modify them and prevent it but I don't see that happening. Fluff showed me a great trick to "point" your catch toward the brush line I want them to go to. I seldom do it but if there is a heavily used oil field road next to my set I sometimes will.

Drive in two smooth rods or rebars w/o too big of nuts on them at a 45 degree angle side by side. Think of something you could put a small piece of plywood on to make a bicycle ramp. Now trap your drag under them so that pulling one way is a no-go but heading off the direction they are angled the drag pulls free. It has probably saved me fur and no doubt some looking.

I want to say I seen Jeff dunlap do something like this on one of his videos on youtube

I know a guy who has a piece of pipe added to his drag chain with about six chain loops about three feet from the actual trap. This "guide pipe" fits over a piece of rebar angled much as you suggest. When an animal gets in the trap it can only go the direction the rebar / guide pipe are aimed.

Ah yes- that would work and you could use a single length of rebar so long as it was stout enough not to flex when you caught the biggest target on your line. Good thinking.

I dint read all replys, but if you trap old logging rds like me, weight isn't important becuz we can PRE-HOOK to local sapling/logs. I don't have time to hunt for a catch, and I want the scents left in the set area to attract others.
I run 6' chain since I don't want to have to dispatch a coon or bobcat 10 ft up a tree WHEN I catch a climber. Head high is enough. Read about many guys having to climb or log to dispatch........not this old boy.
My mini drags are about 1.2 lbs and the larger ones are 2.5 lbs.
I want my materials to go as far as possible, probably like you do also.
I carry both sizes in the truck but use the lil ones most, since I strive to pre-hook.
Asa Lenon and other old pro's found that the barbs only need to be about 25-30* for good hookup and ground marking.
hope this helps

^^

Another technique I use in some special locations that I have to hike into,is to use a Sabertooth Junior on a long chain.When I get to my spot,I. I attach an extension cable to the chain guard of the Sabertooth Jr and on the other end of the cable,I attach a stone drag from the location.This stone weighs maybe 15 Lbs.So the stone drag trails directly behind the grapple and adds weight to slow and tire the animal.I have seen this setup stop a lion so I have great confidence in it for cats and coyotes.

Right now,I am rigging some limestone drags for a couple areas that are wide open,no brush,but it is hard to get a stake in,especially earth anchors.I drill a hole through the rock and install a forged,"eye screw".These are drive to spots so I can easily place these before season.Since I use my battery,rotary hammer to drill these,I plan to do some,preseason,right on the spot.
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