How do you take care of your traps?

[brokenknee]

OK, some of you may have seen my post on squirrels in the attic. So far so good, although I have seen evidence they are trying to get back in. I have ordered a half a dozen 110 conibear traps and one 220. I have watched a good share of videos on U-tube on how to trap. Since I have not trapped before this will be a learning experience.

In my research I have seen many different methods on how to take care of your traps.

1. Boiling the trap to take the oil off, let rust then dye.
2. Waxing the trap after dye.
3. Waxing the trap without dying.
4. A process called speed dipping, involves white gas and some dye.
5. Another dying process that uses dye and water.
6. Painting with spray paint.
7. Powder coating.
8. Doing nothing and just let them rust.

Some say not to wax a conibear trap as it will make it unsafe as the trigger will be more likely to misfire.

Almost all said to remove oil that comes on the trap from the factory then let rust some before applying coating. (all except paint and powder coat)

My main focus will be the squirrels with maybe a coon or two that come around on occasion causing problems. We do have a lot of different predators around but those are the main ones causing problems.

Any advice is welcome, as always thanks for the advice.

 

[Jstpssng]

OK, some of you may have seen my post on squirrels in the attic. So far so good, although I have seen evidence they are trying to get back in. I have ordered a half a dozen 110 conibear traps and one 220. I have watched a good share of videos on U-tube on how to trap. Since I have not trapped before this will be a learning experience.

In my research I have seen many different methods on how to take care of your traps.

1. Boiling the trap to take the oil off, let rust then dye.
2. Waxing the trap after dye.
3. Waxing the trap without dying.
4. A process called speed dipping, involves white gas and some dye.
5. Another dying process that uses dye and water.
6. Painting with spray paint.
7. Powder coating.
8. Doing nothing and just let them rust.

Some say not to wax a conibear trap as it will make it unsafe as the trigger will be more likely to misfire.

Almost all said to remove oil that comes on the trap from the factory then let rust some before applying coating. (all except paint and powder coat)

My main focus will be the squirrels with maybe a coon or two that come around on occasion causing problems. We do have a lot of different predators around but those are the main ones causing problems.

Any advice is welcome, as always thanks for the advice.

I wouldn't paint a trap, because that will leave an odor on it. That may or may not matter if you're going for squirrels.
Wax isn't a good idea as you've already said. It really isn't much fun when a trap snaps shut on your fingers. :laughing:

All of the traps I've owned I bought used. I've dyed them in the Speedi-dye mixed with gas, and have also boiled them in water and hemlock bark. I am not sure how much it really matters with squirrels in your attic, as they're inured to our strange habits.

Please be sure that you don't catch any household pets. Unlike a leghold, Conibears are't very forgiving.

 

[brokenknee]

I wouldn't paint a trap, because that will leave an odor on it. That may or may not matter if you're going for squirrels.
Wax isn't a good idea as you've already said. It really isn't much fun when a trap snaps shut on your fingers. :laughing:

All of the traps I've owned I bought used. I've dyed them in the Speedi-dye mixed with gas, and have also boiled them in water and hemlock bark. I am not sure how much it really matters with squirrels in your attic, as they're inured to our strange habits.

Please be sure that you don't catch any household pets. Unlike a leghold, Conibears are't very forgiving.

How often do you need to re-dye? I would think the gas would leave more of a smell than paint. Does the speed dipping last longer than the tree bark dye or is it just a faster process?

 

[brokenknee]

We only have one little yapper house dog, when outside he is on a lease. Oh and some chickens, not considered pets by me, but my wife may differ. ;-)

At this time I have no plans on using them in the water, but that may change as we do have a small pond on our property.

 

[MMagis]

Most of those steps you're reading about are regarding foothold traps, not bodygrip traps. Some people do dye them, but I'd say the majority paint them. And very few people would suggest waxing a bodygrip trap unless you like sore fingers. A simple soak in a water/vinegar solution will get rid of the oil and will start a little surface rust. Rinse them off, and after they're dry, paint them. Most people use something like Rostoleum. That's really all you need to do. Don't worry about the odor, it'll be gone soon enough after drying. Plus, squirrels and coon aren't odor shy in the least.

 

[Ford850]

No dye or treatment is needed. Other than walnut hulls or logwood dye, most of the other paint/dye/stains or waxes will make it difficult to set conibear style traps. I have treated mine some years, but most of the time I leave them rust. Animals will not avoid a rusted trap any more than they avoid going through a rusty fence.

 

[brokenknee]

No dye or treatment is needed. Other than walnut hulls or logwood dye, most of the other paint/dye/stains or waxes will make it difficult to set conibear style traps. I have treated mine some years, but most of the time I leave them rust. Animals will not avoid a rusted trap any more than they avoid going through a rusty fence.

Won't the rust make the trap more difficult to set? Does it effect how the trap is triggered (harder to trigger)?

 

[MMagis]

They won’t rust so bad as to affect operation. It'll just be a little surface rust. And if you happened to leave them so long that the rust builds up, just knock it off with a wire brush.

 

[Ford850]

Any of the paint/gas/wax/dip stuff will affect them more than a light layer of rust. The trigger area collects that gunk, and you'll probably have to scrape each one clean before using, or else the trigger slips and the trap snaps. I made that mistake a couple times and it was a pain to get them all cleaned up so they would stay set. I did use the trap dip with gas one time and thinned it way down, and that worked ok. As MMagis said above, Rustoleum is popular now for traps, but mainly footholds. Flat black (or mixed with brown) is the most popular. But it would have to be thinned way down for conibear traps. Otherwise the logwood dye or walnut hulls work ok too since there is no buildup. But some of my conibear traps that are decades old, and they work fine with the rust too (and look more natural in my opinion).

 

[Ed of all trades]

My grandfather was a trapper and when I was young he told me to just leave them outside until they surface rust and don't touch them again, use rubber gloves. Ed