New Traps

[r00s7a]

Just had the FedEx man come in the office with a big box of shiney new traps! I am all kinds of excited, but have to get the traps ready before setting them. I'm quite the greenhorn here, so ya'll be patient with me.

Cleaning facory oils off
First thing to do is remove all the factory oils and smells. Found several different methods to do this. The easiest was to run them through the dishwasher a couple of times, first time with soap, second time without. There were other methods that involved lye or baking soda while boiling the traps, but since these are new and have never been waxed, that does not seem necessary.

After removing the oils, hang out to dry for a couple of days to let them start rusting. Some said to spray them with vinegar to make them rust more, but others said just hang them out for a couple of days.

Dyeing
Quite a few methods for this, using different materials. One of the easiest to me, was using black walnuts husks. Being natural, and also having an endless supply of black walnuts, this made sense to me... I don't think I am too interested in speed dips after reading the negatives. Intentionally letting brand new traps rust sounds rediculous, but the rust helps the dye adhere to the trap, and if you choose not to dye the traps, it will give them a more brown, natural look.

Waxing
I guess some people find this to be optional. From reading, it seems to protect the trap and make it a little faster, both of which I would prefer. This is a few days down the road, maybe a weekend project, so I have more time to look for the method on that. Some people dye and wax at the same time, some do it seperate.

For those that have done this before, do you have any tips or suggestions?

 

[VIKING]

Don't know much about all this prep. All I ever done was wrap some no. 9 wire around one of the jaws of my no.4's to help prevent breaking the coons legs and go set um..I never done any of that dyeing or waxing and seemed to have pretty good luck..maybe took a little cozy kitten cat food and rub em down good to help kill some of the new scent..

 

[ch1966]

After boiling the oil off of them and letting them get a thin rust, I reboiled them in logwood dye:

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I add water to let it boil over, which removes any remaining oil, then add the dye and let them simmer for awhile.

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After the traps have taken the dye, I add wax, which stays on top as it melts. The traps take the wax as you remove them through the film.

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Voila!!! Dyed and waxed!!!

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That's how I did it anyways....

 

[imhntn]

The first year I used mine I just boiled them with sumac berry pods thrown in for scent and color and began to use them immediately after getting them out. They rusted during use. After that I boiled them and then dipped them in the gasoline/tar (Speed Dip) stuff and it puts a coating on them and protects the metal. I did this right after trapping season was over so they would be ready the next year. The gasoline smell goes away in 2 weeks.

 

[dennishoddy]

I also use walnuts to dye the traps.
Waxing will allow the traps to trip reliabily when the temps are well below freezing. Any snow, or freezing rain will bead up and go away, except for the worst case scenerio.

Coons possums and skunks are pretty easy to trap.
I just haven't mastered the animals at the next level.

 

[jarhead983]

You don't have to let them rust. I have tried both ways, not much difference. I use the speed dip and have had no problems. You can use lantern fuel and it will evaporate and the smell will go away a lot faster. This late in the season, I would boil the oil off, adjust them and set them. Worry about dyes later. The most important thing is to tune them properly. Take a file to the dog and latch to get rid of factory punch lips. Adjust pan tension and make sure it sets with a level pan.

 

[imhntn]

You don't have to let them rust. I have tried both ways, not much difference. I use the speed dip and have had no problems. You can use lantern fuel and it will evaporate and the smell will go away a lot faster. This late in the season, I would boil the oil off, adjust them and set them. Worry about dyes later. The most important thing is to tune them properly. Take a file to the dog and latch to get rid of factory punch lips. Adjust pan tension and make sure it sets with a level pan.

This is good advice. Tuning is much more important than the other stuff.