Built a wolf trap

[MThound]

Now that we can trap wolves in Montana, I figured it would be interesting to build a few traps. This was my first attempt at building a wolf trap. I had to change several things as I went along, and ended up building the trap over three or four times. I didn't like the looks of the angle iron that is welded on the spring levers of the Alaska #9's so I drew up and designed my own. Now that I have it together and working, I plan to make some jigs and build a few more. Everything was made from scratch, including the coilsprings.

[catdogs]

dam man, that looks nice.

[bowtech36]

Must say thats pretty darn sweet. Good job, go get em.

[R Severe]

I like it better than the alaskan, great job.

[MThound]

[R Severe]

Things I've found on the standard alaskan that need done are these. The base plate will bend and needs beefed up. The jaws will pull out unless you spot weld a bead on the ends.
The standard dog is very sloppy so I filed a notch in the pan side and squared the dog for a crisp realease.

Your jaws appear to be thicker which sure would be a improvement. The alaskan is a little rough on a foot and needs a bit more surface to round. I've used the alaskan on the big cats and it will dang sure hold the biggest.

[r_cordell]

you might want to try to build it using a dogless design. you could just move the point where your pan pivots towards the outside and you'd have a little bit bigger pan that way too. Look at the old montgomery traps and you'll see what I mean. The Montana traps use the same design too. They're a lot quicker to tune for me anyway. You built a heck of a good looking trap though. Make sure you fill your wolf tag all the way to the top!

[MThound]

I made the next trap almost 1" larger than the first one. This one is 8 and 7/8" inside jaw diameter.



Hope to be making a few more dozen in the next week or two.

[cat hntr]

great looking trap

[JayF]

very nice fab work.

[bowtech36]

sweet plate design!

[r_cordell]

Good looking trap and great craftsmnship! I hope you wear them out this winter!

[bobbercrazy23]

where do you buy the wire to build the springs

[runnin akita]

You are definetly a skilled craftsman. Very nice job!

[slowandeasy]

mthound,

Definitely some of the finest craftsmen ship I've seen in quite some time. Good job!!

Take care, Willie