Rusty traps

90acres said:

How do you keep the rust off? Take rust off? Does it matter?

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Soak in white vinegar. That will get the rust off. But to keep them from rusting you need to wax them. Buy some wax for trapping melt it in a pot of boiling water. Dip the traps for 4 to 5 minutes and lift the traps slowly out of the pot and hang to dry.
Mark

Thank you sir!

soak in 50/50 vinegar water for about 3 days... rinse with water... dye or wax... I wax at 200 degrees at 2 minutes per trap...

Dishwasher and SpeedDip!! Wait for the wife to leave unless she’s a trapper!

I dyed and waxed 10 traps yesterday evening. I forgot how satisfying it is to have the wax at just the right temperature where it runs off like water and doesn't leave any thick spots!
Simple things in life, right?

dyed?

90acres said:

dyed?

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Logwood crystals normally. They are dyed a brown or black color. No real reason for it, but something trappers have been doing for a long time, so they still do. If a land crit can see your trap, you're prolly not gonna catch it. Grey fox and ***** are pretty stupid tho, so you could catch them in a bright and shiny trap.

i used to dye years ago but no longer... its not necessary but whatever makes ya feel good I don't care

CamoNinja said:

Logwood crystals normally. They are dyed a brown or black color. No real reason for it, but something trappers have been doing for a long time, so they still do. If a land crit can see your trap, you're prolly not gonna catch it. Grey fox and ***** are pretty stupid tho, so you could catch them in a bright and shiny trap.

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I use the speed dip to cut down on scent and degrease, then wax. Works well :cheers:
A word of advice, always, always, always wear gloves when handling your freshly dyed and waxed traps. Your welcome

They are purty when you dye them !

CamoNinja said:

Logwood crystals normally. They are dyed a brown or black color. No real reason for it, but something trappers have been doing for a long time, so they still do. If a land crit can see your trap, you're prolly not gonna catch it. Grey fox and ***** are pretty stupid tho, so you could catch them in a bright and shiny trap.

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Don't forget Bobcat's, don't even have to camouflage the trap.

Each has their own way of doing trap treatment. I ,myself ,only dye and don't wax. Don't really worry about handling traps without gloves either.

And I would trust your judgement more than mine, bigjohn. I'm still a newbie at it I guess..plus I'm self taught (you tube ) so I'm bound to get some things wrong, correct?

If I may ask, we had a guy on here say that he waxes but doesn't dye, I dye and wax, and you dye and don't wax.

Can you tell us what you use the dye for? Oh and why no wax?

For me, it is how I learned but also for scent control, the gloves too.

Most dyes such as logwood, sumac, walnut hulls, oak or maple leaves are high in tannic acid. They react with the steel like bluing a gun. I do dip my water traps in an acetone/rustoleum mix to protect them.
When I land trap if a trap has set there until rust forms, well I'm not on location. As far as scent control a waxed trap is more likely to hold odor than just a dyed one. K-9s know you've been there, you can't fool them. Proper bedding is far more important.

bigjohn said:

Each has their own way of doing trap treatment. I ,myself ,only dye and don't wax. Don't really worry about handling traps without gloves either.

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John what kind of antifreeze are you using?

I don’t dye or wax. I just run em thru the dishwasher with just a few drops of Dawn. I gave some a SpeedDip once, but after a coyote chews on it for a while, they get shiny again pretty quick. You may need to replace the springs every 10yrs or so, but you would have to leave them out year round for a LONG time before you’re gonna rust out the jaws or frame. I think if you bed them deeply and use some kind of loud lure or bait, they aren’t gonna smell a clean trap, and after a catch, the whole circle and trap all smell pretty critterific and it all blends together.

I don't use an antifreeze. I bed in peat moss.

I guess a little bit of everything works, I'm sure I could catch more if I really put my mind to it but for me it's just a hobby to help manage the farm.

Thanks for the advice.....keep it coming.

bigjohn said:

I don't use an antifreeze. I bed in peat moss.

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