another matter......long or short chains?

[KevinHubble]

In my previous thread about shock springs,trappnman opened up a whole new subject.Chain lengths,I prefer a short chain,but am looking for opinions on chain lengths and why?

[Stef]

On fox traps I like from 16" to 18" inches chain including shockspring.

Coyote traps.... 18" to 24" of chain including shockspring or more... the more and more I trap and the more and more I like the 24" ones.

And yes I have tried with very short chain, medium, long and extra long.

On my ground, snow, mud etc... I don't like seeing an animal on top of mound of dirt caused by short chains.
When fox or coyotes are restricted in such a position with a lenght of a link of chain or just the trap swivel out of the ground... they react like coon... They chew!

Since I run long chain on my traps.... that problem ended up 99.9% of the time.
I don't catch lot of coon in foothold but I noticed on some coon that caught in my long chain traps no visible paw damaged or chewing at all.

Also, longer chain set up give you anextra insurance that your stakes won't be pulled as easy as it is with shorter chain set up.

Stef

[trappnman]

if you use smaller coyote traps such as a 1.75- short chains are mandatory to avoid pullouts.

Otherwise- I agree with stef....trappnman

[vttrapper]

18 to 20 inchs of chain and 3 swivels, for all of Stefs reasons.

frank

[trappincoyotes39]

Trap size and vegitation play into chain selection, the smaller/ less power the shorter the chain. Im my years and vegitation, I don't like short chains more swivel fowling and as stef mentioned dirt mounding effect, do you have alot of badgers? That can play into as well.
I run 18/24" mostly have some traps at 30"-36", I can get by with "less" of a stake depending on soil conditions with 18"-24"+ chains as well.
I get less fowling with good machine chain or twist link and being in the range of 18"-30" as well. I like sterling swivels, as there low profile, I get less fowling than other swivels. 3 swivels minimum.

[trappnman]

TC35- actually, I catch a fair amount of badgers a year- usually 8-12 ADC in the sumer and 4-6 in the fall.

Have no problem in pulling stakes, etc- just the donut effect- stakes untouched in midlle. I do however double stake.

This year, using disposibles, had 2 with same effect.

Long chains on badger...only took me 2 badgers to learn LOL

[trappincoyotes39]

That big circle is ok though, I have great set for coyotes off of it, bait in the middle of the circle, a trap set on the edge, always a flat set with urine and a coyote dropping, they circle the circle and end up in the flat set with urine and dropping. Coyotes like to check out that badger smell sooner or later.

[KevinHubble]

TC35,when you speak of size and strength of traps,are you putting 4 coiled trps in the same group as the2 coiled regardless of size or what? ex:a k-9 wolfer,a 4 coiled trap that is plenty strong enough for coyotes

[trappnman]

I agree- 4 badgers this fall season- and every remake took at least 1 canine.

Went to look at some old locations the other day- and those badger remakes were covered in tracks...

[trappincoyotes39]

Boy this could included many things, offset/reg jaw? what type of hold you have? jaw spread.
A 4 coiled size 3 trap with good pan tension, will on average get you a deeper hold than say a 1.75 size trap. So if your conditions warrant a longer chain set up for reasons listed, you will have a higher holding ratio with a bigger well built trap, with longer chain. If you have good pad catches and strong springs and a good jaw and heavy frame, then the extra force put on the whole set up by mr coyote , will handle the load and dispearse that energy over more of the entire set up.
I haven't ever used the k-9 wolfer so can't comment on it's effectivness as a coyote trap. If 4 coiled and has a good frame and jaw set up, you should have no problem with 18" of chain. The energy that coyote puts on a trap has to go somewhere, alot of it is at the stake head and thats where shock springs come into play, but generally the heavier the trap the better it will absorb the energy from the direct result of longer chain setups. The momentum is decreased with a heavier trap, or one that is more cumbersome to the coyote.
So I feel it's more the size/weight issue as much as 2 v 4coils. I would add with longer chain I'm a beleiver in 4 coils,offset jaws, and wide jaws. They all work hand and hand together.

[mattduncan]

here in ontario we have a chain lenght law on land 12 inches above the ground on drags unlimited

[Maineman]

I like my chains "very" short and 3 swivels...

Trap-swivel-link-link-link-swivel-link-link-swivel



Notice the "BIG"trap...

[KevinHubble]

Maineman that chain you described is just about exactly what I have been using, but I have to tell you I am seeing some pretty good points being made about longer chains

[CoonDuke]

I like my chains around 12" but have used them a little longer with good results.

Chains 8" or less gave me trouble with bound swivels.

[Maineman]

Kevin...The one thing that you will (hopefully) not see me do on any of my post is try to convince anyone what they should or shouldn't do...What I post is simply me sharing what I use and what works for me...

That's what is so cool about this place...There are so many different ways to catch fur and there are so many good trappers sharing their ideas that one can't help but to want to try something different...But that's each or our choice...One thing that we get from here is ideas and opinions, and plenty of them...Try some ignore some, it dosn't really matter as long as you share yours...

Dave Z

[Maineman]

I will state that if I was ttrapping coyote's I'd probably run longer chains...

[KevinHubble]

I'm gonna try some with longer chains and some with my shorter ones I use, and see what the difference is the whole deal with me on these long chains and skock springs is being on this site'all you guys have me thinking which is a good thing

[Stef]

I've held a couple coyotes so far in #1.75 modifed for fox but "coyote proof" on 16"-18" inches of chain - shockspring - 48hrs check and no coyotes pulled out.
Traps were fine too.

I did not catch a lot in #1.75 but the one I caught, are sold!

Stef

[jsevering]

think like was already said the size and wieght of the trap along with mods. go along way into how long of and the way a chain is set up. the other factor is ease in staking or type staking you can get away with, in your type soil...jim

[M35]

Never caught a yote, but I use 12" long chain assemblies that include 3 crushproof swivels and double stake swivel bases. The traps are also base plated and center swiveled...That's a bunch of swivels...