Adjustment on 550 pan tension

Did I go too much?

Hey nvsage ..
I don't have any experience with the 550 . So I only have questions for you.
What mods did you do?... Is the Dog factory tapered like that or did you take it down?
I purchased some 450's for next season and the Dog is different.. It's flat with a punched Hicky in it..

Anywho just diggin up some education as I go.
Tracy runs some of these so I'm sure he can hook u up.

Later ............... Fred

Sage:

I don't ever mess with or try to adjust the pan tension on the 550's. The only thing I ever do is when I pull them at the end of the year, I go through and make sure the little notch in the dog is nice and clean. Sometimes it gets beat up on rocks by a coyote and can get kind of boogered up. I just take a small file and make a couple strokes across that groove and they are good to go.

When the MB550 first came out, the Cavens weren't happy with how the dog performed . . . they felt that they got messed up after a particularly nasty coyote was caught, or even a big boar coon got to working on them. As a result, they offered replacement dogs for the 550. I think I had just bought 6 dozen or so of them so Tim Caven just sent me 6 dozen free dogs and said, "Here, we want you to have these in case you ever need to replace a dog on one of our traps." That's the kind of company they are. . .

Anywho (as Fred would say), I don't mess with the pan tension or the dogs other than what I've said.

And Fred . . . you are going to love those 450's for fox and cat. They are the bomb, as my kids would say. BucksNBulls has a little trick he uses on the 450's so if you sweeten him up a bit, he may spill the beans with ya. I don't do anything with my 450s except boil and wax, but I'm tempted to look into Matt's little touch up modification.

Actually this guy is the one who bent it.


Sorry just making a goof.... I don't touch my 550s either.

Nice catch!

Is that recent?

End of December...here's one from Early December was -9 that day.

Interesting . . . same location and earlier in the year was colder. That coyote even looks like he's sort of leaning into what I am sure is a bitter cold wind.

Miserable ride on the quad I can tell you that!

nvsage wrote:

Miserable ride on the quad I can tell you that!

For him or you???   

Cam2
Do you use those large Pan additions on your 450's as well as your 550's ?
And does the covering you adhere to them get removed when you prep them for next season?

And I think that Yote had a peaceful Last Ride..

NVsage I applaud you on working those stinky dawgs over! Me no thanks!! I guess I got spoiled on those easy skinning cats!!!
I like the looks of the 550's but I prefer the smaller 450's. I like the pan set up on the 450's a little better also. I do have a little trick to increase the pan tension on the 450's. Not sure what it will take for me to spill the beans???????    

I also like the 450s... they will hold coyotes.

Just sold 40 of my #3 longsprings and am going to order 2 more dz 450s to really target red fox next year.

Tracy do you think that your bacon bait would work on reds as well? I found a nice pocket of reds while horn hunting last year and am going to set up that area next season. Wanting to do some prebaiting.

on the 450's I put the dog on an anvil and whack it once with a punch just behind the nightlatch rise. this levels the dog and gives a little more pan tension. Still catch some rabbits though.

nvsage wrote:

Tracy do you think that your bacon bait would work on reds as well? I found a nice pocket of reds while horn hunting last year and am going to set up that area next season. Wanting to do some prebaiting.

I have no doubt it will work early season. After Christmas it's appeal goes downhill but before then, you should do well.

Awesome I will try it out. Just going to do a 1 month run on k9s next year in November and want to be as prepared as possible.

I bought two dozen 4 coil 550 this summer and the pan tension seemed heavier than it should be. I checked it and it was over 4 pounds, I actually had some prints on the pan without it firing on some coyote sets. I put it in the anvil and pounded the dog down about 10 degrees and it took the tension to about 3.5 pounds or so. It seemed to work well for buried sets; on top of that all the cats I caught were deep pad catches. I do think the four coil may be over kill on the 550's however. Next year I am buying 2 coil 550's and a dozen 450 for fox and coyotes. If anyone wants to see a pic of the dog after adjustment I can post it when I get back from a convention I am going to this week.

Post away Teach ... I'm always seeking education.
Right now I don't have any 550's .. I am going to give the 450's a go next season. I hear lot's of good thing's about them.

Thanks ....Fred

Sage:

I will give you a quart of bacon bait at the Rondy this summer and you can give it a try. I've got another bait for ya as well . . . in fact, two of them that are awesome canine baits. Just remind me in advance so I don't forget.

You guys that are using the 450's for cats, are you using 2 traps or just fencing them heavy?

That sounds great Tracy. I will have to bring something for ya.... and we will do a trade!

jason1040 I just use one trap at each set. I crowd heavy on the stepping sticks and sides too.

Here's what my final adjustment looks like. Not sure I have as much experience on this as others, but it seems to work for me on my dirt hole sets. The coyote nvsage caught seemed to think it would be better perform better with more angle!