I use alot of disposeble stakes do you wait till your in the field to fasten them to the the traps if so what do you use j hooks or s hooks? I like j hooks but how do you get them open in the field if your just moving it to another cable stake?

i attach the cable to the bottom swivel, the last j-hook.

get yourself a pait of s-hook tool, it makes them really easy to open.

charles

what is that charles? where can it be purchased?

about every supply dealer carries s-hook tools, MTP does to.


http://www.minntrapprod.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=864


charles

I use a pair of cable cutters to open them and a pair of pliers to close them. works on both j-hooks and s-hooks. I personally use s-hooks because I have about 500 of them that I bought on ebay quite cheap a few years ago.

charles you are nuts, I aint paying .13 let alone $13 for one of those pieces of scrap metal. I have used them and they just plain suck. They bend way too easy. I will stick with my cable cutters and pliers until something better comes out.

ok, but ive never bent the ears...if you go slow and apply steady pressure, they will last you for years.

i did have one pair, that wasnt worth a crap, and i chunked them in the woods as far as i could one day.

charles

lol, sounds like somethng I would do. I had 2 pairs that came in an assortment of traps and gear I bought a few years ago, I tried them and didn't like them. I think I gave them away.

My dedicated tools for the "hooks consists of a heavy duty pair of fencing pliers, and a pair medium sized Vise Grips.

if you dont use the s hook tool right and you overdue it it will break. The one I have Ive used for 17 years and it is one of the cheap aluminum ones

There are good s-hook pliers, and there are poor ones. I am still using a pair of link-fix I bought in the early 60s. I do use them with care, and only on my line; I have another pair I use as a shop tool for production work.

Hopefully, we'll have a great pair of s-hook pliers on the market soon - if Pogo can get it all together.

I hear about folks loosing animals from s-hooks. I've never had it happen, if I use a centering washer.

IMO, an s-hook w/o a centering washer is a piece of junk, and a waste of time.

The other thing to watch out for is metal fatigue. If in closing j-hooks and/or s-hooks, you feel the metal "go soft", that hook will break, and is good only for the junk pile. You can use hooks more than once, but don't get greedy, and try for a hundred times, or a new world's record.

Waugh,
45/70,

TnT has a new tool out that is supposed to be heavy duty. for $27 they better be REAL good!

The TnT too is great, w/1 exception, It's about to big to carry on the line. In the shop, they can't be beat.
Adios,
45/70,

[quote=45/70]
IMO, an s-hook w/o a centering washer is a piece of junk, and a waste of time.

45/70 What do you mean by centering washer?

Thanks

I just bought some of these quick links, I was going to try using them with my disposable stakes this year, I think it will be a quick efficent way to attach/detached traps from them.

beetle,

PM me with your e/mail address, and I'll send you some pictures.
I don't have any success posting photos to a forum, but I can e/mail them
Later,
45/70,

NAPA carries a sturdy tire chain tool.Some of the crap put out there does not belong in a trappers supply catalog period.