I'm looking for a traditional long spring, thinking of sleepy creek #3 since they quite making them. I want a good trustworthy long spring I can use for my life and pass on to my kids

I use a Victor #3s a lot of trap for the money I put pit pans on them for a crisper trigger. The 3N is more money but they last a long time can’t go wrong with either one. Never messed with the Sleepy Creek ones but they make a good trap.

Traditional = # 3 Newhouse.

Lots of good used ones around that still have lots of trapping years left in them. IMO

I'm gonna vote on the #3 Northwoods …. have somewhere around 154 of them... Little bigger jaw spread and bubble tipping the jaws corrects the only flaw....my opinion.

Its pretty hard to find # 3 newhouse isn't it?

I agree with wissmiss. Newhouse is still the Cadillac of longsprings. I have two of those sleepy creek long springs I keep handy for special situations. I modded them a bit. Catch and hold real well.



The base plate on sleepy creeks is riveted on. I tacked it a bit with a welder . I didn't trust the rivets. You probably don't have to but I could not see how it could hurt.



The loop on the end of the dog NEEDS squeezed together so the dog can only move up and down No back and forth play. I also tacked on a piece of round rod. Coyotes don't bend the dog all up when they bite it now. It also makes a real nice notch for setting. Put the edge of the pan in that little notch and it has very little creep without any eyeballing. can just set the trap and bury it.

Those old victor and triumphs are good too, but they really need some tinkering to be top of the line. A good newhouse just needs a swivel at the end of the chain. There is a technique for setting newhouse traps. You can't just break one over your thigh.

Actually, they are more common than you think. You see them at just about every trapping convention. I’ve got probably 3-4 dozen laying around in my trap shed.

Problem is the price. Good user ones start at about $20.00 each. Ones that are collector quality can cost up to $35.00 or so.

If you use a # 3 Newhouse made by Oneida Community, you would be trapping with a trap that is 95 years old or older. Most of them are still incredible strong.

My go-to trap for a long time was the #3 Blake and Lamb. I was always impressed with the few 3Ns that I had, you could just feel the quality. I once found 3 #3 Newhouse dls tethered together under the same tree, they were too difficult to set, for me anyway.

Livestock Protection Company out of Alpine tx. Its the best longspring made in my opinion and has parts available.

I agree if you are looking for the best

Victor 3n and just the #3 ls with a few mods. Are still a darn good trap. Set about 6 today, just can't get away from them. I hit the jack pot with #3's ls about 5 years ago got 32 of them for $ 5.00 each some of them have never seen dirt.

i'll give ya 6 each and pay shipping.

Newhouse are Cadillac but break your heart when you loose one to theft and expensive to find users. 3ns are getting very expensive and not fun to loose. Victor # 3 with a bit of work can be very reasonable in price and a great trap I would add a pit pan or tighten up the pan shank to keep the wobble to a minimum. You have a great trap and folks can say what they want about a coil but a long spring will come up just as fast hold tight and will beat a coil any day for stabilizing when you bed them.

Northwoods had adjustable pans but are tough to find. Blake and lamb always were grest.
Victors... there were good model runs and some.were not very good. Grab the springs and frame, you can tell which one I'm talking about. Not all victor 3s were great but some were very good. Thicker and stronger.
Todays bridger 4 is good but I wish they had a 3.
Jim

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X2


Thats where I usually put one. A place where it is hard to stabilize a trap. Like in rocks. The guys leaving a trap exposed for bobcats like them for that reason too. Very stable. What I dont like is the big bed you need to dig to bury one. That picture I posted of the coyote came about cause I wanted to teach my grandson how to bed and position one.

X2 also on thieves. Last time I set one of my old newhouses it was stolen. Probably best I dont know who the thief is as I really really want to take a trap by the end of the chain and beat him into a hospital bed and plastic surgery.

3N's are good,you can find them for $15 - $20 most of the time,Blake & Lamb #3 have strong springs they can be a little harder to find same price range as 3N's.LPC's are great traps,but most people cant afford $70-$85 per trap.

If you go with the Sleepycreeks you will want to beef up the base plate and bubble weld or bend up the ends of the jaws. They are among my favorite traps but the base plates were soft until I modified them

There is one major drawback to using Newhouse traps in lion country, lions don't pull out and getting the trap off a big Kitty is a lot harder than with a coil spring. The only Newhouse I never liked much was the 4 1/2.