What pan tension is everyone seeing on new 2 coiled 550s out of the box?
I see they’re advertised as 2.5 pounds but have heard it’s closer to 5 pounds?
If it really is closer to 5 pounds is it pretty easy to get them to 2.5 pounds by bending the dogs?
Does bending the dogs affect how they set or night latch?
Thanks

Don’t know about the new ones but I have bent the dogs on the ones I have down and back different time to get the pan tension in looking for. Very easy to do and a little bend goes a long way and the night latch still works fine

Not sure, mine have always been right at 3#. I’ll get one of my sons tomorrow if he hasn’t set them yet.

A small burr on the night latch can cause problems

Sometimes a few strokes with a file can make a difference

Told my son and he checked his, he had three that he had to file on the dog to get the pan tension where he wanted it (3#). One was one he’d already set and caught a coyote on this morning. Apparently that high pan tension gets some deep catches, lol. That dog had to be standing flat footed as heck to get that high up.

Most of mine seem to run 3 to 3 1/2#. I leave the dogs straight, that's right where i want them.

I prefer 3# on that size trap and 4 # on my MB 650’s .

3 lbs on them is what I used to run when I used them. MB 550s are a great = out of the box = tensioned trap. In the past. I have bought = 3 or 4 dz traps at a time. I remember 1 dz. I was checking. 10 out 12 that where almost perfect. But 2 traps out of dz where like 5 lbs. So bent dog and filed on dog alittle and got em to 3 lbs

Wanna Be. I have used about ever trap out their in last 35 years. The MB 550s and Bridger dogs and NO BS have a long pan or a pan that comes VERY close to jaws. That = will cause some toe catches. That why I say NO to expand a pans. That why I Love the MJ 600 Sterling. VERY hard for coyote to get toe caught. Not that It doesnt happen. But with the small centered up pan. It doesn’t happen often. ALL traps have = Pros and Cons

I tested mine it was at 4lb.

I figured out that high pan tension was not an issue When I was trapping beaver with Beaver extremes and caught 3 coons that had no problem setting them off.

I also run MB550's and K9 extremes and con't even bother worrying about pan tension. The only thing I do is make sure the pan is flad and use bow string wax on the extremes as per Kendall's instruction. It has been a deadly combination.