Thinking try securing some coon traps where have something easy to tie off on rather than driving 18" stake.

You,re asking for trouble if you try to replace chain with wire.
I would only use wire to secure trap chain to a wooded drag

11 or double 14.

Never ever wire for coon on any non lethal trap. They will twist it to it's limit. Doubled and doubled twisted helps but you will lose a few. Even one loss is too many.

If wanting to tie off to solid objects consider chain and a quick link. A short length of cable with a loop each end can take the place of wire with a few wraps so just the loops can be hooked into the quick link. Be sure the chain is well swiveled. Don't give them a long length of cable to work on as it's similar to twisted wire. Given enough time they can kink and break it.

What warrior said. Use cable or chain.

Thanks, this is why forums like this are such a valuable resource. Stay tuned for my next stupid idea.

Don't think you have a monopoly on stupid ideas. I alone can give you a run for your money!

14,16

Nope not stupid, ask us how we know about wire, lol.

The smart thing is to ask.

X2

There are no dumb questions when you are learning

I learned that very quickly the hard way. Never use wire of any gauge.

Maybe I got lucky but I used wire once. I twisted two strands together as I thought one would get broken. It worked for me.

There's a difference between using wire as an attachment and using it as an extension. We used to use nothing but wooden drags for coon, attached with 2 strands of 14 Guage wire. I don't remember ever losing a coon to broken wire used that way. But never use it to lengthen the chain.

I would not use wire to tie off a live holding device.
That said,I use lots of wire for drowners,and to tie off bodygrips and snares set lethal.
I always inspect wire for kinks,and change it out or re - inforce it if kinked or old.
Old and kinked wire can be re purposed for lots of things on the trapline like tying stuff to the bike or skidoo racks,tying bait,wiring sticks for tee pee sets,or for quick fixes for stuff.

Invest in 7x19 cable and leave the wire for farmers fixing fences !

Yes, wire snugged up tight is a good anchor for coon but a loose wire that coon can twist and work on is asking for trouble.

Generally, I avoid the use of wire for anything other than snare support to avoid the temptation of using it for tying off traps.

Growing up trapping coon we used 14 gauge wire on all our coon traps. Twisted the wire onto the trap ring and then to the wooden stake. Tied to lots of trees, concrete blocks and deadfalls also. On culvert pipes we would drill a hole in the metal pipe and tie off to that. Caught hundreds of coon that way. Didn't know any other way back then. I wouldn't do it now because I have better ways but it works. Must have been lucky not to have them break the wire I guess. We had 24 hour checks. Did have some pull out because of toe chewing till we started using double jaws more and anchoring in the water

For a reference point, heavier is better. If you have tractor supply store nearby go check out their inexpensive wire coon cages. Then build or buy one much heavier than those cheap ones.
Then look at this pic of the one and only one I’ve ever bought from there, and the number a coon did on it.
It literally ate its way out the back of the trap. Bent the thin aluminum door and the rod assembly. Not sure the gauge of wire but as you can see it ate a hole right out the back. Destroyed this cheap trap.
Hope this helps.
Jim






Also those little cheap coon traps are way too small in my experience, can barely get a decent coon to fit in one. Most will back right out with their big butt holding the door open behind them. You need large traps and long traps to have effective coon cages. These were too small for us (el cheapo store cage traps).

In contrast here is a large cage I bought from someone locally around here. Homemade, thick rod frame, heavy gauge wire and heavy steel foot pan with heavy chain and solid rod assembly. It’s big enough for big bobcats but also makes an awesome coon trap have never needed to rebend or fix this after catches. I bought two of these and they are big and well built.
Foxes, cats, coon, it catches them all easily.
Go something like this for the versatility in species you can use it on.
Make your cages bigger, and use heavier gauge materials so they last after catches.
Jim



Hope this helps. I’ll never go back to smaller traditional coon cages or buy light wire models again.

I apologize I misread the initial post. Need my readers early in AM I guess. Not sure why I interpreted the question to be gauge of wire for coon cages. My bad.

Wiring coon traps (footholds) works OK for water sets and drowning rigs, but I’d never do wire for attaching traps on land sets for coon.
If I dig around here I probably have some pics of various gauges of wire fails on coon footholds at sets from my earlier years of learning to trap them. I had to learn hard way like most folks back then. Not all wire was made same either.