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Other Activities => Trapping => Topic started by: Wolfdog91 on October 23, 2020, 06:18:33 PM

Title: Bifold door cage traps?
Post by: Wolfdog91 on October 23, 2020, 06:18:33 PM: Wanted to know if anyone has need around with building bifold cages, . Any benefits to them? Seems like other than possibly being easier to use then say a double guillotine don't seem like too much of an advantage. Here a video of a DIY one I found a while back. Seems rigging a trigger much wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world
Title: Re: Bifold door cage traps?
Post by: Cougartail on October 23, 2020, 06:29:38 PM: I own a few from Comstock. Haven't used them yet but they work well when triggered manually. The trigger/latch system is ingenious! Thumbs up to Jim.

Having everything inside and the unique trigger system makes it pretty full proof if covered with a tarp.

If the cats will push on the trigger??? It will be a winner.
Title: Re: Bifold door cage traps?
Post by: Humptulips on October 23, 2020, 06:57:14 PM: IMO the trouble with bi-fold doors boils down to the expense. They are harder to make and consequently more expensive.
The point in the bi-fold doors is that a door that is hinged on the top in a trap tall enough for bobcat takes too long to close and it requires a longer trap unless you are going to use swing doors (doors that are outside the trap when set).
I find you can get around these problems by hinging the door on the side (narrow trap is fine for bobcat). That makes for a wide but short door which closes quick and because my traps have inward folding doors it keeps the trap shorter.
I see no problem using a double door swing door trap or guillotine double doors but since I started producing my folding traps I would not want to go back to ones that didn't collapse because of the bulk. If you built a double door guillotine trap that collapsed I cannot see how you could make it work without some field assembly. Not a fan of that. It seems I remember there was a guy making collapsible swing door traps but I forget who.
Bottom line is you can use one of my traps or Comstocks on its side and you get the height for a cat set. They work perfectly fine that way and it is simpler then a bi-fold trap.
As for using them as blind sets that way, I find few places where I trap to make that kind of set. I know a lot of guys in the desert country use that kind of a set so not dismissing that. I just don't use it much because of what i find in my area.
Quote from: Cougartail on October 23, 2020, 06:29:38 PM
I own a few from Comstock. Haven't used them yet but they work well when triggered manually. The trigger/latch system is ingenious! Thumbs up to Jim.

Having everything inside and the unique trigger system makes it pretty full proof if covered with a tarp.

If the cats will push on the trigger??? It will be a winner.
I have no problem getting them to push on the trigger. That should not be a problem.
Title: Re: Bifold door cage traps?
Post by: Humptulips on October 23, 2020, 07:04:30 PM: I'll just add one thing about setting my traps on their side. I had always used minimal covering in the bottom of the trap so it would not interfere with the door. Last year early on I had one door blocked partially open during a freeze by the covering.
After that I went with no covering on the floor of the trap and seemed to catch cats just fine. I am no longer convinced any floor covering is needed. I will probably never use it again and that solves any worries about freeze up.