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trap spring refit.


oowee
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Slow but sure is safer. Restrain the trap - sturdy securely mounted vice was my method. With another secure point make a loop with a length of suitable cord or rope sufficiently long to go between this point and the spring bend. Using a length of whatever in the rope loop rotate it so the loop twists and starts to reduce in length so that you can eventually slip the bend over the trap tang with no effort. The controlled effort has never been more than that necessary to achieve the objective.

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The trap looks like an old Bowman and they are still in business. Working from memory (and it is a test  !) I think you may find it easier with the arm fitted, this should then give you the leverage to set the spring. Try searching Bowman traps, they may have the Instructions on their website, failing that You Tube could help. As already stated, be VERY careful, I have seen some horrific injuries over the years, with clay traps. Broken bones, 16 stitch cuts and even 1 trapper launched out of a trap house. It may sound obvious but NEVER try to move a cocked trap and always keep the clay box to the right of the trap when operating.

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14 hours ago, wymberley said:

Slow but sure is safer. Restrain the trap - sturdy securely mounted vice was my method. With another secure point make a loop with a length of suitable cord or rope sufficiently long to go between this point and the spring bend. Using a length of whatever in the rope loop rotate it so the loop twists and starts to reduce in length so that you can eventually slip the bend over the trap tang with no effort. The controlled effort has never been more than that necessary to achieve the objective.

Often called a “Spanish windlass”, this method allows you to increase the tension very gradually and gently.    Make the loop from several turns of baler twine rather than a single rope (you can spread them out to avoid restricting the hook opening), and cut them away when the job is finished (much easier and safer than trying to release anything made from metal).   I have used this arrangement countless times on all sorts of jobs, though never actually to attach a clay trap spring.

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27 minutes ago, McSpredder said:

Often called a “Spanish windlass”, this method allows you to increase the tension very gradually and gently.    Make the loop from several turns of baler twine rather than a single rope (you can spread them out to avoid restricting the hook opening), and cut them away when the job is finished (much easier and safer than trying to release anything made from metal).   I have used this arrangement countless times on all sorts of jobs, though never actually to attach a clay trap spring.

:good: Nice one! Cheers. didn't know that. Provided there was a pylon fitted this was very handy - along with a piece ofv 4x4 of a precise length and the ground-lock  - for securing a main undercarriage on a Hunter aircraft which had failed in the down position in order to recover it.

I think that trap model was called either the single or double rise. I had quite a few to maintain and fortunately had two vices side by side and a couple of feet apart on the same bench which made life easier. I would hazard a guess that this difficulty was the reason for the re-design and the introduction of the pre-tensioner in later models

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spent every weekend of my youth behind one of these things. when we had to fit a new spring we had a bag full of small narrow wooden wedges that we would tap in between the coils from alternating sides. it increases the length of the spring enough to fit and then you just tap the wedges back out

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I managed to extend a fit the spring after some thought about how best to do it. Tapped a screwdriver in first to give a gap in the coils to slot in some metal plates. Then used some nuts and bolts to push the plates apart extending the spring. The picture shows the spring installed over the pin with the spring extenders in place. It only needs extending about a cm but it's a very strong spring. 

Never having used a trap before, how far back should you pull the lever to launch the clay? 

 

spring extender.jpg

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Hi. They are called 'over centre' traps as a generic term. So you pull the arm clockwise from 12 o' clock back clockwise until it passes over centre. It will then stay there until a slight push on what is now (with the arm at 6 o'clock) its left hand edge disturbs that position and the spring does the rest of the work.

Edited by enfieldspares
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