There has always been a problem that the Treadle Plates on some traps stick up at an angle and restrict the internal opening. This info sheet will show you how to check and correct the problem
Cheers
Dave
DOC BT Treadle Plate.pdf (411.3 KB)
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Good reminder about getting the basics right!
That’s a very useful article, thanks so much! I have been aware for years that some traps look to have this problem, without really knowing if it was actually a problem, or why they are like this (would still like to know!) or how to fix it. Its an easy fix and I hope the trap I have just adjusted will be more effective. I will also look more closely at a couple of trap lines next time I inspect them. Cheers, Tony
Hi Tony
I like to keep the info sheets I write short as more chance of people actually reading them, many people don’t want to get into the detail
The main reason the treadle plate can stick up from new is just poor quality control when made , basically there is no competition so manufactures can flick out what they want. I know one retailer stopped selling one make as quality was so poor traps wouldn’t set etc and they had to return at their own cost.
Also if someone gets a bit carried away when hammering on the sear to adjust set of weight you can put a small angle in treadle plate, to stop any chance of that happening you can put the tube for bending treadle in place before adjusting sear. I will cover that in setting trip weight.
why it is important to get Treadle sitting flat is that they had problems during NAWAC testing particularly with the 250 to get a kill within 3 minutes, so what they did was reduce the size of the inner opening to slow down animals and get more head strikes, so with a more restrictive inner opening you don’t want any further restrictions from the treadle plate. what you find when you go into full testing results is that in the case of say ship rats some touch the outside of treadle plate trap goes off but they don’t get caught. I know a few people take out another row of upper mesh to make a larger vertical opening, I could write a page on pros and cons , but obviously not something I could recommend
have a good day
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