A fair sized Bear trap

[gibsontool]

 That's a 36" rule in the picture. I weight about 240 lbs and the spring doesn't even begin to deflect with all of my weight on it. They were apparently sold with clamps of some kind in order to set the trap. I have set this with the aid of 2 big Bessy clamps and it was scary to see what it did to a 2x4 when we tripped it.

[international3414]

thats cool,would have liked to have seen the 2x4

[john k]

Ok, so don't tell me you picked this at a garage sale for five dollars?   Been wanting one of these, but with prevailing prices, may make one myself.  So, keep it set out by the back door?

[gibsontool]

 If I ever get around to setting this again I'll be sure to take some pictures.

 $5. I wish. I got this around 20 or so years back at a 2nd hand/ antique store in a small town in northern British Columbia. I paid a lot more than that but ,I have been offered almost double what I paid. With our slack laws up here in Canada if I were to set this and catch a thief it would most likely be me that went to jail.

[Chillylulu]

How hard did you have to push to spring it on that 2x4?

Chilly

[gibsontool]

It's been a while since I did it, but I think the 2x4 was 6 to 7 ft long and most likely kiln dried spruce or pine.The first time I dropped it ( the bottom of the 2x4 was about level with the jaws ) it did not trip. The second time my buddy dropped it from about 3 ft above the jaws and it tripped. It didn't break the wood but it messed it really bad, we had to put the clamps back on to get it out. I have no idea what the weight of the board was so I guess that gives me a good reason to try it again. I'll update the post when I do it.

[mikeswrenches]

The 'trip pan' looks like it has writing on it.  Does it give a makers name?

Mike

[leg17]

Saw one last week in a Missouri Antique shop.  Wanted $999.00
A pretty scary contraption up close.

[mvwcnews]

Read the NEWHOUSE trap book & be safe:

( http://books.google.com/books?id=8RNIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA88&dq=newhouse+bear+trap&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6ZNzVInuKcKZNpiJgegK&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=newhouse%20bear%20trap&f=false )

The NEWHOUSE trap clamp is on pg. 171; their No. 6 Grizzly Bear trap weighed 42 lbs and had very sharp teeth on the jaws, ( pg. 169 )  so yours must be  made by someone else.

[gibsontool]

Mike.Yes it has script. It reads around the outside  American fur and trade Co  and in the center is has the initials HBC No6.
  I suspect the trap was made for the Hudsons Bay Company who were the largest fur trading company in North America for many many years. Interesting note on the American fur and trade co, It was founded by a John Astor a German immigrant who went on to become the first muti millionaire in the United States and is still ranked as the 18 wealthiest man of all time. The HBC was founded in May of 1670 and at one time held the fur rights to 7 million acres of land in North America. A good site for HBC history can be found by googgling Hudson Bay Company Montana Trappers Association.
  Stan @ mvwcnews ( hope Stan is correct ) I tried to access the site you referred to but it would not come up for me. Mine does have some very serious teeth under the jaws they just don't show up because of the way I took the photo. I don't have a scale handy but I'm pretty sure mine is close to 50 lbs
 I see you can buy replica traps for $375 from Jim River Supplies inc located in Vermillion South Dakota
  Jim

[mikeswrenches]

Jim, thanks for the history lesson! I knew of Astor, but was not aware of his wealth.

If I remember correctly, the number refers to the size.  The No. 6 being a large trap.

From what I've seen of bear traps, some had their teeth on the bottom and some were made with them on the top.  All are very nasty looking.

Be careful with that thing, we don't need anybody getting hurt.

Mike

[mvwcnews]

<snip>
  Stan @ mvwcnews ( hope Stan is correct ) I tried to access the site you referred to but it would not come up for me. <snip>

When I copy and paste long URLs into messages I insert the whole thing between parentheses.
 Everything between the parentheses is the URL. 
In g-mail, it appears in underlined blue and line wraps without  inserted <break> or <hyphen> characters  -- if your e-mail program inserts a <break> <hyphen> at line breaks in the displayed message,  copy everything between the parentheses , paste it into the  place where the URL appears at the top of the browser, edit out the  <break> and <hyphen> and see if it goes.

The place in the browser I'm talking about is where ( http://www.papawswrench.com/vboard/index.php?action=post;quote=91426;topic=14749.0 ) or something similar currently appears -- that is the URL for this message in this message thread.

Otherwise, ( http://books.google.com/books?id=8RNIAAAAIAAJ ) should bring up the book, and if you click on "preview this book" you can page through it one page at a  time, starting with the front cover & then the U. of Cal. Library book plate.  At the very end they even copied the "check out & return" slip from the old manual circulation days which quickly told the library staff how often the book went out of the library.  (I'm a retired librarian which is why I know about google books advanced book search & all this other arcane stuff.) 

Or once you have "preview" open  you can use the slider on the right hand and watch the page numbers change to get close to where you want.

The attitude toward wild life in the book would curl the hair of some folks today.

[gibsontool]

Thanks for that info, but ,it's way over my head. I heading to my sons place in Portland tomorrow morning. He works in IT and is very good with computers, I'll get him to guide me thru it.

[international3414]

That's a 36" rule in the picture. I weight about 240 lbs and the spring doesn't even begin to deflect with all of my weight on it. They were apparently sold with clamps of some kind in order to set the trap. I have set this with the aid of 2 big Bessy clamps and it was scary to see what it did to a 2x4 when we tripped it.

Where can i find a picture of the set/clamps?

[gibsontool]

The site I mentioned before " Jim River Supplies in Vermillion South Dakota" They say they have them. If you don't want a duplicate of the originals,just something to set the trap with a good pair of Heavy duty Bessy clamps work fine.Just google Bessy clamps and you should find lots of sources.I know Acklands Grainger sells them along with the majority of the bigger industrial tool supply houses. Bessy is or was a German company and they make a wide range of clamps, if you go this way don't cheap out, get a good heavy set. I would think a minimum of a 5/8 Dia screw. Up here in Canada our equivilent to Harbour Freight is a Company called Princess Auto. I bought some from them for about 1/2 the price of the Bessys and I actually cut them in 1/2 with a toarch and thru them in the scrap bin. They were so poorly made (China) they were dangerous.Good Luck and let us know what you find.
  Jim