i just finshed a 4x4x8 hog trap and went with the single swing door style but have a question. i used trampoline springs to close the door. how tight (lbs of pressure) should be on the closed door to open? i dont want make it too loose but when i make the tension tighter then it is really hard to open the door all the way to set the trigger. should i shorten my trigger stick so the door doesnt have to be opened as much?

thanks, i really like the forum.

u dont need very much pressure.

hmmmmm,....got pics?.....

I use a lot longer, looser heavy guage spring you can get at Home Depot. I had trampolene springs too, but couldn't see how the tension / pull length would work. If you figure it out let me know.

If I am reading this correctly, can you not move your spring in closer to the hinge??? Make sence?

You only need very little. I have built traps with upswing 1-way doors completely dependent on gravity to close. Just make sure that you make the door flush with the sides.

let me rephrase the question. with the door shut, how much pressure should it take to push the door open. i was joking with my wife telling her about the thread and told her that it would be funning/not so funning if someone told me to put my fish scale on the door and see how many lbs it takes to open it. i do think i am trying to open the door too far. here are some pictures.






trigger.




and i did add some push boards



partner in crime.

from my experience spring doors are the poorest design for hog traps. i can tell you that not many wild hogs are going to keep going into a trap that the door keeps slamming shut. hogs spook easily and i have video of hogs on my game cam that run off when my trap doors go off which are the guillotine type doors. everybody thinks you will catch more hogs with a spring door but in reality thats not so. a buddy of mine caught 22 hogs in a 5x8 trap at one time with the guillotine type door. the problem with the spring doors is that although they can let more hogs in which rarely happens, in can also let hogs out because there is no locking mechanism on the door.

jdw, i completely dissagree. while i know that u dont usually get more to push in, i still think that style door is the best way to go.

to the op, ur design looks fine, more than enough spring pressure on that guy.

btw, ur trap looks pretty tall. sometimes that can lead to catchin deer.

how is it the best way to go? you will lose hogs from those kind of doors with no locking mechanism.

I put a piece of angle just out of the swing path of the door welded from top to bottom of the trap. when they are trying to open the door they are trying to open a solid weld with the door crack behind the angle. I use a bungie cord just stought enough to close the door.

one thing i see about traps with spring doors that is also a flaw in my opinion is the trigger. most of the triggers have the wire running straight down from the top of the trap to the bottom of the trap with a piece of rebar that the hogs have to dislodge to trip the door. the problem with this is that you catch more piglets and smaller hogs because you cant adjust the trip wire height like you can with a guillotine type door. i always see pics of people that have caught hogs in these type of door/traps and they are mostly piglets. ialways set my wire aboove knee high and at an angle in the corner of the trap instead of straight across the back. this allows more hogs to enter before they hit the wire and also it takes a bigger hog to hit the wire. these are the concepts i use to trap them because im trapping to make money and to supplement my income. i dont have time to be catching baby pigs all the time and cant afford to have hogs getting out.

i agree with u about the triggering mechanism. The best way ive found to trigger a swinging door, is to swing the door back, have a wire tied to the side of the trap with a L shapped hook on the end. then just clip the L shaped hook on the door. so that the door is at a 90 degree opening. put a clump of feed behind the door, the hogs go back there to eat it, hit wire at whatever desired heigh u want it. ( i dont go quite knee high like u said, but pretty close) and the hogs knock wire holding door, door slams shut.



pigs cant open the door, i can barely open the door, and i have arms!!!! If u can find a pig thta can pull my door open at just the right angle so that it will open and then it gets out, i would be amazed.


but do u see how my design for a trigger would let in even more hogs before it is triggered than urs???


regardless, both styles work fine, i think it is up to personal preference. u might say that ive lost hogs,, which i doubt. but i can also tell u that ive gained hogs with that style of trap. went and checked it one evening and had 4 hogs in, came back the next morning to get em and had 6 hogs in. all of em were about 70# piggies. thats happened on other occassions as well. lemme see u gain hogs with a drop down door lol.

ive caught 13 hogs at one time in one trap (5x8) with my guillotine door traps. id like to see that with a spring door. its not uncommon for me to catch 6-7 hogs on average in one trap at the same time in a good populated area. once again you said 70# pigs, those size pigs are not what im after. im not looking for meat hogs, im looking for money hogs. i gain all the hogs i can with a drop down door by the way i set my wire. how can you trap 13 or 22 hogs in a trap with a spring door. im still waiting for the picture.

i sure dont havae any pics for u, back when i was trappin a lot, i didnt have a camera. my traps are 4X8 and i use to trap for money too. caught 11 in my trap about 5 times. some of those checks i got for selling were right at 650-700 bucks. good enough for u? ive caught more than 11 at a time but that would have included piglets/ unsellable hogs.


btw, why would u be able to catch more hogs in a drop down than a swing???? its all about a bunch of em walkin in before they trigger it. which usually has to do with how big ur trap is, not ur door style.

Our average for our trap right now is probably right at 6, depends how u calculate average. when we catch boars, we usually catch one, when we catch sows it is usually 7or 8.

I just cant see how u can base number of hogs caught at once on the type of door.

im just saying that ive had both styles and the traps with guillotine doors always outperformed the ones with spring doors. my point is, there is a disadvantage to using spring doors. it doesnt matter how strong your door is and that they cant open it from the inside, what happens when hogs go in and others go out at the same time? your losing hogs. you dont have to worry about hogs escaping with a drop door with a locking mechanism and you catch the same amount or more hogs in it at one setting. also the door is wider, mine are 4 ft wide which allow more hogs to enter quicker than with a spring door that is 2 to 2 1/2 ft wide. and yes trap size does matter. most of my traps are 5x8 but i got one that is 3x7 with drop door that i have caught six at one time because i ran my trip wire at short angle in the corner of the trap. one sow 160#, sow 140# and 4 piglets

i can see the idea about the wider door. that is something i might have to look into, but ive stilll caught more hogs with the swing door, i even changed over my hog traps to swinging doors. u probabaly did the opposite lol.

each to thier own. im not trying to ridicule people who use spring doors but i just think that drop down doors are better in my opinion and im just trying to share my experiences with both types. i guess in the end its what works better for you and whatever catches hogs.

u know what is even more important that the type of door????




having more than one trap in the right spot.
one time we had 4 traps set at one location. we caught hogs in all of them that night lol. i wanna say we had close to 25hogs, not including the piglets.

that is very important. its like real estate: location, location, location. their can be alot of hogs on a property and if you dont set in the right locations your catch rate will be to a minimum. i like to set mine about 10-15 feet from a heavy trail that is beat down to the bare dirt because i know they use that trail every night or set traps at the corner of tree lines where two tree lines meet to make a corner. those are really hot spots.

it also helps if their is alot hogs in the area lol

i like to set mine right next to creep feeders lol. that is where all the hogs go lol!

that is a very important element. lol

I like that VW in the last pic next to the criminal. I bet it goes where a Jeep wont...