Anybody used Harbor Freight/Chinese-made livetraps?

cmjust0

Songster
10 Years
Apr 30, 2009
1,283
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Central KY
The coon-sized, name-brand Havaharts are like $50 and I still read about folks having to 'fine tune' the triggers to make them work right, and about certain pests bending them up, critters stealing the bait without setting off the trap, escaping, yadda yadda.. With that in mind, I kinda wondered how much better they could be than an off-brand trap..?

Turns out that Harbor Freight has a coon-sized (32"x10"x13" or something) trap for like $22 -- half the price of a Havahart at Home Depot.

Anybody tried these? I'm not looking for "I wouldn't risk it" or "they probably don't work" kinda tales, either...

I'm looking for "I bought one and used it, and here's how it went."
 
Nobody?
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Do you have a store near you or are you ordering online?

I have a store and have looked at those traps, they looked decent, if you have a store, go
set it up and see how well it triggers maybe?


Nancy
 
This is mine. Its was made by a old man who sold them to local feed stores.
The door is hinged at the top and opens inward. It has 2 spring loaded hooks that lock the door when it closes.
Once its closed the critters trys to get out at the top of the door where the hinge is, it never works. They are just helping to hold the door closed. On havahearts they can wedge to door open if the latch doesn't catch right.
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The Harbor frieght traps, the Tractor supply traps will work just fine..with a little bit of tuning. Meaning you may need to bend either part of the catch trigger mechanism (the wire coming from the pan or the part it will set against to keep the door up). I've caught plenty of coons with my 25 buck Tractor supply traps though each time I use one of them I do set it and trigger it myself to assure it will do so smoothly and adjust accordingly if not. The key to any trap is to assure it will go off when needed so it doesn't educate the critters. Cause once you educate them your job gets exponetially (sp?) more difficult. Good luck, Keystonepaul
 
We have one; it works, and yes the darn thing was made in China. My son bought it, I never would have.

Rufus
 
I like the Haber fright traps, too date i have caught 6 coons, 5 skunks, 2 opossum,2 house cats. However if you have a coon problem by two, as they rarely travel by themselves. Use Marshmallows for bait and you won't catch house cats.
 
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I have the Tractor Supply 2 pack deal. I did have to fine tune the bar, but no problems catching anything. I have caught 2 cats, mean and nasty, but they did not get out, and they were really trying. Where I work, we deal with several different brands, and they all seem about the same to us.
 
Seems like the cheapies work just as well as the name brands, so I'll probably go that route.. More specifically, I'm going to try the harbor freight trap..

FWIW, I downloaded the product manual on the HF trap and it lists the cage wire as 3/16" in diameter, zinc plated... If my math is correct, 3/16" is equal to .1875", which according to this chart , makes it about a 6-1/2 gauge wire. That's pretty hefty.

The TSC two-pack is 14 gauge, and it's powder coated instead of galvanized.. Plus, it's $10 more and I don't really need 24"x7"x7" bonus trap that comes with it.

I'll post product reviews once I get it.
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