Stainless Steel Putange

[Nicepix 5,650]

I've been using some stainless steel Putanges over the last few weeks, replacing the ones I have out permanently on the contract jobs. So far, so good. The spring tension is almost twice as strong as the conventional Putanges. They don't half grip. Look how close the prongs are. Nearly decapitates them!

 

 

The prongs when set are a fraction wider than the usual ones and the rod is slightly thinner meaning that they are roughly 10 grams lighter. Otherwise they look just the same.....

 

 

 

I found some from a different source a couple of years ago and they have stood up very well. Problem was I couldn't get any more. The 2 year old SS Putange has the red tab on nearest the camera......

 

[smithie 2,429]

Personally I don't think they open wide enough in the first place..

[Tiercel 6,986]

Personally I don't think they open wide enough in the first place..

Have you not made a wider trigger yet? Not like you.

 

TC

[torchey 1,202]

Or just move the trigger back a bit....

[shropshire mole 190]

Personally I don't think they open wide enough in the first place..

Agree, they do not look very wide, not wide enough for old moley, but they do catch, and catch well.

[Nicepix 5,650]

The thing with the normal Putanges is that they slide inside most straight tunnels with no problem. These are about 5mm wider and the top of the prongs tend to scrape the edge of the tunnel as they go in. I suppose I could use the triggers from the other type if that caused a problem.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Nicepix

[smithie 2,429]

The thing with the normal Putanges is that they slide inside most straight tunnels with no problem. These are about 5mm wider and the top of the prongs tend to scrape the edge of the tunnel as they go in. I suppose I could use the triggers from the other type if that caused a problem.

 

 

i would stick with the bigger trigger and scrape the tunnel out with the prongs of a spare trap to make it fit. to my mind the easier a mole can pass the better it is for catching

[Nicepix 5,650]

Its not really an issue Smithie. I rarely get moles blocking the traps so they must be willing to go through. The reason I mentioned the wider gape on the traps I'm currently using was just to list the differences. These days I use more Putanges than Duffus traps whereas a couple of years ago I'd just put the Putanges in shallow runs or alongside walls.

 

Another use for them; I save the older traps that are ready for retirement, and if I get a job where I really don't want a call back, you know, the one miles from your usual area, I leave a pair or two of the older traps pushed right down the busy tunnels and then fill them in.

[Nicepix 5,650]

The slightly wider gape doesn't make much difference in normal use. I've been mixing traps up; normal Putanges, the older stainless ones and the newer traps for new jobs and they are all catching. The main difference is that the spring is so strong I have to use the pliers type tool. The lever is a real struggle to use on the new traps.

 

All my contract jobs are now on the stainless ones. Had two doubles in three-way runs this week in the same trap site. I'm still waiting for a triple. Today one mole was trapped conventionally, another backwards way around. I reckon it had clambered over the dead one and continued down the tunnel setting the trap off as it passed through. They all count

[Phil Lloyd 10,736]

Personally I don't think they open wide enough in the first place..

 

AS you know,....same as several other mole trappers,...I was concerned about the width of the jaw spacing and accordingly,..fancied trying a wider trigger system,...but, after extensive field testing,.I now find the trap to be perfectly adequate..My daily catch rate is satisfactory,...and I have not experienced many rejection problems, or fired and sprung traps...Sometimes I think we can get a wee bit too complicated over things....

[smithie 2,429]

 

Personally I don't think they open wide enough in the first place..

 

AS you know,....same as several other mole trappers,...I was concerned about the width of the jaw spacing and accordingly,..fancied trying a wider trigger system,...but, after extensive field testing,.I now find the trap to be perfectly adequate..My daily catch rate is satisfactory,...and I have not experienced many rejection problems, or fired and sprung traps...Sometimes I think we can get a wee bit too complicated over things....

 

 

 

i cant argue as you will have used your traps far more than i have but i cant help but chew over the trap and its design while im stalled.. and what was niggling me was a mole makes a hole as big as it needs to be to pass and the putanges look like they are designed for a square tunnel and pusthed in to a tunnel the prongs can only go so far to the side before the curve of the tunnel stops them going all the way.this makes the tunnel smaller then 5.5mm smaller again for each prong. this is why i have mine open wider and i rake the tunnel, although i do this its not needed as others dont do it and have no problem with a catch rate but i cant help try swing the odds more in my favour... ohh and i also took a grinder to the outside of the pronges on a few traps to make them more narrow i kid you not

 

and i dont put loads out so there is no rush for me, not that its too time consuming..

 

maybe i just think too much about stuff that already work

[Nicepix 5,650]

My brother-in-law got a question from someone on eBay who insisted that he had measured a mole's head and claimed that it wouldn't fit through the Putange. Anyway, he bought some and then later contacted Ian to say that he was wrong. They did catch moles after all.

 

Perhaps those 17th century mole trappers knew what they were doing after all. And we ow it all to this man.........

 

 

André Le Nostre, who planned and landscaped the gardens of the Palace of Versailles around 1664 and started the war against moles in the King's garden.

 

 

Smithie, you are right in what you say. But a mole encounters all sorts of obstructions in its tunnels. Stones, roots, wall edges.......... Out in the Civray & Ruffec area the soil is littered with small limestone chippings and larger lumps. The tunnels rarely run straight for more than 6" and can divert around or under the obstruction. Quite often in gardens tree roots extend out for several metres under the lawns and moles have to squeeze through. They are used to overcoming obstructions. The thing that puzzles me is that moles often will tunnel under a Duffus or Scissor trap, but rarely go under a Putange. The only thing I can think of to explain this is that the triggers on Putanges are far more easy to displace than a typical trigger on a Duffus or Scissor trap.

Edited March 25, 2016 by Nicepix

[smithie 2,429]

i had no problem catching just time on my hands...

 

and the ladyboy needs a hair cut

[moxy 617]

i had no problem catching just time on my hands...

 

and the ladyboy needs a hair cut

:laugh:

[J Darcy 5,871]

The triggers will definitely feel different to a mole, the putanges will 'give' easy whereas the duffus, if not set fine enough, will simply form a 'solid' object to the mole I reckon....... To be honest, nothing touches the talpex IMO...