Question for Clam Trap Pro owners???

[Bronzeback5]

Just bought a trap pro from BPS and had to get the display model cus they were sold out. Question is at the very front of the shanty should the metal bar touch the ice or is there a couple inch gap. Mine has a pretty big gap ( id say 3 inches or better) and then the fabric drapes over, but it would seem like the bar should be touching the ice and that would give more fabric to drape on the ice to block wind. Like i said i had to buy display that was already put together and i got no paperwork with it. Thanks for any replies.

[Jack Magnum]

Just bought a trap pro from BPS and had to get the display model cus they were sold out. Question is at the very front of the shanty should the metal bar touch the ice or is there a couple inch gap. Mine has a pretty big gap ( id say 3 inches or better) and then the fabric drapes over, but it would seem like the bar should be touching the ice and that would give more fabric to drape on the ice to block wind. Like i said i had to buy display that was already put together and i got no paperwork with it. Thanks for any replies.

I believe mine ia an inch or so off the ice and the two times I have used it was windy out and I needed to put my foot on the bar to keep it down.It also looks like it is lower in the front than the back when viewing from the side.

[JigAwhopper]

There should be no gap.  The front of the rod should lay flat on the snow.  You would end up with the gap if the fabric was pulled up too far down in the back and then tacked in place with that strip they give you.   When I assembled mine,  I ran into the same problem because I tried to make the fabric nice and tight, and the front would not lay flat.  I had to undo the back and let it out about an inch of slack,  so the front would go all the way down.    I think your trap was not assembled properly and you might have to undo the back.   You'll probably end up with a bunch of holes in the fabric that that's better than getting a breeze in our tent :-).

[Bronzeback5]

I take that back, got about 5 inches between bar and ground. Material barely hits the ground. I assume you are talking about that black strip around the sled that is screwed in and holds the tarp in back. If  I unscrewed it and pulled fabric forward an inch or two I still cant see it making up for five inches in front. I see what you are saying. I should have listened to my gut and took the extra drive to cabelas and got one in box. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself i guess. This one might go back to BPS. If anyone has any suggestions, im all ears.

[Bronzeback5]

  Thanks jigawhopper, as i could not go to bed with this on my brain. Went out and took the strip off the back and got enough slack to allow the front pole to lay nicely on the floor. They had it stretched about 3 inches too tight. And my wife wonders why i have been on this site a couple hours a day since i found it 2 weeks ago. Hope the other feller takes your advise too. Thanks again

[Bean]

Yep. It definately should be touching the ground/ice. If not, when you're fishing in windy conditions, the air will get under it and lift the front of your shanty up. I was at a BPS last year and I saw a fish trap guide assembled like that. Someone didn't know what they were doing when they assembled that one.  By the way, Welcome to IS.

[IrishIce99]

my scout touches the ice with room to spare. Take it back, or it's possible you could fix it.

[walkonwater1]

There should be no gap.  The front of the rod should lay flat on the snow.  You would end up with the gap if the fabric was pulled up too far down in the back and then tacked in place with that strip they give you.   When I assembled mine,  I ran into the same problem because I tried to make the fabric nice and tight, and the front would not lay flat.  I had to undo the back and let it out about an inch of slack,  so the front would go all the way down.    I think your trap was not assembled properly and you might have to undo the back.   You'll probably end up with a bunch of holes in the fabric that that's better than getting a breeze in our tent :-).

Yupper!

[djkruszewski]

my trap pro touches the ice also.  i would take the rubber u channel molding off and reset the tent.  it's pretty easy, all you do is take the rubber u channel molding off and pull the tent from the front.  make sure that your trap is flipped over like it normally is when you use it.  also make sure that your front bar that lays on the ice is fully extended before you do this!!  after pulling the tent forward, the back end should come up and then just reset it by putting the rubber u channel molding back on.  now if they screwed the rubber u channel molding on then you may have small tiny holes in the fabric, then i would probably take it back.  hopefully this helps any!  good luck!

[Murf]

I had the same problem with the front porch hoop and inch or so off the ground, but I had no fabric on the back to spare.  I ended up drilling holes an inch or so above the other holes on my to top cross hoop bar.  This way it allowed some slack in the fabric and allowed the front to be flush with the ice.  It was almost as if the cross bar was to long to begin with, and now when I am in deeper snow I just extend the hoop bar to the regular holes and the tent keeps a little tighter as it lifts the front up which is ok in deeper snow.   

[scavengerj]

Having an original Trap, a Sno-Boat explorer, mine was before they made all the nice mods to make the Traps better. I had the problem of there being just enough material to cover the thing. It left a big gap on the front and sides when it was flipped over. I ended up taking heavy duty snaps and placing them every 6" along the sides and front 2" from the bottom edges. Then I got some heavy weight duck, 20oz., canvas and cut it the length of the sides and front, making three pieces. To each of these I attached the opposite sides of the snaps every six inches. I made them wide enough to allow for the 2" of overlap on the material of my portable and giving me an additional 5" of material to lay on the ice. The G-unit also sewed a pocket along the entire length of each piece into which I can insert a 3/4" dia. length of PVC. I filled the PVC with sand and capped the ends. Now if it is very windy out, all I have to do is insert the PVC pieces into the pockets and it provides additional weigth. Alot of effort I know, but I really didn't have much choice and with the pieces and weighted lengths of PVC being removable as needed, I don't have to use them if they aren't needed 

[bucketmouth]

Necessity is the mother of invention.  Great mod for the older units 

Having an original Trap, a Sno-Boat explorer, mine was before they made all the nice mods to make the Traps better. I had the problem of there being just enough material to cover the thing. It left a big gap on the front and sides when it was flipped over. I ended up taking heavy duty snaps and placing them every 6" along the sides and front 2" from the bottom edges. Then I got some heavy weight duck, 20oz., canvas and cut it the length of the sides and front, making three pieces. To each of these I attached the opposite sides of the snaps every six inches. I made them wide enough to allow for the 2" of overlap on the material of my portable and giving me an additional 5" of material to lay on the ice. The G-unit also sewed a pocket along the entire length of each piece into which I can insert a 3/4" dia. length of PVC. I filled the PVC with sand and capped the ends. Now if it is very windy out, all I have to do is insert the PVC pieces into the pockets and it provides additional weigth. Alot of effort I know, but I really didn't have much choice and with the pieces and weighted lengths of PVC being removable as needed, I don't have to use them if they aren't needed 

[XII Outdoors]

I have the pro and my bar sits about 2" off of the ground.  I believe its so it doesnt freeze to the ice.  I shovel snow around the tarp and that eliminates the threat of wind.  I think you are ok if you have a small gap but 5" is way too much.  I couldnt be happier with my purchase, the only thing I would have done different was buy a 3 man but couldnt afford it.

[Jack Magnum]

There should be no gap.  The front of the rod should lay flat on the snow.  You would end up with the gap if the fabric was pulled up too far down in the back and then tacked in place with that strip they give you.   When I assembled mine,  I ran into the same problem because I tried to make the fabric nice and tight, and the front would not lay flat.  I had to undo the back and let it out about an inch of slack,  so the front would go all the way down.    I think your trap was not assembled properly and you might have to undo the back.   You'll probably end up with a bunch of holes in the fabric that that's better than getting a breeze in our tent :-).

Mine might be almost an inch but I don't have the excess fabric in the back to actually pull down. I don't see it as a problem although 40 mph winds do effect it. I need to anchor it down maybe.

[WHITETAIL111]

This must be a common problem, because mine is probably 2-3" off the ice too.  I see there is a fix by re doing the rubber material on the back.  I've been toying with doing that also, but normally there is snow and it doesn't make much of a difference wind-wise.  I have been out on bare ice and wind does seem to whip underneath the canvas....but I just reposition the whole sled to face away from the wind if it picks up.  I may try to reposition the rubber material on the back if it becomes a problem.  Nice to know others have the same problem.  I must've set mine up a hair wrong as well??

[dkfry]

When I put together my dads Trap Pro I noticed that how far the bar is off the ground depends on how tight you pull the tarp before attaching it to the sled. I set his trap up so the bar will rest on the ice, installed the black strip holding the tent to the sled and screwed it fast. The lettering on the tent is not level with the ground but the wind doesn't blow the tent up.

On my Otter Den the bar was about 3/4" off the ice (trim lock non adjustable) so I welded on two aluminum legs the the bottom of the bar so it rested on the ice.

[juniatabassman]

Mine is about an 1 or so off the ground. but if u redo the back and have some holes. Last year i got a hole I'm my pro and i emailed the clam corp. They sent me extra material to cover the hole. U could try emailing them and see if they could send some extra material  if u want to get rid of the holes. They sent the material with no charge i was impressed

[thechief]

The gap depends on many factors.  How close you have the seat forward and how much forward you sit on the seat.  I have found that the gap doesent mean much unless you have the sunlight coming in and creating a distraction.  The over lay (or flap) of the material is supposed to take up the difference............ .....

[hardwaterfan]

When I assembled mine,  I ran into the same problem because I tried to make the fabric nice and tight, and the front would not lay flat.

lol i did the same thing. i noticed if you loosen the velcro strips it gives a little more slack. excellent idea about drilling extra holes in the poles. that would work for sure. maybe ill see which one of the poles i could do that too without noticing. maybe the one thats the very back pole.

actuallt though mine is only an inch or so and it really hasnt bothered me much. i like to pack snow around it when i can.

[Turkeyhunter10ga]

Having an original Trap, a Sno-Boat explorer, mine was before they made all the nice mods to make the Traps better. I had the problem of there being just enough material to cover the thing. It left a big gap on the front and sides when it was flipped over. I ended up taking heavy duty snaps and placing them every 6" along the sides and front 2" from the bottom edges. Then I got some heavy weight duck, 20oz., canvas and cut it the length of the sides and front, making three pieces. To each of these I attached the opposite sides of the snaps every six inches. I made them wide enough to allow for the 2" of overlap on the material of my portable and giving me an additional 5" of material to lay on the ice. The G-unit also sewed a pocket along the entire length of each piece into which I can insert a 3/4" dia. length of PVC. I filled the PVC with sand and capped the ends. Now if it is very windy out, all I have to do is insert the PVC pieces into the pockets and it provides additional weigth. Alot of effort I know, but I really didn't have much choice and with the pieces and weighted lengths of PVC being removable as needed, I don't have to use them if they aren't needed 

I pretty much had to fix mine too when i bought the floor model Trap 111 , too much material in the back, shorten it up and give more room in the front. But seems like my flaps are long enough, my problems was with the sides where the material is by the pivot ( hip ) joints , the mat'l is cut too far up and allows the wind in , so i stitched on some velco strips to each part and seal it up that way. I also made the weighted pvc thing without the insert material to put them in. imagine a square U shape when the 3 pieces are put together to just lay on top of the flaps. each piece is removable from the rest and filled with sand, but each end is packed with cottons balls to keep the sand in, so this way you can separate the pieces and store in the tub too. But at the 2 ends of the U, where capped i put a small eye bolt and just drive a nail into the ice to make sure it stays put on real windy days.

[Hardguy]

Having an original Trap, a Sno-Boat explorer, mine was before they made all the nice mods to make the Traps better. I had the problem of there being just enough material to cover the thing. It left a big gap on the front and sides when it was flipped over. I ended up taking heavy duty snaps and placing them every 6" along the sides and front 2" from the bottom edges. Then I got some heavy weight duck, 20oz., canvas and cut it the length of the sides and front, making three pieces. To each of these I attached the opposite sides of the snaps every six inches. I made them wide enough to allow for the 2" of overlap on the material of my portable and giving me an additional 5" of material to lay on the ice. The G-unit also sewed a pocket along the entire length of each piece into which I can insert a 3/4" dia. length of PVC. I filled the PVC with sand and capped the ends. Now if it is very windy out, all I have to do is insert the PVC pieces into the pockets and it provides additional weigth. Alot of effort I know, but I really didn't have much choice and with the pieces and weighted lengths of PVC being removable as needed, I don't have to use them if they aren't needed 

I have a new guide and used to have an older one. They added length to the flaps on the new one. As far as the PVC I also used them also but I used water where you used sand. That way I would not have the weight unless I needed to use them. I kept two pieces of 1" PVC with two caps on them in the bottom of the shanty. When it was windy I would take one cap off and dip the pipe into a hole to fill it. Put the cap on and wallah! If it freezes take it in the car on the way home and dump the water out when you get home. Place back in shanty empty and light. I did it this way for years. Works great. Hate unnecessary weight!

[jepik]

djkruszewski..murf...I bought a pro 2 yrs. ago from gander.. tent was factory installed right out the box..bar was up about 4 ins. ..figured design flaw...read this old post..tried your suggestions...2 ins. excess material in back ...pulled the screws.. porch bar flat on garage floor...next step was going to be.. drill new holes...both good ideas..took about 30 min...patch holes with ind.grade velcro  on the outside...self sticking.coarse side...thanks

[Kalbi]

I had a same problem with mine. I had about an inch or two off the ground. It was bothering me the since I bought it (about a month now)
I'm so glad I found this thread...

[wallyboss]

Anybody that follows the instructions to the letter will have a gap.  I know I did . Got a new tent for mine this year and i left a lot of loose material and it is good now.