# Duke 550 Pro Series



## ldhfff (Jan 9, 2020)

Hi all, I am looking at getting some more traps and current am running the MB 550's and love them.  Does anyone have experience with the new Duke 550 Pro Series and can provide a review?  For the few extra dollars in savings is there a big difference or should I just stick with the MB's?  Thanks


----------



## antharper (Jan 9, 2020)

I can give no advice but am just trying to get into trapping to improve my hunting property and ordered a dozen of the mb 550’s and I seen the duke 550 pro series and ordered a few of them also , been watching YouTube videos and getting advice on here and also got a offer from a guy on here that’s in my area to help me out any way he can , can’t wait to get started


----------



## Doug B. (Jan 9, 2020)

I do not have any Duke traps. I do have MB 550's.  From what I have seen on Youtube I wouldn't mind having the Duke 550's.  Watch some of TrapperJOutdoors videos.  That's what he uses, and he kills it on coyotes.


----------



## mossyoakpro (Jan 9, 2020)

antharper said:


> I can give no advice but am just trying to get into trapping to improve my hunting property and ordered a dozen of the mb 550’s and I seen the duke 550 pro series and ordered a few of them also , been watching YouTube videos and getting advice on here and also got a offer from a guy on here that’s in my area to help me out any way he can , can’t wait to get started




You're going to love it!!  Best of luck!!


----------



## mossyoakpro (Jan 9, 2020)

ldhfff said:


> Hi all, I am looking at getting some more traps and current am running the MB 550's and love them.  Does anyone have experience with the new Duke 550 Pro Series and can provide a review?  For the few extra dollars in savings is there a big difference or should I just stick with the MB's?  Thanks




I can't speak to the 550 Pro Duke trap as I have not used them although I may give them a whirl at some point.  That being said the MB trap is hard to beat...many a critter has ended up on a stretcher from stepping into one of those traps.  Tight chains!!


----------



## Doug B. (Jan 9, 2020)

mossyoakpro said:


> I can't speak to the 550 Pro Duke trap as I have not used them although I may give them a whirl at some point.  That being said the MB trap is hard to beat...many a critter has ended up on a stretcher from stepping into one of those traps.  Tight chains!!


The MB 550's are indestructable!   I have caught multiple coyotes in one trap and with all the abuse a coyote puts them through, nothing changes on the trap.   I would hope the Duke 550's would be the same way!


----------



## mossyoakpro (Jan 9, 2020)

Doug B. said:


> The MB 550's are indestructable!   I have caught multiple coyotes in one trap and with all the abuse a coyote puts them through, nothing changes on the trap.   I would hope the Duke 550's would be the same way!




K9 Extreme is the same way!!  Built like a tank.


----------



## OleRed15 (Jan 10, 2020)

I have a dozen of the Duke 550’s and got them all set in the ground Wednesday so no catches yet but from what I can tell they are gonna be excellent traps. 
Traps look and function exactly like MB 550’s at 60 dollars less a dozen. Pan is a little bigger on the Duke than the MB. Adjustments and setting is the same. 
I ordered mine from Southern snares.


----------



## 280 Man (Jan 14, 2020)

I've had too much success with MB 550's to start changing horses in mid stream! These MB550's are bomb proof!!


----------



## j_seph (Jan 14, 2020)

Everyone talking about MB 550 is sort of what talked me out of trying the trapping due to high cost. Later seen a friend that had easily 100 duke traps from 10 or 15 years ago. Know they were not 550 but I do know he caught the fool out of critters in them Dukes traps.


----------



## Doug B. (Jan 14, 2020)

Watch Trapper J Outdoors on YouTube. Duketraps sponsor him and he catches a lot of coyotes with the Duke 550's.  
Personally,  I prefer the MB 550's.


----------



## furtaker (Jan 14, 2020)

j_seph said:


> Everyone talking about MB 550 is sort of what talked me out of trying the trapping due to high cost. Later seen a friend that had easily 100 duke traps from 10 or 15 years ago. Know they were not 550 but I do know he caught the fool out of critters in them Dukes traps.


Lots of people use Dukes and catch plenty of animals with them but they are a cheap, flimsy trap, plain and simple. I've never used them but I've held them before and there is no comparison between them and MBs or fully modified Bridgers. You get what you pay for and large coyotes are tough on traps. I remember one trapper who used to post here and caught tons of coyotes (primarily with MBs) said one time that he had foxes bend Duke traps.


----------



## Doug B. (Jan 14, 2020)

I don't trim the spring pins on my MB 550's.  I probably won't 4 coil, but I didn't want to cut them.  I had a coyote bend one. Imagine if it was a Duke.  Coyotes are tough!


----------



## furtaker (Jan 14, 2020)

Doug B. said:


> I don't trim the spring pins on my MB 550's.  I probably won't 4 coil, but I didn't want to cut them.  I had a coyote bend one. Imagine if it was a Duke.  Coyotes are tough!


Yeah, I've had that happen before. It can happen with 4 coil traps too. It's likely from a chain link hanging up on the spring pin, which could also prevent proper swiveling which is not a good thing.


----------



## mossyoakpro (Jan 14, 2020)

Doug B. said:


> I don't trim the spring pins on my MB 550's.  I probably won't 4 coil, but I didn't want to cut them.  I had a coyote bend one. Imagine if it was a Duke.  Coyotes are tough!




I have gone to mainly 450's, Bridger dogless 2's and K9 Extremes but Furtaker is correct...be careful of the swivel getting hung up on the exposed pins.  I run 4 coiled on drags due to the increase in holding power but that's just me...


----------



## 280 Man (Jan 14, 2020)

Doug B. said:


> I don't trim the spring pins on my MB 550's.  I probably won't 4 coil, but I didn't want to cut them.  I had a coyote bend one. Imagine if it was a Duke.  Coyotes are tough!



 I do trim the springs to try and mitigate anything hanging up! Ive caught some nasty yotes and have not ever had one come close to hurting my 550's.


----------



## OleRed15 (Jan 14, 2020)

furtaker said:


> Lots of people use Dukes and catch plenty of animals with them but they are a cheap, flimsy trap, plain and simple. I've never used them but I've held them before and there is no comparison between them and MBs or fully modified Bridgers. You get what you pay for and large coyotes are tough on traps. I remember one trapper who used to post here and caught tons of coyotes (primarily with MBs) said one time that he had foxes bend Duke traps.


Nothing at all wrong with the Duke 550’s they are super tough traps I don’t see anything wrong with them compared to the MB 550’s. Duke 550’s are nowhere near the awful quality of previous duke traps. I don’t see them bending or breaking from a Ga coyote


----------



## Doug B. (Jan 14, 2020)

furtaker said:


> Yeah, I've had that happen before. It can happen with 4 coil traps too. It's likely from a chain link hanging up on the spring pin, which could also prevent proper swiveling which is not a good thing.


I actually saw it when I walked up to it because the first thing I look at is how good they are in the trap.  It wasn't bent very bad, and it was still turning at the swivel that was attached to the cable stake.  I probably should put a mid chain swivel, especially if I'm not going to trim the spring pin, but, one slightly bent pin out of 14 catches don't really seem like a big deal.


----------



## furtaker (Jan 15, 2020)

OleRed15 said:


> Nothing at all wrong with the Duke 550’s they are super tough traps I don’t see anything wrong with them compared to the MB 550’s. Duke 550’s are nowhere near the awful quality of previous duke traps. I don’t see them bending or breaking from a Ga coyote


Yeah, I was talking about the old Chinese Dukes that appear to be formed from recycled cat food cans. The 550s look much better.


----------



## ldhfff (Jan 15, 2020)

Thanks for all the feedback. As suggested, I have reviewed multiple videos comparing the two traps, including Trapper J Outdoors.  I have been running MB's for the last year and have loved them!  That said, I have a dozen Duke 550's arriving tomorrow and I'll get them ready this weekend and hopefully in the ground.  I'll let you know how they hold up and seem compared to my MB's.  I will be trimming the spring pins to avoid any tangling.  Thanks again.


----------



## OleRed15 (Jan 15, 2020)

furtaker said:


> Yeah, I was talking about the old Chinese Dukes that appear to be formed from recycled cat food cans. The 550s look much better.



I agree the old ones were awful. A house cat would bend the cheap China traps especially with the side chains they come with.


----------



## Heath (Jan 18, 2020)

I really like my Duke 550’s.  I like my Duke 1 3/4 as well, I baseplate, laminate, and put crunch proof swivels and #2 chain on them and they are all I need.  I’ve also got wild river pans on some of them.  Probably add them to the others when time allows.  Basically, making them a 550 with slightly smaller kill area.  MB’s are great too.  450’s hold coyotes good as well.  Trap selection boils down to preference for the most part.  I have K9 extreme Jr’s as well and I use different traps based on sets and what I’m trying to accomplish and what the location dictates.  If You are gonna run a large line I would suggest finding one type, size, or style of trap and sticking with it to help speed up set making.  Otherwise, get 5-6 different traps and start catching game and see which ones work best for you.  Then you could buy a few dozen of them and get serious.  Trapping to me is less about the trap and more about you putting the trap where it needs to be.


----------



## Jeremygranado36 (Jan 18, 2020)

I mainly run Mb550s but have some Duke 550s and they have been good! Held cats and coyotes just fine.


----------



## ldhfff (Jan 29, 2020)

My dozen Duke 550's are in the ground as of today!  During initial inspections, as I adjusted the pan tension, boiled, and dyed them, they appear to be every bit as solid as the MBs.  The only thing I noticed was that the swivels were not as heavy but that is easily rectified by adding crunch proof swivels.  Hopefully we will have some catch results to share in the near future.  Thanks for all the feedback!


----------



## Doug B. (Jan 29, 2020)

Can't wait to see the pictures!


----------



## 280 Man (Jan 30, 2020)

Midway USA has them on sale!! Looks like a solidly built trap! I know I said that there's no use in buying anything but MB550's but I digress. I may have to buy a few of these to try! 

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1021670068?pid=609042


----------



## antharper (Jan 30, 2020)

I caught this one in one of the duke 550 this morning and I don’t even know what I’m doing but I’m learning


----------



## ldhfff (Feb 6, 2020)

Thanks again for all the feedback!  This last week resulted in two coyotes in the new Duke 550's.  The first you can see was a full pad catch and the trap performed great.  The second one (soaking wet) REALLY impressed me.  When I rolled up I quickly noticed that the big male was held by only one toe!  He had obviously been there quite a while as he had nearly severed his toe but the trap held him solid.  Quite impressive.  Now if the rain would stop we may get some more test results!


----------



## ldhfff (Feb 15, 2020)

Yesterday I spoke with Brian at Southern Snares & Supplies and he shared with me that the Duke 550's have stiffer springs and that I should check the pan tension on my traps.  I checked all of them and they ranged between 4 - 5+ lbs pressure, too much for my liking.  I backed them off to around 2.5 - 3 lbs.  Now they will require a little pan height adjustment as they are sitting a touch high.  Anyone else checked your pan tension on the Duke's 550's?


----------



## 280 Man (Feb 15, 2020)

How far do you guys set your traps from your dirt hole or whatever you are using for your "key"!


----------



## furtaker (Feb 15, 2020)

280 Man said:


> How far do you guys set your traps from your dirt hole or whatever you are using for your "key"!


Obviously it can vary depending on the set but as a general rule I set the trap as close as I can get it.


----------



## antharper (Feb 15, 2020)

I think I asked the same question not long ago and I put mine rt up on hole dead center of hole no offset or anything , maybe with jaw only a inch or two from hole


----------



## 280 Man (Feb 15, 2020)

antharper said:


> I think I asked the same question not long ago and I put mine rt up on hole dead center of hole no offset or anything , maybe with jaw only a inch or two from hole



Ive tried many different placements and have not found the "the best", if there is such a thing! What you can't see in the pic is the big rock that the yote keyed on. Look at this yotes foot placement. The trap is only inches from his left paw. Also, look at how far this yote has stretched out to smell the rock. He just wouldn't get any closer with his feet.


----------



## fatback (Feb 16, 2020)

I like my pan to be 4-6 inches from the hole on a dirt hole set and off set 2-3 inches.


----------



## buckpasser (Feb 16, 2020)

The track that didn’t didn’t get caught last night was about 10” from the hole and about 5” offset to the left. Looked like he had a lot of weight on it stretching over the hole to sniff. I hope he comes again.


----------



## jcdona (Feb 16, 2020)

I like 8-9 inches back and 2-3 inches ofset to the right.  Most animals seem to  lead with their rt foot. Use some more blocking to guide his foot iver the pan. Just my opinion.  Good luck.


----------



## Heath (Feb 17, 2020)

ldhfff said:


> Yesterday I spoke with Brian at Southern Snares & Supplies and he shared with me that the Duke 550's have stiffer springs and that I should check the pan tension on my traps.  I checked all of them and they ranged between 4 - 5+ lbs pressure, too much for my liking.  I backed them off to around 2.5 - 3 lbs.  Now they will require a little pan height adjustment as they are sitting a touch high.  Anyone else checked your pan tension on the Duke's 550's?



Mine were a little high as well,  I’d say mostly 5-6 pounds.  I adjust every trap to 3-4lbs.  When I started I ran very light pan tension and had quite a few misses and tripped traps.  I went to pan tensions closer to 4 pounds some a little more and some a little less.  Rarely have sprung traps that don’t have a foot in them now.  I would say you could go quite a bit heavier and still be good but I’ve seen no need to try.  I really like the Duke 550’s. Gonna buy some more this spring or summer to have ready for next year.


----------



## 280 Man (Feb 17, 2020)

My pan tension on my MB 550's is around 3 lbs. Im with "Heath" I hardly ever have tripped traps that don't have a paw in them!


----------



## furtaker (Feb 17, 2020)

Pan tension is your friend.


----------



## Koltan (Feb 18, 2020)

I have 6 duke 550. They are great traps. I had to adjust the pan tension to around 3lbs, but other than that they are perfect. Boiled in black walnuts and then in the dirt. By far best trap for the $


----------

