I'm wanting to get into trapping to see how I like it and to hopefully put a small dent in the coyote population. I'm getting a couple of MB550 traps to start with. What type jaw is better a closed or offset?

For club foot animals like a coyote the offset jaws allow the levers to ride up higher on the trap due to the gap....thus in theory creating a better lockup. I don't know that it really matters but if you catch someone's dog the risk of foot damage will be lower with offset so either of those is a good enough reason for me to use them.

For beaver and the like I use close jaws on drowner rigs which I rarely use anyway. Think about the shape of the foot. Generally I think if the animal has a tapered or really small foot I also use closed or standard jaws for things like Muskrat, Coon, etc.

would you use 2 or 4 coiled traps?

Look at the K9 extremes they are great solid traps
Go with the 4coil offset
http://no-bslures.wixsite.com/nobslures/no-bs-k-o-k-9-x-treme-trap

I already have the 550s on the way. the K9 traps look really good to, aybe if I get anymore I can try them out. thanks for the advice.

Make sure you learn how to bed the traps properly. Takes more time than you think to do it right. Get him the first time. An educated coyote is hard to catch.

10-4. maybe we will have some luck. ill keep posted. thanks again