It seems like the crank is high enough in the crankcase that I may not matter, but this is my first 440 build. What are your opinions?
Fwiw I'm putting in a 4.15 crank.

i did on a 493. a crank scraper is better than messing around with 2 gaskets on a tray. if ur going to use a tray, make sure it has plenty of louvers for drain back. seeya.

with out it my oil pressure was all over the place after the 1000ft mark.
with it everything is ok. i never put one together with out one after that.

Yup. If it's the MP part, definitely add some louvers for drain-back. The Milodon tray is better out of the box.
The rotating assy can suck oil up from a fair distance, which then wraps around the crank & rods. As effective as the reciprocating assy is at pumping at the top, it's also pretty effective at whipping & stirring at the bottom.

Crank is high in the block in a big block but the oil pan tends to be shallower than a small block. As mentioned by others, if you use a tray, use one with as many louvers as possible. If you are considering a crank scraper or combo, check out the options available from Ishihara-Johnson:

Ishihara-Johnson B/RB crank scrapers & trays/screens.

i cut my windage tray up & made it into a scraper, thought it was a better deal.

I have always run one. Ron

I make my own crank scrapers and use the stock Mopar stock stroke windage trays I open up the louvers on the side for better drain back I do use the two oil pan gaskets bewtween the scraper and windage tray, I cut one in half and glue it on the block up to the crank scraper, the scraper is glue onto the other side of the block and then one thick Fel Pro gasket on top of the scraper and half gasket, another thick Fel Pro between the oil pan and windage tray I have since started adding more drain back holes at every main cap like the one in the picture on the right side, I took this picture before adding those additional holes

I was always told to run one so every engine I've built has had one, for repair to cost ratio it certainly doesn't hurt to run one.

Mike

I use Milodon's drag pan..it has a built in windage tray...

Yep, I use one on every BB I build. The Milodon tray is much nicer than the MP tray.

DON'T KNOW where they came from ... I think maybe from a bulk-buy at the Big Daddy meet some years ago ...I have a STACK of used OEM ones. Some are bent in the rail area .. but no problemO.

My next build is going to be a low rpm QUENCH moder for my motorhome ... it will have a tray in it .. ferr sure.

I use the miloden standard stroke one. It seemed to clear my 4.15 stroke crank so I just figured it would be ok.

I ran the original tray with extra slots added to add drainage. It aint pretty, but its functional. I picked up a 440 source tray that looks like a copy of the Milodon to use in my next engine since it extends to the front of the crankshaft, instead of having that exposed area at the front like the factory tray does.

I use the MP tray. I pry'd the drainback slots to be a little bigger.