Gate Locking Ideas

[TheMan419]

Yikes! Kudos to your wife. 10 minutes of CPR is no small feat of endurance.

yes. She is kind of a bad ass at this point. I never win arguments anymore.

 

[jyoutz]

I am looking for a better solution for locking my gate than the old chain and padlock. My buddy has a cylinder welded to the gate for the padlock to go in. Keeps the crooks from using bolt cutters or angle grinder.
Something like this:View attachment 605069
I was just wondering if anyone has easier/more innovative ideas. I come from the school of thought that the harder you make it for a thief the less likely you are to have them around. I KNOW I KNOW if a determined crook wants to get in they will. But I am not going to make it easy for them.

Go take a look at the US Forest Service design. It’s impossible to cut the latch or padlock without a torch. Any welder can make one like that.

 

[Jstpssng]

Go take a look at the US Forest Service design. It’s impossible to cut the latch or padlock without a torch. Any welder can make one like that.

Are you aware that this thread is over 2 1/2 years old? Hopefully the OP has found the answers he was looking for.

And as I said before; I have yet to see a gate design which I can't open in two minutes with a simple hacksaw.
Not that I do it maliciously; yet over the years I've been around enough gates to know how they work.

Hardened steel in strategic places is the only way to slow people down who want to get through.

 

[jyoutz]

Are you aware that this thread is over 2 1/2 years old? Hopefully the OP has found the answers he was looking for.

And as I said before; I have yet to see a gate design which I can't open in two minutes with a simple hacksaw.
Not that I do it maliciously; yet over the years I've been around enough gates to know how they work.

Hardened steel in strategic places is the only way to slow people down who want to get through.

I didn’t look at the original post date. It showed up as a new post.

 

[ponytug]

Brazing on a little carbide never hurts either...

But again, the adjacent fence gets to be a weak spot very quickly.

Our neighbor had someone joyride through their fences with an ATV. I have to imagine that it came with some cost to the rider's body, but the next day, you could see that the tracks went through many fences with no sign of the ATV slowing down.

All the best,

Peter

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I'm still here. And no, I haven't had any reason to need to beef up security yet. Luckily, the entrance to my property is pretty private and very few people know it even there. Thanks for all of the feedback though.

@Jstpssng Have have seen plenty of gates that I would put $100 on vs you in the 2 minute hacksaw test. Just sayin'!

 

[beowulf]

You're better off with obvious cameras and signage for deterrents. Now if you want something that looks more aesthetically pleasing than a chain and padlock, that's different.

Ditto on the cameras (even if fake) and the signage. We have signage re 24 hour surveillance, beware of the dogs, "nothing here worth your life" (with a picture of a gun), and a locked gate, and a beeper alerts us if anyone is at the gate (nice for deliveries). No one has ever come on to the property with mischief in mind that I know of. Also, I have a rule that I will not have any yard sales, or otherwise do anything to invite strangers or lookiloos onto the property where they can see what is there to be taken.

 

[Jstpssng]

I'm still here. And no, I haven't had any reason to need to beef up security yet. Luckily, the entrance to my property is pretty private and very few people know it even there. Thanks for all of the feedback though.

@Jstpssng Have have seen plenty of gates that I would put $100 on vs you in the 2 minute hacksaw test. Just sayin'!

That would be an interesting challenge. Even the heavy gates we put up I have opened with a hacksaw after some putz jammed the lock with loctite or some other material. Not that I make a habit of it, but unless they are hardened steel I can get into them pretty easily. We haven't had any problems that way though, so haven't needed to make changes.

Another point; a round padlock is much harder to break than a square master lock type. Depending on gate style it's relatively easy to come down on a square lock with a tire iron and 2 lb hammer... not that I've ever had to break out from behind a gate...

 

[JDZ735M]

It's pretty easy to make a quick shave key for these laminated Master Locks.

 

[mikester]

Yes. The gates going into various areas of the National Wildlife preserve, just across the county road, have similar locking situations. A foot long chunk of heavy wall metal pipe( 4" dia ) is welded to the vertical gate post. A heavy tongue, welded to the movable gate, slides into a slot cut in the pipe. You have to reach up inside the pipe to put a padlock on the tongue. A metal top is welded on the pipe. Inside the pipe is, more or less, weather proof.

Prevents - rifle shots or bolt cutters or hack saws. BUT watch out. The hornets, wasps & yellow jackets really like making big 'ol nests up inside those pipes also.

A cutting torch could do the job. But - there is NOTHING on the other side worth stealing. It's just a lot more open range land.

Mud wasps seem to get into the darnedest places making your mechanisms useless. I prefer the simplicity of a chain and padlock. If someone is intent on breaking in, ANY lock won't be a deterrent.