Securing Oxy/Act Bottles

Bird · May 24, 2004

( Thieves are not much on hard work, remember that. )

You're right . . . 90+% of the time, but I've sure seen some interesting exceptions. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Like 3 burglars I arrested one morning. They had driven the evening before from Dallas to Louisiana, burglarized a Budweiser distributorship, took a safe and loaded it into the trunk of a Pontiac, and returned to Dallas. Now I don't know how much work was involved in getting into the place, but the safe was heavy enough that 4 of us had a hard time lifting it later, and the trunk of the car had to be tied, still open about 3 inches. When they got back to Dallas, they took it up a set of stairs to a second floor apartment (looked impossible to me), then spent most of the morning chopping a hole in the bottom of it with a hatchet. The only thing in that safe was about $30 in loose change and the registration and titles for all the beer distributorship's fleet of trucks. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif It was one of the most hilarious cases I ever worked. The town in Louisiana sent 2 officers in a Ford sedan to get the safe and burglars. We got the safe into the trunk of the car, the 3 burglars in the back seat, and they left Dallas with absolutely no springs on the back of that car; the frame was down solid on the rear axle. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I guess they made it back home since I never heard from them again.

Lazy · May 24, 2004

Hi
Maybe a mean junkyard dog (Rottweiler) or better yet a pair

Charlie

wroughtn_harv · May 24, 2004

If only we had thieves to deal with then things like bad dogs or trip wired traps would be kewl.

But we don't.

There are children out there too. Plus an occasional pet or two.

I once refused to fabricate and wire up a steel grid inside a garage to two twenty as a second line of defense for a window opening. The owner had been burglarized and wanted to make the perps pay the next time around.

Bigger than heck a month or so later he was hit again. They pulled apart his rebar window guard and got almost all of his wrenches out of the tool boxes.

They were caught when the six year old they'd stuffed through their opening to pass back the tools told his friends at school about his adventure.

I understand the anger at a thief after a break in. But there is a standard the rest of us must maintain or we become the same as them.

Bird, as for thieves working hard. Your story reminds me of my dad's saying about a friend of the family. "He'd climb a tree to tell a lie when he could tell the truth standing on the ground." /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

missourihick · May 24, 2004

Sure you can shoot them. You just can't hit them unless they shoot at you first.

In my case most of all the local folks know I 'm crazy and that I shoot first. I had kids stealing gas from tractors in the barn ,I heard something out there (300' away) 3 or 4 rounds of #7 bird shot across that tin roof and they were fearing for their lives. I think they burned more gas screaming down the road running away than they would have got from all the tractors. Now when they ride their 4 wheelers by here they speed up instead of slowing down and looking things over.

Oh yea,when you shoot over the barn you have to holler something like "I think I hit one " or " go ahead and shoot em ,we'll bury them out back with the others"
You gotta have a little fun.

( Um... shotgun loaded with rocksalt? Guess the thief would have a hard time explaining that one to the ER doctor...

Too bad you can't hang people like that from the trees anymore..

Soundguy )

Taylortractornut · May 24, 2004

I have a friend that makes caps/ guards that are hingedand threaded collars to go onthe tops of the clinders. He makes them for a few of the construcion ou fits and quarries. It keeps them from takein the regs the bottles and the only thing they get is the hose and the torch body. THey work pretty good plus provied gauge protection.
Chris I had a friend that farmed and had 2 old Gas burner JD's and a Farmall that he did chore work with to avoid tying up a newer tractor so they could do the heavy work. His gas tanker on a wagon was raided every night. He painted up his old tanker like the new one and put it out in the fireld but it had sugar,rust,molasses and other sticky treats added to it and some air pressure to push it. The next morning he found 2 old pickups that hadnt made it out of the fields. They were then promptly checked for sweet gas tank lids and then reported to the sheriff.

Ozarker · May 25, 2004

I am assuming this happened at night since most thieves like to work under the cover of darkness. You might try some flood lights attached to motion detectors. Suddenly being bathed in flood lights often makes them exit the area quickly.

dummy · May 25, 2004

Insurance guy told me that was a real bad idea here in my part of the world. No electric fences or concertina wire either. Said they would pull my coverage. I thought he was kidding til I checked with two other local companies. Seems they don't want the liability of paying a burglar to get his butt repaired/replaced. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Mecheng · May 25, 2004

I also like to have radio connected with the light and motion detector. Not only do you deprive a burgler of cover but he can't hear if someone is coming. The radio doesn't have to be loud either.

TBAR · May 25, 2004

( I also like to have radio connected with the light and motion detector. Not only do you deprive a burgler of cover but he can't hear if someone is coming. The radio doesn't have to be loud either. )

Hummm, interesting. I wonder if they make motion sensors that will work off 12Volt?

TBAR

uhmgawa · May 25, 2004

( Hummm, interesting. I wonder if they make motion sensors that will work off 12Volt?)

Nearly all are ~12V internally. They use the reactance of a fairly
large series capacitor to drop the line voltage down to something
manageable, half-wave rectify then regulate it by a simple shunt
zener diode. That said, all of these systems are hot as no isolation
(ie: transformer) exists. Rationale: It's cheap.

If you pop open a motion detector it should be quite simple
to dismiss the AC regulation and drive it directly from a 12V source.
The only potential issue would be upgrading the relay if the 12V
lighting load current is beyond its contact rating.