Urgent, need security help

[gcp]

Thank you for the kind words gang, it's not in my nature to quit or take crap so I'm trying to shore things up as best as possible. Indeed progress is being made, and it's great to have friends with heavy machinery, as you can see from the pics, it makes installations go faster. I am now thinking on a barn door fabrication, or possibly hanging a garage door, but structure mods will have to be made. Today I will pour the cement inside the pipes and hopefully initiate the welding.

I too was thinking of various booby trap ideas, thank you for sharing what's already out there. I must be cautious not to hurt the perps, as much as I'd love to, due to the legal implications. So far nothing from LE on locating the stolen trailers, it's disheartening to realize how little effort the investigators are willing to put into theft and/or property retrieval....and there's desire to take our guns? From my cold dead hands. I did some drive bys, on my own, but came up empty, so far. I am afraid they were sold for scarp.

 

[sdkubota]

I think the mere sound of a shotgun shell going off would drive most perps away. Law enforcement isn't very good at retreiving stolen goods or putting much effort towards it. I think mainly because they have little success. There is nothing worse in my book then a thief and sadly, we have a nation full of people who think they are entitled to other peoples things.

 

[gcp]

sd, if LE is not good at retrieval and not good at prevention why are they called LE and what are they ultimately good at, other than the easy stuff? Maybe I am being heavy handed here but I am still very POed.

 

[sdkubota]

sd, if LE is not good at retrieval and not good at prevention why are they called LE and what are they ultimately good at, other than the easy stuff? Maybe I am being heavy handed here but I am still very POed.

They are government employees who never claimed they would protect anyone from harm or recover any stolen goods. I didn't mean to excuse there resolve but have been around enough to understand.

I had a person trying to sell me a Kubota tractor online for $15k. The deal was all set and he was going to ship (free shipping!) the tractor as soon as I wired the money to a UK bank account (uh huh). I realized it was a scam early on but played along hoping the SOB would go to jail. I tried reporting it to the local LEO, FBI, special government inter-net fraud agency and none of them would do anything until I lost money then they admitted there was little chance of catching him. I had the guys name, real address, cell phone numbers that I investigated and found and absolutely no support from the government.

 

[len10]

gcp I feel your frustration. A few years ago a group of thugs tried to break into our house when my wife was home alone. Luckily they took off when they realized she was home. This was not long after the "other" widely publicized Connecticut tragedy. Cheshire, Connecticut, home invasion murders - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Since then I installed an alarm system and video cameras. I have video cameras all around the house including one mounted high on the chimney that monitors the driveway entrance. I bought all my cameras from here:Surveillance Cameras | Security Camera Systems | Security DVRs They have excellent customer service. I plan on installing a license plate capture camera, as it's hard to read a licence plate from a standard surveillance camera:Bosch License Plate Capture Cameras

Great additional suggestions, thank you!

I plan to fabricate a heavy duty tubular steel gate, filled with cement, as explained before, and will use lighting and cameras to add to my surveillance. BTW, good idea about the power company installing a light up front, I値l try to get them to do that.

Here's a remote sensor that may work for me, with a bit of a mod it can probably trigger an audio alarm, flashing light, and a bazooka

Motion Sensor with Wireless Motion Alert-CWA2000 at The Home Depot

I have that exact same motion sensor with wireless motion alert. I wouldn't recommend it as you practically have to jump up and down in front of it to set it off. In addition there's no auxiliary output to trigger other devices. My surveillance camera DVR has motion sensor software, as most do. There's an auxiliary port that can trigger external devices. The sensitivity could be adjusted, and part of the field of view could be excluded to decrease false alarms. Another option is a Dakota driveway probe "driveway" - Smarthome

I admire your determination!

 

[sdkubota]

Taking a video might help the police solve the murder mystery but I will rely on my Kimber and have enough movies to watch.

 

[len10]

Taking a video might help the police solve the murder mystery but I will rely on my Kimber and have enough movies to watch.

You may feel comfortable relying on your Kimber, but I prefer avoiding the element of surprise. When a motion sensor goes off in the middle of the night, I like the idea of having my cameras with 360 degree views and night vision.

 

[mkane09]

I have had similar concerns at my property. 25 acres 10 miles from where I live. It has a 200 yard drive back to where the property opens up. When I had it cleared, people could ride their ATVs onto it from the bottom corner. I had the largest tree stumps from clearing the land stacked in the bottom of the field to create a stump "wall" At the drive, I erected a 3" pipe gate in three sections: a barrier on each end with a swinging gate in the center. Each section is concreted in the ground. The gate consists of a horizontal leg at the top with an angled leg coming up from the bottom. At the end of the gate is 1/2 of a lock box that mates to the other 1/2 connected to one of the permanent barriers. I lock it with a big lock that you have to reach under the lock box to access. The sections were heavy enough that I had to position them with the FEL of my tractor. Each section is 16' long and together they totally block the drive. I store my tractor, implements, trailer, and horse trailer on the locked side of the gate. So far, so good. I'd make sure that thieves have no other access to your land other than the drive, and then max out security on that drive. I like the random cameras idea. One of my neighbors has a remote sensor at the end of his drive that alarms him privately whenever anything breaks the beam. Another thought....

mkane09

 

[gcp]

The gate fabrication has been completted so today we'll be installing....it's quite cold but it is what it is.....pictures to follow.

I also bought 2 sets each of the following: 2 Camera Wireless security system,Weatherprrof with Nightvision and digital Pan, tilt and Zoom. and Wireless Driveway Alert & Driveway Alarm System to learn on and attempt to build a custom security system using Arduino products, providing me with a text/phone call each time the property's perimeter is breached.

 

[gcp]

The gate fabrication and install has been completed! All that remains now is priming and painting. I decided to keep the cattle gate behind the new as an extra barrier and/or until I finalize the entrance look. What do you think?

The only way in with a vehicle, and without a key, is to cut gate(s) metal with a torch, grinder, or saw of sort.

 

[sdkubota]

Couldn't they just drive around the gate...D'oh!

 

[UWAdventurer]

Can the gate be lifted off the hinge side? Can't tell from the photos. If so you need to weld stops above the hinges to prevent it.

 

[gcp]

sd I wish they would attempt to drive around, there's a 50 foot drop to the creek on the right, and I'm talking clif like drop, and hundreds of 50 year old trees on the left.... but I thoought we discussed that once before, were you not paying attention? :drink:

uw, the hinges are welded in place in such a manner where the gate can not be lifted, as you can see to remove it one would have to be cut. Actually I welded the cattle gate's hinges as well....

 

[stuckmotor]

I wouldn't set any booby traps. If someone is injured, they might sue you AND WIN.

 

[zzvyb6]

From a structural analysis standpoint, your gate is still weak in a few areas. A chain placed in the center, at the top or bottom will twist and fold the square tubing. This will put so much strain on the hinges that they will break their welds and/or tear the parent metal.

Helpng with this would be taller hinge posts with more hinges (4 ?) and wide flat thick steel plate decking on the top and bottom. Two 4" I-beams are what I'd add to his array, and a diagonal rod or cable. You need latches to match the hinge reinforcement, too. Otherwise the latch is the weak point.

Put some electrical boxes on the gate posts to imply that there some sort of alarm or gate movement sensor involved in its operation. Maybe even some "Danger 220v" stickers on the posts. Very small. Not to be seen by anyone but those working on the electrical boxes. The bandits won't be fooled by big/large signs, but will be by tiny ones where real danger could be had.

Chain makes the best resistance to penetration. Run some serious chain criss-crossed around the hinge post and use the ends to wrap around the other one with your lock or use a loop. Then bolt the loop into a box made out of steel plate whose cover is padlocked. Run your pretend 220v electric wire into this box. This sends a message that there is a puzzle to be solved to get this gate open, the gate is strong enough to withstand a strong tug, and its probably going to damage the vehicle when it pops open.

That leaves the gate posts as the weakest links. BIG I-beams for them....

 

[sdkubota]

or move to a safer area of the country. We still shoot thieves around my parts and you don't hear of much thievery going on here. We also don't have heavy woods which allows people the advantage of not being seen. That is really terrible that such measures need to be taken to protect one's property. Seriously though, there isn't that much thievery that occurs in SD.

 

[gcp]

Thank you for the costructive critisism. No doubt if someone wants in badly they can tear things up enough to gain entrance but the thieves around here don't seem to be vandals, they are oportunistic punks out for a quick fix. I hope the dual gate) will do, for the time, among the electronics I'm about the install next, it'll be a teared defense.

 

[aczlan]

Thank you for the costructive critisism. No doubt if someone wants in badly they can tear things up enough to gain entrance but the thieves around here don't seem to be vandals, they are oportunistic punks out for a quick fix. I hope this gate(s) will do, for the time, among the electronics I'm about the install next, it'll be a teared defense.

Does it bow if you pull on the bottom corner on the lock side? Might be worth adding a 2nd locking tab to the bottom.

Aaron Z

 

[pathunt]

gcp -
Sorry to hear about your break-in.
Will be using some of these suggestions today.
Someone set a fire on the 23rd that took out 50 acres of underbrush and some timber; and we live here.

 

[Hunchback]

If you are parking a camp truck near by make sure you use a hidden fuel shut off or they may use your vehicle to help themselves. Goes for your tractor too.