Posted: 1/20/2015 12:19:59 PM EDT
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I've finally recovered from the theft of a lot of tools and equipment last summer. We shopped hard, bought used when we could, and paid cash for everything. I'm keeping the relatively high dollar equipment in the basement for now but that's just not very practical for the generator. I'd like to return some stuff to our backyard shed. I have motion sensing lights, an alarm, better locks, and all the garden-variety layers of protection in place but I'd like at least one more measure in place for a piece of equipment that is so expensive and easily sold once stolen. My thoughts are on a ring or some sort placed in concreted in the floor of the shed. I'm planning on cutting through the floor and putting a concrete tube about three or four fee down with the hole flared out at the bottom. The tube will be to allow me to make the concrete flush with the existing floor. I need a sturdy attachment point for a motorcycle lock that I can pass through a couple of points on the generator frame. I'll be using either the Cobralinks chain or a woven steel cable that I used back in my motorcycling days. What are my best options for this attachment point. I want it to be exceedingly difficult to cut or break and roomy enough to accept at least a couple of cables or chains. |
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Quoted: I can't tell from the OP, but do you have renter's/ homeowner's insurance? For my generator that sits in a small shed: I dug a hole, poured a piece of concrete and attached it to a 1/2" chain I found. Not bombproof, but it will thwart away most. The sick part of the whole thing is I found out who ripped me off within 12 hours and our local police department said it didn't matter because they were too busy not solving other crimes. My department was powerless to help even though our guys and their intel was solid and more than good enough for a search warrant. So now I have to turn my tool shed into a little Fort Knox. |
| A friend's hunting club lost their genset one year. They built a new shed as the old one was rotted. The new shed was attached to the house with an outside door that they lock, they also put concrete and chain anchor on theirs. They also build the door smaller than you could get the generator through. You'd have to cut out the wall or door bigger, and cut the short thick chain that is under the generator. |
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You have some options and I would try to set it up for expansion later. Since it sounds like your setup sits off the ground consider some other options as well. Step one is something like a seriously rated chain, yeah scientific term there, and concrete it directly into the new pour. I think this is what I would do coming out the side and back of the shed, buy some decently long chain and punch a hole in the tube before you pour and make sure you use some coathangers or actual rebar to keep the chain suspended in the tube of concrete. This lets you lock up something beside or behind the shed later on in life, and good chain is usually coated and lives outside in the weather for a bit. If you were running your generator would it be near the shed? Could make a lockbox outside the shed for this. Could lock up ladders or bikes or whatever if left outside for a short while. My first thought for the inside of the shed was some big u-bolts from a spring shop. a spring shop is a shop found in most large cities that works on over the road trucks. They can take threaded rod and bend it into u-bolts and from what I recall 1 inch threaded rod should be common. Getting a setup with nice long legs, like something with a monster spring pack like a dump truck or something, should give you a ton of threaded rod to stick in the concrete and still leave a decent sized u sticking out. Another option is to consider something that could protect where you attach to the u bolt or whatever. I really like the hockey puck locks and their protective surrounds. Makes cutting into the lock harder than cutting out the whole surround. Depends on use of course. Heck, just a horse shoe or something might give you something to wrap the chain around. I basically feel you want to be able to replace your chain or cable if needed. But I am too lazy to design that for the sides and back of the shed. You might consider a coffee can to make a space inside your concrete pour and rig up rebar to criss cross in this space and then when dry you could wrap chain around the rebar and have it down in the concrete pour a bit. I like cables and chains and locks, oh my. But a good torch or cut off wheel can go through a lot of stuff quickly. Also look at your generator. On the honda's it is not hard to cut open the handle on the little ones and there is now a reinforcement someone sells. On larger generators it would not be that hard to cut a chunk of the frame out and get the chain through. Sure this damages the generator for resale but it might just be going to a pawnshop or to the person's home to be used. And something like what lowes does with all their riding mowers, chain em all together, might work with some of your stuff as well. Makes it hard to take it all at once and if it can be hard to access where the lock is at the chain is the tough part to cut if you buy a good chain. Oh, price locks and play on youtube about locks. I hate to say what I have in money spent on locks, chains, cables, and what not. Grand easy over the years I guess. And make sure you can use the big tough lock on the chain links, sucks to find out you can't get the lock through the link on the chain. |
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Quoted:
The sick part of the whole thing is I found out who ripped me off within 12 hours and our local police department said it didn't matter because they were too busy not solving other crimes. My department was powerless to help even though our guys and their intel was solid and more than good enough for a search warrant. Do they have enough manpower to investigate random fires? We've had good luck with the master woven cable. They've tried to cut through it more than once, still holding strong. |
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Install some padeyes into the concrete before you pour. this will give you multiple connection spots.
Padeye |
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First off, tell us more about your shed. How "theft deterrent" is it?
When I built my shed I built it with security in mind, that is why it is 100% steel roof/siding. The door isn't some flimsy plywood door like most backyard sheds, it's a commercial steel door with a grade 1 deadbolt in it. I'm in a low-crime area so this is plenty for me. But it may not be for you... Make it hard as heck to get in and make it even harder to get things out sounds like a good plan. What about outside of the main door you also add a heavy metal bar door that is also secured (multiple layers). Make it look like it's not worth their time. Quoted:
Do they have enough manpower to investigate random fires?  I see what you did...
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Quoted:
Hammer Drill a hole and put one of these in. Then chain to it... I do even simpler than that. I hammer-drill a hole in the concrete and use a plain eyebolt, epoxied in place in the hole. For shop use, if done just inside a roll-up shop door (to one side near the track so it's out of the way) it lets me run a portable generator outside with all its exhaust and noise, with the power cord and locking cable run inside under the closed door. Done that way, I don't even need a padlock; just a heavy quick-link thru the cable loop and eyebolt is all that's necessary, since it's located on the inside of the closed door. |
| just an anecdote, and welcome a reply from those that have the high end cable locks.... my cousin's son had a high end bicycle cabled with one of the "kryptonite" style cables at an apartment complex he was moving from... had lost the key to the lock... my cousin took about 1 minute with a battery powered 4" angle grinder and cut off wheel... done |
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I never thought about spring hanger bolts in the concrete. I have a friend who is in the excavation business in a huge way and his machine shop does most of their work. I may have to go out and wander through his incredible junk pile. The idea of fixing a chain into the pour and passing it outside is an excellent idea and I'm going to use that. I'm a huge fan of those braided plastic covered cables instead of chain. They are a bugger to cut. When all your other layers of security have failed and you're down to relying on the cable then it's all about making it too time-consuming for the thief to bother. Thieves don't like to spend too much time on the scene. Thanks guys! I lurk but don't post often on Survival. |
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Quoted:
just an anecdote, and welcome a reply from those that have the high end cable locks.... my cousin's son had a high end bicycle cabled with one of the "kryptonite" style cables at an apartment complex he was moving from... had lost the key to the lock... my cousin took about 1 minute with a battery powered 4" angle grinder and cut off wheel... done Nothing is bulletproof. Anything made of metal wouldn't stand a chance against my Victor Journeyman oxyacetylene cutting torch if I wanted it open. Short of that, most stuff isn't killdozer proof either. Like I said, they've tried to cut our Master braided rope several times with what looks like bolt cutters, they never mess with the lock and they've never cut through it. They did try to snap it with a pickup truck a couple of months ago, pushing against the gate with brute force and they still didn't get through. Bent up the gate, but that's all. There's nothing of value at that piece of property anyway, except scrap metal, so they pretty much have to get in there with a vehicle to haul it off. One of our other pieces of property has a heavy gate across the front of the drive, built out 2.5" square tubing, I think it's 11ga. It's built with a steel box around the lock, so you can't get in there with a conventional cutting tool. You can still walk around or over it, but you can' drive through it. What's happening now is that they are either walking in or driving through a wooded area to the back of the property and simply cutting through an 8ft chainlink fence with bolt cutters or pliers. I say bolt cutters because that's what I saw in the dudes hand when we caught him on video. We didn't have much in the way of steal-able stuff, so they went next door to a place we share the fence and helped themselves to $60k worth of stuff. I'm not sure what kind of locks they had on their stuff, but they left the connex boxes alone. They either have the shielded box locks on those or those Master puck type locks. Not that they are bullet proof, but there is easier stuff to steal out there. |
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I will 2nd the fact that a hand held cordless cutting wheel will go through all kinds of stuff quickly. I am upgrading my dog runs to galvanized aircraft cable and using some old tire sidewalls for some tree padding and what not. The tires have the steel cables so a knife cuts the rubber but the steel or whatever in the tire is easily cut with the cut off wheel. The galvanized aircraft cable, it is just 1/4 inch stuff, gets a few wraps of tape to hold the loose wires together and then the cut off wheel zips on through it. My setup is an 18 volt dewalt cut off wheel so there are better options out there now. On the shipping containers a good hockey puck lock usually causes the theif to go through the side if it is accessable. One thing a friend just found out is he had a chain cut and some scrap wander off. But he does not know if it was this week or last week or even the week before that. Keeping an eye on things is important. And I do not disagree with expy's comment about electronic stuff, but I like both. Motion detector lights are useful, game cameras, driveway alarms, active camera security system, and just a sensor tied into something like a nice horn or siren is stuff to consider. However, I am currently working on an old security system. Been messing with it for months really. Some nice power surges and what not have caused it to have issues. Sensors are fine but have needed work in past, not so much the sensor but adjustment or wires. So electronics have their place but dang can it be a pain to get false alarms or not be able to get he system to set because a sensor or its wires are out of whack. I am currently a fan of some standalone stuff which winds up being done in "zones" I guess you would say. I need to get that driveway monitor with the 4 different chimes, I have a few ideas for that and need to see if someone set it up to have even more chimes perhaps. My puppies are great noise and motion detectors as well, guess they would be smell detectors too. |
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On the farm, we use concreted eyes and chains. We simply dig a post hole like for a deck not fence, drop in an auger with eye, then throw in the quickcrete, let it set.
Next we lock all trailer tonques and chain a wheel so that it won't roll. We use a plain sight approach. Stuff where our neighbors can see it and have a deal to do the same and call when ever we don't recognize the vehicle that's there. Most of the time, its just a "Thanks, that's so and so." A neat thing I use on my motorcycle when travelling is a wheel lock with alarm. It works on a disc break with vent holes. What I can tell you is crooks don't like to be seen and they much prefer a fast in and out. The worst ever is total privacy. I lived in a very nice housing project in Houston once, the crooks moved a moving van into an empty house. Nobody pays attention to a moving van at an empty house. They think its new neighbors. The crooks used the privacy fences to break into a dozen homes while everyone was at work. Took their time going from yard to yard. Last but not least use signs whether you mean it or not, Beware of dog, Alarm system, No Trespassing, etc. etc. Remember, nothing is crook proof, nothing. Its like the how do you survive a bear attack. Outrun your buddy. The idea is to make the next guys place easier to hit. Work sights are very vulnerable. Contractors home places not so much. Best sign I ever saw, printed picture of a shot criminal laying on the ground, last guy that thought this was easy. All this being said, nothing and I do mean nothing not even alarm systems work better than an alert dog and a big gun. Fear of being biten, doesn't stop a good crook. Fear of being seen does. Tj BTW, You were probably hit by somebody that knows somebody you know. "That stuff is just sitting there, no chains no nothing." over a beer and bam, your stuff is gone. |
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Deterrent in my mind screams surveillance.... in addition to conventional securement.
Most thieves hate being filmed. Love being able to check in when we're away, and when we hear those bumps in the night, I just grab my smartphone and look. ETA: with a cordless angle grinder and a cut off wheel, I could be through even the biggest, hardest chains in about 60 seconds... I actually have a giant sized "bike" lock.... 12 feet of 3/4" grade 80 chain, locked together with a top of the line kryptonite lock... it even has a custom made Cordura sleeve...I used it to lock my crotch rocket up in storage over the winters. Well equipped thieves are tough to counter. |
| A quality lock on the shed will help - if they can't see the good shit they're just going to walk over to the neighbors and steal their shit. Is the backyard fenced? Is the dog left free to roam around that area? Do you have good lighting on a motion sensor (at least 2-4 lumens). |
| Before I lived on my farm there were quite a bit of thefts and break ins. I didn't want to make it easy for some shit head to get my riding mower or atv while I was gone. I ended up taking two old heavy steel farm implement wagon wheels and burying them over halfway in the ground with concrete, then running a heavy chain through the frames of each, secured with the best locks I could find. |
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Quoted:
I have homeowners insurance. My agent felt it wasn't worth the risk of filing a claim for a relatively small amount when companies freak out about multiple theft losses within a certain time period. Insurance is for catastrophic losses, not relatively minor thefts. At least that's the way it works if you want to stay insurable around these parts. The sick part of the whole thing is I found out who ripped me off within 12 hours and our local police department said it didn't matter because they were too busy not solving other crimes. My department was powerless to help even though our guys and their intel was solid and more than good enough for a search warrant. So now I have to turn my tool shed into a little Fort Knox. Of course I am kidding and I'd never, ever suggest that one should take the law into their own hands because local PD cannot repond and you have no financial recourse and you know the guy that did it..... Quoted:
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I can't tell from the OP, but do you have renter's/ homeowner's insurance? For my generator that sits in a small shed: I dug a hole, poured a piece of concrete and attached it to a 1/2" chain I found. Not bombproof, but it will thwart away most. The sick part of the whole thing is I found out who ripped me off within 12 hours and our local police department said it didn't matter because they were too busy not solving other crimes. My department was powerless to help even though our guys and their intel was solid and more than good enough for a search warrant. So now I have to turn my tool shed into a little Fort Knox. Of course I am kidding and I'd never, ever suggest that one should take the law into their own hands because local PD cannot repond and you have no financial recourse and you know the guy that did it..... Then I would ask your agent for an additional umbrella liability policy cause you're only way of protecting your assets is to bait that mofo and then SSS. shoot, shovel, and shut up. Edit: I have a friend who had to re-aquistion misappropriated assets once? Apparently, no cop coverage works both ways, like tracers. Of course I am kidding and I'd never, ever suggest that one should take the law into their own hands because local PD cannot repond and you have no financial recourse and you know the guy that did it..... |
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Don't know if it is possible but when something is being ignored by police I was always told to run some searches and see what reporters have a grudge against that police department. Getting the information out there helps. Having that kind of attention out there with the police knowing it is your information being used by the news folks can bring a ton of issues in other ways. I don't really have a good answer. |