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12/20/04, 07:12 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Mid-Missouri
Posts: 528
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How do you make gates trespass resistant?
We have discovered that someone (we think a neighbor) has been removing a gate to get access to our 40 acres. Because we don't yet live at this farm (we are in the process of building a home) it is difficult to monitor it ata all times. We recently put up new fences with heavy gates in two places that are locked with a cable. Someone, during deer season, twisted both bolts upward and just lifted the gate off..to drive in an ATV or truck.
Is there a way to anchor those gate bolts so they won't turn? We mounted the gates with one turned up and the other one down so the cattle wouldn't just lift them off. Now we must devise a way to keep "people" from tampering with the gates. I'd be interested in knowing what method you use to secure your gates to deter tresspassers.
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12/20/04, 08:23 AM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: NY...N Rensselaer county
Posts: 245
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A chain and padlock works here for our "second driveway" that people always seem to find, even though it is hidden by brush with no lights around.
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Proverbs 16:9 A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.
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12/20/04, 08:31 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,807
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Oooh! That makes me so angry!
I am not, by nature, territorial, but when it comes to trespassers on my land, I see RED!
My inclination would be to put down some of those strips with the sharp metal teeth (hidden by brush, whatever) pointing toward the trespassers tires. Also, that suggestion someone made a while ago about putting up signs that warn of unmarked bear traps might also do nicely.
I wonder if you could somehow set up one of those inexpensive, remote cameras one often sees on eBay?
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Je ne suis pas Alice
http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/
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12/20/04, 08:37 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Mid-Missouri
Posts: 528
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Yes...we've thought about buying one of those "Deer-Cams". They take pictures day & night! Our luck..probably the trespasser would steal the camera!
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12/20/04, 08:56 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,807
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Sadly, you're probably right. Grrrr!
Oh, well. Then it's the spikey bar or caltraps, I'm thinking... Hangin's too good for 'em!
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Je ne suis pas Alice
http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/
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12/20/04, 09:26 AM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: N. Indiana
Posts: 278
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I'm thinking a heavy chain and padlock at the hinge end of the gate too would make him think twice.. or at least have to go back for bolt cutters to get in... might help him figure out that you don't really want him there. Is your land posted No Trespassing? Be sure you do that too. It won't keep him out but at least you might have some legal recourse if you catch him in the act.
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DebF
She was not quite what you would call refined.
She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot.
-Mark Twain
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12/20/04, 09:28 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: WV
Posts: 3,281
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Cover the gate in printer's Ink. Or axle grease.
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12/20/04, 09:48 AM
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I am good without god.
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Terra Planet, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
Posts: 858
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You might need to use different posts
I am not sure how your posts are set up for your gates, even from your description. I have heavy homemade welded wheel gates made from horse-drawn hay mowers which require their own wheel to roll on due to weight. They are too heavy to easily lift off the pivot pins and are chained shut when needed.
I don't know if you can chain the gates to the support posts or to something else to keep them mounted. I could suggest pounding T-posts into the ground on the inside of the gates right in front of them and then chaining the gates to the T-posts. It may be inconvienent for you, but only until you live there. It may not stop all vehicular trespass, but it would keep out the laziest ones.
You might also try a 2x6 or 2x8 filled with nails of various lengths hidden in the grass in front of the inside area around the gates. Perhaps using a few of them randomly spaced in the driving area would serve as a deterrent. You will need to fasten them down somehow to make sure they stay upright.
You might also try surplus/used railroad ties or a large (30 inch or more) tree trunk set across the inside of the gates. With enough railroad ties no one is going to casually drive through and with a large diameter tree trunk, secured from rolling in either forward or backward, that would take a great amount of time to cut through, the visual deterrent might be enough.
Or if you wanted to be twisted, you might start a rumor down in your trouble area that you have been having some trespasser problems and that when you find out who the perpetrator is, they will be shot on sight. This method has worked well with me when I had some bad problems of certain people damaging my gates while away at work. They knew better than to do it any more and I never had to actually carry through with my rant. Granted, it did help that I have a rough reputation (gossip created) in the small town that I live near.
Perhaps some of these ideas will help...
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I would challenge anyone here to think of a question upon which we once had a scientific answer, however inadequate, but for which now the best answer is a religious one. – Sam Harris
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12/20/04, 09:52 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: SE MI.
Posts: 210
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Pit trap with poop tipped pungie spikes 
Ed
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"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." Thomas Jefferson
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12/20/04, 10:58 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: MO
Posts: 129
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If the bolts pass through a metal pipe,weld it so it won't spin. If that won't work, weld a flat plate on the bottom of the hooked part of the bolt so it can't be lifted out.
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12/20/04, 11:13 AM
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In Remembrance
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: South Central Kansas
Posts: 11,076
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Weed chopper
I doubt it would work, but I like the idea of putting in a weed chopper electric fence with one strand in front of the gate. Another wire next to it to be grounded so that a nice 1" blue spark continually jumps the gap showing it is hot. Of course a simple metal bar or wire will short it out to foul it. The snap of electricity is pretty discouraging to most.
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12/20/04, 06:54 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Michigan's thumb
Posts: 14,903
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Ask your closest neighbors if they know of anyone who hunts on your land, either locals or someone from out of the area. You may discover that the locals have been hunting there (though you'd think they could hunt on their own land). If it is locals, then talk to them in a friendly fashion, find out when they typically hunt. You would like to write letters for them so that they can hunt LEGALLY on your land. In this manner, you will know when people are there, and they will be much more open with you. They will also be real careful not to kill your cattle. If you get mad, they will think you are one of those city people who move out to the country and then want to turn it into the city.
If they are from out of the area, find out when they are there and call the sheriff.
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12/20/04, 09:24 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Arizona
Posts: 205
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Add another cable lock to the hinge side. Even if they twist the bolts the gate won't open. I think you have the right idea using cable. Very slow to cut through and most thieves/trespassers won't bother. But they might cut your fence if they can't get through the gate.
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12/20/04, 10:31 PM
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In Remembrance
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 1,600
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Call the local sheriff and get finger prints
coat the gate with silver nitrate! turns what ever part of the body that touches it black!
coat the gate with blue pvc pipe glue!
put up a camera in a spot no one can see with a motion detector and video tape it! my favorite one. Use a small solar panel.
Hide and camp out and catch them!
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12/21/04, 01:20 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: South East Iowa
Posts: 437
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A sign like "sirvivurs wil be prosykutid" works well if you paint it all crooked. Honestly. On the other hand, so does a welder and ingenuity.
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We have now officially entered the twilight zone.
Last edited by ibcnya; 12/21/04 at 01:27 AM.
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12/21/04, 01:22 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 3,510
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Gates, like door locks, only keep honest people honest. If they want to trespass on your land they will do so and resent it all the more when you try to stop them. The only deterrent is to catch them in the act (which is nearly impossible if you don't live on premises-I know) and file charges and prosecute them to the fullest extent possible. Sometimes this can even include filing restraining orders. Once word gets out that you can and do prosecute trespassing including slapping restraining orders on offending individuals things tend to calm down. Trespassers are a lot like bullies. Once you smack one around word gets around to the rest and they will move on to easier pickings.
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12/21/04, 07:24 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 73
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gates
i am sorry, but a lot of rural missourians, think of a gate as a challenge. if they are not harming anything, just ignore it until you move in. talk to the neighbor about it as you are a little worried and he may just get the message. they will go through hell and high water to hunt wherever.........or look or whatever, they want to do. actually they think it is their born right..............
.just wait til you move in and don't leave anything of value around, or move in now before you get done building. wish i had more optimistic advice. but it does not pay in the long run, to get all bent out of shape.
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12/21/04, 07:30 AM
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Mansfield, VT for 200 yrs
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: VT
Posts: 3,736
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Quint
Trespassers are a lot like bullies. Once you smack one around word gets around to the rest and they will move on to easier pickings.
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And ain't this the truth? The problem with bullies though is that their capacity for pain may be way higher than yours. The other problem is... the only thing they seem to respect is brute force. Either of the law or potential violence to themselves or their posessions.
Bullies suck.
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12/21/04, 02:15 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: North of Houston TX
Posts: 4,817
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I would much rather have someone taking my gates down off their hinges, especially while I was not living on the property, than having them cutting my fences! If you do anything to deter them, especially with you not there, than the alternatives could cost you alot more in the long run. I know it's hard to do, and very unpopular on the board, but what is it hurting if these folks are hunting or cruising through your property on their 4 wheelers? Once you have moved to the property, let your presense be known, it only took one time of me asking my neighbor to not hunt in my woods when he stopped. Our dogs took care of the 4 wheelers before we could get the very back fenced. Vicki
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Vicki McGaugh
Nubian Soaps
North of Houston TX
www.etsy.com/shop/nubiansoaps
A 3 decade dairy goat farm homestead that is now a retail/wholesale soap company and construction business.
Last edited by Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians; 12/21/04 at 02:18 PM.
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12/21/04, 03:55 PM
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Is anybody here?
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,340
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So........land mines are out of the question?
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Marriage is like a hot bath, after you've been in it awhile, It's not so Hot.
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