Anti theft ideas

[DonT]

I recently lost a number of saws(5) and hedge trimmers to thaft. Any ideas on how to secure saws and tools in my work shed? I will be adding security lighting, but looking for ways to easily secure saws at the end of the day.Was thinking of a cage or lockable lanyard system. Any ideas appreciated.  On this note stihl dealers now have a data base, if you give your dealer the serial numbers the item will appear as stolen if the serial number is entered by another stihl dealer.

[Walt]

a gun safe....

[OneWithWood]

Security cameras, or even fake security cams, can be a powerful deterrent.

[Ljohnsaw]

A good, loud, dog.

[thecfarm]

I wonder if ½ wire rope would slow them down. Noticed I said slow.

[DonT]

Exactly Ray, I am putting eye bolts in the wall and using long security cables through the handles. Can you buy the racks I see landscapers with on there trailers that lock? Was thinking of something like that for kombi tools,brush saws ect...   Trying to make life harder for a crook with out carrying 12lbs of keys in my pocket or getting to a jobsite without the right key

[danbuendgen]

Lock your shed doors as best you can. And then get a job site box for inside the shed. They lock up easily, and are hard to get into. I got mine new for $250 I think... I can fit a ton of saws, gas, oil, and some basic saw tools in mine. However, a trimmer wont fit in there.

Here's what I'm working on, but for my logging equipment.... Should work for a shed too.

Bury a extension cord, and run the plug under your shed. Get an electric fence charger (for livestock) for inside your shed. Alligator clip or bolt the "Hot" wire to your shed locking hardware from the inside. Anyone that tries to brake in will get a good shock when they touch the lock.  :D When you need access to your shed, just unplug your hidden extension cord from your house.

I hate thieves. I bet there junkies. We have plenty of them where I live... And it keeps getting worse.

[Canadiana]

Electrocuting someone can be difficult. You need the to touch something that is 120v and also something that is 0v. Sorry i don't have a suggestion for you

[John Mc]

I wonder if ½ wire rope would slow them down. Noticed I said slow.

If they are determined, they'll get it anyway. A (no doubt stolen) cordless sawzall will make short work of that cable.

[danbuendgen]

Electrocuting someone can be difficult. You need the to touch something that is 120v and also something that is 0v. Sorry i don't have a suggestion for you

But if you hook the fence charger to the locking hardware, and touch it, wont you get shocked? All I know it works for pigs in the pen. And if I touch the fence on accident, I also get shocked. So I guess I don't understand why it wont work...

[danbuendgen]

I wonder if ½ wire rope would slow them down. Noticed I said slow.

If they are determined, they'll get it anyway. A (no doubt stolen) cordless sawzall will make short work of that cable.

Even faster would be a cordless angle grinder with a cut off wheel. But if they are junkies, they wont have tools, they would get sold for dope.

[Ada Shaker]

I would suggest converting your shed into one of those gas chambers, like a silent alarm type system where the door closes and locks after intrusion,  and a heap of tear gas is let off. They'll then wanting to get out :D.

[birdcolonel]

You need the to touch something that is 120v and also something that is 0v.

Not very difficult.  We had electric fencing for the cattle when I was younger.  The 0v or ground is supplied where their feet or shoes touch the ground or concrete or whatever they're standing on.  And a fencer is not 120v household current - that would result in dead cows (and thieves).  But boy howdy, if you turn it up, they won't forget it.

[John Mc]

Electrocuting someone can be difficult. You need the to touch something that is 120v and also something that is 0v. Sorry i don't have a suggestion for you

But if you hook the fence charger to the locking hardware, and touch it, wont you get shocked? All I know it works for pigs in the pen. And if I touch the fence on accident, I also get shocked. So I guess I don't understand why it wont work...

You need a complete circuit to get the shock, for the pig, the return leg of the circuit is generally the ground: the "zap" goes from the charger, to the fence, through the pig, into the ground, through the ground back to the ground rod connected to the charger.

If you want to zap the person, make sure they are standing on bare ground (and hopefully don't have rubber boots on). Of course, you may just rile them up enough that they'll just come back and torch your shed.

[HolmenTree]

In my saw workshop I keep all my extra saws up in the attic with no way for them to get up through the trap door in the ceiling 8 ft up. The 8 ft step ladder is keep locked up in my car garage

My work saws are locked up in my pickup with a hard top cover. Got insurance on standby. Never lost a saw to theft in 42 years.
.

[Ljohnsaw]

Electrocuting someone can be difficult. You need the to touch something that is 120v and also something that is 0v. Sorry i don't have a suggestion for you

But if you hook the fence charger to the locking hardware, and touch it, wont you get shocked? All I know it works for pigs in the pen. And if I touch the fence on accident, I also get shocked. So I guess I don't understand why it wont work...

You need a complete circuit to get the shock, for the pig, the return leg of the circuit is generally the ground: the "zap" goes from the charger, to the fence, through the pig, into the ground, through the ground back to the ground rod connected to the charger.

If you want to zap the person, make sure they are standing on bare ground (and hopefully don't have rubber boots on). Of course, you may just rile them up enough that they'll just come back and torch your shed.

We had hot wires all the time with our horses.  With shoes (usually rubber mud boots), I would get a little shock.  One day, we were visiting another who had a hot wire up.  It was winter so the ground was wet.  i was wearing rubber boots and had on a flannel shirt and a heavy jacket.  I wasn't paying close attention listening to others talking.  I must have swayed a little too close to the fence and BAM!  I thought someone hit me full force with a baseball bat in my shoulder!  I could not believe the power that snapper had!  I would say I was not grounded, but it sure worked on me.  Hurt for hours.

[submarinesailor]

Electrocuting someone can be difficult. You need the to touch something that is 120v and also something that is 0v. Sorry i don't have a suggestion for you

But if you hook the fence charger to the locking hardware, and touch it, wont you get shocked? All I know it works for pigs in the pen. And if I touch the fence on accident, I also get shocked. So I guess I don't understand why it wont work...

You need a complete circuit to get the shock, for the pig, the return leg of the circuit is generally the ground: the "zap" goes from the charger, to the fence, through the pig, into the ground, through the ground back to the ground rod connected to the charger.

If you want to zap the person, make sure they are standing on bare ground (and hopefully don't have rubber boots on). Of course, you may just rile them up enough that they'll just come back and torch your shed.

We had hot wires all the time with our horses.  With shoes (usually rubber mud boots), I would get a little shock.  One day, we were visiting another who had a hot wire up.  It was winter so the ground was wet.  i was wearing rubber boots and had on a flannel shirt and a heavy jacket.  I wasn't paying close attention listening to others talking.  I must have swayed a little too close to the fence and BAM!  I thought someone hit me full force with a baseball bat in my shoulder!  I could not believe the power that snapper had!  I would say I was not grounded, but it sure worked on me.  Hurt for hours.

Should have seen what happened to a buddy (Tommy H) peed on one by mistake.  We were rabbit hunting, he stopped to relieve himself and wasn't playing any attention while he was running off it the mouth and the other end too.   We practically had to carry him out of the woods. :D :D :D :D  I know it was wrong of us, but we were laughing so hard we couldn't hardly carry him.

[rick carpenter]

Bury a extension cord, and...

Not a good idea.

Possible semi-permanent idea for the jobbox: dig a deep hole under where it goes; pour a cement anchor with a u-bolt; run a chain through a piece of pvc to ground level; fill in dirt over the cement anchor; run the chain through a hole in the bottom of the jobbox; lock it from the inside with very little slack. Make sure the jobbox has box section feet to run the chain through.

[danbuendgen]

Bury a extension cord, and...

Not a good idea.

So put it in some conduit, who cares. The point is to hide it. Or hell, go all out, and run real electricity to your shed, and charge up your door nob and pad lock hardware, those thieves will get a good shock, and never come back! And like a few others have said, you CAN get shocked with rubber boots/shoes on. I grew up doing farm work, and have been accidentally shocked by electric fences plenty of times. The door nob or pad lock take the place of the fence.

[John Mc]

And like a few others have said, you CAN get shocked with rubber boots/shoes on. I grew up doing farm work, and have been accidentally shocked by electric fences plenty of times.

You can get shocked, but rubber shoes will lessen the severity quite a bit (unless you are standing in high weeds that bypass the insulation).

[xrockdawgx]

Install a pressure switch on the door. Run it through/to a light fixture in whatever room you sleep in. Door opens, light comes on. I have a similar set up for my gear room on the back of my house. I got the idea originally for the windows in a teenagers room...

[Kbeitz]

Cow fence charger is high voltage with no amprage. It takes both to kill you.
You dont need to be grounded for the high voltage to work.
The high voltage will jump across you rubber boots to ground.
A fence charger that delivers a minimum of 2,000 – 3,000 volts
with no-load peaks in excess of 10,000 volts

[John Mc]

Cow fence charger is high voltage with no amprage. It takes both to kill you.
You dont need to be grounded for the high voltage to work.
The high voltage will jump across you rubber boots to ground.
A fence charger that delivers a minimum of 2,000 – 3,000 volts
with no-load peaks in excess of 10,000 volts

Speaking from personal experience (grew up on a farm, had an electric fence for our horses), Rubber soled shoes or boots can attenuate the shock a good bit, but the high voltage will jump most regular boots and shoes to some extent, even with rubber soles. I'm not sure what possessed us, but I friend and I did some "research" on this when we were kids: trying various combinations of sneakers, rubber boots, shoes, rubber gloves, standing in wet grass, bare dirt, etc. We also found that a rubber boot that did provide some insulation did not insulate so well if it had a pinhole in it - especially after you had been running around sweating in it all day.

[tomsteve]

im really sorry to read this happening.
theres probably a million ways to secure the shed and tools in it. i was thinkin a couple pictures of the shed would help us help you more, but might not be wise to post pictures of it?
until ya figger it out,
store tools and saws under yer bed. ;D

ill add that a determined theif can get into anything. old friend of mine had a cabin in the middle of nowhere. he seriously secured the master bedroom- double 3/4" ply on both side of the walls under the drywall, an industiral door  with serious deadbolts into metal 1/2" metal plate screwed into the rough opening.
he didnt take into consideration theives grabbing his chainsaw and cutting a hole through the floor from the basement.

[jiggysmb]

I have a neighbor than spray paints his stihls plastic flat black and has a pink one too! He thinks it makes them look like Poulans which no one looking to steal a saw woudl touch around here.