How do you secure your gates?

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agmp

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Hi All

As posted recently, I am in the middle of moving my boys from a livery yard to our new home. I've spent the day going round securing all the fences, checking hedgerow etc. I've got five bar gates to access the fields and two to the yard.

Wondered how people secure gates at your yards - at previous yards have had a variation of ropes, lead ropes, old headcollars, chains, padlocks, combination locks, etc. These have always been livery yards and usually people coming and going all the time. There won't be anyone else here, certainly not initially, and OH and I both work, I know a lock is not the be all and end all for security but just wondered how most people would go about securing gates? I was thinking chain and combination locks because carrying keys all the time and in the dark would annoy me. Any thoughts?

Thanks :o)
 
I padlock BOTH ends of gates with sturdy chain and padlock. One gate also has the hinges reversed. Gate posts are concreted in. Gates inside are metal. The main gates to the road are solid 6ft wood so people can't see in, and lock with a key.

Each field also has 2 fences between the horse and the road. So, single fences between fields, but a double fence to the road. Road fences have hedges and Post and Rail a few feet in. The post and rail is topped with electric tape.
 
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Found out last week combination locks are a pain if you forget a torch when it's dark.
You can get matched locks that all have the same key so you would only need to carry one key.
 
We use bike chain with combination lock, it's supposed to be resistant to cutters, some form of plastic sleeve, it does mean that you need a torch to get in when coming home in the dark. We also have the front gate double the height and covered with mesh,partly to keep the Rotters (dogs) in and to keep others out,!
 
motorbike security chains and disc shaped padlocks. If they want to get in then they will so my theory is to try and hold them up as much as possible
 
Thanks all, we have a wooden gate at the moment to the drive, we are planning to get this re-done in the new year to something more secure (and so drive not visible from the road). We had been looking at solid metal gates of a reasonable height - partly to obscure the view but also to keep the dogs in. Do people have metal or wooden gates?

When I walked all the fields after completion on the house, the hedgerow to the road was thick looking, with what looked like post fencing with metal wire mesh (not sure what it is called) between. Now we are are in winter and everything looking barer there are evident gaps in the hedge that I would have thought a nosey horse might end up in - also not very dog friendly. Had thought about a post and rail inner slightly set off the hedge to match the rest of the paddock fencing. For now the horses are going to move into the two paddocks furthest from the road and immediately next to the house until I work out a more secure solution for that field.

Had been looking at these types http://www.diy.com/departments/mast...on-lock-with-steel-chain-l900mm/755457_BQ.prd

I like the idea of securing both ends of the gates, thanks for that!
 
Disreputable old lead rope for me. Much easier things to steal and sell than ponies.

Remember too that usually the gate is not the easiest way into a field - how hard is it to cut wire or drive through post and rail?
If you really want to keep people out, you need a ditch all the way around outside your fence.
 
pennyturner said:
Disreputable old lead rope for me. Much easier things to steal and sell than ponies.

Remember too that usually the gate is not the easiest way into a field - how hard is it to cut wire or drive through post and rail?
If you really want to keep people out, you need a ditch all the way around outside your fence.
Click to expand...


My other half has suggested a sniper turret on top of the house... suspect this is more for his precious gym equipment more than me and the horses ;)
 
Ordinary gate catches -- and two big hairy German shepherds!

Don't forget that no matter how secure your gate is, it doesn't take much to cut a fence! But, seriously, I like these catches but I cut the threaded bit off the eye and weld on a bolt that goes right through a timber gate with a washer and nut on the other side.

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608012879518830040&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

For main gates I use this type of chain and latch, but be careful as there are some cheap ones out there and the chain links are not welded and they simply stretch and break. You can always add a padlock to a chain. Never ever use any type of latch that could injure a horse!

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608002288131313499&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0
 
Combination lock. There are plenty of times when people need to access our field (which isn't at our home) when we aren't there, think farrier if he gets there before I do, vet, delivery drivers including tractors with Haylage, for harrowing, topping, hedge cutting...

We put a new gate in about a year ago, standard wooden five bar but we had it made with the end uprights about a foot taller than normal. We've drilled two holes in these and strung two neat rows of barbed wire, just to stop opportunists and the nosey ones.
 
Theft is'nt so much of a problem here, but my property owner has cattle and the bulls love to use the gats to scratch their bums on. So everthing is tied both ends to stop them lifting the gates off the hinges.
 
c2b said:
Found out last week combination locks are a pain if you forget a torch when it's dark.
You can get matched locks that all have the same key so you would only need to carry one key.
Click to expand...

Our B&Q combination padlocks have fluro numbers so you can easily see them in the dark. They weren't expensive and have done six years so far.

And Dry Rot is right. If the gate is secure they would just cut/break the fence if they really wanted to get in. I plan to have dry stone walls around the yard and up to the gates in the future. A lock, however, would make life more difficult for the opportunist thief just wanting to nip in and steal tack or equipment.
 
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On reading the other replies, I forgot to add the ditch around the property (concrete bridge for the driveway) and the GSD dog too. More impressive is the OH though, he would die first before the horse or GSD were harmed.
 
I agree for ease use a chain and combination lock.
But don't forget to secure the hinged side of the gate too so they can't be lifted off. These could be secure with a standard key lock as they would rarely if at all be used.
 
Abus padlocks and chains. No locks on internal gates. Electronic wooden gates at the front. Electric fences. Real and fake CCTV cameras plus signs.
 
Ours are chained and padlocked at both ends, and not at a level that either allows the chain to be lifted over gate or post or that allows the gate to be lifted off the hinges and dropped to the ground. Round and high grade Padlock (round are hard to cut)
 
As others have said, padlock both ends of the gate and we used a large chain and lock used for motorbikes.

Sorry to sound doom and gloom but At the end of the day your keeping honest people out, thieves will get in if they want to.
 
We have a heavy duty chain with two padlocks linked together. We have a key to one padlock, the farmer has the other. The rest of the field is inaccessible to the public (surrounded by massive hedges). The gate is also overlooked as our field is on the edge of a village and all the neighbours are very friendly and interested in the horses. It feels very safe :)
 
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