I've got a few new gates I need to hang and I wondered if anyone had any tips to stop them getting stolen? We've not had any go yet, but it's only a matter of time. My dad used to put a bit of grease right across the top rail so I was thinking of trying that and also having the top gate hook upside down. Thanks.

dont hang new gates, get some old battered ones.

hi, have you considered having a plate welded over the top of the top hinge. This would prevent the gates from being lift off, how you'd do it would depend on which type of gate you have. I've done it for a couple of local farmers and the gates are still there.

expensive locked gates indicate to theives that there is more expensive stuff behind them.

old battered gates with string and barbed wire are best.

our local university farm took on a local tenancy, the first thing they did was put on about 30 new shiny gates. the old ones were flung in the hedge.

one sunday night the whole lot got nicked, and there were cattle and sheep all over the place, on two fast A roads.

The old gates were retrieved and dragged over the openings, and are still there , 20 yrs later.

Best to use some that have been in the yard for a few years first

bit like mobile welding has said, blobs of weld around the top so they cant lift it off, or wack it with a sledge to flatten the top off so it wont lift off, although last year we had an old but in fair condition iron type 12 ft gate weighted a tonne, two of you carrying it were red in the face the hinge was upside down on that, on the top one, they drove into the post to get it off? idiots must have been desperate, took the broken off gate post as well!

The upside down hinge is an old one, but as baa-lamb says some are desperate enough to smash off the posts.It does stop the not so desperate, as does welding.

I do tend to agree with glasshouse though, and unless you have cattle in a field then, strictly, a gate is not required. A swinging gate saves a lot of time if you are on horseback, but if you have to get off or out of your transport then L&D (lift and drag) is no great hardship.

An alternative I use whenever possible is what was known in NSW as a Bogan gate. Make the gateway as wide as you like, a loop of wire around the bottom and top of each post then make up the gap with a barb top and bottom, square mesh fencing in between the barbs and droppers if a very wide gateway, but a net stake at each end. You need a neat fit so that one end is fixed in the two wire loops (it could be permanently attached to the gate post) then strain up the other end by putting the stake in the bottom loop and slipping the top loop over the top of the stake. You need to have the infill just the right length and tightening up prior to slipping the top loop over the stake. Perfectly adequate for small stock or arable fields.

Thanks for the suggestions, the only problem is I want to widen one gateway to 15ft and don't have any old 15ft gates here. I will see if anyone else around here has one lying around I can use.

Or use two smaller gates ?

My suggestion is admirable  for wide gates. Combines in Australia have very wide fronts, and mobs of a few thousand sheep do want to go through even 15 feet gateways.

 Your terminology is a little confusing Old Mac, but I think in Kansas what we call what you are referring to is "gate".  Poor people have poor ways. 

Good idea old mac It wouldnt be worth stealing but may be enough to stop idiots going in for a drive round

Those gates Old Mac describes are called 'New Zealand gates' round here. I have no idea why!

we used to use these wire gates, called taranaki gates. they were introduced to us by kiwi workers we had twenty years ago.

where i worked in oz they were called stieger gates, about 50ft wide.

all my gateways are 28ft, but the gates travel with the sheep when the grass  rotation moves

would that be similar to what we call Canadian gates? like normal fencing that you unhasp and pull around?

welshnwilling:

Or use two smaller gates ?

I might do this actually as I can have an even bigger gateway then. The gate I am concerned about is on a narrow lane and widening the gateway will make it a lot easier at silage time otherwise I'd just leave it as it is.

 Only trouble with 2 smaller gates is that they are easier to get into a transit van. We've had quite a few gates go missing around here lately & most of them are the smaller ones. On one occasion there was a big one & a small one on a neighbour's field, they took the small one but left the big one alone as it was probably 2 big to go in a transit. They had the top hanger turned upside down but all they did was cut the eyes off the gate. If they want it they'll have it no matter what you do.

 

 

 Seems like most people are familiar with these gates. I like KF's "Poor people have poor ways". I just object to spending money unnecessarily - saves having to acquire it in the first place. Even glasshouse's 28 footers would take a bit of rolling up to fit in a van and so not worth the bother.

 If they bother to steal my rotten (not even fit to burn) old lengths of pine "Gateways"as described in my "Bizarre Thefts" thread, what hope is there of keeping anything on the farm!

henarar:

Best to use some that have been in the yard for a few years

Excellent henarar. It reminds me of the time when the children had gone to univeristy and the wife and I took regular holidays to Greece and Spain. we put the luggage in an old cardboard suitcase I had bought in Aden thirty years earlier. I then tied it around with old rope and baler twine.

It was never broken into despite other passengers saying their's had been.

 

Other than the wire gates, are there any other types not subject to theft? are wooden gates stolen?

If I have to hang a brand new gate I will paint half of it in red oxide or anything I have left in the shed then put a nice big bend in the top bar, not enough to hamper the opening or closing but it 'spoils' the look of it, and the paint makes it easily identifiable. I've not lost one yet (touch wood), the key thing is to make a lot of effort for the crim to resell it.

andy h:

are wooden gates stolen?

They're very expensive to buy new but don't last long if you have cattle. Not worth stealing I'd say, except for firewood.

strider347:

then put a nice big bend in the top bar, not enough to hamper the opening or closing but it 'spoils' the look of it,

Now I know why nobody steals my Land Rover ! Though I never deliberately bend it, it does look like it's just come back from Afghanistan

The best answer is not to have any gates other than that use old gates if you can where they're on the road, either invert the hinges, weld a thick washer on the top, drive a lump of metal in to the post above the hinge and visibly mark the gate. Like with tool, machinery or livestock trailers you can never stop them if they are determined all you can do is put them off nicking yours in favour of taking someone else's.