Allotment safety

[duglass]

Hello! I'm very new to the allotment game...... 4 days exactly. My new neighbours have already started worrying me about how safe my things are in my shed. Ideally i need to leave all my equipment in there, so l don't need to bring the car every time.  Is there an insurance company that would cover me? any advice is welcome on this or any other first timer do's and don't's.

[duglass]

[Merry Tiller]

Don't leave anything in it that you can't afford to lose, simple

[weedbusta]

hi duglass, if you really need to leave things, as i do, don't leave anything too valuable. apart from basics like a spade fork hoe etc that you know you'll be using constantly, try to leave as much as possible at home. do you have a shed? get a good padlock. how secure are the allotments? have there been a lot of break-ins? can you grow jaggies! brambles etc can provide a boundary that would be thieves don't like. if your plot looks harder to get into than the one next door they'll choose the one next door. I've had one break in, and it's horrible when it happens to you, but really they just made a mess and stole the coffee and my jaffa cakes. don't let it put you off and i hope you enjoy your allotment.

[duglass]

Thank you for your advice, I'm now navigating around the A4A site a little better and found some really useful advice for first timers, some of my question have already been answered
I want to get excited about planting and not worry to much about Safety!! ;D

[Roy Bham UK]

If you use a padlock choose one of those round ones that show very little of the hasp, it makes it almost impossible to cut through, our allotment was attacked by thugs with a bolt cutter and got into every shed including the main gate padlock :o

[Stork]

Here's a trick to stop the sticky fingered b****ds running off with your tools.

Buy a cheap plastic bucket, a couple of bags of quick setting fence post cement, a length of strong chain and a good padlock.

Mix the cement in the bucket and shove a loop of the chain to the bottom. Let the cement dry. You can then loop the chain through the handles of spades etc, through the end of your hoes and tthe frame of your wheelbarrow. If they try to nick your things they'll have to carry the whole lot at one plus a 30lb lump of concrete.

I have done this with mine and it has all been left behind after two break ins at the communal shed on my site.

Stork.

[Roy Bham UK]

That's not a bad idea Stork ;) although chain is a bit expensive hmm! ??? I have a good back up stock of my garden tools now as I am an excellent scavenger and scrounger ;D also I look out for bargains at the car booty ;D so I can replace them as and when they get nicked 8)

[Merry Tiller]

Car boot sales are where most of the nicked tools end up for sale though

[glow777]

if you can fit a mortice lock to the doors of any sheds and the entrance door and your doors are strong and secure you will not get broken into.

All our breakins are done with bolt croppers, if there's nothing to crop they can't get in. If they get in over a fence they have to get out the same way which may be hard if they intend carrying your tools.

Unfortunately this wont solve the problem it will just move them onto the next Lotti with padlocks!

[Merry Tiller]

These are very good, I have one on my rear van doors


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HEAVY-DUTY-VAN-LOCK-HASP-LOCKS-YOUR-VAN-LIKE-A-VAULT_W0QQitemZ8064201762QQcategoryZ15329QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[amphibian]

If you use a padlock choose one of those round ones that show very little of the hasp, it makes it almost impossible to cut through, our allotment was attacked by thugs with a bolt cutter and got into every shed including the main gate padlock :o

I have just acquired a shed, it had one of these in place, I cut it off, it wasn't very easy, but it only took a few more seconds than a normal lock.

[Roy Bham UK]

If you use a padlock choose one of those round ones that show very little of the hasp, it makes it almost impossible to cut through, our allotment was attacked by thugs with a bolt cutter and got into every shed including the main gate padlock :o

I have just acquired a shed, it had one of these in place, I cut it off, it wasn't very easy, but it only took a few more seconds than a normal lock.

May make all the difference ???

[keithy]

I'm trying a different tack - I have no lock on the shed, and all my "real" tools are padlocked with  a heavy duty shackle lock to the shed, which are then hidden behind some netting. There are a couple realy old tools just inside the door. I figure if there's no lock,there's nothing worth nicking, and as my lottie is overlooked by houses, I'm hoping the scallies think it's not worth the risk.

It will work until it doesn't, but the earlier advice is best - don't leave anything you can't afford to lose.

Keithy

[kippers garden]

So many people have had sheds broken into on my allotment that the general advice now is don't bother locking your shed.  They brake into the ones that may have something locked away worth taking, not the ones that they can see there is nothing worth taking. 

My tools are cheap, dirty and well used...they may get 50p at a car boot if they try...i doubt it would  be worth the bother for them though...

I take anything valuable home after each visit.

My friend had her shed rolled over and over various plots last autumn.  Another person even had their shed taken last year!

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've noticed that normally it's the plots which are easy to break into that get done over if you have a strong gate and a solid lock and hasp (the hasp is at least as important as the lock) then a casual thief will take one look and move on to the next one. It's the same with sheds; if it looks really solid, they'll normally leave it and move on, though a really determined thief will usually get in. So a strong padlock, the sort of hasp which bolts through the wood - don't compromise here - and mesh over the windows will work 95% of the time.

[Katinkka]

I havent got my shed yet but I plan to just keep the bare essentials down there and leave it unlocked.  We bought some cheapo tools so we wouldnt lose sleep if they got nicked.  More expensive stuff we will keep at home.  My wheelbarrow is currently down there at the bottom of my plot with absolutely no protection.  What can I do?  I drive an alfa romeo... no space for wheelbarrows!  I took it downb in blokes vw but I dont want to drive that bus all the time.

[glow777]

The weird thing is with the price of organic veg in the shops these days they walk past the dear stuff to nick your rusty spade!

On holiday last year witnessed people buying 5 organic beetroot the size of ping pong balls for £2.50 !!!!!!

[katynewbie]

:o

Glow!!! Shhhhhhh...prying eyes might be looking! They can take my cheap tools, wheel off my wheelbarrow, but if they took my veg I would not be responsible...

>:(

[Robert_Brenchley]

I noticed someone's gatepost knocked down a few plots along the lane today, and when I looked closely, there was a fresh crowbar mark on the next gate, which they'd failed to open.

[artichoke]

My tiny locked shed was broken into a few years ago, and two favourite tools stolen: a birthday present swan necked stainless steel hoe, and a really good, effective grass-edging handtool.

Now I don't lock it. It looks a complete mess inside, plastic bags, mud, an old school chair off a skip, ancient tools from the market, torn seed packets, very old rusty wheelbarrow. I'm hoping that any self-respecting thief will think it beneath his notice. Outside, I have encourage the hawthorn hedge to envelope the shed so that it is not very conspicuous.

New people on a neighbouring plot have gone in for a padlocked metal box for their tools. Couldn't a strong pair of thieves just pick it up and march away with it to open it at their leisure?