How to keep your ATV from being stolen
#21
My lock is ice-spray proof according to the manufacturer. It makes sense since it's a lot harder to freeze a lock that weighs a few pounds than it is to freeze one that only weighs a couple of ounces. And my chain supposedly can't be cut with bolt cutters. My 3 foot bolt cutters didn't even put a scratch on it so I believe it. The average thief isn't cutting either the lock or chain so it's definitely not a waste of money and I have proof of that.
I had 4 ATVs stolen, one stolen and recovered and stolen again, before I got the Xena lock and Abus chain. I haven't had a theft in the years since I got this setup. They cut through a regular chain before and when I used a little bit thicker chain they cut the lock. Most thieves aren't going through the time and effort to steal my quad now when there are easy pickings elsewhere. Anything that slows them down or stops them is worth it. The truly determined thief could use a cutting torch to cut through anything you put in their way but most thieves are opportunists that are too lazy to put in the effort it takes and they don't want to hang around long enough to get caught.
I had 4 ATVs stolen, one stolen and recovered and stolen again, before I got the Xena lock and Abus chain. I haven't had a theft in the years since I got this setup. They cut through a regular chain before and when I used a little bit thicker chain they cut the lock. Most thieves aren't going through the time and effort to steal my quad now when there are easy pickings elsewhere. Anything that slows them down or stops them is worth it. The truly determined thief could use a cutting torch to cut through anything you put in their way but most thieves are opportunists that are too lazy to put in the effort it takes and they don't want to hang around long enough to get caught.
#24
I have heard from others that a cable is much more difficult to cut thru with cable cutters or an angle grinder. I found a short piece of 3/8" dia cable so the neighbor and I decided to give it a whirl. It took forever to cut thru this crp with either angle grinder or chain/cable cutter. This stuff just mushes out rather than cut. We spent more than a half hour each way trying to cut thru this stuff.
#25
That's odd. I cut through a 1/4" or 5/16" winch cable with my angle grinder. At a claimed 12,500 RPMs it didn't take long at all. I thought 3/8" would take just a little longer. When I cut mine I wrapped several layers of electrical tape around it and cut through the tape. It made a nice clean cut on both ends.
#26
#27
I do know that when I shortened my winch cable that stranded cable was a pain in the a$$ to get thru with my angle grinder. The strands would vibrate like crazy rather than cut thru. Now if the cable is pulled really tight that may speed up the process, but a crook isn't going to have much time to stretch the cable tight.
#30