Gate motors have become sought-after items with thieves over the past years, and an alarming number of cases of gate motor theft are reported to the police. Stolen gate motors are often resold, or the motor is stripped and the individual parts are sold.
Your electric gate is the first perimeter deterrent to keep unwanted persons out, and it is, therefore, crucial that you safeguard the gate motor.
Here are a few tips to prevent theft of your gate motor:
- Install the gate motor in a theft-resistant cage and use a high-quality lock to secure it. Thieves often just put their hands through the fence and switch it to manual before opening the gate. The motor’s cover cannot be removed with the anti-theft cage in place, nor can the manual override be accessed.
- Install the gate motor in a steel casing or anti-theft bracket, out of reach from the outside.
- Bolt the gate motor into the ground.
- Install anti-lift brackets or weld a piece of flat bar onto the gate rack to prevent thieves from bending the rack upwards.
- Pay attention to the ‘tooth bar’ that connects the motor to the gate. The tooth bar is a rack fixed to sliding gates to allow the electric gate operator’s drive cog to move the gate in the chosen direction. Thieves often use tools to bend this bar and open the gate. Safeguard the tooth bar by welding a flat bar into the space between the tooth bar and the gate.
- Use sheeting on the gate to hide the gate motor from view and to prevent access to the tooth bar or motor.
- Combine theft-resistant cages with electronic devices such as a wireless alarm when tampering with the unit takes place. Gate motors should also be connected to your home alarm system.
- Install CCTV cameras and lights at the gate.
- Make it difficult for thieves to get into your property. Infrared beams, combined with detection alarms will alert you if someone is tampering with your gate motor.
The police are urging registered second-hand goods dealers to exercise caution and observe compliance when buying gate-motors from sellers. The same goes for buyers. Police will arrest the buyers and sellers of stolen goods.
Extracts form article on Securiforce Website