Need Help Locking batteries

[smokey tennis shoe]

I need some ideas on how to try and somehow lock the batteries on my cart.

I have a cart at my part time home. The cart is outside, chained to a column.

I have had people cut the battery cables, and steal the batteries. Now I just see they cut 2 cables this time, before they got scared away.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to lock the battery compartment?

The cart is outside under an exposed carport.

[pachanga90]

If its' outside where no-one is around,no matter what you do it will just slow them down.If you chain the seat down,they will just come back with bolt-cutters the next time.It stinks that nothing is safe anywhere,anymore!Probably the best battery-security would be to build a cover over them(well-vented and have something on the under-side of it to prevent arcing.Make it so that it comes down over the sides and bolts to the tray(the more bolts the better in this case,it will encourage them to give up).Use Button-Head bolts(rounded,rivet-style they can't be grabbed with pliers,vise-grips,etc..) with Tamper-Proof Torx-slots and Crush-Nuts(the lock-nuts that the top thread is undersized so that it bites into the bolt),that will slow them even more.Hope this helps.

[Fishing Dude]

Best option is place a sheet of steel on seat bottom the another up from floor and a hasp lock. At best will only stop a lazy theif.

[Stevegrmich]

. . . rent a cheap storage unit near your part time home . . . any other means will be futile if someone really wants the batteries and copper . . . bolt cutters are quick and easy . .

[MDLNB]

How about installing a car alarm on it? One that has a loud horn/siren and that resets itself after a set period. Are there neighbors close enough to witness it, if the alarm goes off?

[scottyb]

You could lock the seat down with a chain wrapped under the cart and over the seat going through the hip restraint handles.

[caokgafamily]

Leave CA! just joking, there are some things I miss about my home state. I have no clue, can you lock seat?
Steve

[smokey tennis shoe]

Thanks for the input guys.

The cart is inside a gated community. There are 100's ofgated communities here, but alot of them,the residents are part timers, such as snow birds or weekenders.

Everyday, there are gardners, and many other "workers" that come thru these communities. There is quite a bit of theft and burglaries . They sometimes case the places and see no one is there, and go back and break in.

I think in my case with the cut cables, probably a worker was working close by, then in a hurry, cut the wires, with theintention of coming back later and getting the batteries.

I have snowbirds on each side of me, as well as behind and across the street. During the summer it is like a ghost town here. I am in the desert by Palm Springs.

As far as the alarm idea, how would that work? What would trigger it? And would it run off the same batteries as the cart does? Since the carts sit outside under carports, no one leaves a charger on them, so alot of time the batteries are dead when the snowbirds get here.

The weekenders don't want to hassle going back and forth to a storage unit.

[kgsc]

Mine get left a lot also and I am considering welding steel over them such that I can fill them but would be a real bear to get them out..

[Stevegrmich]

Originally Posted by smokey tennis shoe

Thanks for the input guys.

Since the carts sit outside under carports, no one leaves a charger on them, so alot of time the batteries are dead when the snowbirds get here.

. . . even dead batteries are worth up to $10 or so apiece at salvage yard . . .