Locking it down fits to a T

This quick project was about locking a gate with a unique setup. The easy solution was wrapping both sides of the gate with a strong chain and padlock. We selected Abus Padlocks with re-keyable Schlage lock cylinders.

Looking more closely at the situation, the large rolling gates had metal plates welded to them that should be more useful.

Our solution was finding some t-shaped steel bar, which exists and was ordered online cut to length. We don’t usually work with metal and lack tools for it.

A drill press and 1/2” twist bit was used to bore the hole for the padlock shackle. Then we hit all the edges with a coarse Dremel sanding wheel to remove any burrs.

Here’s a test fit of the steel piece through the gate plates.

We flipped it around to the operating position and installed the padlock.

Results

Overall, the solution is very clean and we’re happy with this version. The fit makes using bolt cutters on the shackle awkward. They’d have to get through 1/4” cold-rolled steel with a grinding wheel to free the lock which is loud and throws showers of sparks.

Improvements

1. The raw steel needs painted to protect it from the elements

2. The t-bar should be secured to one side of the gate with a chain so we don’t lose it or drop it while working the gate.