Covering up the front of a carport and buying a big ol chain - Theft Deterrent

I wasn't able to find a place to buy so we ended up having to find a place to rent. It's not awful, but the neighborhood is a little more sketch than my previous assessment and I find myself wondering if I'll come home one day to find my boat missing from the car port. I was hoping to find something that looks nice but blocks the view from the street looking into the carport. Obviously, if people don't know it's there they won't try to steal it. I was thinking something like this :

http://www.amazon.com/Coolaroo-8-Feet-6-Feet-Select-Southern/dp/B005X634S6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1391455465&sr=8-4&keywords=sun+shade+patio

Any other ideas?

Also, where can I find a big ol chain to wrap through the motor/trailer?

Ball hitch lock and a boot.

I already have the ball lock and a coupler lock. I'll look into the boot, however the outboard on my boat is what is most likely to be stolen.

Boot it?

Looks like there are options

I think a non-secure covering may be worse than nothing...it says "there's something in here I don't want you to see" but doesn't keep anyone from going in, and offers privacy for anyone who does go in...

Not many people would want to steal a boat, much less the engine off it......unless your area has super kleptomaniacs who have a drug addiction.

yamaha wrote: Not many people would want to steal a boat, much less the engine off it......unless your area has super kleptomaniacs who have a drug addiction.

You would be surprised, south florida is like the the capital of the world for boat theft. Tampa isn't AS bad, but I certainly don't want to start a trend. Plus, I'm pretty sure my neighbor is in fact a drug dealer.

yamaha wrote: Not many people would want to steal a boat, much less the engine off it......unless your area has super kleptomaniacs who have a drug addiction.

You are very wrong. And the engine is easy to steal off of it with a couple of strong guys (or just one if it is small), and often nearly impossible to trace.

yamaha wrote: Not many people would want to steal a boat, much less the engine off it......unless your area has super kleptomaniacs who have a drug addiction.

What?!

Anyway...He's asking for advice on how to prevent it from getting stolen, not if we think it might.

I had some folks steal a riding mower one time that was chained to a tree with a padlock. They defeated the lock and pushed it out of the yard and through the neighborhood in broad daylight...with a neighbor watching.

There's no accounting for the lack of values some parents instill.

I'd say a harbor freight log chain and one of the high security locks (not a typical u-shaped bolt, but the one that's hard to get a bolt cutter on).

And a fence enclosing the boat and the dog in the same place.

I would pull the tire and rim and put it on a jack stand on one side.

Put a dog on the end of the chain.

benzbaronDaryn wrote: I would pull the tire and rim and put it on a jack stand on one side.

This works.

Take the outboard in the house with you?

TRoglodyte wrote: Take the outboard in the house with you?

shakes head

Thought you said Ouija board. Both could work.

In reply to ClemSparks:

Hmm, never would imagine it......but I guess you could always tether the outboard to the boat with some safety cables(harder to cut than a chain with bolt cutters)

yamaha wrote: In reply to ClemSparks: Hmm, never would imagine it......but I guess you could always tether the outboard to the boat with some safety cables(harder to cut than a chain with bolt cutters)

What are these safety cables you speak of? I think that's my best bet. It needs to be quick to remove (can't leave the wheel off) so I can take the boat out on quick notice. The motor weighs 237 pounds so I'm not lugging that thing around for fun.

Seems like everyone things the privacy screen would be a bad idea?

boat engines -are- a huge theft problem. I am not sure the police can or do take it seriously

Around here, people park boats in their front yard up by the street and put For Sale signs on them. They stay there for years.

For the motor chain or cable and a chunk of pipe with get you started: wrap chain around lower on outboard, put both ends through pipe, lock to rear frame of trailer.

Bonus style points will be given if you combine that idea with the folding tongue idea to make it so the coupler and chain end of the tongue came off and was used to lock the motor on when parked. Thief would probably be deterred.

yamaha wrote: Not many people would want to steal a boat, much less the engine off it......unless your area has super kleptomaniacs who have a drug addiction.

I know of three motors that have been stolen off boats parked driveways and yards. Only one of them lived in an even remotely questionable area. Nevermind anything smaller (batteries, fishing gear, etc)

My standard answer is: http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Taser/step1/parts-list/

Now... you use the boat battery for a power source and the boat hull for one of the electrodes and the ground for the other... so when someone touches it - WHAM! 30k+ volts. Then they let go (or are thrown... ) it resets and waits for them to try again.

You can tweak the voltage up a lot given the current of a marine battery and some of the Bosch COP stuff on german cars... get a nice big electrolytic cap too. You just have to make sure the charge time (the math is pretty painful but... the googles will find you a filter calculator) is low enough to be ready once they get to their feet or they brought a buddy to help carry it

Make sure it's easy to uninstall in-case you find a corpse out there!

I'll say it again...

Make your house less desirable to rob than your neighbors. You can't stop a determined thief but you can encourage him to shop elsewhere.

Thanks everyone! I forgot to mention that I already bought a folding tongue for it, and I plan on pulling the pin when not in use. I'll get a chain to connect the motor and trailer to the carport. Another idea is a boat cover or at minimum and engine cover to mask how nice it looks. It's freshly painted with a late model Yamaha so it definitely attracts the eye. If it was covered, at least people wouldn't know if it's a POS or a freshly restored boat.

Most large hardware store chains sell various chains/cables by the foot.