Bollards or crash gate?
 

I'm looking security for our entry. I have a very long driveway, it's really a road. The entry is not protected, but I've been looking for into bollards or a strong gate. The prices are incredibly high. We live in a neighborhood, but everyone has a mini-farm. The neighbors have elected not to have a gate at the entry, several already have private gates.

Does anyone have experience with gates or entry systems. We already have a high speed security system. The gate or barrier can easily be incorporated into the system. Of course, the different options for command systems is outrageously expensive too.

The automatic bollards are $9,000 for two.
http://www.usrgrab.com/passive_barri...c_bollards.htm

A real barrier gate is $22,000
http://www.probarrier.com/vehiclebar...heArrestor.asp

A simple "decorative" gate is $6,000. It would only keep the honest people out.

I've also been looking at the barrier arms with spikes
http://www.gatedepot.com/prod_doorki...etail/1603.htm

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

Get an old school bus, from the 1970's.
should cost about 800 to a thousand FRN's.
park that across your drive. set the parking brake tight, turn the battery switch off.
no ones going to move THAT unless they bring a tank.

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

A Cattle Gate is low tech and certianly cheaper.

E-A

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

Nothing will stop a determined person/s from getting through almost any gate. That said, plan on just a gate slowing someone down, giving you some badly needed time.

Claymore mines are a thought.

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...earch&aq=f&oq=

Just install a driveway alarm and "meet and greet" the visitors as needed.

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

use some of these to make a visitor drive a zigzag pattern leading up your driveway

http://howeprecast.com/images/4-Barriers_large.jpg


http://howeprecast.com/default.aspx

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

Another possibility would be an older water- tank truck, or fuel truck.
older medium duty gasoline powered rigs are often DIRT cheep. low compression engines, can sit for years,start easy, run on ancient low octane swill, and again, damn hard for a few punks to move out of the way, if you park strategically across the drive, set a good hydraulic brake lock, and make sure the master switch is well hidden.
the kids will look elswhere for a plasma teevee or what ever it is they steal these days.

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

Having an unusual gate is like a bat signal to call criminals.... I HAVE SOMETHING VALUABLE OVER HERE!

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

How about a moat? If they come with large engines of destruction, then all bets are off.

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

around here it can be a problem using the below ground barriers due to snow/ice during the winter

around here lots of people use a decorative gate (swing style) with a heavy beam or steel tube incorperated somewhere into it.

they swing out, when they are closed they are up against heavy steel bollard stops concreted into the ground so they cant be pushed open with a car

most use a form of garage door opener that can be used with a remote or a keypad or from the house...

some work on 110v power...in the country most use a 12v battery system with a solar recharger

around here the fencing companys will either make the whole unit or just the gate and the garage door people will do the controler

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

just my thoughts on this...i do deliveries in these gated areas. every time i go into one it reminds me of entering a jail, or pen. leave yourself a way out.

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

Impressive. Doesn't show anyone going through the fence on either side with an M113, though.

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

By the type of barriers you are looking at it would seem you are fairly wealthy. If you can afford that sort of thing then go for it. Myself I would build my own gate with steel pipe, build everything heavy duty so nothing smaller than a large truck would likely get through it. It would just be a plain gate that would be left open most of the time and manually closed if things got hairy.

I might string some electric wire across the entrance as well to deter random punks from climbing over. If things got really bad I would fell a few trees across the drive way.

Now since I don't have my own retreat yet this is hypothetical but that is what I would do. Too bad my finances have not panned out as well as I hoped. If I have to bug out before then something similar could be done at that location.

Now if money were no object I would go with the moat and draw bridge. Maybe a few man eating crocs for good measure. :bear_w00t:

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

Do what they do at the bridge in the DMZ between South and North Korea...

Keep the road open but have a guy that sits in a big truck left idling all the time ready to drive down the road and smash into any unauthorized vehicles that head up the road.

Re: Bollards or crash gate?
 

+1 on the build your own gate idea from Thorgrim. Steel well pipe, deep posts and GOOD hinges.

FWIW, how long is long?(re: your driveway) Can your home be seen from the main road? If not, you might be better served to use a little camouflage. If no one knows a house is there, no one should come looking.

For us, and we are very rural, we live a half mile off the main paved road, and no one lives on the gravel road but family. My house sits a half mile off that gravel road. The driveway is 7/10th's of a mile long, but has to twist and turn to follow the countours of the property. Can't see my house from anything short of an airplane. Our driveway turns off the main road and into and through one side of our barn. You can't see past the front of the barn from the road, and when you exit the rear, you are over a small hillock and out of view. We have two sets of gates, on either end of the barn that we can lock. Electricity runs underground from the barn to the house, and we are wooded on all sides. The mail and trash are picked up at the end of the pavement, so no one really knows the physical address, unless they've been shown. You can exit from the rear of my place, but it's even longer and more winding. You have to go through three separate metal gates and around the edge of a twenty six acre corn field, across a deep creek and around another barn just to end up on another rural gravel road. In winter, you'd better not try it without a 4wd.

Didn't really plan it this way for security, but in building our house where we wanted, it actually worked out well for just such a purpose.

Anywhoo, if it's an option, give some thought to masking the driveway and house. Trickery might be the best security...