Having just purchased a nice trailer, I've been looking at the various kinds of locks to keep it secure.  A few weeks ago, an enclosed utility trailer was stolen with all of the guy's tools, a power washer, chain saws, etc.  This, of course, got me to thinking about what protection I had for my trailer.

I've considered a Rhino lock/wheel boot 

(http://www.mitico.com/index_rhino.htm  ),

a Gorilla Guard

(http://www.deepsouthtrailerparts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=25&zenid=daaa580f3d4f6c73add0dbdfb7ae1f50 ),

a simple gooseneck lock

(http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?PGGUID=30e0719a-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5  ),

a 15' security cable with pad lock

 (http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/detail.cfm?model_ID=0&Category_ID=9&manufacturer_ID=373&product_ID=14269&sblid=ONG-5025 ), etc.

(these are just examples of what I found and not an endorsement of the actual product, dealer, or price.)

My question is this:  What type of lock(s)/alarm do you use and why did you select it.  Do you use the lock(s) only when the trailer is not being used, just when camping/trail riding, all the time, etc.  If you chose not to use a lock, why not?  Any other comments also welcomed.

Thanks, Steve

 I use a lock that goes around the gooseneck . I think a thief could probably saw or break it off in a matter of minutes . I just try to make the trailer a hard target for a thief to access . I park a truck by the trailer , so the trailer cant be towed off with out moving the truck .

  I think that if a thief wants your trailer bad enough , they will find a way to get it . I keep my trailer insured , registered , and have plenty of photographs for insurance .

   You might want to check out the security cable . My buddy had a cable lock on a small trailer , and he lost the key . We attempted to cut the cable with several sizes of bolt cutters . We finally broke the cable after lots of work . I think the cable was called Kryponite ( or some thing close to that ) .

                                                    Good luck .

I sure your GN coupler squeezes together and is held in place by a locking pin.  Why not just get a good, heavy padlock and slip it though the pin holes.  THis will keep the coupler closed and it would take a bit of effort to saw thru it.  Do you keep the trailer where it is very accesible to thieves?

I use a gooseneck coupler lock, I always have it on my trailer, whether I'm home or away.  I know that if someone *really* wants my trailer, they'll find a way to take it anyway.  But... since most of the trailers around it don't have locks on them, my guess is they would be more likely to steal an unprotected trailer they can get away with quickly.

As for getting away quickly in emergencies, my husband and I always have our keys to the lock with us.  Since, if you have the keys, the lock is really easy to take on and off the trailer, I don't think the extra few extra seconds it would take to unlock it would make much of a difference.  Plus.. since I'm at a boarding stable, I would hate to get the the barn to evacuate my horses out only to find out that someone had borrowed my trailer to get their horses out.

Roper - Not to be mean but from family experiance a few seconds can be the difference between life and death.  You would be suprised how quickly a barn will go up in flames.  My grandparents lost close to 50 animals, two tractors, and other equipment when the dairy barn was set on fire (it was determined to be arson).  The fire dept was there for close to 30 hours. My grandfather was severally injured when a beam fell on him as he was trying to get one of the tractors out of the barn.  Also in an emergency you don't always think of the lock on the trailer.

Chances are the guy that steals our trailer will be a repeat offender! Untill we as a society lock them up and toss the keys the problem will get worse as they get smarter.....After I lock my landing gear I just make sure I have good insurance......!! And the real bummer is you don't really know how good it is till you need it!

Kevin,

I'm very sorry to hear about what happened to your grandparents, that's really a tragedy.  It's unbelievable that someone would purposely do something like that. 

I am *very* aware how quickly fires can spread, my in-laws lost their house to a brush fire in 1993. The fire moved 7 miles in 30 minutes.  Everyone in our family got out fine, because, unlike other people in the neighborhood who had to drive through flames to get out, we left early.  Because of our experience with the fire, we have set evacuation plans not only for our homes but our horses.   We don't take any chances with our lives or our animal's lives.

As for my horse’s situation, the biggest danger is a brush fire.  The good news is that, since the brush has been cleared well away at our boarding stables and there is no grass or brush around any of the stalls, the fire department and the forest service have designated our boarding stable as the safest place to go if people who live in the canyon are trapped and cannot get out.  Even with that, if there is a fire even a few miles away, my trailer is hooked up and ready to go.

As I mentioned in my previous post, some people who are panicked do things they wouldn't normally do, like taking someone else's trailer to save their own horses.   I know from the brush fires we deal with from time-to-time and having evacuated an entire animal shelter in a flash flood, I don't normally panic in emergency situations.   It literally takes a few seconds to unlock the trailer under normal circumstances; it shouldn’t take me much longer to get the trailer unlocked in an emergency.   

For me personally, I feel better with my trailer locked than unlocked.  Since everyone’s personal situation is different, we each have to look at our situation and decide what's best.  In the end, I think most of us try to do what is safest for both ourselves and our horses