Silage contractor David Cahill from Brosna, Co Kerry, decided to start putting in place extra precautions in his yard because of the prevalence of thefts in rural areas in recent years. The security in his yard is of a very high standard and the combination of measures he has taken should deter the most resourceful burglars.

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Seven years ago, David built a shed to house his most valuable machinery, including the self-propelled silage harvester, large tractors and mowers. When built originally, this shed did a fine job keeping machinery dry but it had no advantage from a security viewpoint.

“People passing by the yard could see the machines in the shed because the front was left open. That’s why I decided to put in automatic roller doors,” said David.

Now, when David enters his yard in the morning, with just a push of a button he can open one of the large roller doors and take out one of the machines. Inside the shed, the concrete floor is painted, which means an oil leak can be easily spotted.

The shed is also well equipped with lights inside and out, which helps create a safe environment to work in, especially for silage contractors who are usually busy servicing machines in the darker hours. The remote control will work 100 yards away, so David can have a door open before he arrives back in the yard in the evening time.

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The three roller doors were supplied and erected by Autoroller in Kanturk, Co Cork. Each door is 20ft wide, the middle door is 16ft high and the two side doors are 14ft high. The height difference in doors is because more room is needed for the motor and roller envelope at the top of the door; otherwise the door would have to be narrowed. The doors work off electricity and only use 600 to 700 watts. There are also handheld manual chains so that if the electricity stopped working the doors can still be opened.

David decided to go with roller doors rather than sliding doors because with sliding doors if he opened one door another section would close off. Patrick Mulcahy from Autoroller said that the standard 16ft x 14ft doors cost approximately €1,500 plus VAT each. He said they can last over 25 years but like everything it depends how they are treated.

“Most insurance companies will only insure the contents of buildings with roller doors rather than sliding doors, I would think this is because they think that roller doors are the most secure option,” says Patrick.

He says roller doors are very low maintenance and he recommends a yearly service. Patrick feels they are ideal for feed stores on farms with quality assurance in mind as they also help keep out birds and rodents.

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A monitored CCTV system has just been installed in David’s yard. In total, five night vision cameras are set up around the yard combined with motion sensors. When the alarm is set at night time the motion sensors can detect if someone enters the yard. If a burglar enters the yard the motion sensor will detect his presence and alert the monitoring station who will send a message to David.

The monitoring station will also see the intruder through the night vision cameras. With the aid of a speaker and amplifier, a trained person in a monitoring station can give a verbal warning to the intruder to leave the premises or call the gardai if necessary.

ADA Security Systems in Rockchapel, Co Cork, said to install the alarm, cameras and sensors it costs approximately €4,000 to €5,000 plus VAT. The monitoring company charges €6 per day to monitor the cameras at night time. They said David can call the monitoring system to turn on and off the system if he is away from the yard by giving a unique code over the phone. He can also dial in with his smartphone to view the cameras.

Jerry O’Mahony from ADA Security says nobody wants to see their property being damaged but having to confront the intruder should be avoided from a personal safety point of view at all times. Having a monitored CCTV system is the fastest way to force the intruder off your property they claim.

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Being an agri contractor diesel security is very important to David. He has a special store built for his diesel tanks where they are kept locked away behind a roller door. The pump attached to the diesel tank has a fuel meter. When David or one of his employees is filling a tractor with diesel, he records his name on a book as well as the name of the tractor and the amount of diesel used. This all helps to keep complete control of the diesel being used day to day.

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The entrance gates to David’s yard are simple but effective. The steel sheeting helps to give privacy so people can’t easily see what’s inside the yard and they can’t easily climb over the gate either. Inside the lock is covered and this cover is secured to the lock so an intruder can’t cut it easily.

Many readers will say that David went to big expense to secure his property. However, David says that if he didn’t do anything and one machine is stolen the costs would be far higher. Everyone can pick up ideas from David’s yard and they don’t have to cost too much. A cover over the gate lock, a secure area for the diesel tanks or even erecting dummy cameras initially rather than a full security system would all help to discourage intruders.