How do I keep a Weber grill from being stolen?

June 6, 2009 10:24 AM

I'd like to get my dad a shiny new Weber grill. I'd like to keep it from "walking away", however. Any ideas?

So my dad is quite the grillmaster - not much he can't do on 22.5 inches of cooking space - and his old kettle grill is getting rather rusty, so I'd like to set him up with a new Weber One-Touch Gold grill. The only difficulty is that he lives in a mediocre part of town and unsecured things in the backyard have a habit of disappearing, and knowing how those things get put together we're trying to figure out the best way to secure it.

The best I've figured is one cable-lock tying the handle on the top to the handles of the bottom, and then another one (or perhaps a long chain) tied to some of the cheap plastic furniture in the backyard to make it really inconvenient to steal. I don't think this will keep them from taking it if they really, really want it, but our hope is that it'll make it daunting enough that they'll just give up and move on. I'd probably also get a cover for it, to make it stand out a bit less.

Before we implement this, though, any other ideas? I did some Googling around and really couldn't find anything useful, so any suggestions would be great.

posted by agentmunroe to home & garden (16 answers total)

Like the man says, locks keep honest people out. There are also people who would see an elaborately-secured item as a challenge to be bested. I might skip the cover, for the same reason.

Another strategy? Camouflage. After you buy the fancy new grill, pry off any exterior logos, rough up the outer surface with sandpaper, then put a couple half-ass-looking blotches of spray-paint primer on it. Stick some duct tape or electrical tape on the legs. Replace one of the wheels with a wheel from a lawnmower or something. After you do all this stuff, the grill will still function just as well for cooking, but it'll be much less of an attractive target for would-be grillnappers.
posted by box at 10:35 AM on June 6, 2009 [3 favorites]

Cable locks are super-easy to cut. I'd use a heavy chain and a decent padlock. Neither will stop anyone, but the chain and padlock are a greater deterrent.

If you want to go hardcore, get a chain like the heavy one on Kryptonite's New York Fahgettaboudit bike lock.
posted by zippy at 10:36 AM on June 6, 2009

The grill your getting him has wheels, which means he can easily wheel it into a locked garage or shed if he has one. Is that an option?
posted by nitsuj at 10:36 AM on June 6, 2009

Building on box's suggestion, paint the house's address on the lid and base in a nice high-contrast color.
posted by zippy at 10:37 AM on June 6, 2009

One last - if he's going to use the grill in one area, pour new concrete and embed the grill!
posted by zippy at 10:38 AM on June 6, 2009 [3 favorites]

Our grill recently walked away. It was a Weber. We normally kept a lock on it but we forgot and well there it went. For Box's suggestion, if his neighborhood is not so nice then it may not be people stealing the grill to use it, it could be people stealing it for scrap, in which case they don't care what it looks like. Have a feeling that is what happened to mine, but I obviously have no idea. A lock of any sort and possibly a motion detect light nearby should do the trick for the average thief I would think. Not worth it when there are probably others around.
posted by WickedPissah at 10:43 AM on June 6, 2009

If your dad can live with having the grill occupying one particular spot for the duration, I'd consider getting some wood and concrete mix and sticking its feet in a nice heavy block of that. If anybody stole it after that you could at least keep an eye out for the guy with the massive hernia.
posted by metagnathous at 10:57 AM on June 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

One trip to the home improvement store of your choice: one 5 gallon bucket, two bags of Quickcrete, one forged eye bolt with nut (longer is better,) and three feet of one inch link chain. Select a parking spot for your grill as near a commonly used entrance as practicable. Remove sod from area slightly larger than diameter of bucket. Dig hole for bucket going below level of sod. Insert bucket in hole and mix Quickcrete in bucket. (Use 3/4 the water the directions recommend... you get stronger but less easily finished concrete, and finish doesn't matter here.) When concrete is beginning to set (almost immediately upon mixing) push shank of eye bolt with nut threaded onto it about one inch into wet concrete so that eye is at or slightly above ground level. Tap (hard) on the bucket to settle the concrete around bolt. Maybe use a piece of cardboard or string to keep bolt from sinking or tilting while mix cures. Replace soil in bucket to level out ground. Pack it in there but don't try to get it all back in. Put sod back in place and scatter remaining soil thinly over rest of the yard. Now you have a 200 lb. yard anchor. Attach as many appliances as you like.

Oh, and put up a stake or flag next to it. It will ruin a stroll through the yard. ...or a mower.

I also prefer chain to cable, because cable is quiet whereas chain makes a racket when tampered with.
posted by EnsignLunchmeat at 11:03 AM on June 6, 2009 [10 favorites]

I love the idea of grill embedded in concrete -- low fire hazard and no worries about anyone knocking it over. Just make sure it's level before it sets!
posted by mercredi at 11:04 AM on June 6, 2009

If you want to go hardcore, get a chain like the heavy one on Kryptonite's New York Fahgettaboudit bike lock.

Given that the grill is list price $159.70 and the lock is list price $154.95, I would consider going to your local bike shop and getting an off-the-shelf 'D lock' or chain at a fraction the price.
posted by Mike1024 at 11:08 AM on June 6, 2009

Yeah, the Kryptonite chain is kind of a weird suggestion--bike locks are a compromise between strength and weight. But if you're not planning on carrying this chain around in your messenger bag, you might as well just go to the Home Depot and buy a few feet of the thickest, heaviest stuff they've got.
posted by box at 11:41 AM on June 6, 2009

An addition would be a heavy vinyl cover that goes right to the ground, preferably with a drawstring on it at the bottom- protects it from the weather too. Not being able to see exactly what is there unless you walk up and lift the cover or live nearby might be enough of a deterrent.
posted by variella at 12:09 PM on June 6, 2009

If you're given to DIY projects why not build a brick grill instead?
posted by O9scar at 2:54 PM on June 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Thanks, everyone, for all the ideas. I mentioned a few of them to my dad and he seemed particularly intrigued in EnsignLunchmeat's idea of burying a concrete anchor that other things could be attached to, so I think he's running out to Home Depot shortly to get that set up.

The idea of just embedding the thing in concrete is good also, but I don't think he's quite ready to make that kind of commitment.

Again, thanks to everyone!
posted by agentmunroe at 3:02 PM on June 6, 2009

I wasn't saying get the Kryptonite lock, but rather to get a chain as heavy as the one that comes with that lock from a hardware store.
posted by zippy at 4:36 PM on June 6, 2009

My mistake, zippy--thanks for the clarification.
posted by box at 4:42 PM on June 6, 2009