Tool Advice

[fuzzyoctober]

This year, the Windy City Rollers are entering not one, not two, but three carts in the annual Chiditarod urban shopping cart race and food drive. Two of the carts will be decorated like a pair of skates, and the third cart is being headed up by the Fury, who will be doing their own thing

Comments

[polyfrog]

I will gladly help.

What kind of timeframe are we looking at, here? I mean, how long do we have to lock them down? Seconds? Minutes?

What springs to mind is some aircraft cable. Put a loop on each end. Feed end A through the bars of the cart, then feed end B through the loop on end A. Then take end B and loop it around a phone pole. A cheap lock through the loop and around the running line, and ta da! Locked up tight. Gotta cut the cable (difficult) or the lock (could be easy or impossible depending on the quality of the lock), or undo the loops (annoyingly time consuming but not difficult if you use cable clamps, very difficult if you use ferrules).

I may be able to lay hands on a pair of bolt cutters.

[fuzzyoctober]

Yes, this is the kind of thing I am thinking of.
I am banking on nary more than seconds; how long would you leave your cart unattended with saboteurs in the area?

Is there any way to clamp the cable together and avoid the locks all together? Do you have the tools for clamping? What do I need to buy?

[polyfrog]

I can't immediately think of any way to instantly attach the cables together that would not be just as instant to undo except locks.

There are two ways to make the loops: Cable clamps or ferrules.
Cable clamps lock down with nuts and bolts. You feed the two pieces of cable through the eye, and tighten it down. Usually you use two per joint.

Ferrules, or crimp sleeves are much more secure, much harder (more or less impossible) to get undone, and need a special tool to fasten.

As I see it, if we use cable clamps and locks, they will be able to reasonably easily get unstuck by undoing the nuts on the clamps, but may be distracted by trying to get rid of the locks.

[polyfrog]

The locks I'm thinking of are the sort you might get from a dollar store. Semi-impressive looking, but really worthless.

[fuzzyoctober]

I just saw this comment. I had not thought of the dollar store. I will look into this. :)

[fuzzyoctober]

I want to avoid using locks because they are an extra cost. If they can undo the cable clamps, then that seems like enough. I just want to slow them down, or perhaps stop them entirely if they are dumb. I can't be held responsible for stupidity.

[polyfrog]

the problem is that putting the clamps on is just as if not more time-consuming and fiddly as getting them off.