Kitchen Garden Forum

At the risk of sounding daft, our allotment association had one of its two identical gate locks stollen! Either one of the members deliberately walked off with it because they needed a padlock at their house or somebody stupidly left it unclasped on the gate resulting in it being thrown away. Unfortunately, I suspect the former.
We now have 25 keys which used to fit both locks, but need to acquire another padlock identical to the existing one for our second gate. These are standard yale-type keys. How easy is it to get a new lock cut and how much, roughly, would this cost? If it can be done through an online company, so much the better!

Hi Barry, our allotment has a large combination padlock on the gate...no keys to loose...as long as you can remember the numbers!!

Speedy

Hi,

If you find that it's more a case of someone leaving the lock unclasped, you might try buying an 'Abloy' lock. They are nigh-on indestructable and you can't take the key out without re-closing them. I live on a National Trust site, and they use them regularly with great success.

As to getting a new lock cut (re-keyed) - I think this may well be pretty expensive... (although I think you can do this with the Abloy's too!)

We had exactly the same problem, twice!

First time some nit twisted their key off in the lock, 3mm inside the slot so nothing to grip with plier. The Council had a spare lock that took the same key.

Last time 99% certain some other nit left it unlocked and the little darlings in the park spotted it and chucked it. Fortunately for us and rather amazingly the Council had yet another lock with the same key.

Reckon we'll be buggered next time though!

screwfix.com do sets of keyed alike padlocks if you get really stuck.

Thanks for the comments.
Tried a local lockmsmith. With the master key, he can supply an exact copy of the main lock for under £8.00!
I have been waiting a month at the allotment for the powers that be to get a duplicate padlock, but the person responsible always says: manana, manana, which never comes, much to the frustration of everybody who uses the second gate to access the site. Madningly, the bosses don't have the masterkey and the guy that does is just so unrealiable it is driving us all daft. However, this individual has placed a substitute lock on the second gate which only he can open, so he's all right, isn't he? Don't some allotment holders make you want to scream?

put a really strong padlock of your own on "his" gate.

Believe you me, I have been very, very tempted. I have one of those enormous ones that bicycles use and which can only be cut off using massive bolt cutters! But I am trying diplomacy first.

cheaper option,a small squirt of superglue can bugger any lock up.the dearer the lock the harder it is to get off,normally need to get the oxy acetelene bottles out.had it done to me its a bugger

Did some research on obtaining duplicate locks, which threw up some interesting answers.
When you buy a lock, it will come with a masterkey on which will be a number. With that number alone you can buy an off-the-shelf lock. In other words, there aren't that many locks out there, supposedly fewer than ten from some manufacturers! If you haven't got the masterkey, then you can hand in a duplicate at the locksmiths' and they will send it off to a manufacturer who will advise what type of lock it came from and supply a substitute. All that for less than £8.00!

Our council frequently manages to send new allotmenteers the wrong key,it's quite common to break the ice with newbies by letting them on to the site!