Clamps Deter Irrigation Thieves

Clamps Deter Irrigation Thieves IRRIGATION Acessories High copper prices have created a new challenge for center pivot irrigation owners – copper wire thieves It can cost upwards of $25 000 to rewire a system that has had its wiring stripped out In Maryland Paul Yiannakis his brother Dennis and stepbrother Ed McDowell developed a set of clamps and angle iron to help out a farmer who had wiring stolen several times “The clamps hold the angle iron in place over the wiring ” Yiannakis says The men made their own clamp-making press out of cylinders off old farm equipment The patent-pending clamps are made with 1/8 by 1 1/2-in flat iron and carriage bolts The angle iron is placed over the wiring and clamped down every 7 to 8 ft so wiring can’t be pulled Yiannakis and his partners started the company Pivot Protection to install their anti-theft system They take a bandsaw to the field to cut the angle iron to length and it takes 45 min to an hour per tower section At the request of the first farmer they painted the angle iron yellow and continue to do so “He said paint it as bright as you can so thieves see there’s no reason to stop ” Yiannakis says Customers have told him many horror stories of multiple thefts and insurance companies dropping coverage because of it Alarms and other efforts have failed as thieves can pull electric wire in 20 min or less So far the angle iron system has been an effective deterrent Yiannakis and his partners charge $4 50/foot to install the system and will travel outside their Maryland base They are also considering selling their clamps to irrigators in other regions of the country Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Paul Yiannakis 25782 Goldsboro Rd Goldsboro Md 21636 ph 410 482-9028

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