Tied to the ground

The idea came to Anita Harris five years ago on a trip to Kerrville to help her son move back to Odessa.

She wanted to leave the trailer holding her son's belongings at the hotel she was staying at with her husband, but she didn't feel safe leaving it - and there was nothing to chain the trailer to.

"We have traveled extensively and talked to people who are chaining boats and motorcycles and Sea-Doos to lamp posts and fence posts," she said. But she wanted to come up with something sturdy that could be used for the sole purpose of tying trailers to the ground.

Over the next few years she developed the land anchor in her mind. The product is cemented into the ground, allowing people to tie trailers to it and preventing theft.

"If there's something you need and you can't find it, chances are, other people are going to need it to," she said.

Harris, 49, said land anchors can be used to hold down trailers with everything from motorcycles to travel trailers.

She also talked to people at apartment complexes, recreational vehicle parks and elsewhere who convinced her there was a demand for a land anchor. Two years ago, she had a prototype made.

"It was just one of those things that would never go out of my head," she said. "My husband said, ‘do something or forget it.' "

Finally, two months ago, Harris went to work making the land anchors herself after learning to weld from a friend. She now has a patent pending on the product and said she's capable of producing around 20 of the 11.5 pound, 12-inch long tubes a day.

The anchors are placed in a hole that can be drilled through concrete or asphalt using a core-drilling machine. They are then cemented in with a ring exposed on top to tie trailers to.

The process takes about an hour, Harris said. Each anchor costs $125 plus the price of installation, which can vary depending on how far the Harris family has to drive.

Harris said the anchors could be especially useful in West Texas with the rise in oilfield thefts.

"The more I talk to people, the more I've done the research, the more applications I find are out there," she said.

Bob Sims of Odessa said he's planning to buy some land anchors after three recent break-ins at his commercial property between Second and Third streets. He had a trailer and a four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle stolen.

"The concept is great," Sims said. "I don't know why nobody did it before."

The tubular-steel land anchor looks solid to Sims.

"I was quite impressed with it," he said. "It looks pretty good."

And, should a major hotel chain call wanting to set up "anchor stations" at all its inns, Harris said she can get help to make up to 200 a day. And, besides, she's really taken to welding.

"It's the most fun I've had in a long time," she said.

Land Anchor Services

>> For information on purchasing a land anchor, call 934-1650.