You can also use a scissor jack for the regular size but I don't know about the mini.

I got steel in my eye from dremeling too! Like the other poster I thought I had an eye infection, waited too long and had to go to the hospital to have the now-rusty steel surgically extracted. Play safe kids.

Rent an oxygen acetylene torch with a cutting tip.

Wear the appropriate goggles.

if it's really 3 years old why aren't you out there right now busting that sonofa***** open with a bic pen? what are you waiting for?!

4 inch Makita disk grinder at Home Depot is 29 bucks. Will cut the lock in less than two minutes. I've done it. Makes a lot of sparks.

Contra Fixie: What do you know about the laws of the Brimy Deep?

Goggles are the best, but I used an empty CD jewel case held in front of my face. One handed dremeling is probably not the best, but it gets the job done if you are lacking in safety equipment.

just take an axe / hatchet, place it on the lock and swing a sledge down on it real hard. you'll need someone to help you, but tree cutting implements never fail for when i need them.

For some reason the thought of hitting hardened/tempered steel with hardened/tempered steel doesn't appeal to me. Isn't there some possibility of the axe shattering?

dude, it's an axe... it's meant for cutting stuff.

with that said there probably is a risk of the blade shattering, sending shards of steel everywhere.
when i had to break my u-lock when the key broke off inside i just took a steel rod about four feet long and twisted the u out of the locking part. it worked alright, but it wasn't a kryptonite.

Yep, like a lil window that'd work, unfortunately for me I have to use the rotary for hours on end occasionaly, with both hands & usually end up covered in steel head to toe. I use a shop vac on me & everything round me for 5-10 minutes, then a hand washing before I'll take my goggles or mask off.

t3h googlez! t3h do nah-zing!

Especially this time of year, harbor freight tools will often have $10 angle grinders. junky, single-use tools, but if that's all you need, there you go

I'll give $1000 to the first person to cut through a NY-Chain with an axe.

Actually, it might. If you mailed it back to Kryptonite explaining that you lost the key, they might help you out, especially if it's bic-able.

you've obviously never heard the tall tale about paul bunyon's night in jail in nyc for stealing bikes.

Isn't that the same night that spawned the tall tale of Babe the Blue Ox's ill-fated brush with necrophilia in the meat-packing district?

Well, the bet's off if you're the size of Paul Bunyon...

i had to cut the u-lock off my friend's bike when he broke the key off of it. My dad had a pair of really old bolt cutters (think 3 foot long pliers), and that did the job quite nicely. The newer bolt cutters are much smaller when considering their effiectiveness, and are available at harbor freight for about $20-40...although im not sure how that compares to the price with a new nyc lock, last i saw for them was $100

the best suggestion in this thread so far is the $29 4" grinder.

it's a very useful thing to own.

barring that, are you friends with any auto shop/machine shop/plumber/mechanical/contractor types?

if the chain isn't locked to anything, bring it to a shop. i bet one of those dudes has something that can blast through it in about 10 seconds.

I am not going to say that bolt cutters won't work but I couldn't get them to do the job. I bought 3' bolt cutters from the hardware store and then proceeded to ruin them in the first hour trying to cut a u-lock. Not only did it not do the job but it didn't even leave a mark large enough that to make anyone think that someone was trying to cut their lock. I don't steal bikes for a living but I was totally obsessed with breaking an abandoned lock off of our bike rack this year.

haven't you ever seen an action movie? take a ****'n 9 mil to the son of a *****, with decent aim one shot should do the trick... .45 or just about any other pistol you can get your hands of will probably do the trick as well...

seriously though, I woulda spent the money on a cheap-o grinder before the bolt cutters... I've seen adapters you can put on a regular drill to use it as a grinder to if you have a drill... like someone else said and auto repair shop or something of that nature might help. Or going to the nearest construction site at lunch time with a few bucks might help you find someone who could help...

Bolt cutters will cut old junky mild steel U locks, but they're not even going to dent newer hardened stuff.

Also, I guarantee you I could break a U-lock with an axe, especially if you let me use a splitting maul. It wouldn't be pretty and you wouldn't want the tool back, but it would happen. Steel is funny stuff.

I posted this elsewhere, so I thought I would copy and paste, it's kinda long though. But hey, for a Kryptonite mini-U try a: 1)Bic Pen (You'll need something ot tap on it with, the lock itself or a hammer will do to tap it into position. The plastic is pressed around the tumblers and mimics the shape of the key. It's kinda hard at first.) 2) A grinder with diamond wheel. Get at least five new wheels. If you can't use a pneumatic grinder, and have to use electric, it will take a while. Don't use a torch, it will just make a mess. 3)Jaws of life, the old hydraulic ones are way better, but the newer battery operated ones are good too. 4)Three foot bolt cutters with "Hastelloy X" jaws. It will ruin the cutters. Carbide anything will chip. 5) A 50-100 ton brake press with A or E class cutting jaw add-ons. That means the lock goes to the shop. So, if it's locked to something, you cant do number five. 6) I have never tried the liquid nitrogen approach. Very dangerous. Don't spill it on your foot or breath in the fog.

I spent ten years as a CNC Machinist in the medical and aerospace industries before getting into Computer Science. There are a lot of guys out there that know a lot mor ethan I do, but I can steal any bike if I don't mind a crowd. I don't steal bikes, I jus tknow how. I have knowledge of unusually hard metals and their characteristics and I can also defeat any bicycle lock. I can pick most combination locks by feel in under a minute. I must say I see alot of people using the U lock through the back wheel, "back wheel to steel" method, and it is very disappointing. I have stolen bikes (testing) with the NYFU lock going through the back wheel by simply cutting through the tire, rim and all in about five-eight seconds. REAL quick. Give the bike a big heavy yank (being 6'-4" helps), and thus yanking the U lock through the cut in the rim, and you've got yourself a new, used bike with a crappy back wheel. It's also on YouTube too. I have used about everything to cut through these different Kryptonite locks. Pad locks with covered shackles are good, except against the two pound mallet attack or the grinder. The grinder will go right through teh whole body of the lock, but the shackle is quicker because a very small section is still exposed. The lock combination that I am unable to defeat <in a reasonable amount of time> is a Kryptonite New York Noose over the top of the upper, rear triangle and down through the wheel and frame locked to the bike rack, along with a NYFU (Fuhgettaboudit) through the top tube and around the bike rack with a cable through the front wheel to NYFU lock. My bike is Kona freeride bike so it has the through axle in the front which is an additional annoyance when stealing, but the more annoying a job is, the less anyone wants to do it. The NY Noose uses a mini U lock for the chain, which has several links and a big ring that the chain itself slides through creating a loop type application, but the shackle diameter is very thick and the "U" is so small the only thing anyone can get in there is a flat head screwdriver, providing you are using it on the Noose. The purpose of the mini U lock is that it can't be leveraged. It is so stout, that the strength-to-diameter ratio is excellent. The chain it is used with is even stronger, that makes the mini U the weakest link; which is still pretty damn strong. The three foot bolt cutters can go through it, but one handle has to be put on the ground, and then I sit and bounce (I wiegh 340) on the handle and after about a few minutes it goes through the mini U lock. It ruined the bolt cutters, dented them real bad. But they won't work on the Noose, the links are just way too hard and they have a hexagonal profile, and again, it ruined the bolt cutter jaws, it dented them so far in I couldn't use them anymore. It made big marks on the links, but no fracture. The grinder worked on all the locks, but it took about twenty minutes with an air compressed wheel grinder and several new diamond wheels. The acetylene torch melted the NYFU a little, but could not cut it, and the NY Noose was even tougher against a torch. The triple heat treated Boron Manganese steel was harder than I thought. A six foot A-2 pry bar and three big greasy guys can start to work the NYFU lock loose, but the frame got ruined on the test bike and was bent pretty bad, un-rideable. Yup, you can break through any lock if you have the tools, the time and the know how. I know that with the correct tools, and the correct know how, it would take a really good thief about twenty minutes to get my bike if he had a partner. I used to put the locks low, but working a pick on the ground is easier because you can lay all your tools right next to your head and make quick work of it. If the locks are up high, I can't ge the leverage I need from the three foot bolt cutters, but the disc picks and bic pens can still be used. So up high, I eliminate at least one break method. So, I chose these locks and these postitions to lock my bike up so that at least it has a fighting chance of being there when I get back. I carry them in a trunk bag mounted on a post mount rack. Since I am heavy, I cannot feel the weight of the locks when I ride except when climbing a 10%+ grade hill. Jaws of life worked pretty good, used two batteries and took three minutes. But they are real big, cost alot, and I think you have to be a firefighter or law wenforcement to purchase one. The new ones are battery operated so they are way slower but still useful and more portable that way. Use a copule locks and keep em up high, no combination locks. Try to get one flat-keyed lock and one round-keyed lock.That way if some smart ass actually knows how to do the bic trick on the disc lock, you still have aflat key to defeat. The more tools a thied needs to take your bike, the more likely that he will leave it alone. Always park your bike out in the open. Maybe when you get back to your bike, the only reason you will have a crowd around your bike is because you have a cool looking bike with a crazy locking method. Just be ready for all of the "I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy that can get all of those locks off in ten seconds. . ." There's always one. Your reply should be, "Well, if my bike comes up missing, now I know what you look like." Hope this helps and happy trails.

too lazy to look through all the replies but just use an angle grinder on that u-lock. It'll go through in less than 10 seconds.

And Scott H.^^^^. Is that wall-of-text your experience or someone else's? And, you/he weighs 340 lbs?

hard work and determination.
and ABBA.