My Skid steer and excavator is normally kept in a commercial yard I share with my stone broker. Its well fenced but only a chain and padlock on the gates. A builder I work for has his yard and big warehouse about 800 yards from where my skid is stored. Just before christmas I showed up at a site (to meet with said builder) and he told me that on one of the few nights he ever left his truck in the yard, theives broke in and took the truck. On the truck was his 2005 Mustang skid, loading ramps, big plate compactor and well as in the cab was core drill bits, laser etc. About $170K worth. I rang a mate to let him know and he told me that the company he worked for (Retaining walls) just had their skid stolen off site only a few miles away from my yard. That was enough for me....I moved the skid and mini to my backyard while I was away on holidays. I got back two days ago to find out a 3 day old Case skid had been stolen from a very secure yard, with custom built trailer, about a mile away from mine. Seems like we have a bunch of professional scumbags in the area. Now what the hell am I going to do?
Make damn sure the insurance payment goes out on time, and list about twice the amount of goods they're actually going to steal, because the insurance company will never pay you for all of it. :beatsme
A good guard dog or two maybe?
is there any indication of how they are being removed? Around here, we had a ring of thiefs using two flatbed towtrucks to steal minis and suvs. I think they were caught when they got ahold of a lojacked machine and that lead the cops to there transfer point where they were being transfered into shipping containers for export. Not much you can do when they are just winching them onto their trucks. We have had some problems with fuel theft here as well, (we think its the cut rate can haulers but who knows). Good luck and buy insurance if you can afford it.
I don't know Squiz, is a Lo-Jack type system available to you down under? Can you chain the trailer up or remove a wheel or two? Short of sitting up nights with a shotgun under your arm, there isn't a real sure-fire method of keeping stuff from being stolen unless it's under constant watch. It would seem to me that there isn't a huge underground market in western Aus for equipment of that type, or is there? I know there is a lot going on with metal mining and port work, but most of that would take far bigger equipment. Yeah, make sure your theft policy is current and keep an eye out for suspicious folks eyeballing your stuff. Don't leave it out on the job and move it often. Stuff gets stolen here a lot that has been on-site for a few days, and most of it winds up in Mexico. I don't know that stuff stolen in your area leaves the country, does it? Good Luck anyway, and Happy New Year!
Cost is around $700 US 15% discount for fleet. Just wanted to post up some facts on lojack, not trying to give a sales pitch. 95% undamaged recovery rate is incredible.
Can you set up some video cameras so that if it gets pinched you at least have a picture of who took it? Maybe some web-cams that you can monitor from home?
Buy a pit bull with AIDS, maybe? Still not bad enough a punishment for thieves....
Yeah I would recommend the lowjack tracking system. We always wedge our mini in between two unmoveable obects such as trees or other bigger machines if in an unsure place, or better yet, bring it back home But with the one key fit all machines that probably does not matter much, go on ebay and for $4.00 you can get a key to go steal a $100,000 machine.
In the case of the builder they just stole the truck an all with the Mustang on the back. Probably hot wired the truck. The one that was stolen off site they had a truck or trailer. The new Case was simply hitched up and towed away on its trailer, after they used the master key (5 ft Bolt cutters) to gain access and cut the chains on the trailer. LoJack is not here but my options are Sea Container (for in the yard) and a self monitor system called EziTrak: http://www.ferret.com.au/c/Rojone/EziTrak-MICRO-vehicle-security-and-tracking-system-n666151 There are others but they run to annual monitoring fees. EziTrak is a one off expenses and can be fitted to other machines so I have emailed for details. My blood just boils at the whole bloody situation.
Aside from the other suggestions, do stuff to make it inconvenient. You figure to hotwire and take stuff, they're only there a few minutes right? It messes you up, but taking the wheels off would probably go a long way in sending them elsewhere. Anything that would keep them in one place for too long makes your stuff less attractive. Obviously that doesn't help with the tracked stuff, but it could be boxed in with other machines. Depends how bad they want it though.
One thing that is easy and inexpensive is to get one of those battery terminals that have a knob with threads that will unscrew from the terminal and leave the circuit open. You could take the knob with you or hide it somewhere in the machine. It might be enough of a deterrent to save the machine. Brian
One local mini dealer has even had people go as far to steal parts of of the display minis. The newspaper arical did not mention if it was buckets or what but said he has lost $3,000 is parts each of the last two weekends. Wire theft is rampant here too, one of the gravel pits had 3 conveyors stripped of there wire. The DOT has reported street light wire theft and even an intersection stipped of its traffic control wires which made the signals stop working. As far as the scrap metal theft goes I blame the recyclers for looking the other way on stuff that stinks of being stolen. One recycler locally finally turned in someone when they brought in decorative flower pots stolen from a cemetary. :badidea
Get a machine to the point where it has to be started to be moved. Sometimes that's tough, but I try to park small equipment so that it cannot be winched up onto a flatbed tow truck or trailer. That way, thieves have to physically get the machine started to move it anywhere. Wedging it between solid objects is a good idea, or for parking an excavator roll the bucket all the way out and stick the teeth in the ground, that'll give them a little trouble. Harder to steal excavators without getting them running, though. Always drop the blades on minis and give them a little bit of a push into the ground. Having a fuel system, battery, and even a starter disconnect is a good way to make sure guys won't get it started. If you have all three working for you, chances are they'll move on to someone else who isn't prepared.
Heres a new one for you! I have coyote hounds and we use tracking device for them.Reciever about $650 to $750 ,tracking collars $165 a piece,antenna and cable about $130.Reciever can track as many as 1000 collars depending upon what kind of reciever you have. They have there limits.Can track as far as 20 miles to one mile,depending on terrain.The higher you are the better range ,the lower, tracking over hills is less. I don't know how far you are from your equipment and home.But you could check machine off and on during night just from the house.If in range. If out of range you can go mobile to get siginal and then head the direction, the signial from the collar is coming. I can just see the thief when you came driving in to tell them there under arrest and when they asked you how you knew where your machine was???? It's even good for tracking and locating the help when there off killing time.:drinkup :usa
insurance paying for theft recovery Seems to me the best investment is one that leads the cops to the crooks. If they see something they want protected by a dog, they'll just come back with a poisoned steak . . . and defeat whatever other obstacles you thrown in their way. Thanks to an organization called NER here in the States, insurance companies are getting a handle on how expensive equipment theft has become for them. And they've begun to offer incentives - premium discounts and waived deductibles - to premium holders who use bonafide stolen-equipment recovery systems like LoJack, Qualcomm, and DPL. Here's a link to a story we published about this about a year ago. http://www.constructionequipment.com/article/CA6386932.html?text=theft Tried to list as many of the insurance incentives as were available at the time, but I'd bet there are more insurance companies added to the list by now. Check with the folks at NER (see the story) to get an update. Squizz - I'd suggest beating the bushes for more available recovery options, particularly those that use GPS location. Qualcomm [ http://www.qualcomm.com/technology/assetmanagement/construction/index.html] , for example, claims to be able to offer its monitoring systems globally. DPL [ http://guide.constructionequipment.com/CompanyDetail.aspx?cno=66457] is another GPS-based theft preventer. Both are associated with insurance-cost savings. I believe Trimble [ http://www.trimble.com/con_tcm_portable.shtml] , and maybe Topcon, are offering simple machine-location devices now that can be used to retrieve stolen equipment. And there are probably more options. Not sure about their availability in Australia, but you might want to look into some of the companies on this page [ http://guide.constructionequipment.com/companylist.aspx?pid=1562&ctype=m] . Ayantra [ http://www.ayantra.com/construction.html] , Longview [ http://www.longviewadvantage.com/bins/index.asp] , Navman, perhaps more. LoJack has some good theft-prevention advice on their web site. [ http://www.lojack.com/construction/Pages/construction.aspx] The Equipment Lock Co. has some interesting devices designed specifically to imobilize various types of construction equipment, including skid-steers, mini-excavators, and trailers. [ http://guide.constructionequipment.com/CompanyDetail.aspx?cno=66260] Hope this is helpful, Larry
Larry, Thanks for that. I have been researching this matter thoroughly and have selected the system I posted earlier on up the page http://www.ezitrak.com.au/ This is a self monitored system with a one-off cost unless you want $99/year additional monitoring. It will report to your mobile phone, interface with the mapping and GPS system in my laptop and be trackable online free with a google earth type setup from the suppliers website. All the anti-theft devices generally only keep honest people from temptation. Pro-Scumbags will get what they want and all the latest high performance vehicle systems are not immune...and the cops don't really want to know about it unless you can tell them where the vehicle is and they can get a result for the shiny bums. I am convinced this has to be the way to go...for now anyway. I just this morning spoke to a skid steer O/O who had the sytem fitted to his new machine after his old one was stolen. He said he is not even locking the front door because they smashed that to get into his old one. I see $1000 as a cheap investment against a depreciated insurance claim and rise in premiums. I have asked my insurance broker to put at premium discount to the Underwriters...I'll let you know how I go. Thanks again...but at this stage, as I reach into my long pockets with my short arms, I am a victim of crime already....we all are. A system that potentially catches them has to be for the longer term benefit.
Coincidentally, I was just now editing the EziTrack press release (product Squizzy is buying). They will be making their US debut at Conexpo. Here's the press release: * Press Release * GPS VOICE INTERACTIVE SELF-MONITORED VEHICLE SECURITY & TRACKING SYSTEM Conexpo-Con/Agg Booth RP37003, Riviera Pavilion (indoor) March 11-15, 2008 Las Vegas At Conexpo-Con/Agg 2008, Rojone Pty Ltd will launch the GPS-based EziTrak® MICRO Vehicle Security and Tracking System. This new release conforms to FCC Part 15.101 and has been specifically designed as a more compact unit, using less power but offering customers increased features and greater suitability for all vehicles and machinery. The Conexpo-Con/Agg exhibition is only held once every 3 years and attracts over 125,000 visitors to see over 2,000 exhibits. In 2008, Australian designed & manufactured EziTrak® MICRO will be on show for the first time to this industry. EziTrak® MICRO conforms to FCC Part 15.101 and has been specifically designed as a compact unit (3.15“ L x 2.4” W x 1.38” H), using minimal power (as low as 1 milliamp) but offering customers increased features and greater suitability for all vehicles. EziTrak® MICRO is a monitoring, protection and GPS tracking system giving vehicle and machinery owners personalized, self-monitoring of their vehicle. This early warning anti-theft device is interactive and has no monthly or annual monitoring fees. The internal phone module in the EziTrak® MICRO is the latest available and is compatible with all phone networks, so EziTrak® MICRO can be used with any GSM system in the world. EziTrak® MICRO offers two internet mapping methods; the first is a FREE internet map site. By simply entering the GPS coordinates provided over the phone or via SMS/Text message from your EziTrak® MICRO, your vehicle's map location will appear. The second option is internet access via our member access site; this method is suited to clients who want live, real-time tracking and control of a single or multiple vehicles. The EziTrak® MICRO has an internal Black Box Recorder logging speed, position, time and date from 1-255 hours, as often as once per second. Particularly of use to fleet operators, the EziTrak® MICRO can now email the contents of the black box to an email address where the information can be downloaded and played back on a PC moving map display. With EziTrak® MICRO, you are completely in control of the security of your car, with commands protected by your personal PIN code. Interaction with EziTrak® MICRO is typically done by selecting menu options over the phone (cell phone or landline). This menu allows you to remotely immobilize the engine, lock and unlock the doors, check on your vehicle anytime, and obtain a status report including location to within 6 metres. EziTrak® MICRO offers security, control, GPS tracking and emergency notification for a single one-off cost to personal and fleet owners of vehicles and machinery. Available in English and Spanish versions, EziTrak® MICRO will be on display at Rojone’s stand at SEMA – booth 11105, LVCC North Hall. Products manufactured by Rojone include; • EziTrak® for cars, plant equipment and vehicles • BikeBANDIT® for motorbikes • BoatBANDIT® for boats and vessels • wayLOGGERTM Data Logger ######### EziTrak® MICRO VEHICLE PROTECTION SYSTEM Conexpo-Con/Agg 2008, Booth RP37003 Riviera Pavilion (indoors), Las Vegas Find them online at http://www.ezitrak.com.au/ Box looks like it's smaller than a deck of cards (photo below). Squizz, Investing in catching them red-handed is the right way to go. Until it becomes hard to get away with stealing equipment, it will continue to be open season out there. Good luck to you. Larry
Thanks again Larry
Construction equipment-many thousands of dollars Good rifle-300-500$ Box of ammo- $20 or so Couple of nights watching site-worth it Thieves who will never steal another piece of equipment-PRICELESS Ok, I know that's bloodthursty but I don't think there's a person here who hasn't had or doesn't know what it's like to have something stolen. When I worked the quarry, one friday night we had someone come in cut the lock to the tool trailer. Get the key for the skid steer, load all of our hand tools and my leatherman which I had forgotten in my lunchbox in the crusher control booth, and drive it to the end of the access road and load up and drive off. When the owner of the company came over he asked me what happened I told him, and he said the best cure for people like that was a good rifle and a person who knows how to use it. besides with as much over burden that we where moving there the bodies never woulda been found. . I don't understand why people gotta do things like steal but all we can hope is that some day they'll get caught. Squizzy, I hope your stuff never gets taken but if it does I hope that you've got one of those tracking systems in.
Don't go snowmobiling in Canada! --Usually to prevent theft of machines when I work for a private excavationg company we park them in a way that is very inconvenient and time consuming, like if we have the CTL and excavator on a job we back the CTL as close to the tracks and the cab of the excavator as close as we can get and then knuckle the boom of the excavator into the bucket of the CTL. This way its impossible to get the CTL out without starting up the excavator and moving the boom, and chances are if they take the time to start the excavator somebody is bound to hear it before they get away with the CTL as long as its not out in the middle of nowhere. We've done this with the backhoe too and put the backhoe boom through the knuckled excavator boom. Seems to work....they dont want to take the time to mess with 2 machines just to steal one. --But as it prooves, trucks are very easily stolen...several winters ago my cousin and I went snowmobiling in upper Quebec Canada. It was a thursday night and we had our trailer with our snowmobiles and gear hooked up to his dads F350.We were about an hour away from the hotel we were going to. We had been driving for several hours and decided to stop at this little restraunt on this deserted stretch of highway. We parked on the side parking lot so we had room for the truck and trailer. Keep in mind its the middle of winter in Canada and about 5 degrees. So we decided to let his diesel pickup sit there and run. I watched him lock the truck with the key pad on the outside. We went in, ate in about 15 mins. Came back out, Truck and trailer GONE! So we called the police and they came and did a little report and they pretty much told us we would prolly not find the truck, apparently the area was a crime ring area and had happened two weeks ago also. They said that the truck prolly went to a chop shop somewhere and would be chopped for parts and sent overseas along with the snowmobiles and trailer. The officers were talking in french and chuckling and I could pretty much hear it in my head....they were laughing at us going....STUPID AMERICANS!!:Banghead We had nothing left besides the clothes and coats on our backs. The police took us to a hotel at the airport and we flew home the next day.
Equipment theft is common problem here in the US, but most of the time those dumbys are well, dumb. Many meth addicts are known to steal parts from the heavy equipment, especially parts containing copper, to sell in exchange for drugs. This is very sad. I noticed that there are heavy equipment theft related stories on the news more than there should be. LoJack seems like a great idea, along with some dogs
A couple of people tried to steal copper wiring out of a building I was working on. They cut into a high voltage line and got fried. Hopefully something like that happens to these thieves. that's one thing that drives me wild is people who steal.
We were doing a job in the same area 2 summers ago and the building was broke into 2-3 times and they got off with the copper wiring and welding equipment.
that umm data dot i think may woirk it is on alot of stuff nowa days. i know a bloke who had a 20 tonne excavator and he took the mud bucket off and took the machine out with another bucket for some work he left the muddy off overnight next to the machine and when he had got there in the morning it was gone somebody had stolen it. but seriously you couldant imagine 6 blokes running down the road with 1 tonne of bucket they must of backet the crane truck up and chucket it on the back. tom B1GDIG
Lojack works ...no question ...but how many arrest are made ... What the criminal does ..is park it for a few days or a week hidden in plain sight ..if the cops swoop in ..their already onto stealing the next piece ... So yeah you will get your equipment back ...but not always the satisfaction ..
My sisters boyfriend is the president of a mobile installation company, he and his business partner started off doing car alarms/radios etc etc. Lately they have moved into GPS monitoring/tracking systems for vehicles as well as asset tracking (gen sets, etc). I've helped them out a couple times when I had spare time so if anyone has any questions on the units I might be able to help out. I know they deal with a couple different types of units, alot of companies are getting into installing GPS units not only for being able to track their employees but the units can trasmit unit hours (maintence tracking) and if I hear correctly fault codes from the machines as well. On top of that you can track the unit anytime via web browser and there are disable options to kill power, lock doors, sound the horn etc all built in. Most insurance comanies will give you a discount if you have anti-theft devices installed, I'm sure the saving would more than pay for the unit.
No question GPS tracking is getting better. Make sure you get one with geofencing and will send text messages to your phone. Better yet, get a system to immobilize your equipment. Unless you like playing detective.
You can always have a locksmith individualize your keys. After a truck, trailer, and mini excavator were stolen from the company parking lot one night, it became company policy to separate all trucks and trailers and machines couldn't be left on the trailer overnight, and the trailer check chains had to be locked thru the pintle hitch. All equipment under oversize loads were equiped with anti-theft trackers. And so far, it had worked.
As great as all of these tracking devices are, they dont keep a theif from driving away with your machinery in the first place. My trucks have starter cut off's. I have a series of toggle switches wired in series that have to be in the correct order to put power to the solenoid. And then there is another one hidden that puts power to those. Then all of that is wired like a bomb so it would screw up anyone trying to hotwire it. Another little thing i learned the hard way...make sure you can trust the guys you hire. If the theif seemed to know exactly what your security tricks are or how to keep his face off of the camera its a good bet that it was an inside job or the guy had some inside information
Great point on the tracking devices, that's why Lojack is called "After-the-fact-jack". Immobilizers are definitely the first line of defense, and layer your security. Be careful with switches as they tend to burn up when wired to too much power. There are some great alternatives out there.
bump My Kubota RTV walked away a week ago. They pulled it out of the shed, drove all around the farm to avoid the road. Hidden by corn, they had to know where they were going. Anyway, what is the current trend in theft prevention? What products are available. Ken
Some of the companies around here use what they call power pigtails, if they're not in place the machine won't have 24v power. It's not a simple task to bypass them either, both ends are keyed so just putting a piece of metal in its place won't get you power. Also, they can be installed in places where an operator/mechanic/transport driver can have ready access but a thief trying to configure a bypass will have a truly difficult time of it. Apparently they work well too, one of the areas largest companies use to employ helicopters to get a count and moniter machine location, since installing these pigtails they no longer use the helicopters.
Any link available ? Or a better brand name of this new device ? Thanks Ron
No link, sorry. Spoke to one of the Mechanics who makes them. He uses 1/0 welding cable connectors (male & female) to make the "pigtails". He finds a secure location to open the (+) positive battery cable circuit then installs female connectors on each end of the open circuit after which he makes the pigtail with male connectors. Obviously you need to be careful when inserting the pigtail so the dead (de-energized) end of the pigtail is inserted first so you don't have a risk of sparks. Hope this helps....
You can install a tracker and use your computer to track your equipment, or lojack. Use an old cell phone tied into the electrical system, a basic cell phone plan with the tracking feature. Use alternate power disconnects. Tom
On the power pigtails, you can go low voltage as well if there are key relays necessary to start your equipment. Intercept the wire that triggers the relay, cut it, and re-route it to a multipin molex connector of some sort, cb radio mic connector, doesn't matter, just so long as you have room for a bunch of dummy wires that you can run "into" the machine and hide along with the existing harnesses. Pick two pins to attach the relay trigger wires, wire your mating connector to connect those two pins. When plugged in, machine operation as normal. When not plugged in, whatever that relay controls is dead. You can add additional pig tails in series with each other, one in the cab for day to day operations, one under the hood, seat, access panel, for when the machine is somewhere you are not comfortable with or storing for longer stretches of time. They may find or know about the first, a second they probably won't suspect. Or if you have hires that you get suspicious of, you can always pull the second pigtail, so even if they arrive knowing they have a pigtail to plug in, they won't be successful since two need to be in place to work. Most important: Don't talk about it. To anybody. Not even your mechanic (well, you will have to tell him you got some kill devices, so he is to call you if the machine won't start). One nice offshoot of annoying social media: Cell phone tracking apps (to go with the above). You can follow your phone around. Or see how many times you drove your equipment in a circle today. =-) randomn google link; http://www.locationof.com/ Alex.
Install a fuel shut off valve this will let them start it get moving then be left to work on it and most will not want the trouble to fix a machine to steel. I have also un pluged the wire harnes on the injection pump only enough that it does not make contact to allow starting. But all of these are not useful if it is a inside job. I have heard of lojack being instaled on equipment to track it it is usually placed in the belly pan or some hard to find area so it wont be riped out before it is found.
I like the idea of an immobilizer. I have a pickup with one. Never ever took the key out, but i know if the key for pulled it won't start. The dealer installed it on the lot. They did all their vehicles when they arrived from the factory. When the vehicle sold, it went to the new owner. Its a little plastic plug with about 8 electrical contacts. It likely works exactly like a pigtail where two of the contacts carry power from the ignition, the rest are dummies. Any idea where to find this sort of thing?
You can set an alarm system to prevent such types of thefts. Moreover setting blades system on the paves can give you intimation.