I just purchased a 2011 Caterpillar 246c and I am not sure how safe it is to leave on the jobsite overnight. Does anyone know if they are easily stolen? Just curious how many people leave their skid steer on a jobsite unattended?
Skid steers and small excavators are among the most frequently stolen heavy equipment. They can be driven into a box truck and hidden from view. I would not leave it myself unless it is at an occupied house.
There are tracking devices that can be installed on your equipment, and although they don't prevent theft, they sometimes make it easier to recover. One of them is LoJack but there are alternatives to it. I never felt comfortable leaving any equipment on a commercial jobsite unless it was well fenced and had an after hours human guard. http://www.lojack.com/
I have a 248. I was very selective on where I left the machine overnight, most of my work was residential and we're in a fairly rural area. If it was a good neighborhood and I could park the machine in the back yard somewhat out of site, I'd do it. As mentioned, they are very easy to steal, anyone with a Cat key can access it. What you could do is install a fuel shut off in a spot that isn't easily visible so the machine can't be started for some extra protection.
I'm in a rural setting myself, but still the only time I leave it sit at any job site is when I either have a house nearby that I can park it at, or enough larger big equipment I can literally park it in with so in order to get it out, thieves would have to move some big iron first, same goes for my other smaller stuff, that said, there are still area's I won't leave it parked even if I had someone sleeping in it overnight, you just have to know the neighborhoods your dealing with. A skid steer by itself unless its in the customers backyard goes home with me every night, I might as well, I'm taking the truck and trailer along home and back to the job site anyhow, what's five minutes to load and chain it down, and it gives peace of mind to sleep at night.
Take it home every night so you can clean out the tracks and grease it up.
Are caterpillar keys keyed the same? I like the idea of hiding a fuel shutoff switch, has anyone here done it yet?
As with most equipment brands one-size-fits-all the fuel shutoff is a great idea or a mains battery disconnect that is hidden
I would check with cat if they have any disable kits. Bobcat offers a keyless ignition that can be programmed to only start with a code. No code, no start. That said depending, machines can be dragged on roll backs. Nothing is full proof, locks only keep honest people out.
Cat just added the keyless start for the D series. They do have a machine security system that can be installed on older machines. They also have Product Link that comes on new machines, its their telematics system through Trimbles Visionlink that lets you track your machines. Oddly enough it lets you track everybody elses machines as well. A simple fuel shutoff and or battery disconnect will help but past that there are people that will steal it no matter what, they are 1 in a million though. Most of them do not want the extra effort or do not have the required brain capacity to go through the extra work. A different key wont really help either because they can be hotwired like any old car. Newer equipment is starting to go to specific keys. Our new Fendt tractor has a microchipped key that costs about $500 to replace and if other keys are in the area when trying to start the machine they can sometimes interfere with each other.