Security & Theft Stolen Tracto

[DERICK1679]

Well, I just bought me a brand new New Holland 2320 45HP with a front end loader, box blade, three rear remotes, and ready to go to work. A week later she is gone. Stolen off my job site. I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to make these things a little harder to drive off with. I have insurance, but this still hits me hard. Any help is appreciated.

 

[archerynut]

Be patient there are a lot of good ideas floating around here about making the tractor harder to steal, not a problem so far for me, but the tractor is keep very close to home for me, well under the home.

 

[john_bud]

#1 out of site out of mind
#2 Chained to a tree
#3 remove battery, Battery disconnect, fuel disconnect, etc.
#4 change to a different key (they are all the same - 10 bucks on ebay)
#5 hide behind the bushes with a 12 ga and a hungry barkless pit bull
#6 lojack - seriously
#7 park it so it can't be towed off with out moving a lot of stuff.

If it can't be towed, making it so it can't be started by locking out the fuel line or locking down injection pump etc.

My favorite is a tie between #1 and #5.

 

[MJPetersen]

Well, I just bought me a brand new New Holland 2320 45HP with a front end loader, box blade, three rear remotes, and ready to go to work. A week later she is gone. Stolen off my job site. I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to make these things a little harder to drive off with. I have insurance, but this still hits me hard. Any help is appreciated.

Welcome to TBN Derick. Sorry to hear of the theft, I know how that makes you feel and replacement does not help that feeling. John mentioned in short most of the methods that men have used, but a determined thief can defeat most of them. The idea is simply to make it more difficult to find and get the tractor started. Hoping that they will give up and go someplace else. So anything that you can think of to conceal your tractor or to make it more difficult to start or tow will increase your odds of keeping it.

Mike

 

[Blagadan]

A friend of mine has a detachable steering wheel, Pull a pin out and the wheel comes off the spline. Still I guess you could winch the tractor onto a flatbed trailer without the steering wheel but it sure would make things more akward.

I agree with the above, "out of sight out of mind"... remove temptation by parking it indoors if possible. if you have to let it out make sure its in a well lit area near a house or someplace that it can be seen.

A neighbor of mine has a pretty remote farm, you have to drive down a long dusty/bumpy road for about 2 miles before you get to his farmyard. You would think his machinery is out of sight and mind... but he is constantly having problems with theft. He is currently building a large steel shed to store his equipment, his insurance company raised his premiums big time because he has had several valuable pieces of equipment stolen.
He is going the whole 9 yards with this set up, sodium floodlights, monitored wireless alarm, external motion sensors... He is even talking about a perimeter fence and putting in some angry dogs.

I always store my equip indoors behind a locked door but then I'm not a contractor. It seems there is a growing problem generally with site equip being stolen. I see more and more where the contractors have to erect a fenced/razorwired compound to park up their machines and have a security guy sit in a van all night every night to keep watch... sad to see this is the way things are going.

 

[IH3444]

There is a GPS "lowjack" system available for equipment. You may want to look into that. Sorry to hear of your loss. You still have your health, and a new tractor is just a matter of settling out insurance claim, and getting a new one.

 

[Pennsylvania Weldor]

Sorry about your loss. One contractor here in Central PA lost a brand new JD 310 4x4 that was parked at a lot he did snow removal from. Never heard if it was found.

As one poster mentioned, most are keyed alike. It's tough making them theft proof.

Last year, during the day, my neighbor hollered that someone just left our barn with 2 full cans of gas. Now I lock every door, every time I leave the building. Sad to think we've got to do this. I have suspicions on who was behind the theft, but can't prove it.

Good luck with your replacement machine.

 

[teg]

Tie the key to 240 volts in the seat... oops, was that My "inside voice" coming out?

I worry about mine. May have to work on chaining it down. Welcome to TBN, Where do you live? Maybe give out the S/N and we can watch for it. There has been a couple threads on this in the past...

 

[dsgsr]

Another Idea, let us here on the forum know where it was stolen from. Maybe there are locals that visit this forum and can keep an eye out. Are there any Identifying marks or signs on the tractor?

David

 

[jamestaylor72]

Another Idea, let us here on the forum know where it was stolen from. Maybe there are locals that visit this forum and can keep an eye out. Are there any Identifying marks or signs on the tractor?

David

Pretty darn good idea David. Nothing like having "a thousand" eyes out there !! Never know where it could turn up.

 

[KennK]

I have a JD 3320. Any suggestions for a good home-made cutoff switch? One that is easy enough to get to but not so easy to spot by would-be thieves?

Are there any commerial versions?

 

[Treemonkey1000]

A quick and dirty method is pull the main fuse for the tractor. If they have a key or hotwire it then it won't start with out the fuse. Mentioned in another thread was chaining the steering wheel hard over. They would have to have bolt cutters or sawzall to cut that. Another idea is that most all of these tractors look the same. If you don't mind making it stand out then stencil paint something on the tractor like your Farm name. Or a big ole Smiley face. That would make it harder to pawn off if it doesn't look like 5000 other tractors.

 

[woodlandfarms]

IF they want it, they will get it, but you have some great ideas on Deterrence.

With classic cars we tend to hide things in them that identify it as ours. As simple as a business card tucked under the dash to elaborate under carpet paint schemes.

If you have the good fortune to find it, this helps when the VINs are changed / removed....

 

[Nissan197]

Stealing construction equipment is a big deal for thieves around here. We have recovered a lot of equipment and the crazy thing is most of it is stolen out of state. CUTS are taken from job sites and placed in a box truck and off they go. Like stated before, most all construction equipment is keyed alike. Did you make sure the serial # was entered into the police computer system then if it is ever ran it will come back as stolen? If you have serial #'s to all the attachments make sure those are entered also. Pretty common for everything to be pieced out. Sorry for your loss and lets hope the thieves are caught.

 

[George2615]

Since most tractors are keyed alike yours may have just been driven away by someone with a key.
Have the ignition lock rekeyed by a locksmith
Add your own hidden kill switch or two
Removable steering wheel
Remove battery
Install Lo Jack (but hard to hide)
Keep it out of sight

 

[alchemysa]

Well, I just bought me a brand new New Holland 2320 45HP with a front end loader, box blade, three rear remotes, and ready to go to work. A week later she is gone. Stolen off my job site. I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to make these things a little harder to drive off with. I have insurance, but this still hits me hard. Any help is appreciated.

Is the model no correct? I couldn't find that model on Google or the NH site. JD has a 2320

 

[dgl24087]

Is the model no correct? I couldn't find that model on Google or the NH site. JD has a 2320

From the NH web site, page 2. http://www.newholland.com/FILES/tbl_s25SeriesText/PDFUpload290/1796/Boomer_Comp_specs_013108.pdf

 

[rooftrussman]

Not to make light of a serious subject, but sometimes you hope somebody can get your tractor started and you catch them before it's gone but at least it starts without spending $'s or time at a repair place.