Berking Thieves

In reply to WillG80 :

Cellular, I imagine?

This thread made me paranoid about my Herter's boat being in the driveway now.  I put a steel cable on the motor to attach it to the boat, then I removed one of the wheels and its hub (I needed to change the bearings in it anyways.)

I can't really think of a better lock than not having a wheel and hub on it.

A couple years back friend of a friend had two Mercury v12 outboards stolen off the back of his race boat.  The boat was backed in against a building with boats on either side. No one can figure put how they got them off the boat. No damage to anything. They were removed with great care but no one can figure out how they lifted them off the boat that was tight against a wall and only enough room on either side to walk.  
 

My first thaught was inside job or insurance but from what I was told that is just not the case.  I was actually thinking truck mounted crane would be about the only way to do it. Sneak in and unbolt everything than have a buddy drive in with the Crain truck and pick them together and be gone in 5 min. How you could do that with no one noticing in the marina is another question. I guess if you look like you know what you are doing I guess people don't ask questions? 

Mr_Asa said:

This thread made me paranoid about my Herter's boat being in the driveway now.  I put a steel cable on the motor to attach it to the boat, then I removed one of the wheels and its hub (I needed to change the bearings in it anyways.)

I can't really think of a better lock than not having a wheel and hub on it.

There is a work trailer near where I live with what looks like a locking boot on one wheel.  

In reply to dean1484 :

Coming in with a crane to lift the outboards sounds like the idea of carrying a clipboard and wearing a hard hat to get through security checkpoints. "Looks legit..."

Apple AirTags. 

People are doing some neat stuff with them. I heard of people disabling the "chime" so that you could hide them in something, like a car or a trailer, and while they thief might know they are there, they'd take forever to find them. 

AirTags also network off phones and save location, so even if the AirTag is "discovered" in an area that doesn't have signal, when any phone that was near the tag goes into cell range, it'll broadcast "hey, I noticed an AirTag near here."  

They also work in garages and other places without sight of the sky. 

I'm thinking about maybe installing one on my $4000 bike, as it's the single most valuable thing I've got in the house that can be easily moved. 

In reply to pheller :

Nice idea.

Know how long the battery lasts on them?

About a year. CR2032. 

You wouldn't want to put it someplace you couldn't get to it, but on a trailer, you could put it a lot of places most people wouldn't know to look. 

In reply to pheller :

Thinkin of a boat trailer as well which might be difficult.  Have to hide it somewhere accessible but also waterproof.

Mr_Asa said:

In reply to pheller :

Thinkin of a boat trailer as well which might be difficult.  Have to hide it somewhere accessible but also waterproof.

You could probably do it in the bow arm. Not sure what it is actually called, but the thing you attach the winch to. 
 

With trailers, [one of] the problem[s] is that most theft prevention measures involve the coupler, but never consider how the coupler attaches to the rest of the trailer and its contents.  Ever try to take off a coupler? With a wrench and a power drill, it would take about 90 seconds to remove it and the locks with it, and replace it with one you had on hand. 
 

I like the hub removal, though I'd never do it because it's too much effort for me. 

mtn said:

Mr_Asa said:

In reply to pheller :

Thinkin of a boat trailer as well which might be difficult.  Have to hide it somewhere accessible but also waterproof.

You could probably do it in the bow arm. Not sure what it is actually called, but the thing you attach the winch to. 
 

 

I think it's a winch stand. 
 

Back to the main topic of theft deterrence, I've given some thought to some sort of deceptive signage that would make the trailer unappealing to steal. Junk and trash removal? How about toxic waste disposal? Embalming supplies? 

mtn said:

With trailers, [one of] the problem[s] is that most theft prevention measures involve the coupler, but never consider how the coupler attaches to the rest of the trailer and its contents.  Ever try to take off a coupler? With a wrench and a power drill, it would take about 90 seconds to remove it and the locks with it, and replace it with one you had on hand. 
 

I like the hub removal, though I'd never do it because it's too much effort for me. 

The bolt on my trailer's coupler kept vibrating loose.  I welded the nut on, figured I'd chop it off if I ever had to remove the coupler.

Its a very E36 M3ty trailer, but it holds my boat real nice

Update!  The Miata has been recovered!

Those of you who've made the connection between this thread and my rant in the minor rant thread will have realized that the Miata has been located.  The State Police ran across the Miata hidden in a barn during what I understand was an unrelated investigation. After an annoying and somewhat expensive battle with bureaucracy (details in the minor rant thread) I've got the car out of impound and in my shop.

The hardtop is missing, it's got some new dents and it's been weirdly two toned.  It's full of junk and is disgustingly filthy.  They busted up the ignition lock and the ignition switch despite the fact that the keys were in it when it was stolen.  The battery had been removed and then reinstalled with a bungee cord despite the fact that the correct hold down was still in the trunk. They cut and removed the GPS antenna and the head is missing for the TraqMate system and they reinstalled the left side headlight (using bailing wire) that had been removed for cold air intake.

On the whole though it's remarkably complete.  If fired right up when I hot wired it and it seems to start, stop and steer like it's supposed too.  I think I'll be able to get it back on track pretty cheaply.  My plan is to clean it, wire up an ignition and start button, mount the battery correctly and tape some numbers on it just to get it on the track.  After that I'll decide what my long term plan is.

I tried to upload some pictures but that doesn't seem to be working at the moment.  When I get a chance I'll see if I can figure out what's up with that and post some for for your enjoyment/sympathy.

That's awesome news on the whole at least!  The way I see it, a donked-out, shoddy miata is still better than no miata!  Sucks it got taken in the first place, but at least its better than nothing...

GREAT to hear you got it back,

was the trailer also there ?

That's awesome news! Glad you got it back mostly intact. How far away from your house was it? Might try checking pawn shops in the area to see if you find some of your tools?

How does the insurance company handle the car that's been found? Do they want some of their payout returned? 

golfduke said:

That's awesome news on the whole at least!  The way I see it, a donked-out, shoddy miata is still better than no miata!  Sucks it got taken in the first place, but at least its better than nothing...

I agree!

californiamilleghia said:

GREAT to hear you got it back,

was the trailer also there ?

New news on the trailer or tools.

In reply to APEowner :

They are gonzo.  You will never see either one again, so just complete the insurance calim and move on.

DMV doesn't care about trailers, cops don't care about property crime.  Unless somebody paints "This trailer is stolen" in big pink letters on it, she's vapor.

I am glad to hear you got at least the car back.

Glad to hear you got your car back.  This has made me rethink how I secure my boat & boat motor. It's not worth much, but it's also the only boat/motor in storage that can be moved/removed by one person.  I lock the trailer & have a cheap lock for the engine...but I should probably beefen up the security.  

Some friends of mine have been in touring as a band for the last +decade.  When they started touring with more people (merch +  band members) they bought a trailer from a local boy scout troop.  Music gear is expensive and easy to move so they left the boy scout troop stickers on the side.  They, for the most part, look like the exact opposite of boy scouts). They were less likely to get pulled over and people were less likely to try and steal all their gear.  They did have all their gear stolen once, but I think this was before they had the trailer. 

Hoondavan said:

 

.  Music gear is expensive and easy to move so they left the boy scout troop stickers on the side.  They, for the most part, look like the exact opposite of boy scouts). They were less likely to get pulled over and people were less likely to try and steal all their gear.  

Corb knows.

Streetwiseguy said:

Hoondavan said:

 

.  Music gear is expensive and easy to move so they left the boy scout troop stickers on the side.  They, for the most part, look like the exact opposite of boy scouts). They were less likely to get pulled over and people were less likely to try and steal all their gear.  

Corb knows.

My foot is heavy with redemption.