How to keep a tractor from getting stolen?

[Industrial Toys]

Most tractor OEM tractor horns I have had (Including Our JD 6200) sound like they belonged on one of those weird three wheeled cars of old. A thief may be simply amused with the rather "cute" horn. I replaced my Kubota horn with a "Freeway Blaster". A good sounding, one piece electric horn.

 

[Goatcher]

Liquid nitrogen from the welding supply house in an old coffee thermos poured onto the chain and whacked with hammer takes out locking devices. Tractors are like golf carts, keys are mostly all the same. I use the rule of threes after parking the implements all down so it cant be toewd or pushed. Rule of threes is disable at least three items. Easiest is pull a few main fuses out slightly so they are not noticed but still no longer make electrical contact. Find ignition wires and unplug in the same way. Few thieves have the time or the skillsothat trouble shoot something like this. I have my tractor running in seconds on my return.

 

[MHarryE]

I probably answered this earlier in this old thread but one of the most effective has been a steer cylinder lick that you install with the fronts turned hard to the side. Almost impossible to remove without damaging the tractor, almost impossible to winch onto a trailer (most common means of theft) with the tires turned. Nothing is impossible but that one makes it darn hard. Smaller tractors are easy to winch onto a trailer in a couple minutes and work on them, or strip for parts, at leisure, just like car thieves.

 

[KiwiBro]

I still favour a concealed GPS unit. There aren't too many places here without good enough reception to get a tracking signal out. This way, the thieves can be caught. It also can highlight gear that goes walkabout over the weekend only to end up right back where you left it, come Monday morning. I've watched my tractor move all over a farm while I was away for the weekend. Nobody ever asked if they could borrow it, nor told me they had when I got back there on Monday. That's one farm I have never been back on since and never will unless the owners/staff change.

 

[TerryR]

Do these GPS units send out by cellular or something else? Around here there are lots of places you can't get a cellular signal. In fact on my home place only one cellular provider has a usable signal.

 

[jazzman2015]

hidden toggle switch

 

[KiwiBro]

Do these GPS units send out by cellular or something else? Around here there are lots of places you can't get a cellular signal. In fact on my home place only one cellular provider has a usable signal.

It depends on the unit. Cellular, radio, even some via satellite modem. I use cellular ones. Your mileage may vary.

 

[ultrarunner]

I still favour a concealed GPS unit. There aren't too many places here without good enough reception to get a tracking signal out. This way, the thieves can be caught. It also can highlight gear that goes walkabout over the weekend only to end up right back where you left it, come Monday morning. I've watched my tractor move all over a farm while I was away for the weekend. Nobody ever asked if they could borrow it, nor told me they had when I got back there on Monday. That's one farm I have never been back on since and never will unless the owners/staff change.

I record the hours and keep the tally in my wallet... so far it has been simple and effective.

Have a related story from a few years back...

A neighbor had his friend bring over has commercial chipper for cleanup... apparently the owner told the property owner's wife no one was to use it unless he was there... she didn't tell anyone.

Saturday morning I get a call to come over... seems someone had stolen the plug wires and distributor cap... and landowner was real worried about it since it was borrowed...

I go to the autoparts store and buy all the missing pieces... install and fire it up... we chip for a good full day.

The next day the machine owner shows up mad as a hornet... I just happen to be there... I think he was mad that his parts were stolen... told him we replaced them and the unit worked fine all day.

He then says he took them to make sure no one would use the machine and said never again would he leave equipment somewhere...

Communication could have avoided all of this and here I thought I was helping a friend instead of thwarting security measures.

The machine owner did get a spare cap and plug wires!

 

[GManBart]

How about a stink bomb activated my a switch that you know to turn off but others won't? Bad sulfur smell in a cab would run you out if there fast. You could also use a smoke bomb with a cigar lighter coil that would scare the crap out of a thief. Stuff in a smoke bomb and tape over. When ignition is turned on it gets red hot thus burning the smoke or stink bomb and smoke would blast out. Would last 5 minutes at least and they'd be gone.

You could have a hidden switch to turn off beginning of the day and back on at parked. Even if you forget it wouldn't damage anything and would be funny at first.

No thief would hang around a smoking cab or even open tractor.

They make something along those lines that uses the same ingredients as pepper spray canisters. For those that have never experienced oleoresin capsicum (OC) in person, it's nasty, nasty stuff! If you're not one of the 1% of the population it doesn't work on, you can't keep your eyes open no matter what you try, it causes very unpleasant coughing, and when you can get your eyes open you're going to be crying like a baby.

We were doing trying with this years ago (when it first came out) in front of the local fire station and one of the firemen was laughing at us react to it. He said we were all being big babies. We offered him a chance to show us how tough he was....let's just say he wound up in the fetal position as we poured water over his face, and rinsed his eyes with baby shampoo (the best way to get it out). Just thinking about this stuff makes my eyes water!

Burglar Bomb - Pepper Spray Anti Burglary Devices

 

[GManBart]

Do these GPS units send out by cellular or something else? Around here there are lots of places you can't get a cellular signal. In fact on my home place only one cellular provider has a usable signal.

The better ones, from mid-level on up, use a combination of GPS satellite, and cellular. That way if the thief parks it in a shed where the GPS works, you can get an approximate location by triangulating cell towers (if there is service) or by signal strength if there's only one tower. The thing is, the tracker will likely be working fine as the tractor is being driven/hauled to where it gets concealed, so you'll know where it went before it was parked inside. Normally the tracking software has a way of alerting you to whether the fix is GPS or cellular assist...like changing text color or a box that's checked when it's one or the other only.

As an example, I've used a variation of this tracker during training, and it worked well....think they have hard-wire versions as well as battery models.
GL200 GPS Tracker| Portable GPS Tracking Device GL200 , GL200 GPS Tracking Device , GL200 GPS Locator