keeping tractor from being stolen

[Whiskey]

Gfranklin:

Sorry to post this here but I busted out laughing when I read your post, we once had a rooster and you could not turn you back on him even for a second. he was only a banny (spl*) so he was little but mean as the dickins called him Brooster ....brooster the rooster...lol

Whiskey

 

[thumbtrap]

Who picks locks anyway? I've never heard from anyone who had a lock picked - it's almost always force - cut the lock, cut the cable, break the door, winch it up on a flatbed, sledge hammer to the hinges... you get the idea.

Edited to add - the folks who stole my saw evidently are 1) local, 2) knew where it was 3) knew when I wasn't home. I wouldn't rely on secrets for people like that - they see you do the rigamarole when you start it up

 

[Rockyroad]

Thumbtrap-

You are 100% right. Nobody picks locks anymore. But everytime someone has something stolen from a barn or house or car they forgot to lock, they always claim the lock was picked. The insurance company won't buy it, particularly on a high value item like a tractor.

There have to be signs of forced entry so the cops can write it down in the report.

 

[Soundguy]

<font color=red>That is a great idea. Won't work for Kubota, though. The fuel solenoid on a Kubota pulls in electrically when the key is shut off. It stays pulled in for less than 10 seconds, then releases. Kubota owners, that's the click

<font color=black>I havn't actually pulled mine apart.. but it must be a pull in solenoid system. I've notice dthat when my battery was weak, the tractor would turn over but not start.. and i could hear a solenoid clicking under the cowling.. but it wasn't the starter solenoid. I figured it takes a bit to keep it energized to stay in. I imagine there is a 3 or 5 amp fues in my panel that covers that but havn't ever looked.

On my old yanmar, I have a set of battery dissconnects that are made right into the battery connector.. just twist a nut and it makes contact.. but looks connected and 'normal' at a casual glance.

As for my old 8n.... unless they know the 'dance and secret handshake + corect series of throttle choke combinations... they won't get it started anyway /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif '

Soundguy

 

[Gfranklin]

You are right about no one ever picking a lock. It is for this very reason that I am willing to actually "break" the key off in the lock on my toolshed. I figure it will never be that closely examined and induces them to start with brute force right off the bat. It sure does make it convienent for me though.

That rigamarole I described earlier was mostly in jest with the point being that a couple of them done together will increase their "time on the job" which tends to elevate their nervousness. I am supposing that for the typical burglar there is a proportional relationship between the burglary duration and the desire to leave. Anything to slow them down including the easy and obvious stuff.

I would think that your odds decrease considerably once they get the engine running.

Greg

 

[BigDave]

<font color=blue> I am willing to actually "break" the key off in the lock on my toolshed </font color=blue>

How would you get into your toolshed?

 

[thumbtrap]

If it's just a matter of not having one more key - you can get padlocks keyed to quickset and schlage key blanks and have them keyed to your house key. No tricks requiring obscurity for protection, no extra keys.

 

[Hoeman00]

We hunted on a 300acre farm that had a long drive
and a cable and pad lock across at the road.
The owner said the combination was still on
back of lock.
No one ever looked there I guess and he never had
people drive back.

 

[dmccarty]

BWS,

I bought a good quality transport chain and a 4 wheel
combination lock. The lock allows you to set the combination
so I used these things all over the place. Gate, storage bins
at work, tractor, etc. I loop the chain around the FEL and/or
the axle and then around a big tree.

Yes, someone could cut the tree down or cut the lock/chain
but it requires them to bring in the equipment to do so. I
don't have a barn or a house on the property so I lock up the
gate, hide the tractor, and lock it up.

First a thief has to know the tractor is on the property. Very
few people know this in the first place. Then they have to
know if I leave it. Then they have to find it on 50+ acres.
Once they find it they have to get through the chain/lock.
Then they have to find a way to start the tractor to move
it. I set up the tractor like others to make it hard to start so
you really have to be lucky, persistent or know the equipment
to get it started.

Can all of the above happen? Yes but it danged hard. I can
see other equipment that would easier to steal than mine!
/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Actually I'm more worried about the teenagers finding the
equipment and vandalizing it than I am with theft. In either
case my insurance should cover any problems.

Good Luck!
Dan McCarty

 

[Gfranklin]

I don' technically break the key. I cut it off clean immediately past the last pin location and them insert that part of the key back into the lock as if it had been broken off (in essence, the key is never taken out from then on. The important part of the key is now permanently in the lock). Keeping the cut off portion of the key as short as possible makes it unnoticeable and provides enough depth for later opening the lock with something else. From then on I take whatever is handy such as the tip of another key, pocket knife or small screwdriver and partially insert it in the blocked keyhole and turn. Now I never need a real key to keep up with.

Greg