Security & Theft Security for TN75DA during long absences

highplanesdrifter · Apr 12, 2008

Hi All

I'm an about-to-be new owner (April 30) of a TN75 (and a 400 acre farm) about 100 m east of Toronto.

Despite being an engineer and a bit of a techie, I continue to be amazed at the depth and scope of the knowledge of folks on these threads ...

I'm not ready (itching, but not fully able yet) to move out to the farm full-time to build a green off-grid house, so the tractor will have to rest quietly in the 50x100ft Coverall [http://www.coverall.net/] near the house when I'm working and living 100 m away.

Now I've always subscribed to this basic sort of safety and comfort saying "Never wear a ring that's worth more than your finger", because one day someone will just take both!

But there I'll be with a tractor that's worth more than the barn, and only the barn cats to protect it. How do you folks deal with security and peace of mind? I can think up various schemes, but sure as shooting someone here has tried one or more and can tell me what has worked (or not) for them. Or am I just fretting that tractors are as much a target as a fancy car in the city? (I hear that construction machinery disappears from the roadside site all the time)

1. Insurance (but you only get money to replace your baby, and the premiums go UP!)
2. Ignition circuit or fuel line interruption (but any thief worth his salt can hot wire or whatever)
3. Motion sensors, flashing lights and crushing low frequency noise alarms (subject to disabling, and who hears an alarm in the woods, or else you come back and find all the barn cats ****-up in the hay?)
4. Sensors + Satellite uplink (so you get phoned on the Blackberry and can watch and talk to the thieves while they assault your loved one, at least until they find and smash the camera)
5. Hidden GPS locator (so that you can march up to the bastards' shed with the police the next day and reclaim your firstborn)
6. Mechanical obstructions (like clever parking angles, wheel chocks, steering locks, massive concrete curbs movable with hidden block & tackle etc.)
7. Motion sensors plus powerful flash, plus recorded message (which says your picture has been taken and sent out on the Web already, when of course all there was was a flash)
8. Recreational drugs (so that everything's way cool, dude!)
9. Your solutions?

Of course, the corollary is "Never have a warning system that's worth more than your tractor" or they'll just take that, and your stupid, blinking tractor won't have a clue where it went!

John

PBinWA · Apr 12, 2008

I'd buy a shipping container/crate and park it under the coverall and park the tractor in the shipping crate. You will need to put a really good lock system on the container too.

You may want to invest in a LoJack system to help with recovery and it may lower your insurance premiums.

dqdave1 · Apr 12, 2008

Put a "for sale" sign on it, saying motor blown up, transmission slips, reasonable! Who would want to steal it!

farmacist · Apr 12, 2008

I would find a neighbor who would let me keep it in his barn when I am not there or at the very least I would find a neighbor that will keep an eye on it in exchange for his being able to park his combine under cover in your barn for a few years. Good Luck

dbnair · Apr 12, 2008

Hi,
I'm pretty much in the same situation as you. My farm is between Cobourg and Peterborough and I work in Toronto. I too have a TN75a.

Just get good farm insurance. Theft is only one of a small bunch of bad things that can happen to you. Before my TN75, my MF tractor spontaneously caught fire and burnt to the ground. It had not been running for 3 weeks, a short in the starter motor caused a spark a poof. You also have issues with vandalism, etc.

If you get insurance for the full replacement cost it will be worth it. The premium for the tractor only will be quite low. But I'd insure my Coverall as well as the rest of the farm.

Good Luck. Enjoy your tractor, it's great.
Grant

horse7 · Apr 12, 2008

You will need a satellite link anyway being off grid, so you'd just be buying one somewhat sooner. You can then downlink from your blackberry to activate the T1000 Soylent Fertilizer Generator to ... take care of the problem. Don't forget to compact/melt down the transport method and sell the ingots for scrap (mixing the scrap with other scrap to confuse "traffic analysis"). Don't be greedy and save the gold teeth, diamond rings, or cash; everything metallic or traceable goes into the melt with organics used to push up the next crops. The purpose is not to make a profit but to repel boarders!

Be sure to use a VPN and maintain an open connection for plausible deniability.

Honestly, my first line would be insurance, followed by nosy neighbors, then some disablement method. I like the idea of a sign saying something like "Joe, still waiting for a replacement for the cracked head, call you when it is in" implying someone comes by occasionally, and that the tractor is sick. Maybe pour a bit of oil down the stack so if they start it anyway, it smokes enough that they go for the neighbor's tractor?

LoneCowboy · Apr 12, 2008

Property insurance (Inland Marine is the typical company) for tractors is CHEAP.

I pay less than $700/year for 3 tractors, an ATV, 2 Aerways, a tiller, some other stuff, I dunno
cheap.

just get insurance, move on with life. (or store it with a neighbor, but you'll still need insurance)

AndyMA · Apr 12, 2008

2 things to be wary on the TN that are almost worst than loosing it. Don't ask how I know but both the fuel tank filler cap and the oil dip stick and filler need to be secured against removal or you need a good vacum and several gallons of fuel to flush out the sand a vandal can add. I would add that a IR deer spotting cam is a good idea. PS The front small window on a TN is about $130. It may be easier to not lock the cab.

Andy

highplanesdrifter · Apr 13, 2008

Thanks

Some good ideas there, along with the gallows humor ...

So far it's looking like insurance, insurance, Lojack/Boomerang (canada equiv), and some very useful advice about locking the fluid caps and leaving the tractor doors unlocked ... I was forgetting to worry about vandalism ... silly me!

We do have good neighbors, including a dairy farmer who operates the 100 acres directly across the road, and to whom we give all of our hay really really cheap ... he's high on my list of people to lend a helping hand to at every opportunity ... mainly because I'm 100% behind real farmers who struggle to manage high input costs like fuel, feed and fertilizer and low prices (especially the beef guys in Canada who have been badly hurt by the mad cow stuff) ...

Aside (warning - sexist joke):
Q. Why do they call it PMS?
A. Because Mad Cow was already taken!

Dbnair, you must be really close ... are you up Cty. Road 45 towards Roseneath? We're over by Castleton ... I'll probably be e-mailing you for extra advice when we take possession on May 1 ...

Anybody out there actually use LoJack? They (Boomerang) show car, SUV and commercial versions ... what's the diff? What do you guys pay for the service?

Thanks

John