My 20′ trailer got broken into over the weekend. Lost 8-10k worth of tools, from what I can recall of what was in there. They left two plate compactors, but took everything else of value. Three Stihl cut-off saws with diamond blades, 2 MK masonry saws (w/ 14″ diamonds), Stihl chain saw, blower, mini-tiller. Circ saw, Sawzall, 3 drills, transit, pressure washer, etc., etc.
Question is, what can be done to prevent this from happening again? They pried the locks off the ramp door in back. Popped the lock on one side, broke the hasp on the other.
Thinking violent thoughts, which is not like me.
Bear
Replies
Make your trailer into a kennel. Teach the dog to be quiet until the basturds actually get in, then have him attack.
Other than that, Can you back up the ramp end to a building? They would have to move the trailer to get in by that way.
Thought of that, or setting a big post in the ground to back up to, but the side door would still be vulnerable. I think I need sturdier hasps and locks than the typical.
I like the dog idea.Bear
Nothing will work all the time but you can take some steps:
Alarm-battery operated, can be set up to call your cell
BIG chain wrapped around trailer through Large eye bolts.
Block side door with 2x4 in L-brackets from inside, then back up to tree or building
Simple "alarm protected" lettering on doors
On my own trailer, I dont have it lettered because I dont want to call attention to it.
Although it adds hassle and expense, I dont leave my trailer on site usually
Actually, I like the dog idea!
I had a buddy that had a alarm on his very well locked and chained trailer. One night he gets a alarm call at 2 am. He gets out of bed and drives 5 miles to see what is going on When he get there nothing is going on. Same thing happens the next night around the same time. He goes out again only to once more find nothing. He figures something is wrong with the alarm so he just disconnects it. The next morning when he gets to the job he finds out that someone has probably taken a battery powered sawzall and opened up the side of the trailer like a tin can. Over 10k in tools gone.
As was said earlier, a locked garage and insurance are the best protection. I always thought that at tool trailer on the jobsite after hours screamed "I am full of tools. Come and get it"!
Hearing that just makes me sick. And they'll get pennies on the dollar for that stuff, probably just to support a drug habit. Arrgghhh!!! (Be sure to file a police report - sometimes the missing stuff does turn up)
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
Huck, called police as soon as I knew. A detective even came out and dusted for prints, and only got one partial. Probably one of ours.Bear
I had every serial number written down.
I had to pay to get a copy of the police report. The jackmuffin detective that came to our site wrote down two sentences, "Door kicked in, tools weres stolen."
We were just finishing drywall and you could see their footprints all over. He didnt do anything with them.
That was back in 04, I never heard anything back from the police.
"That was back in 04, I never heard anything back from the police."That's the way most police departments treat property crimes, especially in the big cities. Unless the crime is high-profile you get little more than a report to file with the insurance company.Here in our little town, the thieves sometimes get what they deserve:http://tinyurl.com/638ej6Ain't Karma a bitch? LOL
one thing about it,they now will get a a+ on their chemistry test when it ask" is gasoline explosive?and under what circumstances will it ignite"
i bet he doesn't do that again.lol larryif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
That was back in 04, I never heard anything back from the police.
I had a house broken into and the thieves left clear and visible fingerprints on the window that they broke to get in.
Had the police out and figured something would come of this. Contacted them about 2 weeks into it and all I got from them was some song and dance about how they were moving into their new police department and didn't have time to look at the prints yet! Are you shidding me! I think I might have said some thing about not needing a new station if they couldn't even investigate something so simple as this, figured I'd never hear from them again and they didn't disappoint me!
I do remember though when a lap top was stolen from a squad car in my neighborhood, man they went door to door for the next week until they found that damn thing, go figure.
Doug
Sorry to hear that. No consolation but it reminds me to be neurotic about stressing about getting ripped off.
Claymores for perimeter defense.
"Claymore. Directional anti-personnel mine with plastic explosive propelling ball bearings. Often used in perimeter defense"
"Front Towards Enemy"
Words to kill by.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Click away from here
Do not click here what ever ya do
Bad things happen to those who click themselves
A heavy steel bar that goes across the back of the trailer, secured with one of those big honkin padlocks. Kinda like how pop machines are sometimes secured.
Company I worked for a few years back suffered a break in to it's tool trailer. Thieves torched the padlock off. Cops showed us the torch, cheap disposable torch , costs less then $10. and fit in your pocket.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
I'm sorry to hear that. It's happened to me several times and made me angry for days.
I've tried all the heavy duty protection but none of it worked when I left my tools/truck on-site or parked on the street. If they want to cut through your $300 case-hardened chain, they'll find a way, believe me.
The simple answer is to park in your own insured garage, every night. I decided to be better organized and to only carry the tools I needed, day to day. It takes a week or so, to get that kind of discipline working well, but it's worth the effort.
I bought a small digital recorder to carry and use to remind me of various things, tools and materials in particular. It's a Sony ICD 8300, about half the size of a pack of cigarettes and around $40. Many hours of recording time and lots of functions. Easy playback through it's speaker.
So instead of an enclosed trailer carrying all my tools, I have them all organized and in plain sight, around the walls of the garage and on shelves. I also keep a folding trailer in the garage, for those times when I need to bring bigger loads than the truck alone will carry.
I love having that folding trailer. It takes up about one foot of floor space, in front of my truck in the garage. It's ready to go in five minutes or less, any time I need it. One of the best investments I've ever made.
The end result is that I haven't lost a tool since I began following this simple method, about twenty years ago.
Edited 5/21/2008 12:22 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
if someone wants in they'll get in. easy enough just to peel the top off like a soda can
my trailer has a brace system on the inside of the rear doors. you would need to get inside first to remove it.
then the side door has a deadbolt. nothing fancy, just a stainless steel schlage.
other than that I keep a knaack box in there. to get to one of the padlocks on the knaack box you would need to get the side door open. the box is bolted to the floor with just enough to expose the lock sticking into the door way. good luck with that!
The only way to prevent break-ins is to leave the trailer unlocked. Thats one problem with trailers, their made of some really thin skin. If they want in they're coming in.
How did you feel when you first found the trailer? When we got hit, I actually felt sorry for the coward that broke in our project house. As predicted one year later, I was fine and bought everything again. One year later this coward still had to live life looking over his shoulder.
The worst part is that no one would steal tools if people didnt buy them.
I'd love to find a contractor with a tool marked "MSA", i'd be more likely to beat him than the thief. The thief is just supplying demand.
The worst part is that no one would steal tools if people didnt buy them.
We used to have guys show up at our garage (concrete plant) with a pickup truck full of stuff like floor jacks creepers engine hoists, etc. No business cards or phone #'s. I'd always tell the others go ahead buy the stuff, just don't be bitchin when we get cleaned out one night. They get their supply from somewhere.
Ever think of trying one of those remote alarm systems? It's a hassle, but my vote is don't leave the trailer.
MikeInsert initially amusing but ultimately annoying catch phrase here.
> The worst part is that no one would steal tools if people didnt buy them.Tell that to the guy who stole my safety glasses.
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. --Bertrand Russell
I will, if you tell it to the guy that stole my cloth nail apron containing DW screws, a DW knife, and a pencil.
Like everybody has said there is not a damn thing you can do. If they want in they will find a way. We started to use cargo containers where the locks tuck up inside but they still have managed to get the locks off. It just takes them longer. I would like to catch them and do some frontier justice. I had a big old welder down in the bottom of one my foundations figured it would be safe couldn't see it from the road but someone wanted it more than me. Hooked onto it and drug it down the road.
What about a motion actuated switch, hooked up to a loud #### recording of a barking dog on a continuos loop recording, set to play for a certain amount of time!
Don't forget to claim the loss on your income tax next year. Now is the best time to document!
I have related this here at BT before.
I have a buddy who uses a 1 ton box van instead of a trailer.
He hooked up an alarm wired into a loop tape player on which he had recoded this:
"Help, Help , This vehicle Has been stolen call 911 Please Help."
Along with this he welded up a padlocked box that contained a back up battery , the tape machine, amplifier and a loud speaker and bolted it to the truck body. Box was placed against the top front of his van where he cut a louver or set of holes into the van body for the speaker.
As far as I know his vehicle has never been touched since he installed the system.
On the other hand this was in our local paper.
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_052008_news_columbia_sheriff_theft.1162f454.html
Sorry to hear about your loss. Dewalt makes a few different alarms. One, the one I should probably go out & get today, is about the size of a hockey puck. You can put it anywhere. Like inside a toolbox and it will ring your cellphone when moved. It also has GPS so you can tract it wherever it goes.
The guy at Dewalt said he sold one to a builder who put one inside of a oven while his stuff was still inside the garage. He gets hit & tracts it to a house across town, calls the cops- they come but them him they can't enter w/o cause. Hold on, he says & hits the alarm button, alarm goes off. Cops kick door down & he gets his stuff back
Perimeter land mines.
Just be sure to draw a map of them for your own use.
catch a couple and pike them out as examples....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
ya, the pike rules!
after they get rancid and there's no fresh replacements....
napalm the left overs....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Hey!!I don't go stealing plan B!!!freakin internet thieves...Napalm it cooks what's for dinner!!!.
.
"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
.
.
.
If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
you were saved the napalm them caught in the act slot....
this napalm OP was just a bit of low level housekeeping....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Here's another point to consider. We all understand that job sites are targets because they're easy to spot from the road, day or night.
My garage has a cheapie aluminum door on it with no alarm yet I've never had anyone break into it. It's not a target because it doesn't advertise "free tools", like a construction site, yet that's where all my tools and some of my expensive toys are kept.
Another old trick is using magnetic signs on trucks. When parking outside overnight, even in my driveway, the first thing that happens is yanking those signs off and stuffing them under the seat.
From many discussions on this topic, it's become obvious that the guys who do this kind of theft are smash and grab opportunists. Most of them are dependent on drugs so they're behavior is pretty predictable.
All we have to do is stay a little bit ahead of them by not showing them where we keep the tools.
Edited 5/21/2008 8:48 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
Sorry to hear about your loss, Bear. It's sickening losing that kind of investment.
You can get into almost anything with a rechargeable 4.5 in grinder and a few ziz wheels. A few seconds through any chain, hasp or padlock.
I keep a 20' shipping container on site but all I put in it is a small excavator, plate compactor, materiel and a few odds and ends I don't want walking away. Even though it has thick steel walls and a huge padlock inside a 1/4in thick steel box open only from the bottom, a couple strategic cuts with a grinder will still open 'er right up.
No such thing as security on site. As inconvenient as it is, if you like your stuff, take it with you.
You can't stop a man with tools.
- r
Thanks for all of the replies. The problem is, it happened at the yard I rent to keep my stuff (two 1-ton dumps, enclosed trailer, small backhoe, flatbed trailer and misc. leftover materials). Can't keep equipment at my house in the village I live in. Most sites we might leave the trailer at I don't worry about.Bear
I mentioned here once before that our local dumpster supplier has some enclosed dumpsters that are almost literally bulletproof. For stationary storage get them to park one of those and lock the heck out of it.
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. --Bertrand Russell
Any trailer,truck,house,safe...etc. can be broken into. All that a thief needs (professional to crackhead) are 4 things:
-motivation
-privacy
-tools
-time
After your trailer is repaired, and quite possibly upgraded, could it be moved to a more visible location? Ideally under a streetlight with the doors facing a busy road? How about parking near a business that has exterior security cameras, such as a bank or gas station?
Whoever did this to you knew what you had ,what it was worth , and what they would need to take it away with. Professional thieves often hit the same house 2 months after the initial robbery. Why? It gives the victims enough time to get everything replaced after the insurance company cuts a cheque. I hate to say this, but, this will probably happen again unless you make some serious changes to your security.
we all feel for you
Toolman 65
Old school idea.
You need a 12 volt battery, ignition coil from a car, small 12 volt motor and a old distributor.
Set it up so the motor drives the distributor and opens the contact points, connect the plug wire to the body of the trailer.
When the trailer gets touched, the toucher will get a zap!
Control with a remote control.
"Old school idea [...] Set it up so the motor drives the distributor and opens the contact points, connect the plug wire to the body of the trailer. When the trailer gets touched, the toucher will get a zap!"And you will get zapped with a ticket (or worse if the perp gets hurt) for setting a man trap. It's illegal to set up anything with the intent of injuring someone. Considering our screwed up legal system, you might end up paying more and doing more time than the a##hole thief.
Its just a termite repellent! Honest!
Years ago in France we stopped at the road side to take a pee (hey I was 9 at the time) I climbed over this wire without problem. Took my pee. Started to climb back and got zapped! I had never seen a cattle wire before but it got my attention!