Securing equipment

[DaveVman]

I'm considering buying a mini excavator. It will not be insured. We are building our house and so the excavator would be left at the property in the open for 1 to 2 months before we can move in. There is no shed. Tradies will come and go and see it unattended out the back. After that I hope it will squeeze into the garage until the shed is built.
Neighbours on 3 sides can see it, so it's not so easy to remove without a neighbour noticing.

I thought about removing the fuse and the battery. Plus installing a GPS tracker.
But I'd also like to chain it to something as a discouragement. Say a fence post. Or I could concrete a steel strip into the ground and chain it to that.

All of these would really just address the opportunistic thief.

What do other people do to disable their equipment?

[BobL]

Getting it out of sight is IMHO a high priority

What's the soil like on your block ?
Dig a hole big enough to drive it into.
Cover hole with old corro and timber?
OR
As well as locking it to something, cover it with an old tarp and pile some rubbish up against it.
OR
Cover it and put a large radioactive or poison sign on it.
OR
Buy a small used garden shed and store it in the shed.
OR
Make a small compound of of 4 used panels of cyclone fencing and concrete three of them and lock the excavator to the ground.
Put tarps around the panels so the excavator cannot be seen.
OR
.
.

[China]

The simple fact is if some one wants it they will take it why no insurance.

[BobL]

Yep once someone knows it's there, if they really want it, they will take it,
BUT
They first have to know its there - that's why covering or hiding it is one of your best bets.

[rwbuild]

If your friendly with the neighbours and they have the room/willing to have it parked at their place plus get one of those vehicle GPS tracking bugs fitted to it so if it goes missing you will find it, they can be discreetly hidden on the machine

[AJ.]

What breed of excavator is it? Cat equipment all use a single key, JCB and John Deere is the same, not sure about other brands, so stealing earthmoving gear by starting it and driving away is easy enough. Having said that I have left machines on unsecured job sites thousands of times without issue, but that all depends on where you live I guess.

A chain isn’t going to do anything, if you are organised enough to pinch it you will have bolt cutters or a cordless angle grinder. I would find a vital part that can easily be removed that renders it inoperable.

failing that, can you store it out of sight at a neighbour’s?

Cheers Andrew

[Tonyz]

somewhere indiscrete on its body/chassis, weld in your drivers licence. That can identify you very easily. Then if it gets removed, you have that identifing mark on it.

I know of a guy who built his own car trailer, did this then had it stolen 6 years later he spots it, different plates but hey... follows it and duly reports to the police. The boys in blue duly pay the 'new'owner? a visit, do an inspection of the trailer chassis, nothing showed up except that part was a lot smoother than the rest of chassis.
On suspicion it was carted away and metal Xray showed where the licence number had been 'removed'.

[riverbuilder]

The garden shed idea is the best one. I’m buying a 20 foot container to put at my new place, everything is going into it, and a camera setup will be the first thing installed.

[Mobyturns]

Sad state of affairs but rural theft is also increasing.

[ian]

I'm considering buying a mini excavator. It will not be insured. We are building our house and so the excavator would be left at the property in the open for 1 to 2 months before we can move in. There is no shed. Tradies will come and go and see it unattended out the back. After that I hope it will squeeze into the garage until the shed is built.
Neighbours on 3 sides can see it, so it's not so easy to remove without a neighbour noticing.

I thought about removing the fuse and the battery. Plus installing a GPS tracker.
But I'd also like to chain it to something as a discouragement. Say a fence post. Or I could concrete a steel strip into the ground and chain it to that.
what I've seen with earth moving equipment is that any removable earth engagement tool -- digger bucket, rock hammer, etc -- will "dissappear". Especially if the excavator is a mini-one.
Likewise, any glass or perspect windows and doors will be broken if the excavator is left unattended.
Removing the fuses and battery and chaining the item up to a post will only delay the thieves a day while they source replacements.

IMO, your best option when storing a mini-excavator on a worksite is to
1. ensure that no earth engagement tool is left with the excavator. Store them where you are currently living, if you can.
2. drain all the hydraulic fluid from the excavator so that the thieves will need a crane to move the item from your house site.
3. installing a GPS tracker will only be useful should the thieves use a crane to lift the mini excavator onto a truck or trailer. The tracker won't work once the excavator is inside a shed.

As Riverbuilder says, can you leave the excavator with one of your neighbours?