Stolen sawmill

[WV Sawmiller]

Pete,

   What you got against the hogs?

[bigD]

So Sorry, I just went to check on mine yesterday (it at my parent old place across the road) and found someone stole about 10 cherry slabs, all my bands, all my cant hooks and had my mill all ready to go to pull it out.  I guess they were waiting on it to dry up.  I cant stand a *DanG thief, lord help them and me if I catch them.
I sure hope you get yours back.  I really do feel for you to put so much work in something and have someone think they can just take it.

[mike_belben]

Wow that was a lucky catch  

[petefrom bearswamp]

Sorry to hear this.
I'm going to look into that tracking device.
Im a long ways from you but will keep an eye out.

[Woodpecker52]

Sorry for your loss,  I have a friend that lost 4 zero turn mowers from his dealership, since recovered, however he now puts magnetic gps trackers on all his equipment.  They cost about $30 each.  Those with sawmills left out in open should look into them.  You could set them in the electric boxes and add electrical info on them to disguise them or place them in rail tubes etc., but in this day and drug age stuff is going to be stolen, especially when they are letting criminals go with a wrist slap.

[Jim_Rogers]

Has anyone tried any of the "Tile" tracking devices? Or something similar.
You can get them pretty cheap but reviews say some don't work very well.
If someone could recommend a brand or model that they use and it works well for them that would be great.
Thanks.
Jim Rogers

[nativewolf]

Has anyone tried any of the "Tile" tracking devices? Or something similar.
You can get them pretty cheap but reviews say some don't work very well.
If someone could recommend a brand or model that they use and it works well for them that would be great.
Thanks.
Jim Rogers

The apple airtag work well but better in urban areas where you have people with iphones around

[Tacotodd]

If something like a fluid proof capsule that that's also a tracking device is made then you could always just drop it into the fuel tank. I don't know if such a device exists, but it's something to think about 🤔

[Daburner87]

^That is an amazing idea.   When I did landscaping some of the other crews I would see had welded their own company name onto the equipment.   Really a nuisance more than a deterrent, but they either have to cut it off or sell like that depending on their skill level and tool set.

[farmfromkansas]

Big D you had better be camping out close to your mill when it dries up. Maybe you could catch the dirty buggers.  Set up a game camera disguised to watch your mill at least. 

[mike_belben]

If i was a thief id be working in the pouring rain when nothing makes a sound and the dog doesnt even want to go outside. Keep a close watch. 

[doc henderson]

had a friend whos family had people driving into and through their very nice front yard.  nice street with curbs.  he put nails through a board, painted green and placed in the yard.  next time it happened, they found the car about 2 blocks from the house.

[Patrick NC]

They make a GPS tracker for excavator buckets that is actually inside a compartment that is welded to the bucket. The only way to disable it is to cut it off with a torch. Not a quick job as the compartment is 1/2" thick steel pipe welded to the back of the bucket. I have no idea how it works as obviously there's no way to charge a battery in that type of application, but I do know it can be tracked on our office computers. This product is sold through our local Komatsu dealer so im not sure how you'd go about getting it for a sawmill, but the technology is out there. 

[farmfromkansas]

I plan to talk to the sheriff about those gps trackers.  Probably need to buy a number of them and put them on everything I own and keep at the farm yard. We'll see how they work next time those thieves stop by.  My mill is going to get one for sure.  Been hiding the hitch for it, but possible they will bring their own hitch.

[Magicman]

Guys, we need some links to the products that you are mentioning.  :P

[GAB]

Guys, we need some links to the products that you are mentioning.  :P

MM:
I agree with you and I think it should be a thread all by itself.
GAB

[Lostinmn]

This looks like an interesting options:

The Equipment Lock GPS Tracker | The Equipment Lock Company

Going to do some more research, but 60 to by 120 a year for subscription seems reasonable to protect the cost of a sawmill, tractor, or etc.

Their product only has three reviews on amazon as it seems new, but their other products on amazon look like they review pretty well.  I emailed them for more details on subscription, battery life and etc.  Will pass along if it looks promising.

[Ianab]

Digging on the web page it says 4 year battery life (depending on "things")

I see it only phones home twice a day, that will be how they stretch out the battery life. 

Problem I can see with those trackers is that GPS needs to be able to "see" the sky. If it's hidden in a metal box or mill frame it will neither get a GPS lock, or be able to phone home. When machinery has the GPS built in then it can be integrated into the Engine ECU box or similar, and an antenna hidden in the wiring loom making it very difficult to disable. 

On a car a box like that can be hidden behind a plastic bumper and still work, so that might give some mounting / disguise ideas?  

[trapper]

lt 30 and lt40 have an open tube at the top of the mast which would be hard to detect yet have a wide open view of the sky.

[Lostinmn]

This looks like an interesting options:

The Equipment Lock GPS Tracker | The Equipment Lock Company

Going to do some more research, but 60 to by 120 a year for subscription seems reasonable to protect the cost of a sawmill, tractor, or etc.

Their product only has three reviews on amazon as it seems new, but their other products on amazon look like they review pretty well.  I emailed them for more details on subscription, battery life and etc.  Will pass along if it looks promising.

Here is the response I received on a couple questions I emailed:

Do you need a subscription for each unit or can you track multiple units with one? 

-Each unit tracks 1-item.  You can move a single unit around to multiple pieces of equipment and update its asset details in the software.
-If you have multiple units, you will need a subscription for each unit.
-There are two pricing options for the subscriptions,  an annual and a monthly.
 

Also like to know more regarding the batter life. Is t battery replaceable after 4 years or do you have to replace the units?

-The battery life is based on a 2-report per day expectancy.  The device reports at 8 AM and 4 PM local time.  (This is not a real-time tracking device)
-The battery is non-replaceable as it is potted to ensure a water-tight and all environment-friendly tracker. 
-After the battery has expired, the unit will need to be replaced.

[bannerd]

GPS is awesome but it also comes with a monthly payment unless you use open source.  After talking to some police/troopers around here $50 GPS signal identifiers are pretty normal for thieves.  They use them to locate and remove the device or destroy or jam it with other means. 

I thought long and hard about this,  I'm going to get a wheel spacer and some special lug nuts.  That way I can take the wheel off put the spacer on and then thread on these lugs nuts.  The wheel spacer will be recessed so you cant use a pipe wrench to take the lug nuts off.  I think this will work well when you're at a remote site, when the mill is back home maybe the same practice but behind locked doors.

I suppose this could be defeated but it wouldn't be easy.  Just thinking.

[Southside]

So if I am a smart thief then I call these tracking companies, learn these details, assume anything I steal is tagged, and work around their details.  Only steal after 4:00 PM and make sure anything that can't be inspected has gone through a crusher before 8:00 AM.  

[Southside]

Maybe a pressure switch activated glue / glitter / dye device that goes off if the pressure on the front tongue jack is released.  Basically the thief and the back of their vehicle gets coated in the same dye used in bank robbery packs. 

They are going to run after that happens, and you have a decent chance of finding out who it is after the fact.  

[boardmaker]

Southside,
  With my memory, I would become the most proficient tester of my anti-theft device...

I can picture half the guys here driving down the road with their car and themselves sparkling away.

[bruce29]

I Got a phone call saying someone thought they seen it on I 75 headed north into Knoxville  Tenn that fit the time frame mine was stolen. If anyone is around that area keep an eye out.