GreenMech Evo205DT (fixed base tracked) and Tri Axle Stolen.

[monkeybusiness]

46 minutes ago, josharb87 said:

I guess it comes down to a cost against the competition thing. 
 

if Greenmech for example were to lead the way and add them, their machines would be potentially automatically £xxx more expensive than the competition. 
 

you’d need (for example) the 3 big uk makes to all do a gentleman’s agreement and all start adding them at the same time 

 

 

 

simmilar happens here in Sweden when you buy a new car, they’re sold on summer tyres, but no extra set of winter tyres. rendering the vehicle potentially illegal to drive for 4-6 months a year - because if one make started to throw them in automatically then they’d be that much more expensive 

As an owner I’d look at it as a very positive selling point if a particular manufacturer offered a factory installed tracking system. Even if the location data was only accessible to the manufacturer it would be a brilliant USP. 

[Mike Hill]

6 hours ago, dumper said:

I fail to see why chipper manufacturers don’t fit trackers or immobilisers as standard, especially if you are going to leave it on a trailer overnight, they could be deeply embedded into the machine making  removal difficult 

 

But they would still require a power source and have the sender exposed enough to transmit.

 

There are only so many voids you could use to hide it and the unit itself would have to be servicable/ replaceable.

 

I added a fusable link to the ignition circuit if my tracked machine, plus a battery isolation switch. If it stayes on a site I park it hidden on top of the ramps, winch cable attached to something, battery isolated and fuse removed.

 

Leaving a tracked machine on a trailer enables it to be stolen by any vehicle with a tow hitch.

[josharb87]

14 minutes ago, monkeybusiness said:

As an owner I’d look at it as a very positive selling point if a particular manufacturer offered a factory installed tracking system. Even if the location data was only accessible to the manufacturer it would be a brilliant USP. 

completly understand that, but if for example a council were to send out a tender for new machines then price matters

 

 

do no manufactures offer them as an optional extra? 

[monkeybusiness]

5 minutes ago, Mike Hill said:

 

But they would still require a power source and have the sender exposed enough to transmit.

 

There are only so many voids you could use to hide it and the unit itself would have to be servicable/ replaceable.

 

I added a fusable link to the ignition circuit if my tracked machine, plus a battery isolation switch. If it stayes on a site I park it hidden on top of the ramps, winch cable attached to something, battery isolated and fuse removed.

 

Leaving a tracked machine on a trailer enables it to be stolen by any vehicle with a tow hitch.

They require power but work well even buried deep in a machine.

I still don’t see why they aren’t simply an integral part of the control box. The machine could still be stolen but it would be more difficult to bypass/remove the tracker, and would be far more difficult to subsequently put back to ‘normal’ use. 
Telematics is common on agricultural and construction machinery nowadays - the manufacturers know where machines are and what they are doing. I can’t personally see it being a massive step up to include this tech (at a basic level) in woodchippers. 

[openspaceman]

19 hours ago, dumper said:

I fail to see why chipper manufacturers don’t fit trackers or immobilisers as standard, especially if you are going to leave it on a trailer overnight, they could be deeply embedded into the machine making  removal difficult 

Well at least till 2015 when I last bought a greenmech 1928 there was an immobiliser function in the control box but it was a faff to set and unset so the blokes seldom used it, I always instructed that the machine should never be parked on the trailer or within crane reach. Evenso two were stolen in my time, I found the one with the tracker fitted quite easily and it was recovered with trailer from a council estate in Wales.

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by openspaceman
typo

[htb]

21 hours ago, GarethM said:

Is has an immobilizer built into the key.

It's a little RFID chip that talks to a receiver surrounding the ignition switch.

 

It's been compulsory since 1998.

Not on mine, no immobilizer fitted.

[PeteB]

Police rang this morning.  She had been allocated the case to investigate and would approach the council and 4 local businesses to ask if they can view the CCTV.......

One supplier of trackers admitted that thiefs can obtain a device which jams signals and identifies if the kit is fitted with any devices at all!

I visited a Rail contractor in Chesterfield and they had a tracked chipper and trailer stolen from a 24hr manned, secure yard!

Someone told me a story about a Mercedes-Benz dealer who lost a load of new cars, later discovering that someone wearing a Dealership branded shirt was walking into the dealership and asking for the keys and papers for certain cars and driving them away!

[dig-dug-dan]

19 hours ago, PeteB said:

Police rang this morning.  She had been allocated the case to investigate and would approach the council and 4 local businesses to ask if they can view the CCTV.......

One supplier of trackers admitted that thiefs can obtain a device which jams signals and identifies if the kit is fitted with any devices at all!

I visited a Rail contractor in Chesterfield and they had a tracked chipper and trailer stolen from a 24hr manned, secure yard!

Someone told me a story about a Mercedes-Benz dealer who lost a load of new cars, later discovering that someone wearing a Dealership branded shirt was walking into the dealership and asking for the keys and papers for certain cars and driving them away!

I think it depends on the type of tracker. Then of course the  thief has to find it!

[dumper]

You are never going to stop the professional thief, but I believe there are more lucrative things to steal than arboricultural equipment, it’s the opportunist that the tracker stops, or more realistically helps you find it in what ever woodland or caravan site it’s parked upon

the problem then becomes one of getting the police to respond and reclaim the item!

[MattyF]

I would love to see the actual figures of how many chippers get stolen … out of 7 I’ve owned four have been stolen .. I would estimate it at around 50% of machines will get stolen maybe 90% or more depending on area.

it’s a bloody big problem any way.