Chipper might be stolen

[Rich Rule]

Just message or call Forst and get them to check if has been reported stolen.

 

Both numbers.

[Will C]

If it’s not stolen they will possibly be able to tell you the history as to why it’s like that

[spudulike]

Sometimes I received old saws in for repair with the serials missing, if they had been hot, it would have been ten years or so ago and finding the original owner would be near impossible. I just informed the owner, stated it on the invoice and did what the owner needed doing as there was little else that could be done and the owners were usually trusted customers not some dodgy lowlife with no trading history.

As long as you are happy with the guy you purchased it from and a little digging gets no where then crack on, it is just a little of what life chucks at us - probably someone has produced what antique dealers call a "marriage"....hope it turns out OK for you.

 

[Will C]

I can’t see it being stolen as why go to the effort to put 2 stolen machines together to make what is in effect a stolen machine just not worth the effort, my fiver is on it being legit. 

[Mesterh]

4 hours ago, Will C said:

I can’t see it being stolen as why go to the effort to put 2 stolen machines together to make what is in effect a stolen machine just not worth the effort, my fiver is on it being legit. 

I was thinking the same thing, they wouldnt bother plus its looks more dodgy.

 

[spuddog0507]

There was some chippers and a fair few of them that ended up in auctions up n down the country about 6 years ago, these chippers where from  councils up in  Scotland the 2 I looked at where totally fooked underneath and both needed the chassis rebuilding, this I suppose was due to salt on the roads up there,, one that I was very interested in was from Strathclyde and all looked well till you looked underneath,  can't remember if ut was the diesel or oil tank that was set in between the chassis rails and the tank was virtually porous, yours could be one of these, ??

[Treewolf]

On 16/07/2024 at 18:20, Mont16 said:

Hello all I’ve just brought my first chipper went to get it serviced and the mechanic recons that I might be stolen. As the plate number and chassis number where different. brought it on eBay from a guy who seemed decent enough told me that as it’s quite an old chipper they replaced the chassis as it was rusted hence the difference in numbers. Don’t really know what to do as want to do the right thing. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated 

About 20 years ago I bought a railway-style petrol nut runner from a well-known internet auction site. It came from a seller in Ashford, Kent, which I later learned was then (whilst HS1 was being built) the national hotspot for railway plant theft. There were many convincing reasons for believing it was a genuine sale from an honest seller, and the serial number was clearly visible on the tool (and shown in the auction listing).

 

Not long afterwards I was contacted by BTP who were investigating a spate of rail plant thefts and, it turns out, the person from whom I bought the tool, and I arranged to take the tool to show them. They had no evidence to prove that the machine was stolen and there were no reports of that serial number having been nicked, but they were interested in the seller, who was known to them. The advice from BTP was that buying it in good faith, and having it in my possession and using it was not a problem, but if I were to sell it and it turned out that it had been stolen then potentially I could be charged with handling stolen goods, even if I didn't know that it had been stolen. After a cursory check whether the serial number was on their hotlist they showed absolutely no further interest in investigating that particular tool. They did say that they would get in touch if there were further developments, but I never heard any more from them.

 

As for the tool, ironically that was stolen about a year later during a break-in at the heritage railway where I was working. The theft was reported to local police and BTP who issued a crime number and as far as we can tell then did absolutely nothing else.

 

My feelings based on this experience and what BTP said at the time is that even if you are suspicious about the provenance of the machine but can show you have taken the reasonable steps to check if it is stolen, then you are unlikely to be charged. However if it does turn out to be stolen you run the risk that it will be returned to its owner and you will be left out of pocket.  

[GA Groundcare]

Just call Forst. They should know if its had a genuine chassis change.