WHAT WOULD YOU DO ( trailer theft)

[haggis]

I have no Idea what i would do .
but does anyone ever look twice at a car towing a boat trailer away from
the water with no boat on board ?
I have a padalock through the safety chain but also have the D shackle in place & also fit one of those hitch locks . Hopefully I will never be in that position but who knows ?
cheers fae Haggis ......................

[dogsbody]

My brother and i have the same boat so i would get him to ditch his on the grass and come and get mine. But if he's not available that all goes out the window. Touch wood.

Dave.

[Reef_fisher]

Had the reverse problem, trailer was there but no car. Car was my brothers so a quick phone call to wifey and problem solved, turns out brother was having domestic with nutcase partner, car wasn't stolen, she just decided to give him a hard time, stuffed me up a bit too.

As previously mentioned, if they wan't it bad enough they will get it, but you can make it hard for them though, just pisses you off when you have to have a whole bunch of keys just for the trailer.

[zulu]

About four years ago I picked up my new boat and proceeded to the boat ramp at Manly. Mate and I did an overnighter at Tangalooma wrecks, returned to find my new purchase gone! Gutted!!
Here I was a 6.15m boat no trailer, to say I was in shock is an understatement. Trailer had two locks on it one on the hitch the other on the safety chain, did not last long with a set of heavy duty Bolt cutters. While I was floundering around at the boat ramp wondering what to do, a number of fishos realizing my fate, showed genuine concern and went out of their way to trying to help with a solution [thanks fellas].
In the end I was fortune enough to get a dry berth at Manly[used one of those big forklifts to lift it up].
Then the real fun started, imagine tring to explain to the insurance company that you lost trailer after only having it 28 hours! The boat stayed on the hard stand for 7 weeks. The insurance came good in the end, new trailer cost over $4000, I had to put in about $600 [original trailer was 4 years old]. Insurance company also paid the rental for the time on the hard stand.
I now have a very exspensive trailer lock, always try to reverse the trailer into its park. I still don't sleep properly when doing overnighters.
Is fishing really worth it. My oath!!

Cheers Troy.

[Dignity]

zulu, quess that means they gotta take your vehicle as well but at unsecured ramps would do the same. glad you had a reasonable outcome in the end.

sam

[russ81]

Hows it going guys
I have started going to extremes with my trailer i back into they parking bay put a trailer coupling lock on padlock both safety chains
onto the car and run a chain through the coupling to the rear recovery eye and put a wheel boot onto the trailer may sound extreme i know but hopefully it is enough of a deterrent while im out on those overnighters
Russ

[FNQCairns]

Backing the trailer in is a good idea I had not thought of, the more I think about it a trailer without lights has gotta be the best deterent there is.
What self respecting thief would bother, I was going to hard wire my lights to my home built trailer but now I think I will swing them from the boat somehow or make removable trailer lights that fit the trailer somehow but are quick release -anyone got any ideas how to do that in a workable way??

cheers fnq

[Roughasguts]

Hi FNQ, don't know if you can't go past the light board for quick removable lights.
Stick a hinge in the middle to make it a bit more compact and some locating rods to fit in your rod holders and your in buisness.

[rich158]

Hi Russ,

Thankfully I haven't been in that situation, yet. Boat is still in the project stage. A Mate's solution for trailer security is firstly to have insurance & secondly to have 2 decent wheel clamps (about $400 for the pair) attached to the trailer wheels. If they are that keen on your trailer, it'll go, but if there is a choice one that has solidly clamped wheels & is padlocked to a vehicle. Or, one that's not locked or clamped. the unlocked one goes everytime.

The clamps are a bit pricey but you can use them to secure boat & trailer at home as well as on the ramp/trailer park. Plus dear old insurance company can't up your excess 'cause you didn't try to secure it.

[FNQCairns]

Thanks Gut's, missed your reply, if I try that then the lights will be around 6 foot above the ground, if it is legal I will look toward doing it but with lights seperate each side + the number plate (rolls eyes).

Just checked my VSB build sheets and 1.5m to the top of the lights is maximum but it has given me another idea that will work, thanks.

cheers fnq