Nobody likes the feeling when they’ve had something taken from them. Thankfully, we generally don’t form any sort of attachment to our lawn and garden equipment, but that doesn’t mean the theft of the equipment is any less hurtful. While this can be a major problem facing landscapers who sometimes have to leave equipment unattended on trucks, this is also a point of concern for home owners. The theft of equipment hits everyone, and here are some tips for reducing the likelihood of theft.
- Put it Inside – Sure, when you get done trimming your lawn, you might just want to leave the equipment in the yard and take a shower, and lie down. But as you learned growing up, you should put things back where you found them – in this case, put your tools in a shed, garage, basement, or even a lockable storage container. Simply putting something out of sight can be enough to deter theft.
- Lock it Down – If you can’t store your equipment indoors, or you have to be out of sight of your equipment trailer, lock your equipment down using chains and padlocks. Even a relatively cheap bike lock can work – loop it through the handles of your equipment, and around a post or a chain. This is a simple way to prevent theft, and one of the most reliable – thieves want to spend as little time as possible, so even a simple chain they may take them a minute or two to remove can be enough to send them packing.
- Pull the Plug – For larger equipment such as riding mowers, you’ll have to go even further. Putting it inside and locking it up doesn’t stop it from being a tempting target. You might need to go a step further, and pull the spark plug. By removing the spark plug, you make it impossible to start the unit, which will discourage potential thieves – you can’t exactly carry riding mowers off.
- Mark It or Tag It – If you have decals or other identifiers you can put on your equipment, you can mark as yours. Permanent markings can make your equipment easy to track, and can also make it hard for a thief to resell. Thieves are less likely to take something that is hard to sell. Even better, you can put a GPS tag in your equipment for tracking the units should they be stolen, making recovery easier. If you mark your equipment so that it is clear that you have GPS tracking, thieves will likely skip this equipment – that is, unless you’ve got the world’s dumbest criminals.
- Register Your Equipment – The dealer you purchase the equipment from should be able to register the units for you with the manufacturer. Smaller equipment can be registered through the mail, or even online. While this will not prevent your equipment from being stolen, it will make it easy to track should it be stolen and the thief tries to resell it. Plus, registration will qualify the equipment for warranties and possible rebates.
Protect your equipment from theft, and ensure that you’ll be able to track it down should it be stolen. This can prevent disruption, stress, headaches, and more that comes with equipment theft.
