Best way to secure trailer from thieves

[myheartinahoofbeat]

Hi,

Unfortunately, my neighbour had his Ifor trailer stolen from inside a locked barn last week. Thieves cut through padlocked gates, disabled the security cameras and moved a 3 tonne muck trailer to make their escape.

I have started blocking the trailer in with my Range Rover and have a coupling lock on the ball hitch.

How do you secure your trailers to prevent theft?

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Sadly as your neighbour has found if the blighters want to steal something then they'll find a way.

Following this thread with interest. I usually just bung on a bog-standard wheel-lock on mine if I'm out anywhere and park up. Yes know it can still be pinched - and sadly very easily - but it is better than nothing methinks.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

Sadly as your neighbour has found if the blighters want to steal something then they'll find a way.

Following this thread with interest. I usually just bung on a bog-standard wheel-lock on mine if I'm out anywhere and park up. Yes know it can still be pinched - and sadly very easily - but it is better than nothing methinks.

It's a worry isn't it. Insurance company didn't have any suggestion show to secure it either!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Someone I know used to take a wheel off the trailer!

 

[PurBee]

massive stone boulders are used where i live, by local councils, to block vehicles - usually bored teens in their racer cars from doing burning rubber ‘doughnuts’ in tarmac park entrances.
Farmers with heavy duty machinery usually find huge boulders to put in front of gates where they store machinery. If the culprits can move the boulder, they can steal whats behind the boulder…but usually just have a road 4x4 at best.

What about looking into those driveway posts that drop down and can be erected to prevent vehicles passing?

We had a classic car that we removed the ignition thingy-majig from the spark housing - tiny plastic thing fitted in my purse but stopped that vehicle being started and driven off. Could have been stolen by a vehicle carrier only, impossible to tow as it was so low.

Removal of wheels and tow ball/hitch are good deterrents - unsure if there are reliable and safe ’quick-release’ wheels/tow hitches on the market. Determined thieves could potentially strap the chassis to their tow ball, if there was no proper tow-hitch on the trailer, but thats time-consuming and not a reliable way to tow for fast getaway or long distance. They wont expect the tow vehicle to not have a tow-hitch, so would likely be unprepared to improvise!

 

[Kaylum]

Fit a tracker as well.

 

[Britestar]

Wheel clamp on the back wheel. Bulldog hitch lock at the front. Padlocked gates x 2.

I know if they want it they'll take it, but I just try make it less attractive, and more hassle than the 2 unsecured ifors down the road.

 

[asmp]

Don’t just use one of the loopy ones that sit on the hitch. Some lowlifes stole our local RDA trailer by cutting it off.

 

[Northern Hare]

Whilst tied to the trailer at an event, my friend's horse decided to sharpen his teeth on the side of her new Ifor Williams 510 trailer, scratching a perfect arc in the panel. He then moved onto the next panel!

A week or so later, three of the four Ifor Williams trailers were stolen from the livery yard, leaving her's parked on it's own!

Morale of the story I guess, is to make your trailer less attractive to the thieves - personalize it with your postcode on each panel, or decals / paint it a different colour etc. Something to make it more unique. Plus of course preferably a hitchcock and wheelclamp. ?

 

[Barton Bounty]

Someone I know used to take a wheel off the trailer!

This is a great idea! Its what i would do! We had our caravan wheel locked too

 

[Flowerofthefen]

This is a great idea! Its what i would do! We had our caravan wheel locked too

Isn't that why there are 2 wheels each side though? Obviously for balance but also incase you loose one?. A friend of mine lost his wheel in a gate way when leaving a show and didn't know until he got home!!

 

[Barton Bounty]

Isn't that why there are 2 wheels each side though? Obviously for balance but also incase you loose one?. A friend of mine lost his wheel in a gate way when leaving a show and didn't know until he got home!!

Yeah but if you know the caravan isnt going to be moving for safety and security , take the wheels off, ??

 

[Esmae]

When I had a trailer I had a heavy duty chain sunk into half a ton of concrete that was buried in the ground. I wrapped the chain around the frame of the trailer and padlocked it with a hefty lock. as well as a hitch lock and wheel clamp. We parked our cars all around it as well. However it has been said here, that if thieves want it they will have it.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Yeah but if you know the caravan isnt going to be moving for safety and security , take the wheels off, ??

Taking all the wheels off would definitely do the trick!!

 

[Barton Bounty]

Taking all the wheels off would definitely do the trick!!

It would do but probably quite time consuming ???

 

[Dasher66]

I had a signwriter make a decal in white vinyl with daughter’s name in foot high letters to stick on the front of the trailer. Looked professional and wasn’t expensive.
We had a wheel lock, but one day I drove off forgetting it was still there - it broke off really easily.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Hi,

Unfortunately, my neighbour had his Ifor trailer stolen from inside a locked barn last week. Thieves cut through padlocked gates, disabled the security cameras and moved a 3 tonne muck trailer to make their escape.

I have started blocking the trailer in with my Range Rover and have a coupling lock on the ball hitch.

How do you secure your trailers to prevent theft?

Had a trailer stolen in past, so did some googling and word of mouth and made this

https://h0rseservices.weebly.com/preventing-horsebox--trailer-theft.html


take wheels of and put winter wheels on

I have winter wheels on my caravan and take wheels off through winter, saves wheels and tyres perishing and sitting on the same part of the tyre for a long time.


similar to this https://www.caravanguard.co.uk/news/caravan-winter-wheels-and-more-22207/

video of how to put them on

 

[Spottyappy]

To be honest, as your neighbour found, if they want something, they will get it.
Do make sure the lock is one that your insurers approve Of.
And, avoid buying Ifor Williams if theft worries you, as they are (allegedly) the most stole trailers. Or, so I was told when mine was taken.
They came across fields to access mine, then cut the wheel clamp off , and stole a farm pickup to tow it with. Also, cut a padlock on a gate, to get away as well. They had to drive past 4 houses to get off the farm, but by the time one of my cousins got out, they had already gone.

 

[July dreamer]

Another vote for a tracker. Or, if you have an iphone, hide a couple of airtags in the trailer. Mine also has a hitchlock and a wheelclamp. Since mine seems to mainly get used for trips to the equine hospital, sometimes an emergency, I don't want to make it too difficult for me to move.

 

[blitznbobs]

We have security cameras (several different circuits ) mesh security fencing and retractable bollards… but if the bar stewards have decided they’re having it there really isnt a lot you can do…

 

[asmp]

I would be worried about taking a wheel off as have had to take horses to vets in emergencies.

 

[Abby-Lou]

We have security cameras (several different circuits ) mesh security fencing and retractable bollards… but if the bar stewards have decided they’re having it there really isnt a lot you can do…

Never heard of air tags before, I wonder if this would work long distance ? I'm thinking you could slide under flooring or in between the panels ? has anyone actually done this ?

 

[claracanter]

Never heard of air tags before, I wonder if this would work long distance ? I'm thinking you could slide under flooring or in between the panels ? has anyone actually done this ?

We have something similar on our car keys so we don’t lose them but like you, I wonder if it would work long distance. Great idea if it does

 

[alsxx]

I mean if they want it, they'll take it. But I used to have a removable steel bollard that the trailer hitched onto, and then a hitch lock over the top of that, plus wheel clamp on back wheel. The bollard locked so couldn't just been removed from the ground.

 

[scruffyponies]

When a hefty cob decided to exit through the jockey door, instead of painting the replacement panel to match the others, I deliberately left it plywood coloured and just varnished. Less smart, certainly, but more likely to be left alone too.

I used to travel a lot. Can't count the number of times my scruffy, well-travelled rucksack was untouched whilst shiny new ones either side (usually with locks) were slashed or taken. Same with bikes. Used a 2nd hand bike from the tip for a commute a few years ago, and was able to leave it on the railings at a park and ride for a year without fear of losing it.

Might sound extreme, but artexing the panels would work well; distinctive, personalised and a PITA to remove.

 

[southerncomfort]

Whilst tied to the trailer at an event, my friend's horse decided to sharpen his teeth on the side of her new Ifor Williams 510 trailer, scratching a perfect arc in the panel. He then moved onto the next panel!

A week or so later, three of the four Ifor Williams trailers were stolen from the livery yard, leaving her's parked on it's own!

Morale of the story I guess, is to make your trailer less attractive to the thieves - personalize it with your postcode on each panel, or decals / paint it a different colour etc. Something to make it more unique. Plus of course preferably a hitchcock and wheelclamp. ?

This! First thing I did when I got my traiker was put decals on both sides (a galloping horse!) and ordered decals of our postcode and put them both inside the trailer and on the roof.

You need to make it stand out as much as possible.

Our rural police team gave us some of that dna/smart water stuff which we've used on the outside of the trailer and put a sticker on the front of the trailer saying that smart water has been used and can be identified by the police.

 

[PeterNatt]

Post Code the roof in large lettering and have the vehicle Data Tagged and also apply Smart Water (www.smartwater.com). That way you have a chance of getting it recovered.

 

[COldNag]

Won't help stop it being stolen, but possibly of help if it does - I got big vinyl lettering and put my postcode on the roof.

I just used a clamp on the wheel and a lock over the hitch. I just figured if they really want it they will steal it but at least I could slow them down.

Also, I put these stickers on the back...https://northwaleshorsewatch.co.uk/Shop/trailerpack/

 

[Northern Hare]

..... forgot to mention that if you use a wheel lock it's better to use it on the rear wheels so they can't lift the trailer up on the jockey wheel so that the wheel clamp is off the ground. ??

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

It's a worry isn't it. Insurance company didn't have any suggestion show to secure it either!

^^^ Well my insurance stipulates that I MUST "secure" the trailer when I am leaving it unattended away from home, so I do. Hopefully they'd pay up in the event of it being nicked - and I do have a get-us-home insurance policy.