How to make trailer less attractive?!

[Bobthecob15]

Hi we have a lovely new Cheval trailer and I'm totally paranoid about it being stolen. To try and prevent it as much as possible we've got a SAS wheel clamp, SAS hitch lock, ground anchor attached to it and it's data tagged with data dots and micro dots and registered with the national system. Its also obviously insured. Its on our driveway which is not visible from the road, we don't have a gate unfortunately. Is there anything else we can do to secure it? The 2 cars are generally also parked directly in front of it except for periods during some days when we are out.

Our driveway has cctv at the bottom of the shared bit with our neighbour so anyone that goes past would be seen. We are considering putting a camera by our driveway too...is there anything else we can do?!

 

[SantaVera]

Paint it a luminous pink with yellow spots, Will be too unique to bother stealing. Also paint your postcode on the roof so it can be seen by a police helicopter

 

[Bobthecob15]

Thanks for the tip re postcode!! Not sure about the spots but good idea

 

[SantaVera]

Thanks for the tip re postcode!! Not sure about the spots but good idea

Saw one painted bright pink locally with a pink Landover discovery to match! Very striking,bet neither get stolen.

 

[Birker2020]

Thanks for the tip re postcode!! Not sure about the spots but good idea

I have the postcode painted on my trailer roof too.

 

[nagblagger]

Have you got a floodlight with sensor that would turn on, or cctv camera with sensor direct to your phone?

 

[Birker2020]

Hi we have a lovely new Cheval trailer and I'm totally paranoid about it being stolen. To try and prevent it as much as possible we've got a SAS wheel clamp, SAS hitch lock, ground anchor attached to it and it's data tagged with data dots and micro dots and registered with the national system. Its also obviously insured. Its on our driveway which is not visible from the road, we don't have a gate unfortunately. Is there anything else we can do to secure it? The 2 cars are generally also parked directly in front of it except for periods during some days when we are out.

Our driveway has cctv at the bottom of the shared bit with our neighbour so anyone that goes past would be seen. We are considering putting a camera by our driveway too...is there anything else we can do?!

I'd also make sure its wheelclamped at a show. I always made sure I clamped mine when I parked on the pub carpark to go for a hack or at a show.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

 

[Barton Bounty]

Hang bells all over it in strategic places, tie a rape/window alarm round the hitch

 

[Auslander]

I used a cable lock alarm to secure mine to the ground anchor (which in my case was an iron ring on a 4ft long stake, concreted into a 5ft deep hole!) The cable lock alarm screeches at the top of its voice if anyone tries to cut it, and they are VERY loud!

 

[Bob notacob]

Once you have done everything that a reasonable sane person would do (and I suspect you have overshot a bit) its just down to insurance. I have been amazed and in awe at the ingenuity of thieves. If they put their talents to better purposes they would be running major industries!

 

[Bobthecob15]

Have you got a floodlight with sensor that would turn on, or cctv camera with sensor direct to your phone?

No but thats a good idea! Thanks

 

[Dasher66]

We had my daughters name put on the front of the trailer in foot high letters. It wasn’t expensive.

 

[Widgeon]

Umm.....take it out for a nice hack in some forestry, choose the muddiest wet spot to park in. Take it home and don't clean it afterwards?

That's why I don't clean mine. That's my story and I'm sticking to it

 

[rextherobber]

No but thats a good idea! Thanks

Reolink cameras are good and reliable and really easy to set up. A Policeman told me that security lights just make life easier for thieves, these days everyone has them, they are constantly triggered by waving branches and cats, so consequently get ignored. A torch bobbing around is far more likely to be noticed and reported/investigated by people.

 

[Bobthecob15]

Umm.....take it out for a nice hack in some forestry, choose the muddiest wet spot to park in. Take it home and don't clean it afterwards?

That's why I don't clean mine. That's my story and I'm sticking to it

We live in the sticks...the trailer is always filthy and covered in mud

 

[ycbm]

You need to make it easily identifiable and fiddly and expensive to change. I know it's lovely and new but with the level and audacity of trailer theft, including in Cheshire being driven off while people are hunting, I'd be out there with a pot of paint putting my postcode on every single panel.
.

 

[Bobthecob15]

You need to make it easily identifiable and fiddly and expensive to change. I know it's lovely and new but with the level and audacity of trailer theft, including in Cheshire being driven off while people are hunting, I'd be out there with a pot of paint putting my postcode on every single panel.
.

Thanks have ordered some postcode stickers!!!

 

[ycbm]

Thanks have ordered some postcode stickers!!!

Probably better than my painting

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

I find a layer of mud and green lichen puts people (well me) off lol.

 

[Merry neddy man]

The sit up type posts on driveway, if you can get one that would sit through the A frame that would be best you could also have extra brackets/ clamps welded to it. Where the trailer is, is it single or double width if single a wall to wall lockable bar infront of the trailer would help. Is the drive flat, if so and you dont use the trailer weekly push the trailer onto drive then it takes a thief a bit longer. Eventually could an electric gate be fitted?

 

[hollyandivy123]

now i am not saying my friend did this..............it was a hypothetical conversation about linking the electric fence to the jockey wheel lift and other bits of metal, with the connection well hidden and an off switch out of the way........... it might have been on private land

add fake scratches stickers

with some

Rust + Patina Style Wrap with ADT

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basically make it the worse thing on the lot............

 

[SilverLinings]

add fake scratches stickers

with some

Rust + Patina Style Wrap with ADT

Car, Bike and Architectural Wrapping Supplies Ireland, UK, Europe, USA & Canada - Over 200 Styles of Wrapping Films in stock with worldwide shipping from Dublin, Ireland. Our stock includes 3D & Gloss Carbon Fibre Vinyl, Matte and Gloss, Metallic, Chrome, Pearl, Brushed Aluminium Steel...

www.wrapdirect.com

basically make it the worse thing on the lot............

I read a press article a couple of years ago about the increase in bike theft, and the police were advising owners paint their bikes unappealing colours (apparently a sludgy green/brown works well), obscure the make name/logo and add fake rust patches as a deterrent.

Making the horsebox stand out to any police who may be keeping an eye out for it as a stolen vehicle can be a good deterrent. As others have said you can paint on your postcode, but there is also a huge range of decals available online which you can use to personalise your box. The more unusual the better, as well as having them in prominent places. I have one added to the front of my IW (bought new), and the same image is on the back ramp, and the insurance company I use note it as a security measure (along with the locks). It is an unusual image for a horsebox so stands out, but it means something to me and looks like a professional paint job.

If you do mark your trailer then make sure there's something visible at the front (that will hopefully deter thieves when they see it as they go to hitch up) and at the back (for police to spot if it is being driven around after being reported stolen).

I always see horsebox theft protection as just being a case of making yours less appealing to steal than the one down the road (or parked next to yours at the yard), and less easy to drive off with. Ultimately you can't stop it being stolen if someone is determined enough, so your aim is to make it too much hassle to pinch and harder to sell on.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Saw one painted bright pink locally with a pink Landover discovery to match! Very striking,bet neither get stolen.

Wasn't Barbie was it

 

[Northern Hare]

I've posted this on a similar thread before...

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 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 - as mentioned above, 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. ?

 

[LEC]

Sign writing works well - we had ours done with the address and it never got knicked unlike it’s 2 predecessors,
One of which had postcode on the roof.
We also cut a hole in the ramp which you would never notice and chained it to the barn with a bike lock.

 

[Dexter]

Thanks have ordered some postcode stickers!!!

stickers just peel off,even the best ones come off with a hairdryer on them for a few minutes. Get some stencils and paint them on instead

 

[hollyandivy123]

just thought of this

Secure Your Vehicle - SmartWater Shop

SECURE YOUR VEHICLE. Sophisticated thieves can bypass locks and immobilisers but will find SmartTrace® altogether more challenging. This is because the liquid is highly durable, can be used to mark multiple components and is a versatile crime deterrent that can be used on cars, motorcycles...

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you can write your postcode and it is forensically detectable...........

 

[Bobthecob15]

thanks all, the registration and postcode are now on the roof, can someone inspire me with their decals??? I have no idea what to put on it!!

 

[Bobthecob15]

just thought of this

Secure Your Vehicle - SmartWater Shop

SECURE YOUR VEHICLE. Sophisticated thieves can bypass locks and immobilisers but will find SmartTrace® altogether more challenging. This is because the liquid is highly durable, can be used to mark multiple components and is a versatile crime deterrent that can be used on cars, motorcycles...

shop.smartwater.com

you can write your postcode and it is forensically detectable...........

I think the datadots on the datatag system are similar, I've put them all over the inside of the trailer