Is there a trailer security company who can mark trailers indelibly?

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SpruceRI

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Every week I hear of trailers being stolen, left right and centre, and most of them are never seen again? Where do they go?

Trailers like the Rices and Bayhills are easy to repaint, but you can't really repaint an Ifor Williams or Bateson?

I know they all look the same so is there a company out there that offers security marking AND assistance in finding the trailer once its' stolen - akin to Freeze Marking companies for horses who advertise in the press and contact local auction houses if a horse is stolen?

I know that if you paint the roof with your Postcode or etch a code on to the chassis these markings are removable or hard to spot, so how do people ever get their trailers back at all?
 
I am not convinced that people do get their trailers back, especially if it is an IW. Marking it in some way if fine but it would have to be fairly significant to put the thieves off. In my opinion there is no point doing something like marking it with your postcode because there are always ways of covering such things up.
It is an interesting debate, as is the one by insurance companies that state your trailer not to be covered insurance wise unless it has a wheel clamp on! The thieves that stole my trailer made light work of the wheel clamp...just nicked the metal at the side and yanked it off in one piece somehow. Ironically I spent extra money on a hitch lock and this gave them more bother because they had to cut across 8 inches of thick metal to get it off...but they still managed it!
When you have thieves like I experienced that go to all that trouble including two sets of field chains and then go to the trouble of closing the gate after them and taking your haynet out of it for you!...they obviously know what they are doing and have plenty of time to do it in!
The only sure fire way of deterrring them (because that is all you will do - move them on to someone elses) is to have your trailer signwritten up...not cheap but well worth it. I plan to do this when I have the money together.
Also, the IW do have an identity tag and are all held on a central database...still does not stop them!
 
Putting a large Post Code on the roof or etching the chassis, painting an identifying mark under the floor matting are all useful methods of idenrtifying a stolen trailer. Although you need to supect the trailer to be stolen first before you examine it thoroughly.

It is similar to a car that has been stolen & had it's identity changed. They change Reg No, Chassis No, replace the Vin Plate etc which make it difficult. That is why the police always want a note of special identifying features that are peculiar to your trailer. A dent that you caused on a gate post, chew marks on a breast bar, a repair you did, anything that makes yours different from the other thousands that are about. Everyone knows little things that are specific to their trailer.

This however doesn't stand out to other people, so there will always be a problem. If someone decides they want to steal your trailer & they are determined then it is very difficult to stop it happening. If it is taken to the other end of the country & used or sold then it will be difficult to recover.
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We have had our trailer sign written and it has worked a treat. Even if they peeled off the letters it is still visible due to fade. We have managed to hold on to our trailer now for 5 years which before this was unheard of. Combined with a hitch lock and a motorbike chain through the ramp it is pretty hard to nick.
Our trailer certainly stands out from the several thousand unwritten on ones.
 
Mine was stolen about 4 years ago, they trashed the wheel lock and the hitch lock. I can't remember the company, but it was put on a database of stolen trailers. Luckily my friend spotted the trailer a few miles down the road in an industrial estate! Its now got my postcode on it, its either in huge letters on the roof, or etched into the chassis, can't remember which we went for in the end! The trailer was sent up to the people we bought it from, and they fixed it and put the postcode on.
 
I don't have a IW trailer, I bought self adhesive letters and numbers from the local car spares shop and stuck my post code on the roof of my Bahill (not that anybody would want it - it is ancient)
 
the watcher - Don't write off your Bahill. I used to have one and loved it, but it was a bit small so eventually sold it to a friend. Then it was stolen!

Hairycob - how does the data tagging work? Does it just prove that the trailers' yours if it's stolen or can it be tracked?

I think I might go down the route of buying big stickers to put all over my trailer, though we've replaced one side wall because it had rotted. I think the new wall cost about £150 so I suppose thieves can do the same which removes the stickers? Mind you, you had to take half of the trailer apart to change the side wall so maybe they wouldn't bother??

I don't think the age or condition of the trailer matters either. A friend of mine recently had her trailer stolen. It was ancient and scruffy and she thought no thief in their right mind would want it, especially as it was one not easily paintable, but still they had it away,
 
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