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I have a couple of riding lawn mowers that usually sit outside and I'm a bit concerned about theft.

There's not enough space in the garage for them and neighborhood asociation rules prevents a stand alone structure for them (although I might give that one more shot)

How do you guys secure your riding mowers to prevent theft?

This is how I secure mine. I put a large metel dog chain anchor into ground (must be large enough for mower not to pull out of ground). Attach mower to anchor( in your case both mowers). Then I looked under mower for a place along the clutch/brake linkage that I could put a metal rod in with it in the park position so it wouldnt release. Its a lot of trouble, but just let them try to steal it. Or just get a big mean dog.

dfbroxy said:

This is how I secure mine. I put a large metel dog chain anchor into ground (must be large enough for mower not to pull out of ground). Attach mower to anchor( in your case both mowers). Then I looked under mower for a place along the clutch/brake linkage that I could put a metal rod in with it in the park position so it wouldnt release. Its a lot of trouble, but just let them try to steal it. Or just get a big mean dog.

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Thought about chaining the two mowers together. That's be over 1200 lbs someone would have to lift or roll at the same time.

A can of liquid freeze and a small hammer and your chain is sitting on the ground shattered.
If a professional thief wants it nothing can stop them.
If you are worried about a oppertunistic thief any one of the motorcycle locks / pushbike locks will do the trick.
There are only around 10 different mower keys and 6 will fit almost 90% of all mowers made since 1990.
Professional mower thievs have them all as do ligit repair men like me.
Most padlocks can be picked in under a minute by some one who knows what they are doing

The simplist thing to do is to remove 1 wheel
A front on a tractor or a rear on a ZTR.

Even then if the neighbours saw a flat bed with "Micks Mower Repairs" on the side, drive up and lift them onto to back with a hiab, no one would blink an eye.

The important thing is to record the serial numbers of the engine & the mower . Then engrave our drivers license number in a few places so when the cops raid the thieves warehouse they can prove he stole them from you.
No one ever bother to do this which is why drug addicts steal so many mowers because one Cub 2142 looks exactly the same as any other Cub 2142 and the cops have nothing to work with.

Now days with all the high power portable tools around there is no such thing as safe & secure.
A building I used to deliver to was robbed basement to penthouse using a sabre saw to cut the lock out of the door frames.
Another customer who worked out of a closed down bank was robbed by putting a scissor jack between the window bars and stretching them apart far enough to get a thin person through the hole, on the 2nd floor
They cut movies and the thieves were after several expensive jobs that they were editing at the time.
$ 2,000,000 worth of gear stolen & $ 80,000 damage done to the building and all they got was 3 sceens ( about 6 minutes worth ).

What about bolt cutters? Just depends on just how determined you think the crooks are in your area. If they cant unlock the brake, they cant roll or drive it. Trust me I know. I found my chain cut once but my mower was still there.

The same bolt cutters that cut a chain will also cut the brake rod.
But as you have already said, it just depends how bad they want you mower.
It is easy to slip into the Walt Disney mode and believe all crooks are stupid, ignorant or lazy.
Most are not, they are just desperate for money.
AS for locked on brakes, I am nearly 68 and can quite easily move a mower with a locked on brake.
I do it at least once a month.
Used to fix them on site but every one complained when I charged $ 60 for 5 minutes work.
So now I load them on the trailer and return them a week latter fully serviced for $ 180 and every one is happy.
YTH's are notorious for debris building up under the frame eventually either locking on the brake or dissengaging the clutch.

If somebody wants the mowers bad enough you can't stop them. I have somewhat of the same problem with my ATV's at my camp. I do keep them in a locked building. What I have been doing is chain them together, then also a cable that go's around a tree out side the building. I feel if they want to steal them I will make them work at it.

my two irish wolf hounds keep everything on the property well protected, ****, even the horse flies dont hang around here much.....



for the most part if someone wants something bad enough, not much will prevent them.........most times being lazy and leaving something open to opportunist is the cause for most theft anyway.


However, I am spoiled, crime watch area, three state troopers live within 2 blocks of the house, park ranger is four doors down, everyone knows everyone and quickly notices when an "outsider" is among us.

UPS even contacts me if the normal driver is not on the route for the day, so that they dont end up getting pulled over or confronted. And my dogs are trained for the intruder awareness from the state police.

Roger, which ever route you take, I am sure you will be happy with your choice. I use only "natural daylight bulbs" at 5000 lumins.....Sometimes I find my self shutting two rows down so that I dont go blind...LOL

I also have solar backup panels on the garage roof, that have been powering the garage for the last three months.....just because.

I agree with all the other folks who feel that nothing will stop a determined thief.

I'd suggest some sort of video surveillance system, with cameras positioned to get a good view of the machines as well as the probable escape route of the thieves. Motion activated lights and an alarm that sounds inside the house would be good, too. I'm sure the homeowners assn would prohibit anything that made a noise outside the house.

Thieves suck.

Mr. Ed said:

I agree with all the other folks who feel that nothing will stop a determined thief.

I'd suggest some sort of video surveillance system, with cameras positioned to get a good view of the machines as well as the probable escape route of the thieves. Motion activated lights and an alarm that sounds inside the house would be good, too. I'm sure the homeowners assn would prohibit anything that made a noise outside the house.

Thieves suck.

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While I was at Lowe's this morning I asked one of the lawn mower guys about this. He suggested to electrify it as you would an electric fence.

Oh so tempting.

willys55 said:

my two irish wolf hounds keep everything on the property well protected, ****



.

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Sounds like a good way to get sued.

EVERYTHING we do these days will get us sued....world is full of wimpy pussies

willys55 said:

EVERYTHING we do these days will get us sued....world is full of wimpy pussies

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world is also full of druggies that steal to buy more drugs

That is for sure and they will be the person out there with a good lawyer and a law suit on you for if your dog bites them. They know how to play the game. You better have good home owner insurance.

No worries from my end.

I was going to suggest Claymores ("This side toward enemy") but I suppose the lawyers would frown on that, too.

Come on this is the USA you just shoot em.

bertsmobile1 said:

Come on this is the USA you just shoot em.

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S.S.S.








(Shoot. Shovel. Shut up)?

Now its getting into crazy talk. Life is worth more then any mower.

and that's the truth

12 guage:laughing:

robstud said:

12 guage:laughing:

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crazy talk/ Las Vegas:thumbdown:

reynoldston said:

Life is worth more then any mower.

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That's what thieves need to understand.

cpurvis said:

That's what thieves need to understand.

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This is why we have laws and police. Its NOT OK just to start killing because someone is taking your lawn mower.

Well considering in 2016 12,834 people were killed by shooting in the USA (not including those shot by law agencies ) then add 42,000 who survived being shot seem a lot of your fellow citizens do not agree with you

This is why we have laws and police. Its NOT OK just to start killing because someone is taking your lawn mower.

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Then there's no incentive for thieves NOT to steal your lawnmower. Being arrested and put on probation doesn't deter many criminals.

cpurvis said:

Then there's no incentive for thieves NOT to steal your lawnmower. Being arrested and put on probation doesn't deter many criminals.

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This is going nowhere and not making a lick of sense. And NO bert we aren't a bunch of killers shooting each other, you have the wrong country. As I said earlier its just crazy talking. Yes I do own guns but for sport only and I do have some deer meat in the freezer.

reynoldston said:

This is going nowhere and not making a lick of sense. And NO bert we aren't a bunch of killers shooting each other, you have the wrong country. As I said earlier its just crazy talking. Yes I do own guns but for sport only and I do have some deer meat in the freezer.

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Well in a country of 300,000,000 I would hope there was at least 1 person with the right attitude to firearms.
I do not own any but have occasionaly gone shooting & am not a bad shot.
The hunters I go with all use single shot high velocity rifles.
The professionals who come out to shoot rabbits also use single shot rifles , many of them WW II .303 Enfields with a small magazine .
Equipted thus they can manage 200 rabbits a night regularly where as if we spotlight and neck break we are hard put to bag 50 a night.

A friend ran a chicken farm and he used a double barrel shot gun for snakes and a .22 for foxes.
A red fox skin with a single head shot is worth $ 5
His children used the pump action till they were in their early teens, mainly in case they missed cause angry brown snakes are not fun .

I am not a prude when to comes to firearms and firmly believe in the Swiss model where every person has to do manditory fire arms courses and every house has to have a long arm for every male occupant.
Then have the lowest firearms accidents & injuries of any country in the world, including here where firearms & crossbows are heavily restricted.

I can not find any reason why any person in a civilized country under a reasonable rule of law enforced by a reasonable & accountable police force would require rapid fire large capacity assult weapons.

If you have any, I would be interested to hear them.
While I have never actively served I have trained & we were taught the purpose of rapid fire was to keep the enemy pinned down so they could be out flanked, surrounded or targeted by artillary .

And yes this thread has gone into the relems of lunacy

Then perhaps we should ask the moderators to close the thread and move it from the normal viewing area.

willys55 said:

Roger, which ever route you take, I am sure you will be happy with your choice. I use only "natural daylight bulbs" at 5000 lumins.....Sometimes I find my self shutting two rows down so that I dont go blind...LOL

I also have solar backup panels on the garage roof, that have been powering the garage for the last three months.....just because.

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how did this post get in the wrong thread? Sent PM to moderators to remove it