I've had several quads stolen but not in the last 8 years. Not since I put 2 wheel locks on. I'd like to see what other people are using to keep yours from being stolen if you don't mind. In the winter I just use a huge lock and chain around 2 fence posts that are welded together to tie up the quad. The top rail is welded to the fence posts that go down 4 feet in the ground. It's a pain in the butt to have to put the wheel locks on and take them off again when I want to plow so I don't use them in the winter. I worry about the locks freezing too. When I use the wheel locks my snowplow is chained to a fence post.

I've seen alarms that go in a pocket of an ATV cover so if anybody uncovers it the alarm goes off. I thought that was a good idea too but I'm doing okay without it. Any other ideas? Someone once suggested I have a pit bull with AIDS tied up here.

 

Some of the horror stories I heard at the shop over the years about thieves can make your blood curdle.. Worst one I can remember is when a good customer came in and said his full dressed Harley had been stolen. How it was stolen is what was so crazy. Stolen from inside his locked 6 foot fence.Machine was lifted over.. Had to have been several big guys to be able to pull off something like this. He even showed us some pictures of where the fence was damaged at the top from where it was dragged over. Nothing is safe no matter how much you try to protect it. I think my brother's advise was always the best.Lock things up the best you can,insure it so you can sleep at night and don't worry about it.Worrying about earthly possessions won't help one bit if someone else wants it bad enough to steal it. Good advise I've tried to remember over the years. A Pit Bull with AIDS might be better than any lock though,good idea..

 

I came home late one evening after a weekend of riding. Had mine and the wife's quads on the back of a flat trailer. I was too tired to put them up so I just parked in front of the house. Got woke up later by a noise. Two kids were trying to pull the quads off the trailer. Took the .45 out and introduced myself. They scattered. Pretty darn fast too.

Closer look showed they broke into the truck to steal it all. Couldn't get it started. Tried to take the trailer off, lock on the release so they couldn't get that. Figured they'd just unstrap them and pull them off. They didn't see the cable lock that had them tied together and to the trailer.

They looked to be in their late teens. Never saw them around before. Just driving around to see what they could steal. I figure a professional thief would have figured out how to start the truck.

As the police officer said later, they'll probably never come back by this house again. Good thing too. I'd have added two or three bullets to the cost of the security system.

 

I have a padlock through the ball release on my trailer, so if you want it you'll either need to bring bolt cutters or figure out how to use the chains to somehow secure it. I figure 95% of thieves won't think it's worth the effort. I've seen though where thieves somehow are able to get those fancy yellow ball hitch anti-theft things off. Not exactly sure what a thief would need to disable those.

At to my atv, I just remove the key if it's out in the open. Both it and trailer are insured.

 

I used to chain my ATVs to a fence post with a chain that has links about 3/8 of an inch thick. Someone cut right through it with bolt cutters one time and cut the lock another time. The lock I have now has a shackle about 3/4 of an inch thick. The chain I have is almost as big and the links have a square cross section. According to the advertising it can't be cut with bolt cutters and I believe it.

When my ATVs were stolen the insurance company paid me whatever they thought used ones of that age were worth. When the first two were stolen together I got barely enough money to replace one. One time the thieves cut open a six foot high chain link fence and went through the neighbors' yard behind me. My idiot neighbor thought since I had insurance it wouldn't cost me anything but it costs thousands of dollars to replace each one.

 

Insurance just totaled our toy hauler. Had it for 10 years. Paid about half of what it cost me. I'd say I still got my moneys worth out of it. And they paid a bit more than I was expecting.

Still, replacing it would cost me about 2k more. Fixing it would have been outrageous.

 

Some years back some thief broke into my pole barn and stole 2 atv's, we were lucky that a dective was on stake out for another crime when he noticed y atv's being taken out of a van so he confronted the thief and we got them back the same night. Lesson learned, so now I have a motion detector that triggers an alarm in my home. When the motion detector goes off I meet them with my .357. had this happen once and only once since the others were stolen, that was 10 years ago. Word must travel quickly?? My neighbors have done the same thing with their barns, a simple motion detector to signal something inside your home to alert you someone is inside your barn/garage without alerting the thieves.

 

Luckily for me I have room in my basement....we keep them locked up inside and never had a problem with theft. If I were to go out of town for a few days, I leave a car or truck parked in front of the garage door making it almost impossible to remove an ATV from the basement garage. I would never rest easy if I had to leave/store any ATV's outside....and I feel for those that have to leave them out side....

 

Or even put more junk in front of them. I park my old lawnmower behind my quad in my shed. If someone breaks in, they have to move a $200 mower to get to the $3500 quad. The mower usually has flat tires too(air them up each time I mow and they're flat a few days later, old and dry rotted) and is very hard to push out of the way, quad is much easier to roll. Its an old Snapper with backup pullstart, well that's all it has anymore, hasn't had a battery for years. So no pushing a button and starting it and moving it out of the way either. Not to mention neighbor has a dog just on the other side of the fence from my shed that barks at anyone coming into the yard. Parking your truck in front of your shed or garage door is a good idea too though. Every extra line of defense to make it harder for some lowlife to take your stuff.

 

As Greg said, "Every extra line of defense to make it harder for some lowlife to take your stuff." Anything that slows them down is a good thing but you can't stop a professional thief that's determined to take your stuff.

I'm one of those people who have to park outside because I don't have a garage and the shed is too small. I think that makes it a lot worse because anyone going by can see it, walk right up, and check it out. They know what they need to get it if they come back. Out of sight out of mind as they say but mine is in sight. With the truck parked next to it the way it is there's still room enough to get by.

Also my shed has been broken into twice. I'm pretty sure it was one of my neighbors each time. Since I didn't replace my scooter the last time no one has broken in again even though there are other goodies like a MIG welder in there. They must have broken in mainly for the scooter last time as they didn't take as many things the second time. It seems like it's just a matter of time before it gets broken into again but my quad is fairly safe.