# Caterpillar 236B Stolen!



## coops784 (Dec 12, 2010)

I've been on long time viewer of this site and unfortunately never made a post before. Earlier this evening we went to view our accounts in Marshfield, MA in order to make plans for the early morning. Around 10:30 PM visiting of our sites in Marshfield on 139...we found our Caterpillar skid steer 236B was gone. Stolen! Along with our cam superline trailer (yellow). The skid steer had Brat Landscaping on the side and rear. It was dropped off on Friday late afternoon at a business complex behind where Mama Mia's was in the same building as Dunkin Donuts. If anyone saw it on the road after 4PM on Friday or has any information please contact me at 781 831 5540 or Marshfield Police. Any help would be greatly appreciated or anyone who has past experience or information that could help us...THANKS!


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## ColumbiaLand (Sep 1, 2008)

Sorry to hear that, thieves are the worst especially since it looks like you really need it. Well keep our eyes peeled in eastern ny for you, best of luck in finding it.


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## ddb maine (Dec 4, 2009)

eyes open in southern maine.


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## cpmi (Dec 18, 2010)

Sorry to hear. Keep my eyes open if it happens to make its way down to CT or Craigslist -have been shopping for another one of these so if it pops up on there I'll post it here.


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## johnhenry1933 (Feb 11, 2013)

Bummage. VIN? 

Some pretty identifying marks on that machine. I'll keep an eye out in SE WI.

Let's nab the crook and prosecute!


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## jasonv (Nov 2, 2012)

*"Along with our cam superline trailer (yellow)"*

You made a VERY serious mistake in this one. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER leave the trailer with the equipment. That means that all the bad guys have to do is hitch up and drag it all away. Anybody with ANY pickup could have grabbed the whole thing. Keeping the trailer AWAY from the equipment would have required that the thief HAVE a trailer needed to take away the equipment. That eliminates 99.99% of potential thieves.

In my youth, I knew people who WOULD have taken your equipment if they came across it left the way you did. Being opportunistic douchebags, they certainly wouldn't have been equipped to grab it had you not left the trailer with it.

Hope it never happens to you again. Doubt you'll be seeing it again.


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## johnhenry1933 (Feb 11, 2013)

jasonv;1608046 said:


> *"Along with our cam superline trailer (yellow)"*
> 
> You made a VERY serious mistake in this one. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER leave the trailer with the equipment. That means that all the bad guys have to do is hitch up and drag it all away. Anybody with ANY pickup could have grabbed the whole thing. Keeping the trailer AWAY from the equipment would have required that the thief HAVE a trailer needed to take away the equipment. That eliminates 99.99% of potential thieves.
> 
> ...


I don't see a huge problem leaving a trailer w/ the equipment, _provided_ the pintle is locked and a heavy piece of equipment is backed up to it (w/o the keys, of course).

In the future, you may want to place a GPS tracker on the frame.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

jasonv;1608046 said:


> *"Along with our cam superline trailer (yellow)"*
> 
> You made a VERY serious mistake in this one. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER leave the trailer with the equipment. That means that all the bad guys have to do is hitch up and drag it all away.
> 
> ...


I hope the OP get's to see the equipment again........


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## BC Handyman (Dec 15, 2010)

Looks pretty new, how old is is? if they peeled stickers off would the paint be faided around them yet? Hope you can find it. I'll keep an eye out here in western Canada


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## GVL LLC (Feb 24, 2013)

This world is so screwed up. i just bought a new tractor for my landscaping company and im afraid to leave it on any job because of scum like this. Hope you get it back. Ill keep my eyes peeled here in central MA


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## coops784 (Dec 12, 2010)

It was a crazy day going thru all the motions...police, caterpillar, insurance etc. I'd like to thank everybody's willingness to keep and eye out. Unfortunately a few mistakes we're made...not having GPS installed was a big one, just something we never thought of and perhaps being niave but it never crossed our minds that our skid steer would be stolen from a dedicated snowplow account. It was parked in front of the trailer; blocking it...however what good does that do really when all cat keys run all machines. I suppose it's easy to say the trailer shouldn't of been with it but i think it would be easier and quicker for someone to use their own instead of pulling in moving my machine, hooking up to my trailer etc etc. Alot of things can be said in hindsight. Now all of our equipment and trucks will be equiped with GPS, Kill switches etc etc. Hopefully others can learn to do the same from reading this. 

Again thanks and maybe all hope isn't lost...


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## jasonv (Nov 2, 2012)

jomama45;1608218 said:


> ....


Learn how to quote.



> Where did you read that it was on the trailer???


Where did you read that **I** read that it was on the trailer?



> Not necessarily......


No, clearly, if they have an IQ below 14, they may not be able to figure out how.



> No it doesn't, and they wouldn't need a trailer to steal it. Equipment get's stolen all the time with out a trailer...........


Alternatively, sure, they can hook a chain onto a 5000 pound piece of equipment and drag it down the road with their mom's dodge dart.


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## jasonv (Nov 2, 2012)

coops784;1608392 said:


> It was a crazy day going thru all the motions...police, caterpillar, insurance etc. I'd like to thank everybody's willingness to keep and eye out. Unfortunately a few mistakes we're made...not having GPS installed was a big one, just something we never thought of and perhaps being niave but it never crossed our minds that our skid steer would be stolen from a dedicated snowplow account. It was parked in front of the trailer; blocking it...however what good does that do really when all cat keys run all machines. I suppose it's easy to say the trailer shouldn't of been with it but i think it would be easier and quicker for someone to use their own instead of pulling in moving my machine, hooking up to my trailer etc etc. Alot of things can be said in hindsight. Now all of our equipment and trucks will be equiped with GPS, Kill switches etc etc. Hopefully others can learn to do the same from reading this.
> 
> Again thanks and maybe all hope isn't lost...


The problem is that theft is almost always OPPORTUNISTIC. How many guys are cruising around with an empty equipment trailer looking for stuff to steal? The answer is NONE. If it takes planning, arranging for special equipment, etc., then the majority of such as.s turds will be far too lazy to go through with it, either that or have second thoughts and decide against it. If they're going to be starting the machine either way (which they would have to do if they brought their own trailer as well), then they might as well load it onto the free trailer that you provided.

And FYI: Most equipment can be started with a flat screwdriver in the ignition switch. For the rest, its quite literally a 3-wire operation.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

jasonv;1608393 said:


> Learn how to quote.
> 
> Where did you read that **I** read that it was on the trailer?
> 
> ...


In case you didn't read it the second post by the OP, most equipment brands use the same key for all their equipment. So, if you have a CAT key, you have every CAT key. Not really hard to get your hand's on a CAT key, put that key in the ignition, and start the machine and drive away without a trailer. But, of course you already knew this, as well as everything else.................Thumbs Up


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## MajorDave (Feb 4, 2011)

Sorry man - aways wish I could catch these pieces of trash in the act - eyes open down here...


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## jhenderson9196 (Nov 14, 2010)

If they want it they will take it. A. Few years ago my buddy lost a JD back hoe from a cinema complex. That is not a crime of opportunity. They came in with truck and trailer.


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## Camden (Mar 10, 2007)

Hope you get your machine back in one piece. Thieves suck 



jomama45;1608407 said:


> But, of course you already knew this, as well as everything else.................Thumbs Up


LOL! Learn how quote, sheesh :laughing:


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## Landcare - Mont (Feb 28, 2011)

jhenderson9196;1608566 said:


> If they want it they will take it. A. Few years ago my buddy lost a JD back hoe from a cinema complex. That is not a crime of opportunity. They came in with truck and trailer.


We had two F350's with plows stolen out of our yard a number of years ago. The thieves climbed over the 8-foot chainlink fence, jimmied open the driver's door on each truck, broke off the locks on the steering columns and hotwired the trucks and drove out the gate without opening it first.

We found out when the police called us because the patrol car found the gate lying on the ground.

They found one of the trucks a couple of weeks later driving along with the lock cylinder hanging out of the door. When they stopped the truck, they found that the driver was using a screwdriver for an ignition key. He got off - swore in court that he bought the truck like that from some guy.

We found out about the replacement truck being stolen a couple of months later when the cops called us to tell us that one of our trucks had been stolen. When we arrived at the yard, they were waiting to question us. They knew the truck was out of the yard because it was seen being used a couple of miles away in a warehouse robbery so they thought they should check our yard to see if we were back with the stolen goods.


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## merrimacmill (Apr 18, 2007)

Very sorry to hear that. All of our worst nightmare... 

I will keep an eye out in NE Mass, and inform others in my general area of it. 

The issue with skid steers is their size.. In reality the thing could be in a shipping container with a bunch of others already on its way to China by now...


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## scott3430 (Dec 28, 2010)

Sorry for your stolen CAT skid. I hope you get it back asap and without any damage.


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## siteworkplus (Nov 7, 2011)

lots of thefts around here recently (all you need is one blizzard)
just called Lojack
you got me worried


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## mulcahy mowing (Jan 16, 2006)

What was the vin?/serial number? Ill keep my eyes open


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## Snowzilla (Oct 24, 2009)

Sucks! Something simple to do in the future would be a battery disconnect. I've seen even electronic ones which activate by remote control.

I see some people post their stolen equipment on machinery trader. Not sure how effective it is. http://www.machinerytrader.com/listings/stolen/list.asp?etid=12


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

Wow that sucks, will be heading down to MD this weekend, will keep an eye out while im out!


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## Burkartsplow (Nov 1, 2007)

I dont have skids or heavy equipment that I leave on sites but when I do I am going to go with the lojack system. My brother is their corporate accountant and gets a discount on products.Thumbs Up


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## jb1390 (Sep 23, 2008)

http://newlondon.craigslist.org/grd/3630101310.html

could have changed the model number with a sticker.......couple other things look a little different, but I'm not sure how up to date your picture is.


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## NBI Lawn (Oct 15, 2007)

I will keep an eye out as I have been looking to buy a 236. Highly doubt it would make it's way to the Midwest but ya never know.


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## Showmestaterida (Dec 28, 2006)

Looked at the lojack system website but its says not available in my area. How much is the system for a skidsteer /loader? I guess not all police departments have these. They dont even list Missouri on there coverage. Crazy, I thought this would be popluar in the midwest with all the farming equipment around here. Is there any other that are similar to lojack?


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## coops784 (Dec 12, 2010)

Thanks to everyone for wishing us luck on finding the machine. Hopefully this motivates other people to look into Lo Jack systems. Supposedly it's around $700 per piece to equip with Lo Jack. Well worth the one time cost to save this frustration, aggravation etc etc. Thanks for all the support. We're optimistic the machine will turn up! 

The serial # is HENO9426


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## SSS Inc. (Oct 18, 2010)

jasonv;1608393 said:


> Learn how to quote.
> 
> Alternatively, sure, they can hook a chain onto a 5000 pound piece of equipment and drag it down the road with their mom's dodge dart.


Pretty sure skid steers have wheels so they could just drive it down the road.


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## pats plowing (Nov 27, 2001)

i have heard of several other machines being stolen in past few days. I went out and got kill switches today for mine and brought some home. I know a company lost one off Rt. 9 in Framingham same machine i think. several other skids were taken in the route 20 route 9 area of shrewsbury and westboro during the past 7 days. Also a backhoe was taken from the Christmas tree shop parking lot. Keep your eyes open out there I am sure its the same "team" or party who is taking these local. I know three cat backhoes went missing this summer from Worcester and Holden and never were recovered.


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## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Guys, these things are being taken by professional hi-jackers that send these pieces over seas to the UAE, and Asia where they command double the rate they do here.. They get stripped and packed into sea cans then reassembled at their destination. With the high volume of thefts that have been going on, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this particular machine has already been disassembled, and prepped for transport.


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## fms (Nov 8, 2005)

Sorry to hear about it coops748. I had a tractor stolen a couple of years ago. It can be difficult enough to get work done without some ****** knuckle swiping your equipment.
I'll get a picture to my guys.


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## thelettuceman (Nov 23, 2010)

Eyes open in Maryland .....


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## Oxmow (Dec 6, 2006)

I'll keep an eye out in Okla...is the next machine gonna have a keyless ignition?


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## Flawless440 (Dec 6, 2010)

siteworkplus;1609116 said:


> lots of thefts around here recently (all you need is one blizzard)
> just called Lojack
> you got me worried


We are getting ready to pull the plug on GPS tracking on all our trucks and skids, mainly to track guys lunches and productivity. Found out it would pay for it self in 5 months with all the 15 mins over on lunches and stopping to get drinks and smokes, lotto tickets etc. etc.


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## Banksy (Aug 31, 2005)

Flawless440;1610581 said:


> We are getting ready to pull the plug on GPS tracking on all our trucks and skids, mainly to track guys lunches and productivity. Found out it would pay for it self in 5 months with all the 15 mins over on lunches and stopping to get drinks and smokes, lotto tickets etc. etc.


Oh, they'll love that.


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