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Gas thieves 3 nights in a row

34K views 74 replies 47 participants last post by  FuturePilot4u 
#1 ·
So last Thursday I have my sprayer pump mechanic come out to replace diaphragms and O-rings on my Spacesaver rig. When he was done we flushed the old fuel out (stabilized- but I flush anyway), filled it up and calibrated flow. Ran 15 minutes tops.

Monday morning on first stop the engine starts to stall and sounds like it starved for fuel so I pull off and go to a dealer close by and after checking the carb bowl it still won't run. Lo and behold the damned thing is empty!

Yesterday morning (Wednesday) I'm mixing a new tank and notice the gas cap is laying in the truck bed and tank is almost empty. Sprayed 160 gallons on Monday and Tuesday after the first SNAFU. Did I not seat the cap all the way and it came off and lost fuel while driving? Suspect a thief at this point. Dog barked last night but he barks at cats, squirrels and poltergeists in the middle of the night too.

Tonight at about 1 AM while doing some quotes the dog goes nuts again. Truck is parked in rear of house under some pretty decent lights. I ran out the front and miss the thieves but the cap is gone and I've got less than 1/2 tank of fuel and the outside of the tank is wet. It was 3/4 full before dark and the cap was secure...I double checked last evening.

I had a few instances last year where it seemed I was running low on gas in the mowers too soon. The thing is I was never empty in the morning and only seemed to be off by a gallon or two at the most. Never enough to really be sure.

So do I -

A. By a bigass Doberman and tie him to the bumper every night.

B. Locking gas caps.

C. Cameras.

I thought about putting a bait can out but ther was an old gas can I had on the truck tonight with maybe a gallon in it and it wasn't touched. Right by the corner of the sprayer where the fuel tank sits.

And what's more annoying is I'll have to borrow a gas cap from another piece of equipment to spray tomorrow or make a trip 20 minutes the opposite direction to buy one from a dealer.:gunsfirin
 
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#2 ·
i had someone stealing gas from out at my shop, right out of the trucks. i took an old gas can and put about a gallon of gasand 3 gallons of water in it and left it sit in the bed of a truck over the weekend come monday it was gone and i see the neighbor about 3 houses up getting his car towed away. dont know if it was him or not for sure but it stopped after that
 
#4 ·
Around here the gas thieves poke a hole in the gas tank and drain it. You end up with a damaged tank and no fuel. I fixed that problem with a 15KV transformer and a ground rod. The culprit turned out to be a kid The stupid kid complained to his parents who had the nerve to ask if I shocked him. Of course I disconnected the transformer during the day.
 
#5 ·
Around here the gas thieves poke a hole in the gas tank and drain it. You end up with a damaged tank and no fuel. I fixed that problem with a 15KV transformer and a ground rod. The culprit turned out to be a kid The stupid kid complained to his parents who had the nerve to ask if I shocked him. Of course I disconnected the transformer during the day.
I like this... I like it a lot. Wish there was a way to do that with my kids, so some pedophile, or bully tries to grab them and gets zapped.
 
#7 ·
i had someone stealing gas from out at my shop, right out of the trucks. i took an old gas can and put about a gallon of gasand 3 gallons of water in it and left it sit in the bed of a truck over the weekend come monday it was gone and i see the neighbor about 3 houses up getting his car towed away. dont know if it was him or not for sure but it stopped after that
Great minds think alike. I was living in an apartment complex and used to keep gas cans in the back of my pickup. I noticed someone was stealing gas from them. I took the rest out and filled one with 5 gallons of water with a little gas on top. Next morning the can was empty. On the road leading out of the complex one of the neighbors cars was broken down. I stopped and asked what the problem was, he said it had just died. I said I bet you have water in the gas and just laughed.
 
#11 ·
shoot em in the leg or see if you can get a taser or a zapper for cattle they have a handle and 36in extension watchem dance and I want pics of it :laugh:
 
#12 ·
I put out a bait can that night but they left it alone. And last night they tried again, but I was sleeping in the den, right by the back door, with the dog next to me. All they got was the cap off. They carried it two yards down the ditch between houses (I found it the next morning). It's NCAA tournament weekend so I put the truck in the shop and brought the other truck home since it doesn't have a sprayer on it. I need the rest! I'm going to try a motion detector system with the monitor next to my bed. I have a back door to the deck right off my bedroom and I can go straight down the fence line and cut them off now that I know which way they're coming in and out.
 
#13 ·
i had someone comming in the middle of the night to but i tarp my trailer. so they got me twice, but not the next time i took straight edge razor blades and taped them to the gas lids. when they put their hand on top ouch theres a gash. gottcha ******* never came back again. i was going to get a couple of buddies and a case of beer and wait for them with baseball bats but i decided to try this first. the trail cams work great to i use them for hunting. good luck. i like the shock thing, make their hair stand up!!!
 
#18 ·
Small theft is at a loss really. I'd still phone the cops to let them know of the problem. This way it's on record should you phone in at 2am as you see a guy drive off with your fuel.

I went to visit a friend of mine for lunch the other day, he owns a medium sized trucking firm. Last month he put locks over top of the fuel caps on the truck tanks because people were stealing diesel at the rate of over $1000 a month for the last couple months, mostly in the mid-western US states where 80% of his business is. Drivers would get up, and start the truck only to realize that they have next to no fuel. One driver had to siphon the dyed diesel out of the reefer to use that to get to a fuel station a couple hundred miles up the road.

I'd find a way to lock it up, or even get more lights and some fake cameras (dime a dozen) just to at least deter thieves. If it was me, I'd get a good 10-12 camera system with infared built in set up around my property. You can't beat video evidence.
 
#20 ·
Growing up in a small farming community, I remember my Granddad getting gas stolen out of a couple of farm trucks, happen every few nights, he did what was mentioned earlier, he took duct tape and taped single edge razor blades where they would hang out pass the edge of the gas cap about a 1/16 to 1/8". A couple of nights later he hit pay dirt, heard the yelling, didn't find anybody by the time he got his clothes on, but found fresh blood all over the cap and drops on the ground. He seen a young man working at the Co-Op three or four days later with three of his fingers on his right hand heavily bandaged, he told him pretty not try it again, he'd be waiting with the old 12 gauge, never had anymore problems. Harsh but effective.
 
#21 ·
Just get a locking gas cap for the truck.

I would bait them with bad fuel. Chances are the cops won't do anything for taking a few gallons of gas anyway
I hate to say it but I so totally agree with this, sugar won't do a thing,
not sure what to put in there but around my necks we have leaded fuel which
of course you can't run in your vehicles (but the mowers sure can).
 
#24 ·
An AR-15 would work just fine too.... don't be afraid to put one in the head and two in the chest! Assume if they're coming onto your property, it isn't friendly... what makes you so sure they aren't armed or won't hurt you or your family. Shoot first, ask questions later.
That's if you can catch em, of course.
 
#26 ·
1 28 foot trailer stolen with 15 snowblowers and shovels and 12 spreaders. 3 catalitic converters last year. and lots of gas.

I sat at the shop for 3 weeks with a 7 mag rifle and cought 4 seperate people trying things last spring.

I moved to a new shop and fenced it off, Knocking on wood right now so far so good.

I tried the needle trick, got old needle and stuck them in the gas caps with a note that said infected by a person with aids my employees still are scared to open the gas doors til today.:clapping::clapping:
 
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