I hadn't even made the first payment yet

Jun 15, 2023 1:35 PM

OohDaLolly

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I take the onus for it, but I still need to rant. I'm so depressed I can't even be mad about it (all my friends and co-workers keep commenting on how calm I seem to be about it.)

The long story is, I bought a piece of land (10 acres.) I knew there were people living near-ish to it. There are houses in the general area, but few and far between. Mostly, there are mobile home graveyards and houses in the middle of junk fields, but even those are far enough away that you can't see them from the land. It's also not very far from a BLM OHV trail system that's pretty popular.

I'm an old dude with joint problems, and although the land doesn't need a whole lot of work, it needs some, so rather than breaking my back, I got a cash loan and bought a compact tractor with a backhoe for about $12K and stuck it on the land. I was having a cargo container delivered to the land so I thought that the tractor would be okay out there for the 2 weeks it would take to deliver its new "garage."

Nope. The day I went out to the land to meet the guy delivering the cargo container, it was just... gone. Just nowhere in sight.

And as an additional kick in the ghoulies, I also had a little deck box I put together that I was going to drag into the container which held things like trail building tools, gardening tools, a camping toilet and my toilet paper. Yup, motherless mongrels stole all of those too (but at least they left the box?)

People keep asking me, "What about the insurance?" What? It's not a vehicle, it's a piece of "large equipment." I did Google "compact tractor insurance" and the few places that I found that sold that type of insurance wanted, like, $400/month for it.

The worst part about it is that my plan was to slowly start putting stuff out there, building it up a little at a time, but now, I feel like I need to wait until I can get solar power, internet, and live-stream security cameras (Ring or similar) all in one big dump before I do anything else. =\

You just listed a bunch of stuff that's going to get stolen.

2 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 1

That sucks big time man :'( I feel for you, I had a few motor bikes stolen in the past and the feeling that you get when a dear possession is just gone is awful.

2 years ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

As bad as it is, it sounds like you left a tractor in the middle of an empty patch of land. Someone probably just thought it was abandoned and took it thinking it was fair game.

2 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Damn, that is some bullshit. I’m pissed for you. I’d set up some cellular trail cameras to monitor the property. We use “Tactacam Reveal Pro x” cameras on my property. They provide a good picture and will send a message to your phone when motion is detected and a picture is taken. You can then request a short video of whatever set off the motion detection. Also don’t forget to put up a bunch of “trail cam in use” signs on the property as a further deterrent.

2 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

There are trail cams that use cell service for notifications that aren't very expensive. A friend put several on their place before they started building their house, and they said they were worth every penny

2 years ago | Likes 16 Dislikes 0

Holy chrome, I didn't even think of that. Looking into it, thanks!

2 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

How the fuck did you still have faith in humanity??? That's your problem right there...

2 years ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

Damn that sucks. What're your plans for the land?

2 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Off-grid container mansion, doing most of the work myself. Was gonna be a lot easier with that tractor, probably going to end up buying another one, this time with a GPS tracker on it =\ The biggest problem is it's about 1.5 hours away (would be less time but that last half an hour is driving on rutted out dirt roads at 15-20 MPH) so I can't be there every day to check on things.

2 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Wish you the best on it, would be cool if you document your progress. There's people who make back some of the expenses with youtube too and sharing their build journey. Would love to hear some of the ideas you have for the land. I wanna build a sauna where I live at some point.

2 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Isn’t that kind of stuff covered by your home insurance/whatever insurance covers the structures on your land?

2 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

There are no structures on the land is the problem. Well, now there is - the cargo container "garage" that sits empty. Gonna go and check this weekend to see if the locks have been cut :P

2 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Ah that’s too bad :(

2 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

This is the first time something has been stolen from a farm. Get to know your neighbors, the tractor isn't far away.

2 years ago | Likes 45 Dislikes 0

Yeah, no one is going to drive 100 miles from home with a trailer to steal a tractor they spotted in a field, I pretty much guarantee that tractor is with someone who drives past every day.

2 years ago | Likes 15 Dislikes 0

Sounds about right....that is a C move right there.

2 years ago | Likes 18 Dislikes 0

Apple air tags are your friends. I stashed one in my car and stopped worrying

2 years ago | Likes 20 Dislikes 1

Do Apple Air tags only report when there's a 'participating' Apple device nearby that they can report to? Like, if someone steals your car, can you only find the Airtag if the car is stashed near an apple product?

2 years ago | Likes 9 Dislikes 0

It’s connected to your phone and notifies you when it leaves your area. It’s kind of like a portable GPS tracker.

2 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1

Except it's not, at all. It's bluetooth and depends on iphones dutifully reporting every tag they see using their own gps. If it's near a bunch of people that only use android you'll never know where it is.

2 years ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

Yes so on the ~30% chance the thief has an iPhone, you’ll know exactly where it goes. On the near 100% chance the thief passes near an iPhone, you’ll have an idea where it’s gone

2 years ago | Likes 9 Dislikes 0