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Stolen Tractor

Many years ago a guy stole my dads bulldozer, drove it up the side of the road a parked it in his barn. Dad followed the tracks and called the police. The guy was caught years later stealing and selling boilers out of occupied apartment buildings in NYC.
 
My daddy always said John Deeres are painted green, because green is the color of money. My guess is they won't paint anything, just hang new parts.

I know of people with JD lawn mowers with damaged plastic hoods and plastic parts. They want a ton of money for green plastic. Some just buy new mowers.
 
Several years ago some kids got into some very expensive combines that had been shut down for the night - and played demolition derby!
 
That hood will likely be $8000. Crazy what these parts cost. Some paint and other minor parts and a bit of labour, and $12000 wouldn't be far off.
 
From what I have seen that is cheap. I was looking for JD riding mower parts. Five dollars for a shield bolt that I can get at the store for ten cents
 
I remember a story about a local county commissioner got caught trying to steal a large excavator from a construction site.

He tried to drive it onto a too small trailer, the trailer broke, the excavator slid off, got hung up, he couldn't get untangled before the crew arrived that morning.

He was arrested, further investigation led to an elaborate, multi story steel frame storage facility, complete with freight elevators, all disguised behind a fake barn front. It was filled with stolen vehicles, equipment, tools, some had been there for 15-20 years!

It's a strange story. Was he a klepto? Too afraid to sell the stuff? He sure spent a lot of money just to store stolen merchandise he was sure to eventually get caught with!
 
if you have an older real Deere mower it is insane how much body parts are and any sheaves or bolts, hoods are out of sight.
 
That happened here too. A Gleaner. I was at the dealer when they brought what was left of it,in on a lowboy.
 
It's kind of a sad story....things kids do sometimes.....but don't think because it was a John Deere tractor the repairs were excessively expensive......I'm sure if you were to investigate the cost of comparable repair on any major American built large tractor would be nearly the same, they all have big expensive hoods and grillwork and all have similar vulnerability to physical damage..
 

Should have stolen a tow rope for the camper while they were at it. Kids these days.

Locally, a friend who drives a 1988 Toyota Corolla had it stolen from his driveway. Cops caught up with the thief driving the car. He'd cleaned it up, put air freshener in, was using it as his personal vehicle. Got locked up for stealing a $200 car that stuck out like a sore thumb everywhere he went.
 
I would like to see the books for one of these places with the half million dollar tractors. They cruise by my place every day pulling massive equipment. Sprayers too and, of course, combines in the fall. Doesn't take much math skill to come up with millions in equipment because some of these guys have multiple half million dollar tractors. I don't know how they ever make any money. I sit there in my 30 year old, 160 HP, $10K tractor and scratch my head. Mine breaks and I buy another one and use the first for parts. :)
 
My BTO neighbor has four or five of those beasts. All green except for one CIH quadtrak. Three combines. several semis. Any land comes up for sale he buys it. He must have the biggest account at the bank. Just don't know if its red or black.

I can't complain about him too much. When I got burnt back in 2010 he came and planted my fields and ran my wheat. No charge. I did give him half of my hay fields that year. He baled all of it. I just had the boy move my share off the field.
 
We have a couple places further north that buy up any fields that come available, not so much here. There must be some interesting numbers on those Profit and Loss Stmts! These fellas around here are not all doing 1000's of acres and most of it is rented. Give me a couple hours with the books and I would have the answer. I'm moving my practice out there...maybe one will hire me! Won't be able to tell you what I learn but at least one big question in my life will be answered!!! :)
 
Red, a friend of mine was at his girlfriends house. out in the front yard, saw his truck go driving by...

It was a 20 year old Toyota work truck, a worthless old beater, but probably had $10,000 worth of construction tools in it. It didn't need a key to start, the ignition had broken years ago, but you did have to know how to manipulate the switch to get it started.

Now he was out of a truck, and every tool he owned.

He reported it stolen, started the process of replacing everything, no insurance.

A few days later he gets home, there is the truck, back in the driveway, everything intact, even a full tank of gas!

He never did find out what was going on, he thinks it may have been picked up by mistake, another construction worker dropped off at the wrong house.

Or maybe someone had a change of heart, brought it back...

Strange things happen!
 
Kids are up for a rough ride. Stole a camper and burned it, stole half a million dollar tractor and damaged it. Looks like they are in for a long time in the slammer.
 
When I was younger my friends and I would get on the equipment at construction sites and play around on it. Most of the keys were under a mat or hid somewhere on the machine. We never tore up anything though. We sure would have been in some big trouble if we got caught
 
That's why most will buy new parts, save time painting, just costs more.

Most of us would just paint it if there was no insurance.
 
Round here there was a Rogator sprayer got borrowed from the field one night. The driver turned up the next morning and started following the tire tracks. The trail started with broken glass, then a fender or 2. Then shortly after that one boom and the other 80ft away. All this stuff was heading towards the local reserve. When he found both the booms he stopped walking and called the cops and insurance company. They wrote the sprayer off, as it didn't look very good when the cops escorted the low bed truck in and got it hauled away from there.
 
Steve, your story reminds me of a similar story that happen to me about seven years ago. We had a heck of a snow storm. Roads closed, drifts up to your chest and so on. I drove my tractor to the dairy to do the evening milking and feeding so I could clear the alleys, pre-milk and post-milk areas and clear the entrance so the transport could get in the next morning to haul milk. I got home really late and was super tired. Hit the sack and about an hour later my wife woke me up saying that someone had just drove out the drive with my tractor. I told her I was too tired and it was likely someone we knew needing it to clear snow, besides there is way too much snow on the ground for it to disappear. When I got up the next morning it was back. Still warm and full of fuel. When I headed back to the dairy I followed it's tracks about a mile down the road and sure enough the neighbor borrowed it to clear his drive and do his feeding. His critters were fed and able to get to water. Turns out his tractor was tore down for a repair and without the snow he could get by, but put a couple feet of snow on the ground and he was in a jam and needed a machine. I stopped and we had coffee and back to the dairy I went. We are lucky where we live. Keys are always in everything and never a problem. If a vehicle or whatever comes up missing it's not far off and always finds it's way home damage free. We all have a standing agreement. If you need it come and get it. Just bring it back. If you break it fix it.

Greg F.
 
20+ years ago, my father-in-law had a John Deere tractor stolen. The guy got caught and the courts said he had to pay the $5,000 restitution on the damage that he did to the tractor. My father-in-law never got a dime. Two-and-a-half years ago, I had two vehicles stolen from me and I filed a restitution claim. The courts gave him probation with the condition that he pays for restitution, despite the fact that he had stolen over $100,000 worth of property. I never got a dime either and my DA who agreed to everything won't talk to me.
Bottom line: these kids won't get time or have to pay restitution.
 

Sounds like good ending for your friend, usually not the case! For my friend with the Corolla, the car had sentimental value as it had been in the family since new, passed from one person to another.

As it turns out, got back to him in better shape than before ;-)
 
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