Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Roman Column pump STOLEN in Eastern Washington State.......

I have to repipe a house that someone stole all the copper waterlines from....
3 weeks ago someone helped themselves to my scrap metal out in the shed. Most of it was plumbing stuff....but they took a couple of computer heads as well.

Meth , Crackheads, ???/who knows ....it doesn't matter what you may have , there is always some sorry SOB that would be more than happy to steal it from you.

So what do we do to protect our stuff?

My guess is to stamp or engrave serial number in the pump frame, then paint over it. If you think you found your pump later you can prove it even with a tag change. You must of curse report the theft.

I would definitely check with the local scrapyards. They'll generally buy anything, even if they suspect it's stolen. But, sometimes they keep records of who scrapped it, too. We caught a thief stealing copper and aluminum this way when I was in college.

Some scrap yards will even let you look around. I'd take them the picture and ask if they've seen it.

Wes

This story is really sad. Hopefully this well networked hobby will uncovered the whereabouts if and when the piece sells. I wonder how the thiefs knew about the whereabouts of this item? Don't you think it would have to be someone close to the owners?

On a side note, when I was in college my forestry professor told our class about a company that would steal rare trees. They would show up at a home, either while the homeowners were at work or on vacation, disguised as a tree cutting service. The neighbors wouldn't even have a reason to question the tree service because they just figured the owners wanted it removed.

Imagine how stupified the homeowners were to return home and see a large void in their yard where a once proud Black Walnut tree stood for over 100 years.

I never thought that I'd ever hear about a story like that again until our local Public Broadcasting did a story about how people are destroying rare old-growth Juniper trees on federal lands in central Oregon. The story referenced a guy who is spending many years in federal prison for cutting down old-growth Cedars & Sitka Spruces in the Olympia National Forest in Washington State, some of the stumps which dated the trees at more than 500 years old.

Here is a similar story that appeared in the Seattle Times earlier this year if anyone is interested:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003710429_maple17m.html


[This message has been edited by chadhaas (edited 11-09-2007).]

Meth-heads & people with too much $$$$ to spend.............imagine that!!

I would definitely check the scrapyards. What methods toes everyone use to prevent this? I am planning on putting my pump on a concrete slab with bolts. I think I will have a welder tack the nuts to the bolts, but does anyone have a way to secure the pump, but still be able to move it if necessary without much hassle?
By the way, every once in a while around here someone will have a cherry tree stolen right from their yard if it is burled or is suitable for bowlmaking. The druggies are even trying to strip copper from substations. Unfortunately, none have gotten the jolt they deserve, sad.
John

Having 1 vandalized because they couldn't STEAL it would also be DIS-HEARTENING !
IF, they really want it, they will get it, NO MATTER HOW YOU ANCHOR IT.
db

Dick, it sure would be, but I guess I would derive some satisfaction that they couldnt get it. Mines not worth much, so maybe I dont have to worry, but a guy was killed here last week over $40.
Anyone have thoughts of anchoring a cable with a padlock into the concrete or something like that?

I think it would be best to pour the concrete pad with a steel base below it with the bolt pattern for the pump submerged about 10 inches deep with a pad being about 1 yard thick. Then weld the nuts down on the pump. That would be a very hard pump to steal or even remove at a later date. On the visible I would even go so far as tack weld the panels inside so you can not “skin” the pump. You would have to then use a battery operated saw-zaw to cut the bolts on the base to remove the pump.

My pumps back by my garage are all wrapped up good with telephone line that goes inside to my garage alarm system, in order to steal the pumps you would have to cut this line – if the alarm is armed it goes off. So that I can remove the pumps the telephone line goes into 2 holes in the garage siding and it has ends on it that are plugged into telephone box’s inside the garage – I just unplug and push the line out the hole in the siding, then rewrap and re-plug that line.

The one on my front porch is bolted down to the 5/8 decking, and then I put a 2x8 brace below the pump and decking and chained it down inside with the best chain I could find with a pad lock that is welded shut so you can not remove it. To get this pump off the deck you will need to cut the porch decking and then cut the chain. It would be a pain in the neck.

About once a year some crack head tries to steal my pump on the front porch, once they see how much work it would be they just leave. If I ever catch them doing it…………… well there is no sense in giving the DA and Cops something to use against me in court if you know what I mean? I am Irish – one eye for 10 of yours!

The only 2 pumps I had stolen from me were by my own father because I left them at his house until I could get my new home restored, and he sold them on ebay keeping the money.


Travis E. Towle
Topeka, Kansas

785-357-1004

Travis WHEN are you leaving for Oregon/Calif ?
Do you have call forwarding ?
Heck with a sawzall, torch is much FASTER !

You can only do so much to a bolt, a good impact socket and a a 3ft breaker bar will snap off most 1/2 inch bolts....easily..

So you are probably better off if the bottom of the bolt can spin if they try to mess with it..

hook em up to 120 volts and leave it wet around the pump!! oh thats right we cant do that!!

Claymore, and an M-37..... Can I say that? At least, an M-37....

Battery powered portable tools have made it way to easy for people to steal stuff.

GPS tracking devices and computer chips are getting smaller and cheaper every day. Eventually that may be the best way to go.
My dogs are chipped, but that requires a close scan.
Oregon tracks car mileage for taxes in some areas, from what I have heard.
A lot of phones have them.
Department stores are using them to manage inventories.
Toll roads can track and bill tolls with them.
I think someone mentioned on here a while back about a couple pumps being located with them.

Hopefully this will have a good ending with the pump being found.
Chuck