How to Protect Boat Trailers From Theft
- 1). Make your boat invisible to thieves. This doesn't require you to take a course in magic or special effects; it just means you should store your boat behind your house or in your garage. If a potential thief doesn't know it's there, then there's no incentive to steal it.
- 2). Park your boat so the trailer hitch is against the house or garage door. If the hitch is pointed toward the street, Mr. Thief only has to back up and hook up. If you lock the hitch, boat thieves can use a coupler. If the boat is pointed at, and close to, the garage, the thief will have to turn the boat around, which would attract the one thing no thief wants: attention.
- 3). Take one or both wheels off the trailer. A trailer that's up on blocks means a thief will need wheels that match the bolt pattern of your hubs and the time to put them on. The longer the thief is in your driveway monkeying around with your trailer, the greater the chance he will be noticed or questioned by neighbors who don't recognize the stranger trying to put the wrong kind of tire on your trailer.
- 4). Chain the trailer to a tree or, if one isn't hand, you can dig a hole with a posthole digger and, with a tall fencepost and some quick-setting concrete, you can create an artificial "tree" to which you can chain your trailer.
- 5). Store your boat in a locked boat storage facility that has 24-hour security. Most of these yards have a gate that requires you to enter a code to gain entry. Other possibilities include removing the license plate or even the lights from the trailer, although temporary lights and the fact that most thieves would carry an "extra" trailer plate don't make these options effective.