Dude here was stealing and selling equipment, mid-size dozers down to right new skid steers. He even called on me saying he had started a used equipment company. His prices and promises of getting whatever you wanted cheap just put the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. I never bought anything from him. Several people around here did.

A few months later the State law Enforcement Division (SLED) showed up with a list of names and equipment they wanted. One buyer called another to warn him they were in the area taking back the 'hot' equipment. He had bought a right new skidsteer for 5 thousand dollars. He hid it in a gulley and covered it with brush. A couple of days later when the sled agent showed up at his place, He told the sled agent he hadn't bought any such item. The SLED agent told him he had 15 minutes to produce it or things would be worse for him than they already were. He again denied ever buying any such thing. The SLED agent told him, "Listen fellow, I have a picture of it. It's in a gulley, under a brush pile, right down yonder and if I have to go get it you ain't getting outta jail anytime soon".

Needless to say, the buyer went and got it in a hurry. He asked the SLED agent how he knew were it was. He wouldn't say at that time but at the trial it came out that it had a locator chip in it and they knew where it went, what it did and where it was at all times...........LOL

""the police are always too busy dishing out speeding and parking tickets to look for stolen goods,all you hear from them is your insured arn,t you""

I am a working police officer, and note the comment with some humor. Believe it or not, we do actually look for stolen goods. More often than not, the victim doesn't seem to want to give full details. Don't ask me why. I think sometimes it is because they simply don't know, other times possibly because they "don't like" the police, other times - who knows?? Of course, I don't speak for all police, everywhere.

About 10 years ago, I regaruly drove past this place on a highway where the guy had different pieces of equipment for sale in his yard off and on. Then there was a big scandal in the local paper that he and a couple of accomplices were stealing this stuff off from Illinois state projects. He was hauling them to his place and putting a cheap paint job on them. It seems someone employed by the state drove by there and noticed a backhoe like he used at his job that had been stolen. It turns out that he was buying used surplus on the auction market and mixing this stolen stuff in. He had been doing this for a couple of years on a small scale but then got greedy.
drujinin
forgive the spelling its early in the morning!

A D8K is a big machine. I can't imagine someone buying it for the back end of their farm. Maybe for parts, no, probably getting a serial # change. I think the H's only had serial #'s on the engine block and the frame at the back. I've heard of serial # switches from a wreck to pristine unit. I knew a welder once that drilled serial #'s out of Harley blocks and tigged them back up. I have taught my sons to turn and walk the other way when you see a policeman because they live in a closed society; and avoid going to court whenever possible because they are not necessarily fair and just. However without police our country would be chaos and when we get something stolen, where would we go? I can see people not wanting to talk because of a basic mistrust of the system. Just some thoughts, Phil

I joined this site because I like looking at the older machinery ( And some newer machinery that I can't afford to look at.) I remember a D7F that went into a gravel pit near where I lived in Quebec. The machine sat there for a couple of days and I checked it over. It had a pop motor and 32" pads, a 9 roller undercarriage , an angle blade with single tilt, a direct drive 5 spd with foot clutch! The back end was completely blank. Just a 1/2" plate with Caterpillar on it. The operator's platform had two 4" pipes underneath it that didn't go anywhere. I didn't understand what they were for at the time. It had a D342 engine. I read the engine number and it said D342575800. A real oddball. It was a special because it had SP at the end of 00003. It had 3 hours on it. There wasn't even a scratch on the blade paint! After a couple of days, three crates show up near it. There was a bigger one about 4 1/2' high with winch written on it, a slightly smaller one with winch on it and the smallest one. I think the smallest one had an extra pop motor or two. The middle crate had a double winch. The nose had an attachment for a winch. About two days later it went away. I assumed it was taken to another place. When I looked at how they moved it, a police car came up with the owner and truck owner in tow. The policeman accused me of stealing it! I told him that I didn't even know how to start it! I also told him that it would have to cross the highway and they could follow the tracks to where I had moved it if I had done it. The dozer tracks went through a locked gate and into the pit and there were no truck tracks into the pit or out of it. The dozer tracks stopped at the narrowest part of the pit road. There was another road into the pit. It was all overgrown. No way in there! The cop kept looking at the tracks and saying that they go out of the pit. The truck owner knew cats and told him that they go into the pit! He couldn't believe it! There were people who lived about 150' from the entrance to the pit. The cop asked if the neighbours heard anything that night. They said that they slept peacefully and didn't hear a thing! The cop accused the truck owner of stealing it! He told him that he couldn't hide something that new in his place of antiques! He told him that the truck driver complained of how heavy the machine was. On little hills, he had to shift down to third on a thirteen speed. The truck's little 235HP engine had a hard time even taking off from the level yard! That was with a bare tractor! The truck owner said that if he did steal it, he would have to drop it off in someone else's yard. That would involve more people in a hot cat and there would be less profit around. They would have to move it to someone else's and so on. The owner came up with an idea. He told the truck owner and the truck owner began to laugh! The cop asked him what was so funny! The truck owner told him that Aliens took it! They all had a laugh at that! The cop asked why he said that. The owner said that it made as much sense as all the other theories that he came up with. Luckily it was insured. The cop left very puzzled. A week later the double winch showed up in the crate in a cat sales yard in Wisconsin. The cop told me that the prevailing theory was that it got parted out and couldn't be traced any more. That's a lot of oddball parts! If the cat got parted out, I don't think that the frame was sold. It probably got sold for scrap. What a waste of a nice machine!

if that tractor doesn't leave the country it will turn up either in bits or whole.it's too small a country to go completely missing and anyone looking for second hand running gear for D8's will surley be amazed to find anyone with nearly new parts for one.I am meeting Andy Ackers of finnings winsford next week to discuss tracks for a D5H.I will tell him to keep a look out.Roly,tell your man to stick an advert in the resale weekly .wanted 2nd hand D8 tracks.....good luck.
P.s would you bother re tightening 68A heads after complete rebuild and why would you do it?I allways did them again after a few shifts if they had done a gasket etc but this is a complete frame out job with 130 hrs now on it.

When I discovered that the key for my ASV RC30 is identical to all the other RC30 machines, I decided to theft proof mine. There are 2 hidden switches that have to be flipped in order to start the machine and I use a hardened chain and lock whenever it has to stay at a jobsite. I also put some hidden markings on the machine and photographed them just in case it does get stolen. I am not mentioning the function of my hidden switches because that would be letting the cat out of the bag, however, if you think creatively you can figure out all kinds of theft proofing measures.

I cannot think of anyone that owns or works D8's that would have anything to do with a stolen tractor, I know one Dealer who I would not put past doing anything, he also has all the right kit to move and hide just about anything, but I dont think he has this banger, I have a few Heavy Haulage pal's that are real Truck buff's and notice any good loads on the move, I have yet to ask them, but it may be worth the effort,
Nick'y on your C/head job, if I had rebuilt the engine I would have run it up for about 2 hours putting enough load to make it come up to temp, then retighten the heads down ( those nuts will all move) re-set the valve lash, then run up for 20 mins, checking for leaks etc, then finish by changing the oil and filter/s the other day I did a C/head job on a 68a (front head joint) this tractor had different valves in the back head , the front head valve stem Dia, was the usual 1/2 inch with 3 keeper lock's the rear head valve stems were 3/8 inch with only 2 keeper lock's , I have seen loads of tractors with 1/2 inch valves in one head and 7/16 inch in the other but never 3/8 stems????
tight nuts, tctractors

Hi Tony,now you mention it,we did that during its first fire up.I had just forgotton as it was October last when we got it running and it's taken me 6 months to get the rest of it work ready.I only work on it now and again so its easy to forget what's been done to it.Now its done a couple of jobs I wake up in the middle of the night wondering if i've forgotton something!!!!.
I can't believe that the Police have NO cctv of that D8 being moved in any radius away from where it was stolen i.e..camera on motorway or speed camera on an 'A' road.What about customs camera footage at the sea ports?
Roly,has anyone asked Jimmy at Gaughan+Sons.He's the biggest breakers yard in our area and would be happy to keep his ear to the ground.I am sure it will surface if it's still in the country and whoever took it might now wish they hadn't.It' just too good to break up and too tidy to go unnoticed in a field of other D8's.

I've seen guys that get all bright eyed & seem to come to life when they realize something is for sale that's hot. Seems like they get a thrill buying something hot. Even to the point of big risk takers just to get chance to pull it off. Would rather put lots of energy into buying or trading hot stuff vs looking for good otherwise.
I know 2 such folks.....both in prison. One for 65 yr in Huntsville, Tx.for trying to steal an oilwell drilling rig....last I heard he had to serve 22 or 27 yr of that if he was good boy while there. should be gettin out soon.

Other one was stealing & parting out semi's in residential neighborhood & carrying parts to Mexico. He, 2 brothers, Uncle, & a brother-in-law got busted when some of their true trusted buddies couple states away got busted & started spilling their guts.....
Me...I don't like to wish ill on others, but I can't help it. I thought it was funny as hell!

First place...residential neighborhood....jeeezzzz