With what I'm paying for fuel these days, I think I'd like to invest in locking fuel caps for my equipment.

Anyone have a line on where I can get locking caps for:

CAT 225
CAT D6C
FORD 575D TLB
FORD L8000 DUMP TRUCK

I know the Ford dealer wants $55 for a locking cap for my TLB, and I'm sure the CAT dealer prices wont be much better for the other caps. Hope to find a 3rd party source, but not made in China either...

I noticed a couple of stories on the news lately. One where the thieves came across a van with a locking gas cap and went under the vehicle to drilled a hole in the gas tank and used a bucket to catch the fuel. The second story had to do with a number of semi tractors that had their fuel removed. They all had locking gas caps which had to replaced at $70 a piece plus the fuel.

Perhaps a device by Smith and Wesson would do the trick:)

Sorry, to say but the future looks a little dark to me.

Rich

I looked in a Cat One Safe Source parts & accessory catalog but didn,t see any locking caps in it. They are a big diameter cap as you all know so would be expensive to buy one if they were available so I don,t have an answer for the problem except the device that Rich mentioned. The problem would be to catch them.

In the last fuel crunch about 1978 or so, I had to put a chain around my sprayer and padlock the engine covers down. It held 35 gallons of gasoline and was parked in an unwatched place.

A neighbor opted for a locking cap; they just punched a hole in his tank, let what they couldn't catch run out on the ground. Lucky no smokers came by next morning. I decided against a locking cap.

However, the locking cap on my fuel storage tank is a big bar hinged to the cap, the other end padlocked to a steel vent pipe that is close enough on top the tank. When locked neither the cap nor the vent pipe can be turned. I'm presently not storing diesel in my high tank, using the portable fueler. It's too easy to drain a high tank.

Good luck and good shootin'.

Jack

In the last energy crisis - made up kind of a boxed Padlock
Hasp, - don't have to seal it , just enough to keep cap on - I could go out and install for less money than those big caps cost- which for somethings you could not get.
But they did not have Battery Operated drills then

A locking cap has another advantage of keeping wierd people (or kids) from duming dirt or ? into your tanks. I keep our equipment stored inside so I do not have theift problems yet.

The locking caps will keep the kids out but the thief that comes after your fuel is a different story,he will get it one way or the other as he is not worried about what damage he does,if the cap can't be got off the fuel lines will be cut or as said above the tank punctured,the best way is demobilise the machine in an area that a vehicle can't get near it, if a vehicle can drive up to the machine he will have a little electric pump to empty your tank into barrels, secure the job site in such a way that no vehicle can get near the equipment,and a put in a few soft spots so they will get bogged if they try,those guy like things easy,i.e drive up beside the machine,stick a hose in your tank and press a button,if there is a chance the get bogged they will pass on it,Finney Equipment have a shop on ebay that lists locking fuel caps for equipment.
AJ

Don't 225s have the fuel cap under the hood in a little door with a hasp on it like the 235s? I know it is not the prittiest thing but probaly the simplest would be to weld a hasp and put a lock on the compartment that the fuel tank is in (should be easy enough for the 225 & 575 ). Sure, it won't stop the determined theves, but may be enough to deter them to steal fuel out of someone else who dosen't lock up their equpment. The D6 and truck would be a little tougher, but you can still get a hasp over it so they can't be removed w/o un locking. Our Hitachi has a locking cap that never locked very good so we took a short piece of pipe that just fits over the cap (filler & cap stick up about 6") welded an end on it and a piece of angle iron with a slot in it that fits over a loop welded to the tank so the pipe completely covers the filler. Sure, you could still cut the lock off and get into it, but it has worked well so far.