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GPS tracker for outboard

  • 23-07-2015 12:43pm
    #1
    42inchchest
    Registered Users Posts: 30 ✭


    Does anyone have any experience of using a tracker for an outboard motor? Are they worth getting or too easily found and removed? For example the "Boomerang Tracker" (cant post link because I dont have enough posts)


Comments

  • #2
    Sh1tbag OToole
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,973 ✭✭✭Sh1tbag OToole


    What size engine? It is a tough one, it would be hard to embed one into the.cowl without it being easily spotted and it needs a wire or 2 going into it for power and also its own battery


  • #3
    42inchchest
    Registered Users Posts: 30 ✭42inchchest


    50HP replacing engine that was stolen last month. You are right I think, wondering about concealment and would they be too easy to find and remove. The tracker I mentioned above seems to be chargeable so not connected to battery. I emailed them to see what battery life is like from a single charge but no response yet.Also thinking of defacing engine with paint to make it less appealing-sacrilege to destroy a new engine but dont want this one going abroad in the back of a van too!


  • #4
    Sh1tbag OToole
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,973 ✭✭✭Sh1tbag OToole


    If you were able to get some genuine warning labels from the manufacturer (sometimes the labels actually have part numbers and you can order from a dealer) and the right size flanged plastic box you could hide a tracker of some sort in it and stick the warning label over it. You could attach this to some plastic part of the engine under the cowl using screws with an uncommon type of head, then paint over them. Stick in as many wires as you want because it looks like part of the engine

    Ideally it would send a message as soon as the battery is disconnected. GSM coverage would not be great under a cowl though. You should try putting a normal mobile under it when your boat is in the water and checking if it rings before investing in any tracker


  • #5
    pandy180sx
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭pandy180sx


    If god forbid your engine is actually robbed and it has a tracker in it. Whats the next step ?

    What would the Guards actually do. They don't seem to pushed on the whole matter at all and by the time they get around to it your engine will probly be in easter europe. What are they going to do then ?

    I did hear though of a group of engines in Cork being robbed and there was one or two left and they both had trackers in them. Whether thats true or not i don't know


  • #6
    fergal.b
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 6,337 Mod ✭✭✭✭fergal.b


    Would it be worth getting an old mobile and putting it in the foam of the cowling then use google history to track it or some of the other apps that you can turn on the phone from a computer when you need it.

    Another anti theft idea is to remove the cowling and put a hud over the engine but not much good if it's stolen for parts instead resale.

    boat-watch.jpg


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  • #7
    42inchchest
    Registered Users Posts: 30 ✭42inchchest


    I was reading about those covers alright. They were given out/sold by police and seem to have reduced theft alright. Good idea with phone- ill look into that. In the short term, i made out a stencil with the name of the boat and im going to plaster the engine in bright fluorescent paint. Im doing this on the basis that when few enginines were robbed down here, there was one left behind on one of the boats. Guard reckoned it was because it had been painted and may not have much resale value. I wont be selling them. As regards what to do if a engine was robbed with tracker, at least i might get a warning it was going. One of the models will notify you if the boat moves ~200m -if its still attached that is.


  • #8
    pedroeibar1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,108 ✭✭✭pedroeibar1


    I’ve never heard of a tracker being used on an outboard engine, but trackers have been successfully used on cars, and cooperation between insurers and the Gardai happens but often is not publicized. One case I am aware of (about ten years ago) led to major recoveries, one at a warehouse in Limerick, the other in Cavan where cars and goods worth the best part of a million euro were recovered. Most already were in parts, stacks of alloy wheels, gearboxes, turbochargers, exhausts, etc., but I recall that a Range Rover and a big Merc were entire. Again from memory Allianz & RSA were the insurers.

    The major difference is that cars generally are broken up and sold locally for parts, but outboard engines remain intact and quickly are shipped out in containers/vans, often ending up in Eastern Europe. I just wonder if a tracker would work on an engine in a van/container rather than on a car on a transporter. The Gardaí try their best but cannot really help, they have no resources, see my post here

    Sad to have to deface your own engine, but that appears to be the way to go, UK Police cowl and heat resistant paint. Also consider engraving your email addy somewhere conspicuous. Lidl periodically sell small motorized engraving tools for about €15. I'd also phone the insurers mentioned above and ask them for advice/input on a tracker, they would be in the best position to know as they controlmost of the marine market


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