Of all the things they could have stolen, they took the ****ing lawn mower...

Binomate

So I'm literally just in the door from work and I sit down to order a pizza at my kitchen table. I glance down in to the back garden to see the garden shed door swinging wide open. I thought maybe my brother had been in the shed for some reason because he was re-painting a small statue of a dog for someone. When I asked him about it, he claimed that he hadn't been down to the shed. So I went down and took a look. For some reason I knew in the back of my mind that the lawnmower was probably gone.

When I got there, low and behold the lawnmower was missing. I went back inside and rechecked with my brother if he had been in the shed all weekend and if he had maybe moved the lawnmower somewhere but he had barely been in the house all weekend.

Upon further inspecting the door of the shed and the lock, it appeared that the shed had been broken in to. The lock was padlocked correctly, so the door had been opened by force, and it appeared to have been bent out of shape. Looking at the markings on the inside of the door, it also seems as if the door had been pried open. There were also chips of wood on the ground underneath the door. I'll take a few photos of the door later on and upload them. I figure there must have been three of them at least.

Anyway, frustrated and angry at the fact that what ever happened, a good petrol lawnmower is now gone, I began to contemplate why. Of all of the things you can do in this country to attain money, why on earth would someone steal a lawnmower? I've assumed that they were motivated by the money they would get for the lawnmower. I find it quite hard to believe someone's desire to cut grass would motivate them to actually steal a lawnmower. I can understand if they were really poor and nobody would employ them and they were barely making ends meat on the dole, why someone would steal. But of all the things to steal in this world, why a lawnmower? It boggles my mind.

DonkeyStyle \o/

It's all part of their master-plan.
If you have a lawnmower you can saunter around with it and check out potential houses to rob in broad daylight without looking suspicious.
See which houses belong to scared old grannies, who's away on holiday, have a sneaky peek through the letterbox maybe.

Peyton Manning

They didnt steal that much really. Mower is less after all...

Binomate

Here's the damage done to the shed.




Shouldn't cost more than a fiver to fix. I almost forgot. Do you think I should report this to the gardaí? Will they give a shit? Even though I know I'm probably not getting my lawn mower back.

aequinoctium

it's the ultimate getaway!

mikemac

Do you think it was travellers OP?

Before I get flamed, when I was in college, it was always lads from the local halting site who went door to door cutting lawns for lazy tenants and students like ourselves. Did a good job at a reasonable price too.:)
So maybe they need for their business.

Gran Hermano

Report to Gardai and check with your insurance company/broker as
shed contents may be included under household cover.

Binomate

micmclo wrote:

Do you think it was travellers OP?

Before I get flamed, when I was in college, it was always lads from the local halting site who went door to door cutting lawns for lazy tenants and students like ourselves. Did a good job at a reasonable price too.:)
So maybe they need for their business.

Could have been. We've had our lawnmower stolen by travellers in the past.

mikemac

If this turns out to be the case, then maybe in a few weeks when we have sunny weather, they may come around and offer to cut your lawn with your lawnmower and charge you for the privelge.

And you can lead them to the back of the house and do whatever you think appropriate.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Binomate wrote:

Do you think I should report this to the gardaí?

Yeah totally... it might be just the thing they need to connect the dots on someone "known" to them, you never know.
People don't just steal a lawnmower from some ones shed and go back to leading normal lives... they're scumbags who most likely get up to all sorts of other "divilment".

You should ask around and see if any of your neighbours have also had their sheds broken into... that's what happened here a few years back, scumbags went on a shed-breaking-into spree all the way down the road. :eek:

Papad

Binomate wrote:

I find it quite hard to believe someone's desire to cut grass would motivate them to actually steal a lawnmower

I hear you, Brother.
Just spent the last 4 hours cutting wet grass ...... stopping every 10 seconds to free up the blade. I am now a broken man.

And I am probably the only person on the AH forum that can truly say:
"I hate grass."

kristen

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

It's all part of their master-plan.
If you have a lawnmower you can saunter around with it and check out potential houses to rob in broad daylight without looking suspicious.
See which houses belong to scared old grannies, who's away on holiday, have a sneaky peek through the letterbox maybe.

You probably hit the nail on the head there Donkey. I know of a couple who came home 2 years ago to find their yawn cut and their house robbed.
When they went to gardai, the gardai already had their stuff. A suspisious Neighbour had reported strangers canvassing to cut grass and when gardai checked it out they found 2 guys with stolen mower. A bag inside mower bag was stuffed with jewelery and cds and dvds. What a getaway vechicle.

mike65

Sounds like someone needs a mower for a scam as suggested. What kind of a neighbourhood are you in, could be worth doing a bit of checking over garden walls, fences, down local sidestreets and alleys.

Mike.

Creamy Goodness

watch out for little knacks going door to door asking people if they want their lawn mowed.

happened in my neighbourhood before after a mates shed got robbed, stupid idiots asked people on the same road in the estate did they want their lawn mowed.

TEH REAL CDP

scam tbh. look out for it in buy and sell or some other publication. happened to my sister once, they found it in buy and sell.

MooseJam

what horsepower was the engine, I believe some modellers can use these engines on RC planes, keep your eyes open for any rc planes buzzing around

foxy06

Funny thing, I live with two houses of "settled" travellers right behind my house. I'm safe in the knowledge that anyone who wants to break into my house will have to come in the front door and not the back because no one in their right mind will cross the garden of a traveller. And as for my shed...hasn't had a lock on it since I got it cos they won't Sh*t on their own doorstep.














(If I wake up in the morning and my lawnmower is gone ive only myself to blame)

jimmycrackcorm

Petrol mowers are very valuable right now with all those electric ones like mine that blow up when you finally have had a dry hour to mow the lawn.

OHP

Mine just refuses to go Uphill. But I know how you feel mate :eek:

OHP

projectmayhem

Binomate wrote:

it seems you were robbed by spiderman

Gorilla

My lawnmower hasn't been used in a year. (Well around that time)

Kinetic^

MooseJam wrote:

what horsepower was the engine, I believe some modellers can use these engines on RC planes, keep your eyes open for any rc planes buzzing around

Yep, I reckon the burglars are going to be flying the plane into his house to pick up his car keys.

Hal1

Binomate wrote:

But of all the things to steal in this world, why a lawnmower? It boggles my mind.

Perhaps they wanted to go into business. Either way they make some money off it. Good job it was only the contents of the shed they where after.

Binomate

Our house has been burgled about 4 or 5 times in the last 20 years when my Grand Mother was living in it, before she died. We made bloody sure that when we moved it is burgler proof. I'd imagine in its current state they'd have a lot of trouble getting in. It's like a fortress. The garden shed on the other hand has proven itself to be a piece of shit.

Karoma

Oh man! The lawnmower?! You didn\'t lock the A-Team into the shed by accident did you? It spells doom for us all if you did...

Sorry. That was ludicrous and tenuous at best. I should not jump to such conclusions... IT WAS ALIEN TRAVELLERS WHAT DONE STOELED IT!!!

Sam Vimes

Binomate wrote:

Here's the damage done to the shed.




Shouldn't cost more than a fiver to fix. I almost forgot. Do you think I should report this to the gardaí? Will they give a shit? Even though I know I'm probably not getting my lawn mower back.

i never understood why thieves need to break open those locks. why don't they bring a screwdriver and just take the lock off the door?

Karoma

Commander Vimes wrote:

i never understood why thieves need to break open those locks. why don\'t they bring a screwdriver and just take the lock off the door?

I suspect that the lawnmower thief may not be the criminal mastermind you assume.

AnonoBoy

Binomate wrote:

Our house has been burgled about 4 or 5 times in the last 20 years when my Grand Mother was living in it, before she died. We made bloody sure that when we moved it is burgler proof. I'd imagine in its current state they'd have a lot of trouble getting in. It's like a fortress. The garden shed on the other hand has proven itself to be a piece of shit.

Why did you not bother to burlgar proof the place while your Grandmother was still living there?

TEH REAL CDP

*arranges large mob to find and burn spiderman*

John Mason

Binomate wrote:

Here's the damage done to the shed.




Shouldn't cost more than a fiver to fix. I almost forgot. Do you think I should report this to the gardaí? Will they give a shit? Even though I know I'm probably not getting my lawn mower back.

the feckers robbed one garden chair of set of two (what use is that to anyone) and a spade from my garden. i phoned the police and they told me i was wasting their time - so i wont bother about reporting it

Reku

irishbird wrote:

the feckers robbed one garden chair of set of two (what use is that to anyone) and a spade from my garden. i phoned the police and they told me i was wasting their time - so i wont bother about reporting it

......

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............................


And yet people wonder why I hold the views I do regarding the Gardaí...:rolleyes:

Reku

Karoma wrote:

I should not jump to such conclusions... IT WAS ALIEN TRAVELLERS WHAT DONE STOELED IT!!!

Alien tinkers, just like in Batteries Not Included, get the baseball bat before they come back!:)

Binomate

AnonoBoy wrote:

Why did you not bother to burlgar proof the place while your Grandmother was still living there?

Actually the burglar proofing began about a year before she died when. Tripple locks on all entry doors and at any entry point, there are at least two doors before you get in to the main house. The robberies before would usually be when my Grandmother was out gardening. In her old age she would sometimes forget to close the door behind her as she went out and they'd sneak in behind her back and raid the house even though she was doing her thing in the garden.

As far as I know, the first time ever was about 20 years ago. Actually it was probably a bit more than 20 years now at this stage, but they entered the house at night. My Grandfather was alive at the time, and he caught them red handed. He held them at gun point with an old revolver he had from serving in World War 2, until the Gardaí arrived.

Floppybits

Maybe the lawnmower was really a transformer in disguise and it have to go off and fight some decepticons.

It sounds like a bunch of kids up to no good really. :mad:

Alter-Ego

Papad wrote:

I hear you, Brother.
Just spent the last 4 hours cutting wet grass ...... stopping every 10 seconds to free up the blade. I am now a broken man.

And I am probably the only person on the AH forum that can truly say:
"I hate grass."

WD-40 on the blades and under-yokey. Stops the grass sticking.

Finding this out after you've mowed the lawn will break you more.:)

Binomate

I just realised the fuckers took one of the two jerry cans we had there. They left the empty one and took the half full one. Anyways, €650 for a new Lawn Mower and €20 for a new jerry can.

Victor

Your uncle / neighbour didn't borrow it in a hurry, did he?

popebenny16

Binomate wrote:

I just realised the fuckers took one of the two jerry cans we had there. They left the empty one and took the half full one. Anyways, €650 for a new Lawn Mower and €20 for a new jerry can.

Aha, this is why it was stolen. Sounds top of the range. AND a €20 can? The plastic €5 one not good enough for you?

I leave my shed wide open, because I have an Ironside mower I got off a mate for €150. No-one will steal it. I wish they would, then I can claim a much better one off the insurance.

Just like you can do, in fact.

Terry

Heh. I've got a push mower in the porch.
My excuse for not using it is that my shoulder is sore.
I'm just hoping someone will steal the damn thing.