trailer security at hotel

[Lakanooky]

We will be traveling to Marathon Key from Pensacola in February. 13+ hour trip. We plan on hauling our fsh210 since the house we will be at has a boat dock and we want to explore.

We will probably be spending the night at a hotel on the way there and maybe back. Any ideas on how I can secure the trailer while still attached to the truck

 

[Liveto99]

Just put a padlock where the pin is that holds it onto your truck ball. I have never secured it and never had trouble and I have spent about six or seven nights in a hotel with the boat behind my truck.
If you stay in a decent hotel most of them have some sort of security camera and also where you park there are normally there are a couple of other boats there’s only one area normally where you can pull through I’ve always found somebody else there with Trailers either construction or boat. One other time I back the trailer up onto the curb and hung it on the grass.

 

[Liveto99]

And if you live in marathon January February March or April I’ll try and run them to you I’m down there for a week each month with my 210

 

[Zeusmotorworks]

There is an aftermarket pin that has a lock on the end of it... can't remember where I saw it.

 

[Betik]

Make you you have one your receiver and one on your hitch. At the end of the day if someone wants that boat he/she will have it. Best best is to stay at a decent hotel/area and get insurance.
You can always send the family upstairs and sleep in the truck

 

[Liveto99]

Dam, we are in America, you can drive through Florida without getting your damn boat stolen. If you’re really concerned about it just be careful where you park normally you can back up to where someone would have to move your truck disconnect your boat hook up the damn boat trailer and then go. If you drive to any town that has boats there are boats on trailers all over the damn place if someone wants one it’s a lot easier to just take one of those, rather than disconnect your truck in in a parking lot and rehook up. All without trying to get seen on camera and it’s not like there’s acres of space in these parking lots to move around.

 

[BigAbe75]

I don’t recall where, but I’m sure I remember @Ronnie saying that he had truck and boat stolen?

I’ve never given it a moments thought, before. But now, my boat is a whole lot more desirable than my first boat. I may at least invest in a locking pin for coupler and receiver.

 

[Ronnie]

I had my entire rig stolen once (i.e., truck, trailer boat and everything in them) but that was in front of my house. This did cause me to go nuts on locks and a mobile drone (cellular subscription based security system) for the boat, so I’m more comfortable leaving it at guest docks over night.

For the trailer, I have the locks for the tongue, receiver and pin for the swing away tongue. I also have boot like locks (one for each side) plus wheel locks and a cable lock for the spare. On a related note, I’ve had small beads of weld put on the ends of the mounting bolts for my Fulton winch and self retracting boat buckles (not the Fulton trailer jack because I’ve had to replace or repair these regularly in the past).

Hotels, at least the ones I have stayed at, and private resorts/marinas usually have some type of security or surveillance, it’s the public boat ramps I worry about. The problem I’ve had at hotels is the lack of trailer parking, in those situations I just detach the trailer and park it in its own spot (sometimes with the boat still on it and sometimes for its own additional parking fee) before locking it down until I’m comfortable enough to leave it to go boating or back to the hotel.

If someone is determined to steal your trailer or anything on it they will but I try to make stealing my things less likely by making it harder to do. Security measures don’t have to be perfect just better than other’s in the same area.

 

[Zeusmotorworks]

Yep there are turds afloat in a sea of honest hard working Americans, no reason to make things easier for them. At the same time, I'm not going to let them make me paranoid and a worry wart. I'll take steps first, then insure well, and sleep sound.

On that note, Ronnie, where'd you pick up the hitch pin for the trailer?

 

[Gunner]

I remove the pin from a hand grenade and place grenade behind the rear trailer tire. Damages the boat but is very satisfying anti theft measure.

 

[Dixie Highway]

I don’t use these personally, but you could do something like this:

Robot or human?

 

[Mainah]

Motorcycle cable/chain lock through the wheels will do it. Like @Ronnie said just be more difficult than something else in the same area. Sort of like a bear chasing you and a stranger... you don’t have to be faster than the bear.

If you decide to sleep in the truck it would be wise to have a fur alarm and lead projectile device. Probably better to just have insurance and sleep sound in the hotel though.

 

[Ronnie]

@Zeusmotorworks , the hitch pin lock isn’t anything special, it is the same locking pin that I use to lock the trailer to the tow ball (aka trailer to tongue locking pin). Here are two pics, one of the lock on my swing away boat trailer tongue pin and another of the same type of pin on my jet ski trailer.

@Mainah, I agree with what you stated above so I don’t mind purchasing extensive insurance coverage. I’m also a big advocate for purchasing a tow boat us subscription every year. However, to things to consider about insurance:
1. Payout won’t be immediate. In my case it took six weeks (from the start of Summer) for the boat u.s. insurance to recognize the boat as a total loss and pay me out.
2. Most people are under insured when it comes to personal belongings on their boats. In my example I had over 30 vests (@ $50 each for discussion purposes), several inflatables/tubes, knee and wakeboards, etc.). All told my personal effects where valued at $3,500. My standard / default coverage was only $1,500. Riders are available so now I purchase angler coverage. Angler or fishermen coverage is another $30 to $50 per year but covers $5k more in personal effects. The rationale for angler coverage being the a lot of gear fishermen use is expensive, like their fish finders and some rods and reals. I’ve seen some of these guys showing off Their custom lures that they claim cost over $100 each and some of these guys seem to have dozens of them.
3. Misc.: I put locks on my clean out tray hatch to protect the clean out plugs from being stolen. It doesn’t happen often and I’ve only read about it happening once here or the other site but someone had their plugs stolen while on vacation. They cost about $400 each and there is no guarantee that the local dealer will have one or two in stock if yours are stolen which turns you sports boat into a really nice raft (someone here lost a plug to a blow out and ended up using a ball to block the clean out tube so they could use the related engine for the rest of the day). This reminds me that I need to buy the right size ball for my boat / as an emergency clean out plug.

 

[Ronnie]

Agreed @Mainah , that is for the most part it’s just stuff that can replaced.

I’ve only slept in the tow vehicle once, not for security reasons but because the lake I was going to closed the gates for the night before I could get there. I ended up at Walmart and their general corporate policy at the time was to allow people in their rvs to stay there temporarily so I didn’t have to hide that I was spending the night in my truck in their parking lot and their security guard drove by a few times during the night so monitor me/make sure I was safe. I tried sleeping in the boat , comfort wise it was worse than the truck. Had I had more notice I would have rented a hotel room. Locked the rig down and not thought about it again until I left in the morning. When boat us paid me out for my stolen boat it was like the gamble that finally paid off. At the time I had paid at least $300 a year for 10 years and without making any claims but I hope I never have to make another boat related claim again even though my annual premium is about twice as much as it used to be.

 

[kthrash]

I bought matching (keyed alike) hitch pins for all my trailer hitches draw bars, etc.. for everything I own from etrailer.com.. you have to call them and request each version you want.. but they will key them all the same..

etrailer.com Trailer Hitch Receiver Lock - Flush Design for 2" Trailer Hitches etrailer Hitch L

Looking for a sleek lock to go along with your new trailer hitch? This chrome, flush design hitch lock might be just what you had in mind. This chrome

www.etrailer.com

 

[Newmaniak]

etrailer.com Trailer Coupler Lock for Surge Brake Couplers with 3-3/8" Span etrailer Trailer Co

 

[Lakanooky]

Thanks for all the great ideas. This is all new to me, and traveling down there will be an interesting experience.

 

[Wayloncle]

I’d put it under the tongue jack so it takes care of the thief.....
Although, I did read an article today about a guy in Maine that killed himself with his own booby trap

I remove the pin from a hand grenade and place grenade behind the rear trailer tire. Damages the boat but is very satisfying anti theft measure.

 

[Prodock]

I am currently using a cable breech lock from my Ruger bolt action. I know someone could use cutters to remove it, but at least it would slow a thief down for a couple minutes.

 

[Liveto99]

Taking the pin out of the folding trailer tongue would probably throw them off. Probably wreck your boat a bit but they would not get it. I think selecting a well thought out parking place works great, backing over the curb so the trailer is on the grass makes it hard to get. Put a GPS tracker on it, you can usually get a subscription by the month for them and they’re only about 100 bucks for the unit. If someone pulls up with a Loadall tilt trailer they just hook a winch to the front of your truck pull your truck and trailer on it and drive away and it takes less than a minute. You can have a car alarm that alerts you in real time, then that Ruger bolt trick works I like it in .416 Rigby.