24 Hours in the Life of T300: Stolen, Recovered, Back on Jobsite

It may not prevent theft of your equipment, but the Bobcat equipment security and management system can greatly increase your chance of locating a machine if it is stolen.

This system, which features the GlobalTRACS receiver/transmitter concealed on the machine, combines satellite vehicle tracking capability with wireless communications and computer data management. It allows you to pinpoint the machine's location 24 hours a day. Because it also monitors the machine's service readings, operating status and total engine hours, it's a reliable way to schedule maintenance of the machine and track utilization, too.

"This system is an awesome tool," reports Scott Davison, senior rental manager with Perimeter Bobcat, Norcross, Ga. "It definitely pays."

A speedy recovery

When a landscaping crew pulled up to their job site in Fulton County, Ga., one morning this past July, they were surprised to discover that their rented Bobcat T300 compact track loader was missing. No doubt the two men suspected of stealing the machine were even more surprised when-less than two hours later-three Douglas County Sheriff's deputies arrested the pair and recovered the loader. That, in turn, led to the discovery of two skid-steer loaders, a compact excavator and several vehicles, owned by others, that were also missing.

Unknown to the alleged thieves, who are believed to have stolen the machine the previous afternoon, the T300 was equipped with the hidden Bobcat GPS satellite receiver/transmitter. It's one of many Bobcat skid-steer loaders, compact track loaders and excavators in Perimeter Bobcat's rental fleet that are equipped with the Bobcat equipment security and management system. After the customer reported the machine missing, Davison simply entered the loader's serial number on the system's web site. The system responded immediately, showing the location of the T300 on a map displayed on Davison's computer screen.

He drove to this location, about 10 miles from the jobsite, where he saw the machine from the road. Davison then reported the location to the sheriff's department, which dispatched the officers to the scene. "We had the machine back on the customer's jobsite later that day," he says.

He also has plenty of praise for the Douglas County Sheriff's Department. "They went out of their way to help us recover our T300."

Your local Bobcat dealer can give you all the details on how the Bobcat system can pay off for you by improving security and maintenance of your equipment.

The Bobcat equipment security and management system also helped recover a new loader in the Chicago area in May. The S300, with just 17 hours on the meter, was stolen a few days after it had been delivered to the owner, a rental store.

The theft occurred about 3:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning when the machine was moved from a jobsite into a nearby forest preserve. There, the thieves used the skid-steer loader to dig a hole and construct a berm around it big enough to conceal the machine, which was then driven into the hole and covered with tree limbs and brush. They hid the machine from view, but not from the Bobcat tracking system.

Soon after the S300 was reported missing on Monday morning, the tracking system led police to the hiding spot where they recovered the unit-leaving the thieves empty-handed and, no doubt, quite surprised when they returned.