Seacoast Area – Truck mounted snow plow thefts are increasing and have doubled in recent years. This past week I spent time in all the seacoast regions, Gloucester to Newburyport,  Hampton to Portsmouth, Dover to Rochester and York County, Maine. I visited many people in these area’s and  at least one person each day told the tale of a stolen  snow plow (plows). Either they were the victim themselves or it was someone they did business with, nonetheless the common denominator was that they were  all  Fisher brand plows. I grew up Quincy, Ma. and the Police Captain John Dougan reported there were 3 plows stolen in a weekend and 1 of them was stolen from the city itself, the fact is that with the lack of snow and fewer snow removal jobs theft cases have increased everywhere.

Fisher Engineering is aware of this issue and is busy developing Anti-Theft devices for us like; The Security Guard snowplow anti-theft system.  This system, currently available on their new HT series snowplows renders the plow “dead”  to anyone who connects to the blade and cannot input  your programmed security code on the controller. This is the same principle as German made automobile audio systems as I have “heard” that if a BMW or Mercedes radio is taken from it’s original vehicle that it will not work no matter how “good” your wiring guy is, why steal it if it is going to be useless once in your possession?

New England has been “Fisher Country” for some time now and if you pass 10 vehicles on the road equipped with snow plows,  chances are 7 of them will be Fisher Plows. This ratio is partly the result of 1; Fisher Engineering manufacturing snow plow blades in Rockland, Maine for almost 60 years or 2; The fact that they just plain make the best snow plow on the market hands down. If you have never been to their website and you are interested in a snowplow you owe it to yourself to check it out www.fisherplows.com. M.B. Tractor is stocking Fisher distributor for new snow plows and sanders so if you are looking for a plow you are in the right place. Even if you are looking to buy a used blade, check with your local MB store to find out which plow is right for your truck and how much money the new equipment is going for, that way when you are dealing with a private seller you will be informed.

Alright so we are aware there is a problem and that there may be a great solution coming from the class leader some time in the future, but what do we do with the unit that is already installed on your money maker?  Scott Carlson and Dean Outhouse, two seacoast snow management professionals are very in-tune with these issues. Well here is what they came up with, the lock is installed in a position that in most cases the lock would need to be cut on both sides for removal without the key. The thought is that thieves will not be prepared for this system (no cutting equipment) or that they would not be interested in generating  the noise that would accompany lock removal without the key.