Firewood thieves...gonna be a bad year

[strongback]

Seeing the black powder filled log idea and the stinky wood idea together gave me and idea. Bore a hole in a couple of marked logs and fill them with a stink bomb of some sort. The possibilities are about endless when you think about it. Everything from dog excrement to pepper spray. This way you can teach the thief a lesson without opening yourself up to criminal prosecution. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[superfire]

i markum

i had a log deck of firewood stolen a couple years back. four days before before i was to buck it up some slimey no good :censored: stole it. the deck had roughly 25 cords of dry wood in there. well after i reported the theft i waited a couple of days and was in the general area and found the :censored: stealing from me again on a green wood deck i just stacked. the sheriff came out and arrested the guy for wood theft. the dumb idiot had all of my wood in his yard(nice split and stacked). i could prove it because of the paint i sprayed on the butts of the logs. the guy said it was normal paint,he did not realize it was a custom made to order paint that i hold a copy right too. he even sol some of it to my neighbor for twice what i charge my neighbor,neighbor felt bad that he got stolen wood. after that most people avoid me and my log and firewood operationz if they are low lifes. i guard my firewood like a dog guards a juicy bone. firewood is how i make it through Oregon winters.

 

[Lignum]

i had a log deck of firewood stolen a couple years back. four days before before i was to buck it up some slimey no good :censored: stole it. the deck had roughly 25 cords of dry wood in there. well after i reported the theft i waited a couple of days and was in the general area and found the :censored: stealing from me again on a green wood deck i just stacked. the sheriff came out and arrested the guy for wood theft. the dumb idiot had all of my wood in his yard(nice split and stacked). i could prove it because of the paint i sprayed on the butts of the logs. the guy said it was normal paint,he did not realize it was a custom made to order paint that i hold a copy right too. he even sol some of it to my neighbor for twice what i charge my neighbor,neighbor felt bad that he got stolen wood. after that most people avoid me and my log and firewood operationz if they are low lifes. i guard my firewood like a dog guards a juicy bone. firewood is how i make it through Oregon winters.

Kind of hard to hide 25 cords of wood!

 

[Jkebxjunke]

talk about a low life... steals 25 cords? that's not petty theft... at $200 cord that's $5000... doesn't that raise the stakes a bit? more than a petty crime?

what would be good... is have a marked piece... spring loaded when they went to grab it the spring would unload and wham-o. get col-cocked by a chunk of wood and doused with a smelly substance and dye ... make it real easy to find the thief for the cops. but would probably get sued from the thief... I am waiting for the robbers of banks to sue the banks over the exploding dye packs that they put with the money.

 

[Zodiac45]

We always have some problems in the fall. I imagine it's people who have waited too long or are just thieves? My theory is that it's mostly bored hunters who are too lazy to get get out of the truck and hunt Truck hunters we call em. They ride around the back roads see a nice skid of maple logs and hack off a pickup full. Hey Honey, I did'nt get a deer but......... The funny thing is, once one guy hacks some off the skid, it's like a feeding frenzy. I caught one guy and his excuse was hey the skid's already ruined and I didn't do it, soooooo.........

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

Any realistic suggestions?

This topic has really started to hit home for me.

I live in a pretty urban area - not downtown Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis or Indiana, by any stretch but there is plenty of foot traffic going past our house. We're in a college town so there are fair number of renters, too.

I'm just getting started into the wonderful world of heating my home with wood and I've got access to lots of free logs (guy across the street is an arborist).

So my dad & I split up about 2.5 cords of maple this summer and the stacks are sitting alongside our house - some of it runs out about 6' past the front of the house but is at least 15' from the curb.

So I've been noticing the pile is being 'picked at'... armful here, log there... for the last two weeks.

Any suggestions?

I'd love to sit out there with my shotgun in the dark (unloaded) and just wait for the theif to start 'picking' again. The sound of a 12-gauge racking is enough to scare the piss out of many snot-nosed college kids.

Problem is, I'm in a liberal college town and I'm sure I'd both lose my gun and spend time in the pokey for that.

Again, any thoughts?
Tony

 

[leon]

fire wood and gotcha

This topic has really started to hit home for me.

I live in a pretty urban area - not downtown Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis or Indiana, by any stretch but there is plenty of foot traffic going past our house. We're in a college town so there are fair number of renters, too.

I'm just getting started into the wonderful world of heating my home with wood and I've got access to lots of free logs (guy across the street is an arborist).

So my dad & I split up about 2.5 cords of maple this summer and the stacks are sitting alongside our house - some of it runs out about 6' past the front of the house but is at least 15' from the curb.

So I've been noticing the pile is being 'picked at'... armful here, log there... for the last two weeks.

Any suggestions?

I'd love to sit out there with my shotgun in the dark (unloaded) and just wait for the thief to start 'picking' again. The sound of a 12-gauge racking is enough to scare the piss out of many snot-nosed college kids.

Problem is, I'm in a liberal college town and I'm sure I'd both lose my gun and spend time in the pokey for that.

Again, any thoughts?
Tony

Driveway sensors controlling the outdoor lights/ a little surprise shotgun shell round minus the slug or shot(as has been mentioned by previous postings by fellow members on the subject already.) in a drilled hole and seal the hole back up with wood or sawdust and glue.

Or the usual signs on the property edge:

My dog can make it to the curb in six seconds how fast can you run?

Don't worry about the dog; worry about the owner.


:agree2:

 

[E&R_firewood]

firewood theft got bad here a few years ago . . .most folks in these parts rely on dead and downed trees on public lands (national forest BLM) to supply their firewood . . .a few years ago pine beetles and disease were at a minimum and the previous winter had been unusually mild, so not many trees and lots of people after them . . .anyhow after i had about two cords stolen . . .i began to mark the ends of all my blocked wood with day-glow pink spray paint . . .that seemed to do the trick as the wood could be easily identified, and was therefore no longer desired.

 

[bassman]

I agree that a 150 watt bulb pointed at the end of the pile that goes on with motion will do the trick.
I have seen people use a cable and cargo type netting to secure the easy access to piles in back alleys.

but I think the best way is a motion light .

 

[mranum]

Yeah I'd say a motion and a trail camera. Light 'em up then a pic gets snapped of them while they are distracted.

 

[Jkebxjunke]

electrified barbed wire.

 

[wdchuck]

Smile....you are on criminal cameras...


A clear sign like that, would impart multiple camoflage cameras, and be far cheaper than the actual units, and would keep a sober theif guessing.

If someone is truly cold, it won't matter, and that requires some forgiveness, for that person/family will be willing to pay restitution in the form of help to harvest/process the wood.


I have a pile of seasoned wood/cutoffs, just for donation or giving away. The two cords of prime cherry/ash/oak last year was a bit much and shorted me, but this winter I am planning for it, many will be cold and in this day and age, if I can afford to run a saw, then the less fortunate are welcome to the usable leftovers that don't stack well.
**Already have one couple that comes and cleans up the under 4" stuff from my place, so I keep my eyes/ears open for other opportunities that would be fitting for them as well.

Thieves are one thing, desperation is another, hopefully the good Lord will help me discern between the two at the given time.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Nice post wdchuck.

What you do reminds me a lot of the Grow An Extra Row for home gardeners program used by the food banks. Fresh vegetables are the toughest thing for them to obtain. My "extra rows" this year contributed 170# to my local pantry this summer, aiming for 400# next summer. Modest amounts, but it helps and is appreciated, and doesn't take much more labor for me then I'd spend gardening anway.

I'm just old enough to remember the 1970s, and the State would flag scrappier trees in the state forests and issue permits for firewood cutting to thin the forest. IIRC, there was only certain days in each forest the permits were good for, so that there'd be someone on a patrol to make sure non-flagged trees weren't being taken. For all the talk of how many more millions to put into oil assistance this winter, I haven't seen that, and walking our state forests & parks, there's plenty of thinning that would be good. Of course they probably would have to spend five years on environmental impact statements...and a lot fewer people willing to sweat for their heat

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

Smile....you are on criminal cameras...

If someone is truly cold, it won't matter, and that requires some forgiveness, for that person/family will be willing to pay restitution in the form of help to harvest/process the wood.
...
Thieves are one thing, desperation is another, hopefully the good Lord will help me discern between the two at the given time.

I agree - I'm not trying to be a total Ebeneezer Scrooge here - in fact, if I were to find someone that desperate, I'd probably give them a pile and ask them to come back in the spring and help me out with some splitting, & stacking.

I'll probably get a trail cam and a motion light - although the neighborhood racoons might keep that light flashing all night.

But I'm pretty sure it's drunk college kids walking past the house on the way home after bar time and saying, "Duuuuuude let's start a bonfire, maaaaan."

Thanks for the suggestions!

Tony

_ Sometimes I wonder how I graduated college without knocking a stupid mamas boy kid over the head with a 2x4---

 

[iCreek]

Speaking of cameras...

I posted this in another thread on being weird, (yes I might have a problem with loving my outdoor stove), but I wanted to check out the stove when I am away from the house. So I installed a IR CCTV color camera and a video encoder. The video encoder allow me to setup overlay masks for motion areas (driveway) and/or no motion areas (stove pipe), ftp captured images to an Internet server, and send an email alert out to my Blackberry to view a still shot, I also can view live video streams from any computer. The end result is I can monitor my driveway and wood pile, and just check out my stove every once in awhile. We have no problem with theft of wood as my neighbors are all family, but every once in awhile some random act of crime happens in the rural homes also, or I might want to know who just pulled up in my driveway.

 

[dolmen]

Now thats a useful setup, I'd like that but wouldn't know where to start!

Cheers

 

[Hoping4Heat]

We got a tiny ceramic dog at the dump and set it on top of our wood pile. Maybe it's time for a more sophisticated security system? We do live on a dirt road and our house is set pretty far back from the road up a nasty driveway. They just cleared 22 trees on our property (towns property our frontage). We ended up with only 3 cords of wood...wonder how that is possible?

 

[toddstreeservic]

small trees? :monkey:

 

[Hoping4Heat]

Some were, but there were about 7 huge oak trees...

 

[Jkebxjunke]

must have had that rare walking oak....