Speaking of your new home site, any progress? I have not seen any posts to get updates.
the scumbags finally hit my wood pile
- Thread starter muddstopper
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100 feet off the road? And they still went for it?! Good night! Tree companies will come along powerlines and trim back trees so the next ice storm doesn’t wipe out power for everybody. They stack it up next to the road for anybody to come and get it. Or people take down a tree and stack it up next to the road, sometimes with a sign that says free. I can’t imagine driving on somebody’s property hundred feet and just start cutting wood without knowing exactly what I was doing, which they probably did. In the words of Click and Clack, I hope their “dipstick falls off”.
I feel your pain on this. I live back a long private lane, with a few neighbors. When we bought our place the guy had about 4 cords that he left us for the upcoming winter. Said it wasnt going to be quite enough for the whole winter, but would give us a head start. Moving day came around we showed up with our stuff, pulled over to let a a pickup past in the lane. Had about half a load of split wood in the back. Got to our place, started unloading our stuff. Went outback to put something in the shed. All the wood was gone that the previous owner left us. Best guess, there was a period where no one was living in the house, so someone decided to take the wood. I'd bet money that pickup we pulled off for, was there taking the last of it. Never seen that truck again. Glad my dad had enough wood stored up for the both of us that winter. Cameras went up around the house after that. People have balls of steel if they dont see anyone around.
Years ago we had some split firewood stolen from our woodlot. Our splitter had dozens of metal 'tits' welded on the ram to keep wood from sliding around when being pushed. Come to find out the tits leave a distinct 'finger print' on the ends of the split wood. Someone had seen a pickup truck at our lot and we found the truck and our wood about a mile away. A call to the state police and meeting at the thief's home got our wood delivered back to our wood lot! The thief did not enjoy his visit by the state police or the stern verbal warning he received. The moral of the story is don't underestimate the usefulness of 'tits'!
OP , you need a few of these. 
Although I'd love to put something like that out, in the event I would have to go that far, that sign could be the difference between self defense and escalation. Lawyers will use whatever means they can to stand up for the scumbag they represent, or the survivors of said scumbag. It's a ****** time we live in these days.
Nail boards under the dirt,make sure they are on your property. 2-4 flat tires and they will be Leary of doing it again.
AmateurSawer
ArboristSite Operative
A lot
A lot of us feel that way but,in my opinion,you did the right thing by reporting it.All the firewood there isn't worth going to jail over and someone might still be cutting your woods. Cameras are a great idea,especially if they get faces and plates.In the state i live in,No Trespassing signs give law officers probable cause to check if someone has written permission to be on a property and to cite trespassers without the landowner having to be contacted. I don't think the landowner has to be in court. The fact the sign is there shows your intent.Plus,the law puts the burden upon the trespasser to see the sign more than the signs'ability to be seen. I have signs up at each gateway onto my property and most is fenced between so they have to know they're on the same land.I still allow hunting and fishing but mine was from a liability standpoint.
Hey mudstopper, read that whole thread,
that wood that MT Res got, was in a NATIONAL FOREST, Not any where near Private Property, I don’t always agree with MT Res, but as someone who cuts a LOT with permits in National Forests, MT Res did nothing wrong, I respect you a lot, and what happened to you Seriously SUX, but those are Two Entirely Different situations, it is too bad that some from that thread had to drag it here as well, guess that’s one of the prices of losing Pol/Rel
I do Hope that the thieves are caught and charged
Doug
Bobby Kirbos
Scrounger of Cellulose Based BTUs
Some "no tresspasing" signs ON the stacked wood may help deter some too. Perhaps another sign that states "smile, you're on camera" will deter the rest. Cameras are really tiny these days and they can be hidden enywhere and be impossible to spot, so you don't even really need to put up a camera.
TBS
I have chainsaws and chainsaw accessories.
We've had people come on our property and try to get wood off our friends pile, see em loading up until they see my big ass walking down the meadow drive, hear the same story oh the owner said we could then I say no I didn't but feel free to take the rounds along the fence by the road. They leave and never return.
benjo75
ArboristSite Guru
My great grandpa was a game warden and a wolf trapper in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Back then it was common for folks to go the woods and cut down a tree, cut it up, split it and stack it then come back and get it as needed. I was told he was quite contrary and very firm. But honest. Which I'm starting to notice in myself as I get older. At least the contrary part.
He was driving to his wood pile to get a load and there were a couple of guys loading it in their truck. He held a gun on them as they finished loading it and delivering it to his house. He wasn't worried about them retaliating since he was well known and being a wolf trapper he kept a wolf of two that he had trapped on a cable around his house. Why he did that I'm not sure. But I stlll have people tell me they used to drive by his house to see them.
He was rifling through a deer camp after the hunters had left and ran across some negatives from a camera. He had them developed and it was his boss from the game and fish commission with an illegal deer. He commenced to take legal action. He didn't get too far before he was made to drop the case. But not until after he had done everything he could to give him a ticket. He was an old character that everyone has a story about.
He was driving to his wood pile to get a load and there were a couple of guys loading it in their truck. He held a gun on them as they finished loading it and delivering it to his house. He wasn't worried about them retaliating since he was well known and being a wolf trapper he kept a wolf of two that he had trapped on a cable around his house. Why he did that I'm not sure. But I stlll have people tell me they used to drive by his house to see them.
He was rifling through a deer camp after the hunters had left and ran across some negatives from a camera. He had them developed and it was his boss from the game and fish commission with an illegal deer. He commenced to take legal action. He didn't get too far before he was made to drop the case. But not until after he had done everything he could to give him a ticket. He was an old character that everyone has a story about.
benjo75
ArboristSite Guru
This is an article that was written about him some years back. You'll have to dodge around a bit to read it and have a good zoom since I took the pics on my phone. But if you ever get bored and have a spare ten minutes it's an interesting read. Not trying to derail the thread just thought about him when I read this.
Attachments
Short timer
Wish you'd stop being so good to me captain
Yeah, I’m not sure when benefiting off of someone else’s hard work without permission became acceptable behavior in this country, but according to some, it has.
One of the many reasons I heat entirely with wood is knowing I did it through hard work. It would never cross my mind to take someone else’s wood pile that they worked for, Private or public, legal or illegal. That is all irrelevant to me, I don’t need laws to tell me what is right and what is wrong.
Take a can't hook
Roll a few logs up that's on top of the stack easy to cut.
Put a length of barb wire under each one roll them back over.
I stopped a idiot cutting a pile of poplar that way
I was saving it for the mill.
Roll a few logs up that's on top of the stack easy to cut.
Put a length of barb wire under each one roll them back over.
I stopped a idiot cutting a pile of poplar that way
I was saving it for the mill.
I have signs similar to that up, and no trespassing signs as well. Fortunately it hasn't been an issue since. still boils my blood when I think about it.
I read what he wrote.Hey mudstopper, read that whole thread,
that wood that MT Res got, was in a NATIONAL FOREST, Not any where near Private Property, I don’t always agree with MT Res, but as someone who cuts a LOT with permits in National Forests, MT Res did nothing wrong, I respect you a lot, and what happened to you Seriously SUX, but those are Two Entirely Different situations, it is too bad that some from that thread had to drag it here as well, guess that’s one of the prices of losing Pol/Rel
I do Hope that the thieves are caught and charged
Doug
Now I don't know about you, but I don't trim and buck wood for just anybody to haul off. If I go to the time and trouble to trim and buck a bunch of wood it is because I intend to get it for myself. He admits he felt like he was being a thief, and its still my opinion that he was. Around here, the forest service or the power companies might cut a lot of trees and leave laying, but they dont cut and limb any more than they have too to get the trees on the ground. They certainly dont buck and trim the wood into firewood lengths. National Forest or private property, it is clear to me the wood was already claimed by someone else. Just because they had not already hauled it all, doesn't mean they gave up their claim to the wood. I know what I would have done if I caught them, and that's the reason I decided to donate what was left of my log pile. Firewood isnt worth spending time in jail over and it isnt so valuable that its worth stealing from someone to get it. And to add to this perspective, I tried since last July to give away 7 cords of dry, split wood. Nobody would come and get it, they wanted it for free as long as I hauled it to them, but were not willing to load and haul it themselves. I finally gave the last 2 cords to a church that took it to a disabled family that couldn't gather the wood themselves. My point is, I would have given the people the wood if they had asked. The thief didnt ask and I draw the line at stealing.
I’ve heard a story of a guy who cut a hole in a few logs and filled them with a bit of fun powder then plugged the hole. I’m guessing that guy never stole logs again.
