Where'd my wood go?

[Kiliam]

I will apologize up front for what may be long and rambling story/rant. I just really need to vent to someone who will understand and appreciate how I feel.

My wife and I took our dog with us for the first time to visit my stepfather up in Vermont. Peyton had never been on a truck ride for more than 45 minutes or so before. So a 4 hour ride and meeting pops dogs was going to be a real adventure. Normally a friend stays at the house with her for the weekend. I managed to get the truck loaded and on the road by 5pm, just as the rain started. Made sure all the windows were locked and the lights were on in the living room.

When we got home sunday night I was exhausted from the drive and being up late the night before. You need to have a few barley pops while you watch the night race. Anyways, I managed to bring the dog in and unload the truck. Once I took my shower I let Peyton out to do her thing and got the shock of my life. Someone had stolen about a 1/4 cord from my woodpile. I just stood there and started yelling and cussing. Whoever this scumbag is also managed to knock down another 1/8th of a cord in the process.

I ran in the house and started calling all my friends to see if they had "borrowed" some wood for the weekend. All I got from them was a big fat no. They all want to save it for when they come over for football.

The neighbors behind me own a flower shop and go to bed at 7:30 or so. Well and it's kind of hard for them to see through the 30 foot long pile of wood that borders their yard.

The neighbors across the street, directly facing the pile looking down my driveway went on a cruise and left a half hour after us on friday.

I realize that my 8-9 cords of wood may not be much to some on here. Believe me I wish had half the ambition and fortitude some of you do when it comes to firewood. They only got 1/4 of a cord but man did I worked hard for that heat.

If you managed to read all of that then I thank you.
Karl

 

[wkpoor]

I have a friend who have burned wood to heat his his whole life and has never cut split or saved in wood ahead for the up coming season. I asked him one time why one who depends on wood heat wouldn't have it all ready before the season starts. He said cause the neighbors would just steel it from me.

 

[KMB]

I understand your anger. Every stick of firewood is heat and you've worked hard for it. That's just ignorant on the thieves part. Hope by some chance you catch them.

Kevin

 

[smilin possum]

I fell the pain man. Year before last somebody helped them self to a full cord from our woodpile. If a man or his family are cold I would have give him wood since alot of ours is just that. We try to help keep the elderly who heat with wood that don't have family or family to sorry to help them in wood. They wont go without heat. Also the down trodden or jobless. I bear the full cost of this and it makes me happy to be able to do it. We use a lot of donated trees and get some free help and labor, I supply the saws, oil, gas, tractor or loader, and the trucks to do this. I'm not complaining, but I'm like you when I went over and saw all that wood gone I could have really hurt someone. I don't like a THIEF. So we are keeping a better watch on the woodpile but you can't watch it all the time. I would have give them all the wood they wanted if they would have asked probably would have hauled it to them. But to just help your self to someones stuff don't sit well with me. I'll get down off my soapbox now and say they will stand for judgment for this one day.Saw Safe.

 

[cjcocn]

That really burns me up (no pun intended).

A man puts in some good hard work to build up his wood supply and then some :censored: comes along and makes off with some of it.

I think I'd best not say anything beyond that.

 

[Kiliam]

I appreciate all the kind words, I really do. All i got at work was shrugs and blank stares. At least the dog had good weekend playing in the woods instead of just helping me with my wood pile.

 

[mickeyd]

I keep about 10cord cut and split drying at the far end of my property .near the road . My wife has said several times I should move it away from the road so a thief wont help himself . I always say . no one would steal wood . thats a shooting offense here in NH . after hearing your story maybe I should reconsider keeping it so close to the road
md

PS what a beautiful doggy ya got there

 

[WVwoodsman]

That is frustrating to say the least. There is nothing worse than a thief or liar! Cute dog you have.

 

[matt9923]

That sucks. Iv had wood stolen. Iv had trash dumped iv had trees taken down while i was away.

What really got me was someone cutting 80+ year old oaks on my property! I wish i caught them, they would have walked home in pain and id keep their truck and saws.
Someone dumped a bunch of oil cans near my brook once. Whats wrong with these people.
They steal wood from my pile and leave it uncovered? Common now i have 12" of snow to clear off.

 

[MotorSeven]

1/4 cord?....I think they will be back for more, so you may want to take precautions.
Jesus Karl, those splits are huge....what kinda stove do you chunk those monsters into?

RD

 

[Fronty Owner]

On the subject of wood disappearing. I swear my wood pile is about 6 inches lower than this spring when I stacked it. The profile looks the same and its not readily accessable. How much will wood shrink as it dries?

 

[garmar]

Sorry to hear about that and I hope they don't come back for a second score.

That sucks. Iv had wood stolen. Iv had trash dumped iv had trees taken down while i was away.

A friend and I put a 55 gallon barrel at a local creek where kids hung out and tossed their beer cans and bottles in the water. We thought they would use the barrel for trash, and they did.

We would take it and dump it in our dumpster once a week. On one of those trips to dump it we discovered that someone had left a sofa next to the can for us to drag off.

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Worked a couple seasons for the state parks back in college.

Few times each summer you'd find garbage bags dumped along a dirt road -- and we weren't exactly a remote park.

Put on the rubber gloves, go through the trash, find old bills...

"Here's your garbage back. And your court date."

 

[J.W Younger]

On the subject of wood disappearing. I swear my wood pile is about 6 inches lower than this spring when I stacked it. The profile looks the same and its not readily accessable. How much will wood shrink as it dries?

wood will shrink quiet a bit. I have 8 stacks beginning in feb till present the 1 cord stacks have lost anywhere from 20cf to less than 10cf for the 1st 5 stacks' I'm sure some of it is setteling but most of the loss is srinkage.
On the up side if its srinking it must be drying, right?

 

[J.W Younger]

for the op, sorry for your loss .

 

[SSG Medic]

Last winter my step father had about 2 cords taken from his property. They even knocked over about another chord. He thinks he knows who did it. If it is the person that he thinks it is he would gladly have given him the wood since he was recently unemployed and bad off finacially. My stepdad doesn't use the wood to heat his house just his beach house that he has a wood burner in.

I was also pissed about that because I helped cut, load, split and stack that wood.

The thing we were both pissed at was that some one stole it. I hate theives and think that they are the lowest rung of society.

 

[Boogieman142]

I've had wood taken from me without permission. That stopped after I installed cameras on the piles and had them motion activated to start recording. When it started recording the t.v. turned on. Many times it would just be an animal but once it wasn't. Could see someone loading up a truck. Well, I did learn one thing when a gun gets loaded right behind you, you tend to listen.....

 

[matt9923]

I did learn one thing when a gun gets loaded right behind you, you tend to listen.....

Sure does!!

When i was working at a job site their was a massive stump hole, guy decides he doesn't want to pay me for taking down a few extra trees. I told him he had 2 day's to pay me or he will be 40 feet underground rotting with 500 stumps.
I got my money an hour later.

 

[Straightgrain]

Its going to get worse before it gets better....

A "City slicker" wouldn't life a finger to help themselves; the people that would actually do manual labor to steal something (spent my life watching and studying people's habbits/traits)
are type "A" going on a camping trip and took the ad-hoc opportunity.

A fella up the road had an entire log truck load stolen the day before it was to go to Hampton.

When my customers pick up their wood, I issue a detailed proof of purchase slip so they can't be questioned/mixed up with a thief.

Sorry for your loss my friend.

 

[Wife'nHubby]

We used to have wood stolen on a regular basis but it han't happened since the neighbor behind us moved away.........

Shari