Stolen Firewood

[Danno77]

A relative of mine and his wife got their Minn. house robbed the first week they moved there from NYC.

yep, that's what I thought. MN is a tough place to live. Pretty sure that I just read in USWeekly that MN is ranked #1 in crime. Specifically the non twin-city areas...

 

[blades]

Kudos on your method of transport, that is some serious exercise.
Game camera with lots of motion lights and a very loud siren/bell. Potassium permanganate sprinkled liberally on various pieces of wood will stain the culprits hands/clothes a lovely shade of blue, won't wash off either, once some moisture gets to it. ( this one of the items they use to reduce or eliminate iron in watersoftner systems ) Not dangerous. Post private property signs, this escalates the transgression in the eyes of the law. I have had the light fingered wood fairy's visitations on more than one occasion. the first one I caught got a $350 fine, after posting the trespass signs the second one got the $350 for the pilfering and $2000 for trespassing. Additional I had them on camera. The second one will suffer for the rest of his married life as the police could not find him at his place of employment so went to his home. His wife was there, you can figure out the rest. He was also let go from his job as the company he worked for has a policy of not hiring / dismissing employees convicted of transgressions.
Bad part: I can't burn satisfaction, generally that is your only return.

 

[egclassic]

That sure is a nice looking stack.
I agree on the game camera and motion light with as bright of lights as you can find.
Now that they know its there and easy pickins', they'll most likely return, be prepared! :coolsmirk:

 

[Hass]

Some people talk about burning wood to be green but drive a big old 1-2 ton truck to gather up the wood with 30 miles away, then fire up a big old splitter to split it.
THIS is being green. Also quite insane. Thanks for the pics of your set up... it's a lot easier to picture how you do it now lol. I bet you get some funny looks from cars driving by you
I like it though, and I know how ya feel about not having a truck. It's quite a pain.

lame. i hate people that steal firewood of all things. my neighbor at my montain house was taking wood from me. long story, but he didnt know i knew, he thought i would just think it was the people who "rented" my house, using the fireplace. unknown to him was i never "renting". i lent to friends and told them where to take wood from.....and where not to. the pile they were told not to touch kept going down in size....hmmmm. Whenever i was splitting wood, i always kept saying to myself, one for me, one for him.......its a good thing he didnt know what seasoned wood is, so at least he wasnt taking the seasoned stuff. the worst part of the deal is, i would lend him anything in my arsonal....chain saw, wheel barrow, rake, ladder, etc.....and he would tell me how well he looked after my house while i wasnt there. he probably used my wheel barrow to cart my wood over to his house.

I would've mixed in some split railroad ties. or maybe buy a couple Pressure treated 6x6s and split them up... expensive though.
railroad ties are free, so i would've done that probably.
Or maybe sprinkled some sugar or syrup and other crap ALL over the pile.... so it's infested with ants and other things for him to drag in to his house.
Hum...

How did it end?

 

[woodchip]

It is gutting to have your wood stolen stolen, knowing how hard it is to get.

I might copy your trailer if I may, easier than dragging wood back bit by bit on a bike on the crossbar....... ;-)

 

[bogydave]

Sorry to hear that.
We all know there is no "easy fire wood".
Motion light or something similar may deter it from happening again.
You have a unique set up for sure, enviro friendly
Never heard of a 2 cord limit, makes you wonder how some ordinances got established. That one sucks.
Hope it don't happen again, lots of hard work, gone.

 

[maxed_out]

+10 for your efforts. I'm stunned you can dothat on a bike. If I needed to add more folks to my business you would be the first one I would call.

You got my respect. sorry for this loss but I'd hope the other guy needed it and it will come back to you in spades!

 

[Gary_602z]

Report it to the police they will not care/know about any code violations. In Michigan if it is over 100.00 it is a felony so tell them it was over the felony limit as far as value. You might also be able to turn it into your homeowners insurance. If you have a good agent he will take care of you.

Gary

 

[raygard]

Electricifcation. Chain link fence and a hot wire will solve the problem

 

[velvetfoot]

My relative had software on a laptop that was stolen to give the Minneapolis cop some clues as to who stole it; they did nothing.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Glad to see you are making do with what you have and you must be in fine physical condition. Good for you. As far as the wood being stolen, that is some awful low-life there for sure.

I wonder if I could haul wood with my bike? Here is one of them.

(broken image removed)

 

[bogydave]

With the seat design
I bet you could get quit a few splits on the seat, you could sit on the handle bar. :lol:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not yet tried it for hauling deer. How do you think it would do for moose?

 

[bogydave]

LOL :lol:
May need floatation tires, seems I'm usually in or near a swamp that needs crossed.
But anything would be better than moose quarters on my back.

 

[prollynotjeff]

If you have the time pick an off color of spray paint and hit the wood ends. It wont prevent theft but if it is someone close by it will be easy to find out.

 

[Shari]

Have you asked your neighbors if they saw/heard anything? Takes awhile to load up that much wood.......

or, alternately, someone who doesn't like you posted a "Free wood at (insert your address here). Don't bother the homeowner." I see a lot of CL ads worded like that around here - makes me suspicious of the poster.

 

[Boom Stick]

A relative of mine and his wife got their Minn. house robbed the first week they moved there from NYC.

yep, that's what I thought. MN is a tough place to live. Pretty sure that I just read in USWeekly that MN is ranked #1 in crime. Specifically the non twin-city areas...

It is a recruiting ground for al qaeda in Somalia. Some bad things happening there. Sorry bout the wood.

 

[ssupercoolss]

Some people talk about burning wood to be green but drive a big old 1-2 ton truck to gather up the wood with 30 miles away, then fire up a big old splitter to split it.
THIS is being green. Also quite insane. Thanks for the pics of your set up... it's a lot easier to picture how you do it now lol. I bet you get some funny looks from cars driving by you
I like it though, and I know how ya feel about not having a truck. It's quite a pain.

lame. i hate people that steal firewood of all things. my neighbor at my montain house was taking wood from me. long story, but he didnt know i knew, he thought i would just think it was the people who "rented" my house, using the fireplace. unknown to him was i never "renting". i lent to friends and told them where to take wood from.....and where not to. the pile they were told not to touch kept going down in size....hmmmm. Whenever i was splitting wood, i always kept saying to myself, one for me, one for him.......its a good thing he didnt know what seasoned wood is, so at least he wasnt taking the seasoned stuff. the worst part of the deal is, i would lend him anything in my arsonal....chain saw, wheel barrow, rake, ladder, etc.....and he would tell me how well he looked after my house while i wasnt there. he probably used my wheel barrow to cart my wood over to his house.

I would've mixed in some split railroad ties. or maybe buy a couple Pressure treated 6x6s and split them up... expensive though.
railroad ties are free, so i would've done that probably.
Or maybe sprinkled some sugar or syrup and other crap ALL over the pile.... so it's infested with ants and other things for him to drag in to his house.
Hum...

How did it end?

they were actually renting the house. he had is own "thriving" drywall business....or at least thats what he told me. one day he was riding a 4 wheeler and busted up his leg real good, with no healthcare insurance i think it put them in a financial bind and moved out shortly after that winter. and i never really thought about this before, but i guess most things have a way of fixing themselves.


i hope the wood bandits in the original post have some type of misfortune.

 

[zachhandler]

How well does it stop? I would be terrified of riding that down a hill. Maybe you could rig up some trailer brakes...a cheap set of cantilevers on the trailer wheels and a strategically mounted handle on the bike might be cool to do. You could use the front brakes on the bike and the trailer brakes in place of the bike's rear brakes. Just thinkin out loud....

Lukem - I would love trailer brakes. The rig is scary to stop on anything but a gradual downhill at low speed. I can actually lock up both wheels on the bike on dry asphalt. It's a bad feeling cause I know that if I go down there is a quarter ton of hardwood about to crunch me against the asphalt and bike frame. Bottom line I choose my route very carefully. I've also come to a standstill trying to go up a steep hill. That was a dicey situation as well. I managed to ease the thing backwards into the weeds without a runaway or jackknife, and then had to unload half the wood and try again.

The nice thing about the setup though is that I can basically cruise the bike paths with impunity. I try to get out there and harvest the blowdown before the city crews can get to it. Anything they get they just put in a chipper. Recently I saw them chipping 20 ft sections of white oak that were 24 - 30" in diameter and straight as an arrow. Such an insane waste of valuable lumber!

 

[firefighterjake]

I would definitely check with the neighbors . . . it sounds like this stack was pretty close to your home . . . it would be pretty gutsy (perhaps not the best choice of words for a thief) to load up a pick up full of wood . . . during the day or night.

 

[lukem]

How well does it stop? I would be terrified of riding that down a hill. Maybe you could rig up some trailer brakes...a cheap set of cantilevers on the trailer wheels and a strategically mounted handle on the bike might be cool to do. You could use the front brakes on the bike and the trailer brakes in place of the bike's rear brakes. Just thinkin out loud....

Lukem - I would love trailer brakes. The rig is scary to stop on anything but a gradual downhill at low speed. I can actually lock up both wheels on the bike on dry asphalt. It's a bad feeling cause I know that if I go down there is a quarter ton of hardwood about to crunch me against the asphalt and bike frame. Bottom line I choose my route very carefully. I've also come to a standstill trying to go up a steep hill. That was a dicey situation as well. I managed to ease the thing backwards into the weeds without a runaway or jackknife, and then had to unload half the wood and try again.

I used to tow my kids around in a trailer behind my Gary Fisher. With the trailer and a couple two-three kids I was pushing 150 lbs. Lots of granny gear up hills, and avoid going down hill as much as possible. I can only imagine what a load of wood feels like. Kudos to you...or you're crazy....I think a little of both apply, no offense.

 

[tamarack]

I never knew "City Logging" existed. I learned alot on this site.
Sorry to see your log wealth "redistributed". Times must be tough when firewood gets ripped off.

 

[redhorse]

I second the adding of a camera or an alarm; the "putting M80s in a log" or "boring it out and adding gun powder" might actually end up getting YOU into trouble. There are some really nice wireless door alarms that could be set up to go off when a certain piece of wood was moved.

Is there anyway for you to store your wood out of sight? Perhaps build/find a shed to put it in? Tarp it? Put it behind some sort of "wall" (blocks, shrubs, etc)? Of course, the thieves already know you have wood, but "out of sight, out of mind" might stop someone new from getting the same idea.

Can you put some sort of cable across the lane/driveway so they can't get a trailer/truck in? Any way to make it "difficult" for them to get to the wood pile?

I have a feeling in this economy and with the prices of everything going up, we may start seeing more and more of this...

 

[zachhandler]

Well now my woodpile should be chicken proof at least. I have to add a tarp on the top and then secure the fence ends with baling wire (the zip ties are temporary to hold the thing inplace). I'd say the pile was thief-proof, but making that comparison would be an insult to chickens.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

but yer still gonna wonder everytime say, you leave a tip when you get a cup of coffee, or you hold the door for someone when going in and out of the convenience store . . . was he the Mutha' that stole my wood???