What a BUMMER

[trumpeterb]

My mother-in-law, a great lady God Bless her, lives in the woods. She recently had a couple of huge trees blow down in a storm...one oak and one maple I believe. She and I cut the wood up, split it, and stacked it earlier this year...it was a great stack by the time we were done. Last year, she had a huge stack as well and sold it to a gentleman in need of wood for his burner. She was planning on keeping this stack for her own burning and to give me some as well. She came home from a meeting the other day and found the entire stack was gone, and there was an envelope containing $50 in her mailbox...cash...no name, no check, and no note indicating who took it. She assumes that it may have been the gentleman from last year, but she can't proove it.....it may be time to invent a "lo jack" system for firewood stacks......

 

[Wet1]

Or buy a video based security system. That would really piss me off. Then again, at least they left something...

Maybe she just sold it and is giving you the business??? :cheese:

 

[trumpeterb]

I wish she sold it and was giving me the business....but alas, 2.5 cords gone. She was not horribly upset, just dissapointed....we have enough wood without it. The funny thing is that if someone really needed wood, even if they could not afford it, she would have probably given them some of it at least...she is very generous.

 

[Wet1]

There are some real scumbags out there...

 

[jj3500]

That is real ballsy (sp). Imagine, setting up in someone's yard for a least 30-45 mins. moving all that wood. I can't imagine what the words would have been if you guys came upon this guy loading up.

Funny and as strange as it is, I too have thought of this scenario happening to me. My wood is in the front of my house right next to my driveway. Wouldn't take much. In and out pretty quickly...get a handful of young guys...etc .

Sad world....

 

[trumpeterb]

I have started stacking my wood behind the dog kennels...if anyone even comes close to it, the dog will go nuts and probably scare them off...it's definately enough to alert us in the house that someone may be out there....

 

[Flatbedford]

My neighbor told me a story about a friend of his who believed a neighbor was stealing his wood. This guy took one of his splits into the work shop and with a wood lathe bored a 1/2" hole into the center of the split about 1/2 the length. Then he put and M80 in the hole. He made a plug for the hole, marked the split in a way that only he would notice and threw it back on the pile. A few weeks later, there was a huge explosion at the neighbor's house. It blew the back of the fireplace out into the lawn and took down the brick chimney as well.

 

[trumpeterb]

LOL....that reminds me of the story of the kid that always had his lunch stolen out of his locker at school, so one evening he made chocoate chip cookies, only instead of using chocolate chips, he used chocolate ex-lax tablets....the next day, the theif was caught running to the bathroom every 15 minutes.....

 

[Wet1]

My neighbor told me a story about a friend of his who believed a neighbor was stealing his wood. This guy took one of his splits into the work shop and with a wood lathe bored a 1/2" hole into the center of the split about 1/2 the length. Then he put and M80 in the hole. He made a plug for the hole, marked the split in a way that only he would notice and threw it back on the pile. A few weeks later, there was a huge explosion at the neighbor's house. It blew the back of the fireplace out into the lawn and took down the brick chimney as well.

Sadly, if true, the friend would be held liable for that POS screwing up his place.

 

[Flatbedford]

I don't know if it is true or not, but I like to tell the story.

 

[burntime]

I can just see it...Man you blew up my house with that wood I borrowed!

 

[jj3500]

somehow I believe the law would find the guy who owned the wood at fault. Must have been more than an M80 to blow out a brick...right? Still funny.

 

[billb3]

50 (nor 200 if this story predates 1968 or so) milligrams of powder will not blow the back of even the most poorly made fireplace out.

maybe a M90. and it would have to be an old tale, too.

 

[blades]

I had the problem of stacks shrinking, had the perp on video but cops too lazy first time around( had the plate #,said it wasn't any good) added a video camera that does not use infrared( as that just reflects off lic. plates and blooms out the picture) but could still see at night with ambient light. Nailed them on video week or so later, no way out for cops as you could read the writing on the guys tattoo and the truck plate clear as day ( same # as before). Have not had any issues since but heating season is not too far off. Got the dry stuff locked down in a fenced area, wet stuff in the open for now.

 

[Slow1]

Perhaps more work, but less liability involved: Cut a split in half, carve out the middle to make a compartment, then put one of those wet newspaper filled plastic bags in there before gluing the splits back together again... put the fire out but don't cause any real harm?

 

[maplewood]

Sorry for your loss, trumpeterb. I never put a lot of thought into someone stealing fireood.
This year I ranked my firewood next door in my sisters field - a lot more sun and wind than I get.
We're both on 600' driveways in heavy woods - and my firewood is only 1/4 way down her driveway.
Dad thinks its a prime spot for a thief - can't be seen from the road, can't be heard from the house.
After your story, now I'm even more worried!

 

['bert]

Someone a few threads back suggested the idea of putting an imprint on the splitter that would leave an identifiable mark on the wood that you split. I like that concept. Hard to do if you are using an axe.

Last year I offered up my time and splitter to help a person (I use the term loosely) split up about 5 cords with the understanding that I would get a half share. Went to pick up my share and sure enough all the wood was gone (he does not burn). He claims someone stole it - all of it! His wife is home all day and his MIL lives on the same 10 acre plot.

99.999999% sure he sold it, he even knew who had it - I was POed but decided it was just time spent to find out who he really was, some time and fuel lost, but knowledge gained. He was one of those types that was always looking to borrow this and that anyway. He has not talked to me since. Small fee to pay & worth every penny.

 

[TreePapa]

Out of sight out of mind??

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[heppm01]

Perhaps more work, but less liability involved: Cut a split in half, carve out the middle to make a compartment, then put one of those wet newspaper filled plastic bags in there before gluing the splits back together again... put the fire out but don't cause any real harm?

Hey, if you're gonna go through all that trouble, why not just glue oak bark over all your pine splits?