Honor among thieves?

[jdinspector]

I was looking over my stacks last weekend and noticed that a big chunk of one of my holz hausens was missing. This is the pile that I intend to burn this winter- about 2.5-3 cords, seasoned for 18 months. The missing chunk was on the back side of the holz, away from my view. This holz sits at the back of my property against a fence that abuts a neighbor's back yard. Easy "pickins" for someone leaning over the fence.

I've noticed that this backyard neighbor has been sitting outside the past few weekends burning fires in his outdoor fireplace. I also recalled that he doesn't have any stacks of wood in his yard. Last weekend when I was out, he asked over the fence if we were giving away any wood. I told him, "no, but my 13 year old kid would be happy to sell him some." So, he buys a big bundle from my kid for $10. This bundle would easily sell at the gas station for $20. Later, I was looking around my piles and discovered the missing "chunk" from the back of my holz.

So the other night, I left a note attached to the back side of my holz addressed to "You firewood stealin' varmint" and let him know that we "carefully and lovingly stack and dry this wood to heat our house, REALLY" and that the large amount of other wood in my yard wasn't dry for this winter yet (I embellished a bit!) and that "we might run out of wood to heat the house this year". I guess I hit him in a soft spot, because he came over while I was at work and gave my 13 year old $30 and purchased more wood from my kid. He wants my kid to bring wood over every weekend and he'll pay him cash money. My kid is excited to earn a buck. I'm excited that my kid's excited! A teachable moment?!

So, I think there is honor among thieves. (sort of)

 

[gzecc]

Some people think firewood has no value. Its just wood, it grows on trees. Its like my time as a contractor, it has no cost, they just want me to come over and estimate, give ideas and suggestions, who do they think pays for this time?

 

[okotoks guy]

Some people think firewood has no value. Its just wood, it grows on trees. Its like my time as a contractor, it has no cost, they just want me to come over and estimate, give ideas and suggestions, who do they think pays for this time?

Ran into this one 2 years ago.The wife and I store our trailer on her brothers land
where he has a cabin.When he moved in all that was up there for burning was punky
poplar.Anyways,I paid $500.00 for a cord of dry yellow birch to get through the summer
firepit season and should have been enough for the little wood stove in the winter as it
is only used a few times in the winter.My brother inlaw let one of his buddies who has
a family use his place for a week.He used almost the entire cord of wood!IN A WEEK
Apparently they were the type to start a nice big fire outside in the morning and keep it
going right through until bedtime.I was pretty mad but also,what could I say?It's not my
land,I purchased the wood for my inlaws as well as ourselves.And the guy probably figured
that the firewood had no value.Although he did comment on that was the best wood he
ever burnt camping!

 

[mayhem]

So you're still out a big hunk of your wood for this year, but the neighbor who stole it from you is payng your kid to bring still more of your wood over to his house?

About as good as you're likely to get I suppose without the guy actually admitting he stole your property.

 

[jdinspector]

Yes, I'm out of the big hunk of wood. But my kid is happy. He realizes that he got a good deal and I got a raw deal. I think he'll be a little more helpful when we have to load the holz into the wood shed in a month. (I hope). I have lots of wood, with the intention of my kid selling some. So, perhaps he has a small money making business started. Beats asking me for $$ all of the time!

 

[maplewood]

Never had anyone steal wood (that I'm aware of).
We have 6 acres of woods - half balsam fir. It dries quickly and has a low btu rating, so it's beautiful for firepits.
We cut up a few cord of that for bonfires, give-away wood, BBQ's, etc.

 

[quads]

I had one guy last winter steal from me. First time it's ever happened. He took some one night, in the middle of the night in a snowstorm, then must have felt guilty about it because the next night he came down to the barn while I was milking and told me he was the guy that took it, then paid me for it. I had never seen this guy before in my life, so it wasn't like he was a friend or relative, whom I expect to rip me off haha. Anyway, he continued to be one of my regular customers throughout the winter, but he was always slow to pay. Often helping himself to my firewood for sale and then only paying later when he wanted more, so that he was always behind with what he owed. Eventually, in March, he told me some story about a check not coming in the mail and would it be ok if he got another $25 worth without paying for the $25 that he already owed, blah blah. Like the sucker I am, I said sure. He said he would come the next night and pay me for it. Well, he did come the next night, got more wood, and left without even coming to the door. And the next night, and the next. Then the weather warmed up and he never came back. Owes me $50 to this day...

 

[Redburn]

Some people think firewood has no value. Its just wood, it grows on trees. Its like my time as a contractor, it has no cost, they just want me to come over and estimate, give ideas and suggestions, who do they think pays for this time?

Allot of people ask me questions like are times tough or laugh at all my neatly stacked wood not knowing how valuable it really is , a local know it all keeps telling burning wood is a novelty "LOL!" I live in a old victorian home the stove cuts by bill in half .I'm a contractor to and have the same problem people are strange like that....

 

[Needshave]

Some people think firewood has no value. Its just wood, it grows on trees. Its like my time as a contractor, it has no cost, they just want me to come over and estimate, give ideas and suggestions, who do they think pays for this time?

Allot of people ask me questions like are times tough or laugh at all my neatly stacked wood not knowing how valuable it really is , a local know it all keeps telling burning wood is a novelty "LOL!" I live in a old victorian home the stove cuts by bill in half .I'm a contractor to and have the same problem people are strange like that....

That crosses over to other types of business. I ran a machine shop. Quoting the work was done on my time. I did have a few customers who paid for materials and a set labor rate but they were rare. I work for someone else now.

 

[sullystull]

I was looking over my stacks last weekend and noticed that a big chunk of one of my holz hausens was missing. This is the pile that I intend to burn this winter- about 2.5-3 cords, seasoned for 18 months. The missing chunk was on the back side of the holz, away from my view. This holz sits at the back of my property against a fence that abuts a neighbor's back yard. Easy "pickins" for someone leaning over the fence.

I've noticed that this backyard neighbor has been sitting outside the past few weekends burning fires in his outdoor fireplace. I also recalled that he doesn't have any stacks of wood in his yard. Last weekend when I was out, he asked over the fence if we were giving away any wood. I told him, "no, but my 13 year old kid would be happy to sell him some." So, he buys a big bundle from my kid for $10. This bundle would easily sell at the gas station for $20. Later, I was looking around my piles and discovered the missing "chunk" from the back of my holz.

So the other night, I left a note attached to the back side of my holz addressed to "You firewood stealin' varmint" and let him know that we "carefully and lovingly stack and dry this wood to heat our house, REALLY" and that the large amount of other wood in my yard wasn't dry for this winter yet (I embellished a bit!) and that "we might run out of wood to heat the house this year". I guess I hit him in a soft spot, because he came over while I was at work and gave my 13 year old $30 and purchased more wood from my kid. He wants my kid to bring wood over every weekend and he'll pay him cash money. My kid is excited to earn a buck. I'm excited that my kid's excited! A teachable moment?!

So, I think there is honor among thieves. (sort of)

Maybe your neighbor will buy some (of your) wood from your kid and fill that hole back in with it.

 

[smokinj]

I was looking over my stacks last weekend and noticed that a big chunk of one of my holz hausens was missing. This is the pile that I intend to burn this winter- about 2.5-3 cords, seasoned for 18 months. The missing chunk was on the back side of the holz, away from my view. This holz sits at the back of my property against a fence that abuts a neighbor's back yard. Easy "pickins" for someone leaning over the fence.

I've noticed that this backyard neighbor has been sitting outside the past few weekends burning fires in his outdoor fireplace. I also recalled that he doesn't have any stacks of wood in his yard. Last weekend when I was out, he asked over the fence if we were giving away any wood. I told him, "no, but my 13 year old kid would be happy to sell him some." So, he buys a big bundle from my kid for $10. This bundle would easily sell at the gas station for $20. Later, I was looking around my piles and discovered the missing "chunk" from the back of my holz.

So the other night, I left a note attached to the back side of my holz addressed to "You firewood stealin' varmint" and let him know that we "carefully and lovingly stack and dry this wood to heat our house, REALLY" and that the large amount of other wood in my yard wasn't dry for this winter yet (I embellished a bit!) and that "we might run out of wood to heat the house this year". I guess I hit him in a soft spot, because he came over while I was at work and gave my 13 year old $30 and purchased more wood from my kid. He wants my kid to bring wood over every weekend and he'll pay him cash money. My kid is excited to earn a buck. I'm excited that my kid's excited! A teachable moment?!

So, I think there is honor among thieves. (sort of)

very good story and you kid has a JOB!

 

[firefighterjake]

I guess I would still be a bit ticked . . . my momma was far from perfect, but she did teach me to not take other people's things without asking . . . and when it comes to my wood anyone stealing from me would be like stealing my money in the bank since this wood is in essence the "money" I would have paid for heating oil.

And maybe it's just me . . . but I would hope that someone like that would simply man up and confess to the fact . . . the idea that this guy is paying your son is great . . . but it still doesn't get to the root problem . . . a guy who thinks it is OK to simply take something on your property without asking and not say anything to you. To me it would be like my neighbor coming over, siphoning off some of my heating oil in my tank (with the reasoning being that I have a full tank and probably don't burn a lot of oil) and then never say anything to me until he does it again and reads the note on the tank . . . and then gives my kid (if I had a kid) $30 to tap into the heating oil every so often and bring him over a few gallons.

 

[loon]

I had one guy last winter steal from me. First time it's ever happened. He took some one night, in the middle of the night in a snowstorm, then must have felt guilty about it because the next night he came down to the barn while I was milking and told me he was the guy that took it, then paid me for it. I had never seen this guy before in my life, so it wasn't like he was a friend or relative, whom I expect to rip me off haha. Anyway, he continued to be one of my regular customers throughout the winter, but he was always slow to pay. Often helping himself to my firewood for sale and then only paying later when he wanted more, so that he was always behind with what he owed. Eventually, in March, he told me some story about a check not coming in the mail and would it be ok if he got another $25 worth without paying for the $25 that he already owed, blah blah. Like the sucker I am, I said sure. He said he would come the next night and pay me for it. Well, he did come the next night, got more wood, and left without even coming to the door. And the next night, and the next. Then the weather warmed up and he never came back. Owes me $50 to this day...

i'd say its worth the $50 never to see the thief again ;-)

neighbour had half a load stolen right out of the driveway that was bought/dumped the day before,didnt even have time to stack it.

i have a cheap game camera set up out back...

Terry

 

[quads]

I had one guy last winter steal from me. First time it's ever happened. He took some one night, in the middle of the night in a snowstorm, then must have felt guilty about it because the next night he came down to the barn while I was milking and told me he was the guy that took it, then paid me for it. I had never seen this guy before in my life, so it wasn't like he was a friend or relative, whom I expect to rip me off haha. Anyway, he continued to be one of my regular customers throughout the winter, but he was always slow to pay. Often helping himself to my firewood for sale and then only paying later when he wanted more, so that he was always behind with what he owed. Eventually, in March, he told me some story about a check not coming in the mail and would it be ok if he got another $25 worth without paying for the $25 that he already owed, blah blah. Like the sucker I am, I said sure. He said he would come the next night and pay me for it. Well, he did come the next night, got more wood, and left without even coming to the door. And the next night, and the next. Then the weather warmed up and he never came back. Owes me $50 to this day...

i'd say its worth the $50 never to see the thief again ;-)

neighbour had half a load stolen right out of the driveway that was bought/dumped the day before,didnt even have time to stack it.

i have a cheap game camera set up out back...

Terry

And the funny thing is, I give away wood every year, probably ten times that, to people that are having a tough time, to relatives, to friends, etc. If the guy had just been honest with me from the beginning, I would have gladly gave it to him.

 

[70marlin]

I say to all you softies, next time you fellows go out to get wood or you do some splitting, grab the free loaders and make them earn their keep and they will learn the real value of split dry wood!

 

[Delta-T]

in the small village in Germany where I lived, wood thieves are eaten, and their names are never spoken aloud again.

 

[iskiatomic]

This is what makes me think twice about trying to sell some summer time "firepit" wood. You know, set up up a few piles by the road with a price, etc. etc. In the meantime you can also see many of my stacks in the back yard. I just don't need some knuckle head going outback helping themselves when I am not around.




KC

 

[northwinds]

in the small village in Germany where I lived, wood thieves are eaten, and their names are never spoken aloud again.

I like that a lot. Almost should be someone's signature line.

 

[Delta-T]

in the small village in Germany where I lived, wood thieves are eaten, and their names are never spoken aloud again.

I like that a lot. Almost should be someone's signature line.

you are welcome to it sir, as I already have one.......just change it "in the small village in <your region>......". Could work for so many things.

 

[ManiacPD]

I buy all my wood tree length then process it myself. Paying $90/cd delivered is cheaper and safer for me than dropping trees.

My next door neighbor struggles but tries very hard. I gave him my short ends one year and the next year he felt bad asking me for them so he asked if I'd "help" him drop a couple of trees behind his house and work them up for firewood. He has no chainsaw, splitting tools, etc. so you know what he meant by "help". I said yes but was busy at the time so I gave him a small roll of flagging tape to mark the trees he wanted dropped.

The next day I looked behind his house. Yep, you guessed it...about 40 trees were tagged, including some rock maple 2 ft plus on the butt...

I cut 4 of them down and he bought a maul and split them himself.

Now I just give him my short ends.

 

[maplewood]

I buy all my wood tree length then process it myself. Paying $90/cd delivered is cheaper and safer for me than dropping trees.

My next door neighbor struggles but tries very hard. I gave him my short ends one year and the next year he felt bad asking me for them so he asked if I'd "help" him drop a couple of trees behind his house and work them up for firewood. He has no chainsaw, splitting tools, etc. so you know what he meant by "help". I said yes but was busy at the time so I gave him a small roll of flagging tape to mark the trees he wanted dropped.

The next day I looked behind his house. Yep, you guessed it...about 40 trees were tagged, including some rock maple 2 ft plus on the butt...

I cut 4 of them down and he bought a maul and split them himself.

Now I just give him my short ends.

"...And could you just throw that in the basement for me?"
Wow - you're a great neighbour!
Karma - it'll come back to you!