# Hiding Firewood for winter storage! Not kidding!



## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

Well! "Katie Bar the Doors" as my Grandmother used to say. 

We ran out of firewood last winter since we worked out of state and away from our Homestead for seven months. Safely back home in December, we used up all the dry wood by early February and had to burn green wood the rest of the winter. We have been collecting firewood and kindling ever since. Neighbors know we are working - even in this heat - to get our own firewood and get it free. Free except for our own hard work.

So! Imagine my surprise yesterday when a neighbor asked me if we had collected and split "enough" firewood for winter yet and I made the mistake of bragging that YES! We had just enough and had started splitting firewood for next season.

Guess what he said? "Well.....I might need sum and so I know where to cum git it now." And he was not kidding! I know him and a couple of years ago he did come up here and begged for firewood and at the time I had plenty and gave him two truck loads.

Now that this has happened, we have decided we will not be bringing the extra chunks of oak already cut in lengths. We are going to leave them in the woods safe from eyes so we can haul them to the house and the splitter as needed. 

Anyone else have to "hide" firewood??? I have heard of hiding food and hiding money and heard of hiding clean water - but now firewood!


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## davel745 (Feb 2, 2009)

It is a sad state of things when you have to hide firewood because of neighbors.


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## Ruby (May 10, 2002)

Sounds like you have a lazy no good theif for a neighbor. Do you have a shed you can put it in and lock it up?


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

Ruby said:


> Sounds like you have a lazy no good theif for a neighbor. Do you have a shed you can put it in and lock it up?


Thats what I was thinking also.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Did you tell him "NO"?


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## edcopp (Oct 9, 2004)

A bit like feeding a stray dog.

He most likely has relatives that live near me.


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Tell him he needs to call his Dr and find out what he charges to remove bird shot from his rear first .Buying his wood may be cheaper :happy:


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Should of told him NO. It was your wood for the following year. You are going to use it, right? Should of told him you did not have any spare.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

davel745 said:


> It is a sad state of things when you have to hide firewood because of neighbors.


you aint seen nothing yet.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

tell him you will trade it for $100 a load.


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## shannsmom (Jul 28, 2009)

Seriously, tell him no, he better not come take it, it is your property that you worked hard for. There is plenty of time for him to work on his own supply. The nerve of people!


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

elkhound said:


> tell him you will trade it for $100 a load.


Yes, if I were you I'd put up a sign next to your pile saying, "Firewood for Sale! $5 an armload" or some such thing.


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

all of the above... and when he comes to call tell him you have been waiting for his payment on the last two truckloads and you have cameras on your wood pile as times are tough and thieves are among us....he feels entitled to the fruits of YOUR hardwork....its a major problem in this world...


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

I reiterate the story of the little red hen or the grasshopper and cricket...

then tell him the lord helps those who help themselves but if I find you helping yourself to my wood you might just get to meet him.

If hes cash poor then a barter may be in order and if not and he is able bodied a fair share of labor to cover what he needs.

I like to help folks but to just out and out plan on "using" me and mine nope!

did he ever try and repay the previous favor?


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I would be outraged if someone told me in July that they had no intention of laying in their own supply of firewood, and intended to come get mine! And he would have known in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't be getting any! He has months to lay in a supply of firewood!

How do you know he won't be nosing around your woods and find whatever you have hidden anyway? If you can't see it from your house, you won't be able to see it being hauled off to the neighbors house. Once there, could you prove it was yours?

Find out what the going rate is for firewood in your area. When he asks for some, tell him what it will cost him. The suggestion of $100.00 per load would actually be very cheap around here. This is one place that sells firewood here T & C and Son Firewood - The biggest woodyard in the Inland Empire 

And note, they charge for delivery too.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I would hide my splits in the woods, under a brown tarp and then pile brush all over it.
Find a spot where ivy, virginia creeper, morning glories etc.. grow and pull back the vines, stack your wood, tarp, brush and then lay the vines up and over...

but of course fillng up an empty cabin with it works great too.
Just bar the doors and cover the windows.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I have always wanted to ask someone like that why he thinks it's OK to take someone elses stuff or make use of their labor. Usually when that happens, my jaw drops open and I don't recover fast enough to ask. But I wonder what goes on in someone else's mind that allows them to think that way.
BTW the last time I said "no" to someone, they took it anyway. So I would take it as fair warning of his intention.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

It would almost be worth it to leave a stack of visible firewood.
And inject it with something that smells so foul when it burns that it would drive him out of the house..
giggle.


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

We did tell him no. The last time he got wood then we were in a much better economic position to be "sharing" and, at the time, we allowed him to just "take things". He has never stolen anything but he always wants to get something for free. And, before my husband was sick last year (and lost his work) then it did not hurt us so much to "share."

But, now we are pinching pennies twice before we spend them and the firewood will heat our home and cook our food and we will not have to spend money on the propane.

When he said he was going to come get wood later this winter, my middle son spoke up and said $125.00 a truck load and when the man looked surprised my son said "Isn't that the amount you charged when you sold the wood you got from us last time??"

The man took wood from here one year - two truck loads and later bragged he had sold it "in town" for $125.00 a load. So, we said we wanted $125.00 a load.

He will never pay us for wood. The log pieces we have cut for next year are safely in the edge of the woods and behind a locked gate. He is too lazy to get them anyway. He just wanted the wood that was already split and stacked up neatly.

Oh well - at least I know better now who our friends are and who are not.


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## flewism (Apr 2, 2007)

Yea that sucks, when I had a place up north I had to keep the firewood under lock and key. I processed a couple of cord a year off my land for hunting and snowmobile trips and it was stolen repeatably. Being a part time resident I guess meant open season on my place.
I've never had firewood stolen at my full time home and I keep 10 to 15 cord out in the open all the time. 
You need to be very blunt with your neighbor.


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## cast iron (Oct 4, 2004)

Cabin Fever said:


> Yes, if I were you I'd put up a sign next to your pile saying, "Firewood for Sale! $5 an armload" or some such thing.


I wouldn't want that person on my property at all.

I'd tell him sure, one cord minimum, I'll deliver it, and it will be $894.78 per cord. How many cords would you like?


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

meanwhile said:


> When he said he was going to come get wood later this winter, my middle son spoke up and said $125.00 a truck load and when the man looked surprised my son said "Isn't that the amount you charged when you sold the wood you got from us last time??"


Bwahahaaaa.
I really did laugh at loud.
Good job, middle son!


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

That's the problem with "sharing" with the neighbors in the first place. Once you give them a free load of wood, they think you are obligated to provide free wood for life.


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## simplegirl (Feb 19, 2006)

That is great what your son said to him!! LOL!!


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## silverseeds (Apr 28, 2012)

holy cow! he bragged about selling wood you gave him!! Id ask for 125 a load, AND 250 for the past due amount for the last haul you graced him.


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## Cliff (Jun 30, 2007)

Good job to your son! He thinks on his feet


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

You might wait until you hear of a free tree down somewhere and then drop by the guy's house and let him know he could go get that. I would add that, "I know we joked about you getting some wood from us this year, but we will be needing all we have and won't have any to spare. I'd hate to accidentally shoot you, thinking you were a wood thief. So you might want to go get that free stuff."


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Good for your son speaking up like that. You gave him wood before and he went and sold it? Can't say what I would have said to his face if I would have heard that.

Yup, sounds like you need to put it out of sight somewhere.

Personally, with me being always evasive and never one to divulge secrets, I would have said "won't know if we have enough wood until winter's over".


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## TNnative (May 23, 2004)

meanwhile said:


> The man took wood from here one year - two truck loads and later bragged he had sold it "in town" for $125.00 a load. So, we said we wanted $125.00 a load.


The sheer unmitigated gall of some people never ceases to amaze me! :smack


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## TNnative (May 23, 2004)

Danaus29 said:


> "won't know if we have enough wood until winter's over".


Who knows how bad winter will be this year? My mil was saying the other day that she was looking for it to be a bad winter, the corn shucks were so thick. :shrug:


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

TNnative said:


> Who knows how bad winter will be this year? My mil was saying the other day that she was looking for it to be a bad winter, the corn shucks were so thick. :shrug:


So how can you know in July if you have enough for all winter? Winter may last until May. If that happens everyone except Cabin Fever will freeze to death. 

Wonder if they'll invite us in to get warm if we bring a covered dish and drinks?

But seriously, you never know if your wood will hold out or not until the winter is over. So you keep gathering and stacking and splitting and covering.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

ovsfarm said:


> You might wait until you hear of a free tree down somewhere and then drop by the guy's house and let him know he could go get that.


Waste of effort.

Folks like that are simply out to get all they can for nothing. Pure leech. 

A better move would be not to have anything to do with the slob, and if he sets foot on your property, tell him to "git and stay gone"......cause the next time you won't be NEAR as friendly. ( Display of a firearm with the "git" message is appropriate )


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

Find you someone with a few cats (preferably tom cats) and let the cats "mark" a few pieces of wood. Put those pieces where they would be the easiest to get. The next time he comes to borrow, with or w/o permission, make sure he gets those pieces.


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## lazyBum (Feb 27, 2012)

I can't remember where this story came from, but I'm thinking it came from family in Kentucky. Somebody's wood pile kept evaporating and they couldn't find out who was taking it. So they bored a hole in a piece and slid in a stick of dynamite. News travels pretty quick when a stove explodes, lol.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

My dh's dad did something similar. They had a tank of kerosene they used for burning stuff outdoors. It kept "evaporating", especially when the weather got chilly. He added a bunch of gas, dry gas and some other flammable material. A few days later a nearby trailer caught on fire because of a problem with their kerosene heater. He never lost any kerosene after that. (the family made it out safe but they lost everything in that fire)


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

lazyBum said:


> I can't remember where this story came from, but I'm thinking it came from family in Kentucky. Somebody's wood pile kept evaporating and they couldn't find out who was taking it. So they bored a hole in a piece and slid in a stick of dynamite. News travels pretty quick when a stove explodes, lol.


Black powder charge maybe, but not dynamite. It won't explode in a fire, and in fact, is how old dynamite is disposed of.


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## lazyBum (Feb 27, 2012)

TnAndy said:


> Black powder charge maybe, but not dynamite. It won't explode in a fire, and in fact, is how old dynamite is disposed of.


I learn something new every day.


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

TnAndy: I am not messing with any Black Powder! I made that mistake once already. My sons talked me into buying some "black powder" which they were going to use for a "science project". I did not know what it was but bought it anyway........that's another story.......

Yes, the man one time called and asked me if he could have some firewood since he "needed" it. I thought he was cold and so I said OK but later found out he took two whole pick up loads when I was not at home. A few weeks later he came up here to do some work for us and he must have either thought it was OK to brag about it or he just was .......not bright......but he bragged to my sons that he sold the firewood he took from here for $125.00 a truck load! I did not hear it but the boys told me. When I asked him about it he said that I did not "need" the firewood and he did!

Anyway - what a jerk. He won't be getting any of this wood. 

Now I have to start a new thread about Black Powder adventures........


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## edjewcollins (Jun 20, 2003)

Yeah, I think him and I would not be on speaking terms after that for several reasons!


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I'm drowning in dead oak right now... that and I never burn wood, as long as the free gas is on... I'd tell him he's more'n welcome to all he wants... just get it while the ground is dry... no driving around getting stuck in the winter time in my cluttered yard.

If I were a depending on it, and he said something like that... I'd just remind him that I'd be needing a barrel of diesel brought over, or a 100lbs of new nails in a box (if I 'knew' he had anything, I'd say bring 'that' over, and we'll dicker)


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## Welshmom (Sep 7, 2008)

Wow,that is truly shameful behavior.
We have the opposite problem around here. Neighbors will 'give' you something of value, like a cord of wood, or livestock, or repair a hole in a basement wall, and they will NOT tell you what you owe them! There is a whole little game that goes on, and you have to keep track of who did what for you so you can pay them back some day! Telling your neighbor he owes you $X for something is considered rude. Leads to some funny conversations, but that's the Sconnie way


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Tell him you've had a problem with people stealing wood, so you've started packing some "special" logs with* black powder* to catch the theif


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

chickenista said:


> It would almost be worth it to leave a stack of visible firewood.
> And inject it with something that smells so foul when it burns that it would drive him out of the house..
> giggle.


Over the years I've had firewood stolen while I was on my own with little kids and always by able bodied men. Blue Dot wood has a small dot on the end with logging paint, and is mixed in the pile most convenient to the road. They've been opened a bit with the maul, shotgun shell inserted and let close again. 

Thieves are identified by the BOOM! They seem to learn a lesson about Thou Shalt Not Steal. I hate thieves.


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## bajiay (Apr 8, 2008)

In the other town we lived in last year, firewood was stolen frequently from a friend of mine, and her and her mother were both in wheel chairs. She started spray painting a line down the stack with flourescent chalk paint (that is what she called it) and when it got on you it was really hard to get off. I don't know if she ever found out who was stealing it, but that is pretty sad to steal from some disabled old ladies.


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## helper106 (May 13, 2011)

Up here in Canada, there was a spate of Christmas tree thefts right off the growers lot.
Also a problem with people cutting down trees from government parks. I spoke with a guy who's job it was to spray the trees. It was a chemical that while it stayed cool was fine, but once heated up like in a house..........smelt of skunk!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Bandit (Oct 5, 2008)

lazyBum said:


> I can't remember where this story came from, but I'm thinking it came from family in Kentucky. Somebody's wood pile kept evaporating and they couldn't find out who was taking it. So they bored a hole in a piece and slid in a stick of dynamite. News travels pretty quick when a stove explodes, lol.


 I heard of a similar tale when we were living in Maine , but they were stealing Birch cord wood from a local loggers landing .
In the middle of winter , a single wide occupied by a couple of white trash who never worked , ( and a lot suspected were behind all the fuel and tool thefts in the woods ) had there wood stove blow up and destroy most of there trailer .


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

lazyBum said:


> I learn something new every day.



Me too ! 

Just picked up on that one years ago when, as kids, we found a stash of dynamite up an old dead hollow tree.....and that's how the sheriff's folks disposed of it......burned the tree in place. 

Water had leeched the nitro out of the sticks, and it had crystallized on the outside....to unstable to take out...they said it was either stick some more up in there with a blasting cap and blow it ALL, or burn the tree. They elected the last one, since blowing it would have made a pretty good BOOM in the area it was located.


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

Actually, yes we had an issue last Summer from a guy half a block over. He needed "camp wood" for his firepit. Like your thief mine was bragging @ the corner deli. Shame his pit grew legs & walked off. 

Besides our wood stove there are two maybe three other fireplaces on my avenue alone. Street behind us two and beyond my hood where the real estate raises are a few most are gas. Only one that I'm aware off use their wood burner to really heat with. That may all change if the economy heads further south. 
I suppose if we were targeted then we'd move the firewood to the cellar. 

~~ pelenaka ~~
thirtyfivebyninety


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

I am really dismayed at the posts about doing something to the firewood that would make it blow up. That is very dangerous and could kill someone, or at least hurt them. If that wood was being burned while a bunch of kids were roasting marshmellows over a campfire, just how much debris would be blown around when that explosion happened? Think about it. What if YOUR child just happened to be around that fire? 

Now I have absolutely no problems with making that log smell absolutely nasty!! I chuckle every time I think of someone's cabin smelling of ripe skunk spray. That's lesson enough, I would think. Or, what about boobytrapping the wood pile? Even putting mouse traps here and there that would snap at the theif would at least let them know you knew they were stealing. Perhaps make them go honest again? Guess that depends on the neighbors though. 

I think I'd rather have Welshmom's problem of keeping track of the good things folks do without being asked. Sounds like a wonderful neighborhood to live in.


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## edcopp (Oct 9, 2004)

ovsfarm said:


> You might wait until you hear of a free tree down somewhere and then drop by the guy's house and let him know he could go get that. I would add that, "I know we joked about you getting some wood from us this year, but we will be needing all we have and won't have any to spare. I'd hate to accidentally shoot you, thinking you were a wood thief. So you might want to go get that free stuff."


Good chance he would need yo "borrow" a chain saw, a new chain if you have one, and gas, and some chain oil. If you have 2 chain saws he would need the best one of the two.:smack


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

I would not put anything in firewood here either since I had two neighbors who might come fetch wood "in a pinch" and it is OK with me if they do since they help me with all sorts of things. We share tools and food and jars and ....just anything and if we need something and they are not at home, we just go get it and call them later. So - I would not do anything to my firewood since it might be my own friends that got hurt.

I think we are OK now with the wood. The fellow does not come around much any more since we do not hire him and pay him for work any longer. He used to come up here only if we said we would pay him and we were thankful for his help for a while. It got to be a problem though when he would "ask for" stuff and take things that he said we "did not need". Once he took 11 sheets of roofing tin without asking. It was used and we saved it off a barn but we could still use it for other things. When I asked him to pay for it he said he could not and he had already nailed it to his barn.

We just learned our lessons with him and he does not come back up here now. I think he got the message from my son not to expect any more free wood. We left the cut chunks where they are and so they are safe. 

Thanks everyone!


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Post shtf, when you are fighting to survive I would not begrudge anyone who had to take drastic measures to protect themselves. If it takes out a few zombies it makes the world safer for the rest of us. 

Not going to comment on the here and now. But I feel the pain and frustration of those who worked their backsides off to gather enough supplies to last all winter only to have some lowlife scum who is too lazy to gather his/her own wood when it's available for just a little labor.


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