lock her up

[paul case]

i went to the sawmill about 1 mile from my house this morning to split some cedar planks for a friend and someone had politely opened my gate and the doors on 2 buildings and took;
660 mag 25'' chainsaw
029 super 18'' chainsaw
poulan 20'' chainsaw
 3/4'' proto socket set
3/8'' and 1/4'' socket set
2  craftsman  cordless 19.4 volt drills
an arm load of other hand tools and wrenches.
and other things i am sure

its a dirty rotten shame that a man cant try to make a honest living without someone stealing the tools he has.

paul

[Magicman]

That is so sad Paul.  They'll probably hit a pawn shop within 50 miles with your stuff.

All of the police/sheriff reports in the world won't get all of your belongs back, plus you will always remember that you were violated.   

[paul case]

sounds like experience talkin

i have had stuff stolen before. never got it back or found who done it.  pc

[riverswamp sawyer]

Someone who steals  tools from a  person trying to earn an honest  living  should be given the electric chair...... after they are beat almost to death........

[Coon]

I have had way too many things stolen from me over the years.  I invested in an infrared game cam.  It works great.  About a month and a half ago I had some stuff stolen.  I took the SD card to the police.  It was not two hours after I reported it that I got a call that they had caught the culprits and found some of the stuff.  The two guys are each now doing five years in the crowbar hotel as they are repeat offenders.  I told the cops that they had better hope I don't get ahold of those two when they get out...

Brad.

[KyTreeFarmer]

Bummer Paul, Closed gates are just invitations to a thief, they know something is in there. Probably looking for stuff to sell or trade for drug money. Cops probably know who they are already, just can't catch 'em with the stuff. Did you have any of your stuff marked? That helps sometimes.
KTF

[customdave]

That's a shame, someone needs to start manufacturing motion detector  operated 12Ga shotgun security systems! I have had troubles in past & lets just say firearms helped to curb this problem....


                                                         Dave ;

[Doug_D]

Nothing worse!  My experience has also been less than desirable even when the stuff is recovered!  Dealing with the police was PITA!

I once had some fancy imported car rims stolen from my garage when I lived in a small town (morons walked right by a supercharger that was worth thousands!).  Filed a report with the police and even mentioned to the officer that I would probably see the guy driving around town with them on his car someday.  Sure enough...3-4 months later guess what drove right in front of me at a 4 way stop?  The guy driving totally knew who I was and took off running.  Total dumb a$$.  What happened after that was the real crime.  I called the police and gave them the tag number and they even located the car (small town < 5,000 people).  But they did not want to leave the guy without tires for his car.  They where going to let him keep them until he "found" some other rims\tires.  I had to call the county & state police on my local police before they finally confiscated them.  So for over a year they were held in evidence, but I was granted visitation.  Finally during one of my "visits" I talked one of the officers in letting me go take the tires off the rims....I never took them back.  So, in essence I had to steal my own rims back from the police department.

Just sucks you can't trust your fellow man.  Locks are to keep honest people honest....

[terrifictimbersllc]

Sorry to hear this, hope you get some new things.

[paul case]

kytreefarmer,
my stuff was all marked up. looked bad enuf to me that i thought there was no danger of anyone wanting it.

river swamp,
i thinks they ought to have their sack nailed to a stump.

terrific,
i think the thieves hope so too.

probably wont get anything new for a while. we will see if any of my stuff comes back. i am really gona miss the proto socket set . i purchased it at the estate auction of a dear friend of mine.  pc

[Banjo picker]

Sorry to hear that report...What should happen if they are caught is they should be your property untill they wear all three of those saws out...with you mixing the gas....Tim

[Autocar]

Thats a bummer for sure ,I worry everytime I leave home wondering if someone will steal use blind. Theres been alot of it going on here lately in our area.

[r.man]

Sorry to hear of your trouble Paul. This seems to be a fairly universal problem that unfortunately is on the low end of the law enforcement radar. Try not to let it bother you too much but make sure you report it. A paper trail will help, especially if you happen to see one of the items in someone else's possession.

[paul case]

oh i have reported it in 2 of our three states. being here in the corner doesnt help. mo, ok , and ks dont share info. and yes the deputy that came out only kept telling me that now all the crooks and theives will know where my tractors are and they will be back for them.i could only say who besides me would know how to start these old junkers and who would want them? so i parked my old logging truck crossways in front of the locked gate and took the keys. if they steal anymore stuff they will have to pack it 600 or 700 feet to the road where they parked in the middle of it.

[Bill Gaiche]

Doesnt it make you mad as hell and sick at your stomach at the same time? You never know where they will stricke next. It will get worse before it gets better is the sad part. Hope in some way you can find justice at what happened. Hope you have better days. bg

[paul case]

thanks bill. pc

[Coon]

I think ya need to set up a trip wire with a 12 guage w/ heavey loads.  When ya hear the shotgun go off come out there with a good high powered rifle and settle things down if'n they aren't already.

[easymoney]

 doug-d that is hard to believe. the policeman must have been buddies of the thief to suggest that you let him keep the wheels until he could fond some more. we do not want to make it too hard on a thief do we?

[whiskers]

PC, would that be a burning fat lighter stump with a broken coke bottle nearby?

[captain_crunch]

But Legaly you got to let em steal it Here in Oregon gistappo wont even look at anything under 600.00 in theft but try driveing with an expired tag= if no revenue to them NO time to look. Till some poor soul takes shotgun to them and is aquited for have haveing enough no help in site.

[just_sawing]

I run a blade route here in Middle TN. Oneof my customers just had the same thing happen. I am taking steps here at my mill for protecting what little I have. So far 400lb of dogs running around has helped

[paul case]

we got 4 problems with my situation.
1 in ottawa county there are 11 or 12 casinos. this draws in a lot of folks here to make a quick buck and most leave pennyless
2 my place is near the spooklight road. there are parkers every night of the week and they get out of their cars and walk thru the woods and try to spook each other. lots of other mischief too.including drugs.
3 the sherrifs office is in miami 20 miles away. and i get the impression from the deputies that they dont care. the one that came out said there is really nothing we can do except tell you that the thieves will be back to load up anything else they can get.
4 there is a low number of parents willing to teach their children how to make an honest living.


thats just how i see it. pc

[riverswamp sawyer]

hmmmm.... if the Deputy said there is nothing they can do, I wonder if they would do anything if you happend to shoot or beat the Hades out of the hoodlums??

[paul case]

i would have to ketch the lil boogermen first. we had a sherriff that had some common sense a few years back. he said  in a tv interview that if we caught them to kill them and they couldnt sue us that way. we had a lil less crine in ottawa county when he was in office. pc

[petefrombearswamp]

The dirty *&^%%&*^^
Sorry to hear this.
I leave my shop and mill area here in the finger lakes region of New York unlocked.
Probably will happen to me some day
Makes you NOT believe in the innate goodness of human nature.
May they rot in wherever those types end up.
Pete

[paul case]

the detective just called me. 7 days after the break in. wanted to know sn on the 2 saws so he could register them on ncic(registry for stolen items that goes nationwide.) they have no clue where who or what happened to my stuff.   

where can i buy the cheapest game cam?pc

[Magicman]

Wildview, probably at Wally.  Don't let the cost fool you.  They are pretty DanG good cameras.

Google it.  There may be a better supplier online.

[beenthere]

I bought some "Wildgame Innovations" 1.3 megapixel cameras at Wally's last year for $50 each. They work very well. Jeff was the one who put me onto them.
Thanks Jeff  

[DanG]

I hate a thief as much as anybody here, and I'm pithed at what happened to Paul.   However, it is unwise to recommend that anyone should set a deadly boobytrap to protect their goods.  If one of those mischievous kids comes through there trying to scare his buddy and gets killed by it, the property owner would be facing murder charges.  Big, loud dogs are a much better option, as that will keep them from coming in to start with.

[ljmathias]

I agree with Dang: traps have a bad habit of catching the wrong thing.  You just never know who might wander onto your place with no evil intentions at all- mentally challenged neighbor boy all of a sudden started showing up on our land, just wandered off from home and got lost.  That's the kind of thing that you don't want to have a trap set go off on...  just a thought.

Lj

[paul case]

i thinks i just wants their pictures soes i cant knows whos  takin my stuff.pc

btw, clumsy and forgetful as i am , i would be caught in my own trap. probably will take a lot of pics of me.

[DanG]

Yeah, I know what ya mean, Paul.  Sorta like the feller who set up a game-cam next to a bean field and got 100 pics of a combine going back and forth.

[Slingshot]

   A security system like my son has is the way to go. He works for Honeywell and has access to
some rather neat equipment. He has cameras set up around his house inside and out that
he can monitor from wherever he is through his cell phone. And when set to do so will trigger an
alarm and will send him a picture from any of them anytime someone walks by. He put a security
system in my home that is wireless and he maintains it through the phone (land line). I don't have cameras
on it but it is set up so if the alarm is triggered by opening a door or window or by a fire, it sends
 a text message to his cell phone and also to my cell phone. Sends another text message when the
alarm is shut off.  Going to set up some cameras later but will only be monitored by me.


____________________________
Charles   

[Magicman]

Yup, I always get pictures of a guy on a JD with either an 8' Bushhog, or disk behind it.  Same feller each time.  

[pineywoods]

I have a system like slingshots covering my mill, shop, and house. $30 cameras, $25 adapter board with software in an old junker pc. Game camera's are ideal, except the thieves usually steal the camera. 

[paul case]

Yup, I always get pictures of a guy on a JD with either an 8' Bushhog, or disk behind it.  Same feller each time.  

would that be you?

I have a system like slingshots covering my mill, shop, and house. $30 cameras, $25 adapter board with software in an old junker pc. Game camera's are ideal, except the thieves usually steal the camera. 

this would be my luck. i was wondering if those cams make any noise?  i plan to hide the camera so that it would be sorta hard to find. pc

[gunman63]

 U have to get the infared ones so no flash, harder to find for the thief to take. they dont really make a noise for u or me to hear, but animals know their there, nothing like a big deer or  bear nose to take up the full screen.

[DanG]

i plan to hide the camera so that it would be sorta hard to find. pc

Put your camera in a cage and put a live rattlesnake in there with it.

[paul case]

danG i guess if i had a live rattlesnake in the cage and managed not to get bit, i would only have a lot of pics of a live rattlesnake.pc

[easymoney]

my car has a security system built in from the factory. one day i reached in through an open window and opened the door. it did not like that. the lights started flashing the horn started honking. after a couple of minutes it shut up. i bet if a thief stole it it would go quietly.

[Okrafarmer]

Pretty soon the whole govt system could end up collapsing, and then we can protect what's ours without fear of the system. Maybe. Who knows. I had one chainsaw stolen, and I think a peavey, although that might have just fallen out of the back of my truck. Most people around here don't even know what a peavey is for if they see one.

[sandhills]

I really like DanG's idea surely there's some way you could pull it off

[r.man]

Saw some good pictures last year of some fellows stealing a tree stand. The owner had put up the camera to take pictures of deer and had not hidden it at all. The thieves were so intent on the tree stand that they completely missed the camera. I've been having problems with vandalism at a fairly remote property with no hydro so the wildlife camera sounds good but I was also wondering about making it either inaccessible or hidden or both. Thought maybe a bird house up high would do the trick.

[Okrafarmer]

Thought maybe a bird house up high would do the trick.

Yes-- a bird house that isn't really a bird house. "The old camera in the birdhouse trick."

[paul case]

well they hit me again.
this time i had the gate locked, and everything was closed up as it always is when i am not there. about 3 weeks ago i had noticed that 2 tires that i had taken off the front of my pickup were missing from the shop. then today i got the log truck and trailer out of the barn and low and behold the spare tire was missing. along with the crappiest chain(every other link had been repaired and it had 1 enormus hook and 1 real old hook) that was the right length to tie down the tractor and the binder was missing also. i bet they were winded packing all that stuff to the road. i know that the spare and chain and binder was there last week after i had noticed the other tires missing. theives are a bunch of worhtless jerks. pc

[Bill Gaiche]

PC, you have nicer names for those thieves than me. Sorry to hear about the hit again. How can you afford to keep stocking all those other competitors in your area? bg

[Chuck White]

Hopefully you got pics this time.

Nothing worse than a thief!

[SwampDonkey]

One of the neighbors living nearby my uncle has a game cam that caught a thief on video. He told my uncle to watch the ice flows, he wasn't calling the cops to report the theft, he had his own way to deal with it. My uncle has had 2 chainsaws stolen, weed whacker and binoculars. A thief is dead meat in my book.

[weisyboy]

duno what the worlds coming to.

we have always had our stuff left out, was never a problem, if someone wanted to borrow it it was here and they were welcom to it, recently i have noticed things not coming back, small things mainly. but i dont like the idea of having to lock the joint up when im not home.

also since i moved the sawmill out here it seams people think i am "carls free wood factory" and seam to think its ok to take timber from stacks and piles without asking or paying.

after a few orders were short on arrival iv had to start strapping everything as soon as its cut.

and a big sighn might me in order.

[Just Me]

 I have had tools and material stolen myself. I sold my secure commercial building lately and moved my stuff to a pole barn out in the middle of nowhere, and this kind of thing worries me. I keep all of my rare tools and cutters at the house in town, but there is a lot of stuff at the new location that is vulnerable. I am building a house at the same location, but it will take me some time to get there as I am building for cash, and almost out.

I never thought of a trail cam, good idea, I will get one or two.

I had the entire top story of a house I was building for myself stolen, on a Sunday afternoon. They must have watched me leave, as I was back in a couple of hours. I always paint on the side of lifts of material with spray paint just for this reason, and about a week later I saw atruck with one of my stacks of insulation board in the back. I had a chain saw in the back just for the purpose of cutting the thiefs hands off. I whipped the truck around to give chase, drove through the fence at the E-way, and caught up to the guy. I was screaming at him to pull over and he stepped on it. I was driving a 58 ford pickup with a 223 six, and he just lost me.

 I turned in his plate number, and the police eventually caught the guys that stole it. The thing was, this guy was just a customer, and I am so glad that my 58 was slow, I would have mangled the wrong guy I was so mad. The police found a warehouse full of stolen materials, from all of the builders in the area, and the thefts stopped.

 Funny thing though, not one of us local builders got a single piece of material back. Imagine that.......

If you are counting on the police to protect you, you are a fool.....

[Bibbyman]

Well,  I've been lucky up until now.  I went out to cut up a dead elm that had fallen last summer behind the mill.  Went for our Stihl 260 and found it gone.  Looked everywhere.  The 044 is still there and a $1,000 worth of Sears tools - including a new Craftsman cordless drill that was only feet from the saw was that is no more.  Looked everywhere for an hour just in case I forgot where I used it last.  Asked Mary. She agreed we used it last two days ago and where it was.  She looked too.  Gone.   

What next?  Talked about putting tools is place to lock them up but that's a hassle getting them back out and putting them away again.  And it'll just be a place they can break in and steal something.  Security system?  Security gate?  Sale out and move to an apartment?

[Tom]

That's too bad, Bibby.  Join the crowd. 

The security system and the gate are the only two things that might deter thieves. It's not going to stop them though.  I agree that locking everything up is a terrible inconvenience for the owner and especially so when you are trying to keep a business going.   That, and a security system, may be the way to go.  You can turn off the system and open the door to the shed when you need tools.

Our community gets "cased" regularly.  We have a neighborhood watch program that has helped some, but only because of the involvement of a few who take it seriously.  Expect to be stopped and asked if you can be helped if you are seen on our road and are not recognized.  I've taken pictures of people and automobiles that are suspicious looking and made myself obviously visible when I did it.   Even with all of that, someone will get "hit".

There's a lot of satisfaction gotten when the police are able to apprehend thieves and vandals because of the Neighborhood's vigilance.

We have a community neighborhood watch bar-b-cue/get-together at least twice a year and business meetings in someone's house once a quarter.  We invite the City Councilman and the police.  The Councilman is beginning to realize that we are serious and is showing up a little more than he did when we were new.  The Police have always been interested and always have something from our precinct to tell us, giving a little presentation each time.

Your being a public business, it might make good sense to have a 24/7 video camera, or two, that lets you know what is going on, on your property.

Don't you just hate that "being violated" feeling?

[Bibbyman]

I'm thinking of making a sign out of an old car hood or something saying "You steal, we shoot".  Paint a silhouette on it and shoot it full of holes.

The gravel guy came by to check to see if the recent rains have brought more gravel.   We visited.  He said someone stole a new mo-ped from then they got a kid for Christmas.  It was leaning against the dust-to-dawn light40’ in front of his house.

Lots of theft in our area.  We’ve just been lucky.

[beenthere]

It was leaning against the dust-to-dawn light40’ in front of his house

I think they just light the way for the thieves.    First they can see what is there, and second, they know where the shadows are to lurk.

A motion-detector light will pop on when there is activity about, and possibly make the intruder a bit jumpy as well as let the owner know that something moving is out there.  Just my opinion.

[r.man]

Bibby, I feel for you. I keep thinking I should change my habits but I always come back to the same thing. Am I willing to change my life to eliminate what is effectively a bit of minor thievery? Admittedly I have not lost a lot of stuff over the years but nothing is ever locked. I have had more trouble with vandalism and I have tried to not make many changes because of that either. The one change I am making is a locked gate at my vacant property. At least if they are going to steal they are going to carry as well. I cannot claim to have originated my attitude. Years ago I talked to a friend who owned a store. They claim if you can keep your shoplifting down to a certain percentage then you should just ignore it. You will spend more money getting it to zero than it is worth. Since then I am not willing to spend lifestyle to eliminate all problems. As long as it is not too severe I let it slide, my easygoing lifestyle is too valuable to give up because of some idiot with sticky fingers.

[terrifictimbersllc]

I'm thinking of making a sign out of an old car hood or something saying "You steal, we shoot".  Paint a silhouette on it and shoot it full of holes.

Maybe some pine coffins outside?   A couple open and then one or two banded shut with about 200 pounds of something inside and "Funeral Home Pickup" sign on them. 

Seriously once I was on vacation in Key Largo walking around and there was an unattended vegetable stand there with a box for putting the money in.   Right next to the money box was a plaque which read "Thou shalt not steal".  Maybe a big sign like that would help. 

[paul case]

thou shalt not steal is only effective to those who have a conscience. most burglars dont.
bibby,
i truly feel your pain and you are lucky i would say. i have a locked gate and have started taking the few tools i have home with me. lucky for me i dont have too many tools left thanks to those theives. i think one of those adt signs would be the only sign that may help. pc

[Magicman]

I guess that we now have a quorum, so we could form a "Ripped Off" club.  Won't help with security, but at least we know how each other feels.

I hope in the days/weeks to come you don't discover other stuff gone too.  Maybe it's time to get a big dog, but that would be another mouth to feed.   

[campy]

Here is what I do:

1) live near the city police chief
2) Lock up good chainsaws to the barn post
3) Keep dead chainsaws that look nice and leave them unlocked.
It is good vengance to have a thief get a saw I have cussed out repeatedly.
Especially if it has siezed up.
4) Dog
5) I saw my logs at home
6) Monitored alarm system in the shop.
7) fake security cameras

[mad murdock]

I feel your pain PC, several years back there were some no-goods that had gotten in to our fenced compound where I work.  A driver came in real early to go on a job, he was by himself around 5:30 in the am.  I had been out fixing an aircraft in the woods the previous day, and the trusting nieve soul I am, left my keys in my pickup, unlocked inside the secure compound, as I drove the company rig home that night.  I get to work the next morning ( the morning the meth-heads got inside when the driver was there), My truck was there, I parked the company rig around the back of the hangar, and went about my work.  Around break time I noticed my pickup was gone.  Come to find out the crook(s) had gone through everyones rig that was not locked, they even broke a couple windows of some that were, looking for credit cards, or anything they could rip off of value, then the drove out in My pickup!  I had some tools, and a custom pair of boots I had hand made in Honduras, oh yeah, and also a 1937 Winchester Model 64 sporting rifle that I had bought from a dealer in Fairbanks, because it was one of those too good to pass up deals.  The biggest shame of it all was I never even shot that rifle once.  Long story short- a couple days later I saw my truck in traffic not a mile from where it was stolen, and called the cops, they closed in on the 2 guys in the truck, and we got to watch them take these guys out of circulation.  My truck was never the same though, and my stuff never was recovered.  Kind of an icky dirty feeling, like was said earlier, you feel violated.  Captain Crunch is right, the local law here in Ore will do nothing to fight real crime-- doesn't pay like writing citations does.  While I was driving my truck to the police compound for processing a cell phone that belonged to one of the perps rang, and I asked the officer if could answer it, to maybe get some leads as to who these low lifes were, or where there base was, he said they would take care of it.   Nothing ever came of it.  The guy who was actually driving my truck got 6 months for unlawful operation of a motor vehicle, and that was it!  The other guy claimed he did not know the driver, and was just hitching a ride across town.  I can not stand the thievery and corruption that is so rampant in our society today.  It needs to be done away with one way or another.  I hope you recover from your loss Paul.

[Shotgun]

Hey, I'll join the ripped off club too. My wife had $3500 worth of jewelry taken from our bedroom by one of 7 old ladies playing bridge at our house in summer of 2008. Long story, but it could only have been taken by one of those women. We had owned one rather expensive ring for, which was taken, less than 24 hours. One ring and her favorite strand of pearls were gone.  No solution. Finger prints didn't help.

Guess what?  No more bridge at Norm's house.   

[bama20a]

I'm thinking of making a sign out of an old car hood or something saying "You steal, we shoot".  Paint a silhouette on it and shoot it full of holes.
       There is a man not far from here that has a large farm,With barns -tractors & the works,Anyway at the start of his driveway is a large (4'X8')sign that reads,
  "Warning this place guarded 3 nites aweek by a 12ga shotgun. Guess which 3"
I've always got a kick out of that one.

[Slingshot]

 My son works for Honeywell Securty Systems and put in a wireless system in my home but gave me
a different sign to put in my yard...

 



It even has a solar powered night light on it:
 



My system isn't monitored by the company, but if it is activated it sends me a text message on my cell phone and also one to my son in Florida. Does the same if a fire alarm is activated. He has cameras in and around
his home that he can monitor at anytime wherever he is. Can see who might be there or who might have
been there as far back as he chooses. Recorded pictures and, or, video. He was here over the holidays and
showed me the UPS guy making a delivery at his front door (on his I-Pad.)


__________________________--
Charles   

[Bibbyman]

Besides our recent loss,  I’m getting very disgruntled at all the theft going on that ends up costing all of us hard-earned money.  We probably spend a $1,000.00/month at Wal-Mart by the time you add up all the groceries each week and a couple of large items each month.  I wouldn’t be surprised if theft would be 10% of that cost.  Wal-Mart (put the name of any store here) has to make a profit over the direct loss from shoplifting, cost of security, and people who just abuse a good deal by buying something, using it and then returning it for a refund.    If it is as high as 10%,  that’s $1,200.00 per year that I’m giving to support thieves!  Then we support the thieves by putting the few that are caught into prison.

My son went to buy a pair of shoes at Wal-Mart.  He got to opening up boxes of shoes and found old shoes in the boxes.  People would come in and try on new shoes, put their old ones in the box and put it back on the shelf and walk out.  I can’t remember how many pair he found but it was like a half dozen.  He called the “associate” over and showed her.  She only shrugged.  Cost of doing business.

Our local law enforcement is at best impotent and there is good sign and rumor that they are corrupt. 

[paul case]

if i catch them they will need a box and never get 3 hots and a cot. then for a while we wont need a sign. they will know nothing here worth trying to steal.
theives  tried to steal some calves from a fella not far from me. his truck and trailer was parked in a driveway to ''FRED'S'' cow pasture after dark. theif 1 was in the pasture roping a baby calf and theif 2 was waiting near the truck to help catch the roped calf into the trailer when fred walked down from his house and shot and killed theif2. theif 1 was aprehended and questioned. he claimed the truck overheated and he was looking for water. when asked what the rope was for he said'' to get the water with''. fred was never charged with anything.
no one  and i  mean nobody even tries to steal so much as a cow pile from freds place.pc

[Don_Papenburg]

I could be an ROC member also.  Them a holes got me for about 2000 worth of copper wire that I needed for my house and garage wireing.

I learned from that that a dead bolt will keep the learners out . They tried every door till they got to the one that did not have a dead bolt yet .  A screwdriver was all that it took for them to pop the door latch .

I also figure that it takes less time to put away and lock up the tools  than the time it takes me to earn enough money to buy the tools again.  Then there is the fact that the insurance company will be less reluctant to pay if the entery was forced.

[Don_Papenburg]

use the shotgun if you aim to shoot a thief .  the bullistics is a little tougher.
The consequenses of getting caught by the property owner is not lost on the crook comunity. it sure is not like having officer friendly give you a ride to town. 
 It is like my mail box , nice big blue with flames .  A big target for the would be fellons . But it was only hit once ,while all of the neighbors have had theirs attaced several times . Mine only moved a few inches ,it did not crunch ,it did not fly through the air . the 3/8" steel reminded the fools of their  folly . They inturn spred the word fast and it must have become legond among the juvi delinc crowd.  I would have loved to get that on tape.

[WoodHacker]

I have had way too many things stolen from me over the years.  I invested in an infrared game cam.  It works great.  About a month and a half ago I had some stuff stolen.  I took the SD card to the police.  It was not two hours after I reported it that I got a call that they had caught the culprits and found some of the stuff.  The two guys are each now doing five years in the crowbar hotel as they are repeat offenders.  I told the cops that they had better hope I don't get ahold of those two when they get out...

Brad.

Very glad to hear the game cam worked for you.  Have any tips on how to install mine so it doesn't get stolen?

[john_boylan]

My brother and I had a good Stihl string trimmer stolen from our seasonal house in Kentucky shortly after taking possession.  I had left a garage back window unlocked, with just enough room to squeeze by the beer refrigerator sitting (almost) directly in front of it.  We had changed the thumb-latch deadbolts when we bought the place, but once they got inside they just unlatched the garage's steel walk door and left with the trimmer.  I changed the deadbolts out to double key-lock models, screwed three 2X4s (3½-inch framing screws) over each of the now locked windows, moved the refrigerator so it blocked the window completely,  put up curtains, and drilled holes for padlocks in the tracks on both sides of the garage door.  We haven't had a problem since, but I've been thinking a lot about the game camera idea and adding inset/welded re-rod to the windows before I move any tools up there for the planned renovation.

Sorry about all of your losses--it's a jungle out there.   

[hobbytrucker1966]

sorry to hear about your loss its pretty bad when someone steals your tools i cant imagine losing mine i juess thats why i keep my mill at my house beside my garage

[Just Me]

It is like my mail box , nice big blue with flames .  A big target for the would be fellons . But it was only hit once ,while all of the neighbors have had theirs attaced several times . Mine only moved a few inches ,it did not crunch ,it did not fly through the air . the 3/8" steel reminded the fools of their  folly . They inturn spred the word fast and it must have become legond among the juvi delinc crowd.  I would have loved to get that on tape.

 My uncles was hit several times so I made him one up. I took a plain mailbox, cut a piece of 4x6 1/4"wall square stock so it fit from the back top the door, slipped it in a plastic bag and inserted it into the mailbox with the door standing up. I then poured a concrete peastone mix between the square stock and the plastic bag until it was flush with the door as well. Oh, the bag is to protect the aluminum mailbox from galvanic reaction with the concrete. I let the concrete harden for a week. I put it on the pole for him and sure enough the next night they came to play mailbox baseball. Wish I could have been there. There was a small dent, and the end of a bat in the yard! There have been a couple of more attempts with the same results.

I expected them to stop and rip the door off as it is just aluminum, but they are either lazy or stupid, maybe both.....

[bandmiller2]

Paul,sorry to hear about your problems it enough to make a preacher cuss.I know its not the answer but years ago I worked in the truck garage at a large plant we could not keep a flat long handled shovel.The forman would buy a new one next week missing, a fiesty irishman he'd go into a tyraide.Next new shove I cut about a foot off the handle and sprayed splotchy paint on it,old Eddy had a fit but it was still in the garage when he retired, and he mentioned it to me when he left.Frank C.

[SPIKER]

http://www.searchtempest.com

I use this site for looking through all the local craigs list and ebay and other locations as well using keyword searches automatically to a lot of places...

for soemthing like the WM makes searching easier..

mark

[dgdrls]

Paul C,

Very sorry to hear that,  I do like the Game Camera Idea.

Watch Craig's List and put the word out, I don't think the bigger items will be easy to sell locally.
I'm thinking big world, small community for those items.

My work truck was broken into years ago, fortunately the more expensive survey instruments went into the office
every day, but we still lost hand held calculators, hand tools and glass prisms.  Police, nice gentlemen, no help.



DGDrls

[timbuck2]

A couple old bandsaw blades throw down in the road, teeth up, goes along way as a deterant. 

[trapper]

SPIKER thanks for the website. I put it in my favorites.

[SwampDonkey]

A fella tried that with a spike belt until someone got hurt and the court favored the injured thief. Was someone on a  4-wheeler.

I noticed something in a field road once where I had to use to cross to look at the timber on the same land. Got out and looked and the owner had a spike belt hidden in a dip with hay covering it. I didn't say anything because I never saw the owner, just the loggers' job. But I said to self I will never be back to his timberland ever. I can tell ya right now that his arse would be up for liability if I would have lost any tires.

[Slabs]

Having being "violated" by thieves in the past, I feel violated every time one of you are too.

Many years ago after being violated the county Sheriff came out one Sunday morning and was chatting when I mentioned that those people out roaming around in the dark of night are apt to fall into one of the many abandoned open water wells and never be seen again.  Sheriff grinned and said "Son, I like the way you think".

Sheriff further offered that "I can have compassion for a killer in a crime of passion but there's no acceptance for a sneak thief".

Too bad there aren't more of them like that.