Fuel thiefs!!!

[Woodhauler]

They got a full tank out of one of my hired skidders tuesday nite! Was able to track them by the fuel leaking on the road! It went on a dead end road with only 5 houses! Can't tell which one cause the trail dried up/ fuel stopped running out! Problem is 3 out of the 5 are possible places it could be! I am going knocking on doors saturday morning, letting them know someone stole my fuel and a thief lives on there road! Should make them all wonder!!!  Good thing the woodcutter didn't find them, he was armed with a 357! Armed and ticked off!!!!   >:(

[1270d]

There was a great article in a timber publication early this year where a logger caught one of his truckers stealing fuel.  The truck driver would always get to the site before everyone else and help himself to a little fuel from the onsite tank.  Well the logger got wise to this and drained the tank, refilling it with water.  Needless to say the trucker had some issues the next day.   

Hope you catch the thief!  Teach em a lesson

[Ianab]

Sometimes Karma gets em....

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Cameras-capture-gas-thiefs-wild-ride-176698381.html

Mesa police say a man, later identified as Herbert C. Ridge, 37, was using a homemade electric gas siphon to steal fuel from a truck in a driveway near Signal Butte and Broadway roads Wednesday afternoon.
A spark from the siphoning device may have caught Ridge's clothes on fire.
He ran into the street, rolling around, trying to extinguish the flames.
When he got back into his truck to flee the scene, the flames spread from the suspect's clothing to the interior of the pickup.
Ridge bailed out the door, but the truck kept rolling and crashed into a garage a few homes down from the site of the theft

You can't make stuff like that up....

Ian

[furltech]

they hit us two times in the last month ,getting colder the guys that are to lazy to cut wood steal fuel for their furnace .we stop fueling at night in the winter 

[Ron Wenrich]

No locking cap on the fuel tank?  All the ones around the mill have them and I believe there's ones on the skidders.

[Dom]

Most people around here have locks on the tanks and machines. Bolt cutters are too cheap though, although the theives probably steal that too.  :

I also know of someone that buys fuel for his home through the business (and does not reimbourse). I let the owners know about it, and they shrugged me off.
Similar to 1270d story, a local farmer was getting annoyed that his fuel was getting stolen. He placed water in the gasoline, and the next day the culprits car was seen broken down on the side of the road.

I hate theives.

[sawguy21]

A local farmer had a double tank, one compartment for gas and one for diesel. He had the fuel delivery driver reverse them, that cured the problem. ;D

[giant splinter]

If a thief was smart and saw that his tank was leaking why would he not turn up a road to fix the leak and then resume with his clean getaway plan?
You are most likely on the right trail and thieves typically are not very smart, I hope you find the culprit and he pays for the fuel.

[John Woodworth]

I had a neighbor kid that used to steal the gas for my sawmill off the back of my truck on Friday nights years ago, so I loaded the two 5 gallon containers with a pound of sugar the comming thursday night, Saturday morning a wrecker towied his car home with a blown engine, never had the problem again afterwords.

[dwchaisson]

Little of a similar story, friend of mine got home from work one after noon to his door kicked in guns stolen tv gone along with a number of other items, later that evening another friend found an old dodge van with a hole through the firewall and a bigger hole through the block with a puddle of oil below, long story short he always kept his 308 loaded with one in the chamber, I guess carma is a *Please watch your language, this is a family forum!*!

[c_silva88]

i had the same problem i  eventually found out who was doing it and had a cop friend talk to the kid and his father since then no problems i would have handled it my self but the kids underage so i wasnt gonna go to jail over some gas.

[clww]

This has been mentioned on the forum before, so how about a hidden trail camera for photographic evidence?

[timberjack 450]

I used to sell trail cams. So needless to say I have quite a few kicking around. I try to keep 2 on my logging jobs facing my machines and one hidden on my firewood pile. I live in a small town and caught a thief yrs ago. I used him to make a statement so most leave me alone. I work to  hard to loose money to someone who doesn't want to work for his money.

[sawguy21]

Little of a similar story, friend of mine got home from work one after noon to his door kicked in guns stolen tv gone along with a number of other items, later that evening another friend found an old dodge van with a hole through the firewall and a bigger hole through the block with a puddle of oil below, long story short he always kept his 308 loaded with one in the chamber, I guess carma is a bitch!

:D :D :D :D I bet THAT got their attention.

[Woodhauler]

Well i went pounding on doors this am, got the thiefs wondering! next time i will not be knocking! ;D

[snowstorm]

Well i went pounding on doors this am, got the thiefs wondering! next time i will not be knocking! ;D

i have the scanner on   i havnt heard your name on there yet

[Ken]

Sometime over the last few days someone cut the battery cables off the dozer and took the 2 batteries.  The dozer was sitting close to the pavement on a busy road.   I'm *pithed. 

[Black_Bear]

You are most likely on the right trail and thieves typically are not very smart

We had some fuel stolen from a site in western Maine last winter. We informed the local warden. A day or two later the thief was caught selling off-road fuel out of the back of his truck, in 5 gallon buckets, about 4 miles from the job site in the middle of town. Yeah, not so bright.

[redneck]

Ken I would be carefull after you install the new bateries, they might be back!!  we had some new batteries stolen out of one of the excavators at work this spring, If was at a jobsite right in town.  I second the idea of trail cameras.  I have one myself i use to keep tabs on the camp and skidder.

[Mooseherder]

My wife noticed the fuel door open and the gas cap off on the truck this morning when she was about to take off.
Sure enough we figure they siphoned off around 5 gallons of diesel.
Had they closed the cap and door we may have never noticed.
It's almost like they were taunting us or maybe we came up on them without realizing it.  All this in our very own yard.
I was more worried they may have put something destructive into the tank but all seems fine.
I've got a game camera out back that needs to be moved I guess.
I also need to get a locking cap.   What a pain in the butt.

[justallan1]

That is something that I just won't stand for. We keep dyed fuel and gasoline at the ranch I work for and some guys seem to think it's just part of their pay I guess. I let them know right off the bat that they are stealing my bonuses and raises and will, without any doubt, say something about it. This ranch treats everyone great and if that's the thanks they want to give then I have nothing for them!

[ArborJake]

 This younger fella that works for me milks cows morning and night for his neighbor. he usually relieved himself by the deisel tank in the morning. Well they had fuel stolen many time too and so they installed a security camera by the tanks. One day the farmers wife came out and explained this to him. Needless to say he was embarassed. The next day he decided to relieve himself through a hole in the barn in the hay mow where he wouldn't be seen. He peed on the electric fencer outside under the hole in the barn and got the shock of a life time.

[redprospector]

Well, everyone has a price that they would be willing to be called a thief for.
Thank God that mine is much more than a tank of fuel.

Andy

[Black_Bear]

If you are having problems in Maine you may want to consider contacting the Maine Forest Service. From experience I can attest that they are very easy to work with and will do all they can to prevent any issues, or at least hopefully produce some evidence that will help prosecute. This article suggests that they have been busy Downeast this winter.

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/29/news/down-east/pembroke-man-charged-in-logging-site-fuel-theft/ 

[GeorgeK]

Be careful knocking on doors. My wife's grandfather in 1951 was shot to death while trying to collect rent in Salt Lake City. So be careful other than that I hate thieves also.

[JuniperBoss]

Packrats eat up our potato trucks. Wires, seats, insulation, etc. They leave their pellets as well, not good. I suggested to park them in an agriculturally active valley, where the potato cellar is, because packrats aren't as populated there, compared to forests and undeveloped areas. May not be a good idea though, because the trucks would be parked right off the road and thieves could suck out the gas!