Bad new about a fellow member

[John Paul Sanborn]

Bad news about a fellow member

I just got an email that GFB had all there equipment burglerized from their storage site.

Too new to have gotten theft insurance yet. Many of the saws were used by Gary's son logging full time.

 

[treeman82]

That kind of scares me as I am currently in the process of setting up my own shop. The other night I had left the place and locked up. Came back the next night and the door was unlocked As far as I know only 2 copies of the key exist... 1 is on my keychain and the other belongs to the owners of the building which is a deli.

 

[GFB]

I had planned to post, but wanted to wait until I was less sad/mad, so I would not sound like a crazy person! But, since John broke the ice, I will respond.

If you are not insured for theft, get it now! For $200 a year, I could have saved myself a $14,000 nightmare. We are still kicking ourselves, but we did feel secure where our trailer was stored. It's not like we never planned to get it, but we just started storing our gear in the trailer instead of loading/unloading into our 2 storage bays. It's beyond me how someone would do such a thing.

We will recover and get back in business, but with a leaner amount of gear for now. I will not let this stop us from pursuing our goal!

If anyone is interested in a list should you run across someone trying to sell "like new" climbing/rigging/Stihl gear, email me and I will get back to you. I know it's a longshot, but most of what was stolen would not be of interest to anyone but an arborist.

Thanks,

Gary F. Bishop

 

[D]

GFB, terrible to hear of your loss, especially this time of year. If you get a chance post, any info you have on this equipment, post it here, such as models and serial numbers. Good luck on your quest to find them. What a christmas present .

 

[Treeman14]

GFB,

Let us know if you need any used equipment to get you back in business. Most of us have some older gear just lying around. It may not be pretty, but it might help get you back on your feet. When something like this happens, I feel we should all pitch in to help if we can. Just let us know if we can do anything.

 

[GFB]

Thank you all for your concern. Fortunately, my son and I both have other full time jobs and do not rely on tree work yet for our bread and butter. My son does work for a logging company, but he does not need to supply any gear, although he often used his own.

We were just getting everything together and were planning to continue to do weekend work to gain experience and hopefully a good reputation for doing quality work as arborists, not toppers. I probably spent more on gear than most beginners, but it was my intention to see him off to the best start I could. Some of what we had, I probably will never buy again, but some, like our brand new portawrap that was never used, will be replaced as soon as we are sure that our gear will not surface locally. Our Stihl dealer already said we just have to ask and he will make it happen!

Thanks again, and thanks for all of the valuable postings. We have learned a great deal from this site and the people that post here.

Gary F. Bishop

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Take the list of serial numbers and pass them around the local repair shops. I know of one guy in this area that had a saw turn up that way.

 

[D]

.....also the pawn shops.

 

[UrbanEarth]

Darin, how about a forum called 'Stuff stolen by lazy, good for nothing, bottom feeding scumsuckers". Anyone who has something lifted could post location, makes, models, and serial numbers, so someone might be lucky and spot some stolen goods.

Just a thought.

Alan

 

[D]

Alan,
Very good idea. I am working on something right now that will do it, hopefully. Not on arboristsite, but for the whole Lawn and Garden Industry. I will let everyone know.

It makes me mad too, but one thing the usually aren't.... is lazy. They get up to "go to work" all the time. One thing they are are @#$%#&* dishonest a$$&*%$. This has to my biggest pet peve next to stupidity (which this falls under).

 

[GFB]

So far, nothing in the pawn shops. We also have some friends who know others that have a reputation for "hot stuff" that are keeping an eye out. These are not the people doing stealing, but are on the accepting end of a "good deal". In my book, they are not much better, but if we stand any chance of seeing something, we need an "in" with their system. Even they seemed to feel bad knowing the stuff was not insured. I think that is their justification, "well it's insured, so they will get paid for it!".

I will be working on our list over the long weekend, and will begin posting as soon as I have something.

Thanks again!

Gary F. Bishop

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I say it's a tree worker.
Who's going to steal a porta wrap, unless they know what it is?

 

[GFB]

We thought so too, but another construction trailer filled with tools and other construction equipment was hit in the same lot. This is an organization (Habitat for Humanity) that builds homes for the needy!

Most of the rigging gear was in tubs/cases, making them easy to steal. They would not necessarily have known the contents until they went through the stuff later. They just figured that it was worth stealing.

We are putting the word out to everyone we can think of that would be approached on the climbing/rigging stuff, hoping it will get them caught.

Thanks,

Gary F. Bishop

 

[NORTREE]

Keep an eye on E-Bay(and other internet auctions) for stolen items.I have seen a lot of tree climbing and rigging items on there lately.
I lost a bunch of small tools in a fire years ago that were covered under a"marine policy"that I had to cover a chipper loan,my agent thought enough to ad small tools to the policy.These policies are a couple hundred dollars a year.
Good luck,
Keith Norton

 

[GFB]

Here's the Stihl list:

Chainsaw 066-142632127
Chainsaw 020T-47034333
Chainsaw 020T-142790381
Chainsaw 088-27200017
Chainsaw 026-30341

Pole Trimmer Saw HT75-246625959
Trimmer FS85-44296470
Leaf Blower BG65-49098409
Hedge Trimmer HS80-46520608

We also had a Husky Stump Grinder 272S-27206121

I will post the climbing/rigging stuff later.

Thanks,

Gary F. Bishop

 

[sgreanbeans]

gfb
im down in the Q.C., i get alot of guys trying to sell me stuff all the time, look up McKinley Tree Service down here in bettendorf. give me a call so i will have your number. Last year a guy wanted to sell me an 088 and a066 for $250!
my partner when i went too look at them was actually a cop who had a list of serials reported stolen. they were on it! he went to jail. Give me a call

Scott

 

[KevinM]

Hey sorry about your loss but move in and get some insurance and most likely your stuff is long gone as I know as I have been robbed of almost 10 grand worth of tools one time.

 

[cantoo]

While thinking about theft get fire insurance too. A local company just lost $500k in equipment and the kicker was it started in the WOOD stove to heat his shop. Some farming equipment was also in the building.

 

[sgreanbeans]

GARY,
If you guys need harnesses I have 2 pretty good ones that are Mediums,If you are interested drop me a line.