Oil theft

Ex Bouncer

With the price of home heating oil now hitting €825 per 1000ltr, the issue of securing your oil, as best you can, is a topic worth discussing on this site, as oil thefts are on the increase. I got oil this week, and I watched while it was being delivered to see who was watching the oil truck. There have been stories of oil robbed 2 hours after delivery.

galwayrush

Buy it weekly in 20-25 L drums.

Bobeagleburger

galwayrush wrote: »

Buy it weekly in 20-25 L drums.

You can buy Kerosene in a few forecourts now around the city(Tuam road near Trappers for one).

It's the same stuff afaik?

Shakti

One way I think of securing your oil is to build a shed around your tank with an alarm, even a cage would do the trick making sure of course the pipes are underground before they leave the cage/shed and not accessible outside of the house whatsoever.

Webbs

I was out passing an oil truck during the week and there was this suspicious guy furtively watching the truck, should I report it to the Garda?

Sponge Bob

If there was a theft around where the truck was delivering then yeah you should report him especially if you have a vehicle reg.

Ex Bouncer

I have thought about putting a cage around my Oil tank, however there is fair expense involved with doing this, a cage is bespoke as Im not aware of buying one off the shelf. Buying Oil on a weekly basis is awkward and expensive. I do think people should be vigilant when getting an oil delivery and report any suspects in vans looking on.;)

Friend of mine living in the city had oil stolen twice a while back, luckily they had a garage which they could move the tank into so they have been fine since.

Buying it weekly is not really practical and also more expensive, wouldnt last nearly a week either.

beardybrewer

How is it being stolen? Cap being taken directly off the tank and siphoned out? You could secure the cap but maybe that would put the tank at risk of being drilled or having plumbing messed with??

Discodog

I can't see that it is that difficult to secure a tank. The problem might be ensuring that a delivery man still has access. The aim would be to make your tank more difficult to access than the average tank. You couldn't make it totally thief proof but you can make it awkward to steal from.

For example a simple PIR alarm that sounds a loud siren if someone goes near the tank or a beam alarm that covers access to the tank. One could wrap the tank in chain link fencing or sheet metal. The best defence is good neighbours. A friend was working on my jeep & lent me his for the night. Within 3 minutes of getting home my neighbour knocked on the door to check that all was OK - he had a shotgun behind his back.

My favourite was the guy who put a sign on his oil tank saying that the last person to try & steal the oil had lost the use of his legs :eek:

dan hibiki

...and i dont mean the hefty yoke in the background!

nebra

A good dog is a great defense against thieves.

Discodog

nebra wrote: »

A good dog is a great defense against thieves.

Not really. If you train a dog to guard & it bites someone it may end up being put down. The poor dog has to guess who is a threat - does he bite the postman or visiting children. Also it is very easy to drug or poison a dog as well as it getting out on to roads or fields of livestock. That's why I keep my three safe in the house.

Sponge Bob

Discodog wrote: »

That's why I keep my three safe in the house.

You have 3 Oil Tanks IN your house :eek: ??

romeo yankee

I heard on the radio that they just need access to the base of the tank where they drill a small hole with a cordless drill... shove a plug in and run a long pipe from their van and run a pump and hey presto!!!! your oil is gone... bloody thieves..

Discodog

The clever lot were the ones who bought an old Oil delivery lorry & pretended that they were delivering oil when they were actually sucking it out

LANOOCHUDLE

I THINK ITS A BIT LATE NOW

LANOOCHUDLE

Discodog wrote: »

The clever lot were the ones who bought an old Oil delivery lorry & pretended that they were delivering oil when they were actually sucking it out

AND WHY WOULD YOU ORDER IT IF IT WAS FULL????

LANOOCHUDLE

Webbs wrote: »

I was out passing an oil truck during the week and there was this suspicious guy furtively watching the truck, should I report it to the Garda?

I THINK ITS A BIT LATE NOW MY FRIEND LOL

Doctor_Socks

Lived in Hazel Park last year, i'm a student of NUIG so I wasn't going to be around the house for Christmas so best solution I found was to only order enough to last until Christmas and get the rest in the New Year. More expensive I know but its the only real practical solution for students who are going to be gone through the holidays.

My friends father delivers oil throughout Galway and he said the only completely fool proof way of stopping oil being robbed is to have the tank in a shed armed with an alarm. Not feasible for short term renters but for home owners its a worthy investment.

Also, I wouldn't use a guard dog, thieves are just lacing sausages with rat poison now and killing dogs when they get in there way.

biko

LANOOCHUDLE, cop on and also stop posting in all caps.

BhoscaCapall

I have never seen a more paranoid forum than Galway City on Boards.

bongomad

a woman local to me had the oil stolen twice. locks aint much of a deterrent if they want your oil they will take it! as said above a cage or blocks would be ideal, guardcams are ok could video them in the act if they are not wearing any balaclavas

inisboffin

Lots of people have taken to buying a couple of small containers at a time, so if they do get robbed it will only be 40 quids worth.

Neighbour got robbed twice where I am too.

_Whimsical_

BhoscaCapall wrote: »

I have never seen a more paranoid forum than Galway City on Boards.

It's a genuine problem in Galway.At Christmas a priest in Galway was hospitalised after being badly beaten after he interrupted someone attempting to syphon oil from his oil tank.It was well publicised in the national media.

charlie_says

Erm, where can you get 1000L for 825?

I paid 920 in September for the same amount after a lot of calling and haggling!

BeardySi

The past... look at the date on the OP....

biko

This is why it's not good to have old threads running.
Thread was brought back by a shill that was banned/deleted.

Feel free to start a fresh thread on oil theft if need be.