WinonaRail's Wood Yard

This thread is still alive in 2025. My roadside stand is back in business. I made use of some Amazon gift cards and bought a cellular trail cam (first). I installed it facing the firewood stand and pointing toward the road so I can see anything/anyone entering my driveway that goes by the stand. I also mounted a regular trail cam that I already had on the back side of a utility pole next to my mailbox that points away from the road. Finally, I purchased a wifi solar trail camera oriented like the first camera mentioned but on the opposite side of the driveway (same side as the stand). Nobody gets in or out without my knowledge now.

My cellular camera is set up for pictures. Every time it takes a photo I get a notification on my phone. The other cameras are for supporting evidence. If I see any suspicious activity, I'll pull the SD card from the camera on the utility pole and download the pictures. Finally, the wifi camera takes pictures followed by a 10 second video. You have to be within 45 feet to connect so I just drive toward the end of the driveway, connect and download all the content. It seems to be a pretty solid setup so far.

I had started refilling the stand on Wednesday and had several bags of smoking wood along with some kindling and a loose stack of mixed hardwood. I watched a customer load all the bagged wood Thursday morning. It was so nice to come home for lunch and find cash in the box. If he hadn't paid, I'd have plenty of evidence to ID the culprit. Last night I filled the remaining loose stacks and replaced most of the bagged wood. Hopefully we turned the corner and will have a profitable year.

 

That's great, Gary. Sure hope that deters the theft.

 

Incarceration works for many. Hopefully it doesn't come to that!

 

License plates clearly visible? Day and night?

 

Got snow overnight and this morning. This is a view of the roadside stand from my cellular camera.

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Do you have to post that you have camera surveillance? Nice clear picture.

 

Very nice

 

Honestly I have no idea but I do have signage on my stand to that effect. I thought a sign itself might be a deterrent, but apparently that wasn't the case.

 

Not a bad idea considering what happened. My friend where I store and process wood is retiring the end of March so I thought of maybe starting up a stand.

 

WooHoo. Good for you Gary!

Really ashamed what one has to do in todays day and age to deter theft instead of having faith in your fellow man.

 

Hopefully it does. Lock the SOB(s) up and throw away the key!

 

My stepfather told me something when I was an early teen and it has stuck with me thru all theses years
A lock only keeps an honest person honest

 

Don't worry. I have no qualms about pressing charges if the situation arises.

 

100%. I've been a few dollars short at the stand over the years but, for the most part, people have done the right thing. I'm thankful for that. At this point, I don't want to be on a thief's radar thinking that my firewood is an easy target.

 

It snowed just about all day yesterday so it was snow removal time when I got home from work. We ended up with a couple inches and we're expecting a little more tomorrow.

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I picked up another load from my farmer buddy. He keeps several cords under cover and I can back up to it. With the snow we got, I was in 4x4 high.

I ended up with a pretty good load. It should stack out close to 1/2 cord. I resplit some and stacked in a tote for delivery to my best customer. It was a pretty busy morning.

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I got a call today from someone looking for a load of heating wood right away. I still had 1/4 cord left from what I picked up from the farmer. I didn't split any of it but added a few smaller splits and some kindling to help the customer get a fire started.

It turns out he had bought from someone else and got a load of green splits. He and his wife were with disabled cancer survivors and have electric heat. They were trying to keep their costs down but couldn't get the other wood to burn.

I had him take the kindling and small splits straight into the house so he could get a fire going while I proceeded to toss and stack the wood onto a small utility trailer. I was glad to have the opportunity to help them out, knowing temps will get down into single digits this week.

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Good on you, brother

 

Helping folks out. The FHC way!

 

Had a guy inquiring about my maple smoker bundles. Turns out he needs good coaling wood for his pizza oven. Sold him some white oak heartwood splits. Meeting late tomorrow