WinonaRail's Wood Yard

I'm doing well, just busy. Went on vacation last week. I'll post some pics. The stand sold out and when I refilled after getting back it sold again. Things are picking up. Also getting some new inventory. Stay tuned.

 

Just give me a shout when you're in the northland. I'm sure we can meet up somewhere.

 

Are you trying to take my pear crown? It hasn't sold well over the winter. I did have 3 stacks of oak that went out of the stand in a week. Glad to hear you're seeing some sales!

 

A guy reached out to me saying he took down a silver maple tree and already cut it up. He just needed someone to haul it away. He sent a picture which didn't look too bad so I decided to take a chance and drive about 20 minutes to see what he had. The first three pictures are all one tree. The last picture is the load that I hauled out. I thought that was enough for the old Ford to avoid hitting bump stops on the country roads back home. He wasn't able to cut all the way through the trunk so I will take a saw on the last trip. It looks like the total should be between 3 and 4 loads.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

 

I got another surprise. While I was out of town last week, a fellow who brought me a large load of cottonwood last year said he had more of the same. He promised it was nice and straight so I said bring it over and he did. I got most of that cut up Saturday morning. Then yesterday, a truck shows up in my driveway. Same guy has the rest of the tree. He ended up making two trips. The second picture is what came yesterday, not including what I already cut. Between this and the silver maple, I will be in great shape for bundle wood for late summer and fall. And yes, some of those logs are monsters but he said he checked and there was nothing exceeding 44 inches so I should be able to get everything cut up and noodled.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

 

Last week I was in Kentucky for a church conference. It was just a couple days and I took a whole week off work and my wife and I finally got a bit of a vacation for the first time in quite a while. We like history and nature so we explored quite a bit. Here are just a few examples of the immediate area. More to come.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

 

Dang! Those are some monster rounds. Cut a boatload of CW last month and have probably a cord and a half just for bundlewood. "Seconds" will get sold for firepit wood later this Summer.

My cut today has a least a cords worth of of decent logs still there, but I'll be over run with the stuff.

 

Glad ya'll had a great vacation. Looks like some good inventory came in.
We drove through IN from my cousin's house in Nashville on the way up, but came across OH to I-75S on the way back.

 

If you go

If you go through Indiana again on your way north, you'll probably be within 45 minutes of me as there are only a couple major north-south routes. It would be great to catch up!

 

They are indeed bigguns. I'll do the same as you (bundle/bulk). I'm glad to have the CW but probably wouldn't want 10 more truckloads.

 

Well good luck processing them and here's to a busy, record setting bundle season.

Im close to a 1000 regular bundles, but only 30 or so smoker bundles for 2026.

 

That's great! If I do 300 bundles I'll be satisfied. I don't like to work as hard as you do.

 

LOL!!! Sometimes I don't like to work as hard as me either!

I could step it up if I wanted. I lost a couple of low volume stores as they found bundles cheaper. One called me later looking for more. I declined. Lost another higher volume store by my choice. He wanted to keep a large volume on hand (100 bundles) at all times and when I was rationing inventory he didn't fully understand. I showed up with a small delivery and saw a competitors bundles so I left. He practically begged me for the small order too. Another local store was interested but when I went by recently he had been filled up. Im weighing on the side of caution as I don't want to run out of dried wood again. keeping inventory flowing in at a regular pace always the problem.

Hopefully you reach your goals. Keep the updates coming. Inquiring hoarders wanna know!

 

Man I hate turning down orders but I hate running out if inventory even more. I'm a lot like you. I take care of my good customers and don't bend over backwards just to get a one-time order, especially for somebody looking for cheap wood. Hope you have a profitable year!

 

Yup. Had a guy order three bundles (including pear) Sunday with PU tentative Wednesday. Asked him to text or call to lock in order and never heard from him after. Sent a couple PMs too which he never opened. Ill do a "background check" by looking at their FB page if I can and the guy seemed legit. An aggravating part of selling on FBM. I've hardened myself to it. Im now firm and to the point. Ill thank customers when they PU for a good transaction.

Have a guy coming tomorrow for three cherry and three sugar maple. Wants them cut in half for 8" pcs.
I went up on bundle pricing plus the fee for cutting. My regulars will pay the old prices for the most part.

 

One of the most important features of a self-serve firewood stand (which I know you aren't able to do) is that I never have the need to schedule a pickup for any standard products. People just come and go at their convenience and I don't have to do a thing.

Interesting story, my firewood stand and regular driveway alarms went off yesterday morning. It was way too early for any package deliveries and since I work from home, I looked out the kitchen window to see who was here. A pickup stopped in my driveway not too far from the garage. I didn't recognize it. The fellow eventually got out and walked toward the firewood stand. I let him go about his business and went back to work. The alarm went off again and I saw him back the truck up just a ways and it was near where I stage wood for the stand, but not all the way out to the stand itself.

At that point I slipped my shoes on and went out to find out what was happening. The fellow points to a couple bins of wood and tells me he wants both of them. I explained he was not in the firewood stand but in my inventory area and those were not for sale. After some conversation we walked up the stand and he selected three bins, gave me cash which I went inside to make change for, and helped him finish loading. In the end, it was a good transaction. However it started off a little sketchy.

Turns out it was his first time here. He has a place on a lake not far and lives about an hour away. That is one of the downsides to having folks come to pick up on their own. In this case, the guy could have loaded anything on my property and paid or not.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

 

Returning to the story of the cottonwood logs, I got to start on splitting. The picture shows one of the smaller rounds that I didn't noodle in half. I just place those on a pallet, stack the pallet on top of other pallets already stacked and then roll right onto the splitter. The contents of the tote are the single round. I have since split the rest of the rounds from that pallet. Most of it will be used for bundles. That filled about 60% of the tote. I also had several pieces that didn't split well and ended up in bulk wood.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

 

I got a call from a number I didn't recognize in Washington so I ignored it. Shortly after, there was a text from a fellow saying he had some maple logs he would like to drop off and wondered if I was interested. Well of course I was. About an hour later a fellow showed up with a dump trailer and dually and left me this load. The second picture is the current status of my woodyard. It is completely full and I have lots of work ahead of me. That's exactly the type of problem I like to have.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

 

My neighbor texted me this week saying a cherry tree came down in his woods. I assumed he meant it was on a trail because that's usually when he reaches out. I got back there around 5:30 today. It was about 5' off the trail and easy to get to. I didn't take the trunk down because I was afraid I'd have trouble getting the trailer up the hills if I had a big load so I'll get that later. I found the log covered in fungi on my way out of the woods and thought it was interesting.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

 

How's the stand doing Gary? Tis the season.

My smoker sales have been slower than I want. Have inquiries, but folks seem to want it yesterday. If I don't get back to them right away I don't hear from them again.

Have a new regular who likes hickory. Came back a third time a couple weeks ago. Drives 40 minutes one way too. Only other regular bought 1/8 cord (100 PCs) of sugar maple. Professional PT outdoor cooker for upscale events.

I just listed 200pcs of firepit wood on FBM. Hardwoods past their prime, some slabwood, soft and cottonwood mix. Couple lots of this I need to get rid of.