Thread: A question about Private Property

Originally Posted by cahnwulf

Would this work for ya Glen? I think they might get the point!

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I had an idea right after I posted this - what if you put some .45ACP slugs through the backside of the sign for some added effect... those who continue should be up for a Darwin Award.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

No Doubt huh Mark, you have been down my road it isn't exactly the most welcoming spot in the first place, without the signs

I guess by the time they've driven that far on your rough driveway, they figure they deserve to see what's 'round the bend despite what your signage says, Glen. Personally, I think anyone is a fool to dismiss such signage and drive into your property. But then again I'm considerate, too.

There are a lot of minimum maintenance roads around here. They are still public roadways; that in mind, I would also assume that the signs refer to the property along the road, and not to the road itself (except for the one that says "private road").

I think a more prominent "private road" sign at the beginning would help some.
More helpful would be to have something that people have to drive through - if you put in a gate, you could leave it open and not have any trouble with plowing snow. But, just the fact that you have to drive through the open gate would really emphasize to people that they are not on a public road any longer.

Put in some treated 4x4's with an overhead beam, about 12' up (or whatever you need for clearance with your pickup or tractor), so that there is something alongside and physically across the road... If you want it to look nice, put a sign at the top with your name on it, or a cutesie name for your property if you prefer... Something more to emphasize that this ain't a public roadway. You'd have no trouble plowing, no need to open or close a gate, and I'm certain it would cut the traffic way down.

Glen, the area looks beautiful, you are a blessed man to be able to enjoy such surroundings!

So how much is the property next door and are you hiring any apprentices?!

My family owned lake frontage in MI's upper peninsula. The entire road around the lake was private except for a state park near the roads entrance. The road was clearly marked by the state that campers were leaving the park and were trespassing on private property. We often had campers drive right pass our cabin and turn around in front of the pole barn! We tried private signs at the entrance of our drive but still had problems. Our property was 1.5 miles past the campground and I think people were just curious to see where the road led regardless of signage.

My father, brother and I were all iron workers so one year we decided to build a "gate" out of scraps from various job sites. We cemented in two 8" pipes 6' into the ground leaving 8' exposed. We used I-beams, channel, angle and fabricated some massive hinges using 1" bar stock. We topped it of with a 1/2 inch plate with our last name torched through it. The thing was medieval looking but was fun to build and stopped everything except for a forest fire last year that wiped out everything else on the property!

Make a gate! It doesn't even need to block traffic it just needs to clue people in that the owner enjoys privacy. You could always put some fake heads on pikes but the villagers may burn you out!

A farmer I grew up living next to had a sign on his property that read:

"Anyone found here at night will be found here in the morning."

Very little hunting was attempted on his property.

I am with HNSB on this. If you make it look more like the beginning of your driveway that makes it the end of the road. An open gate would tell me your home and going to want to know what I am doing on your property if I run into you. I wouldn't go to to much trouble and make it a big gate. I would also cut out a life size silhouette of a man holding a rifle,paint it black and put it far enough down the road so that you just can't tell if he is real or not. Visuals work. I have set up a lot of road detours and signage and if you give people a split second to think they will choose wrong every time.

In general when you are driving down a road and it just goes on forever folks don't think of it as private unless it clearly says private road AND no outlet. Most people think of signs like you have as no trespassing off the road.

Personally I'd either put the gate up or erect some kind of entryway so folks know it ain't a public road.

Yeah, I also think that the signs are ambiguous with respect which property is private and you do not wish people to access. But regardless of that I think there is still the issue with enforcement.

If you really don't want people to trespass you'll just have to make it harder for them to do so, as well as increase their cost of doing it (make them pay the small fine if you can). I don't see a way around it.

Originally Posted by HNSB

If you want it to look nice, put a sign at the top with your name on it, or a cutesie name for your property if you prefer... .

Now to find a name for Glen's homestead. Hmmm. Maybe the "Honestead"

Glen, I was just thinking you could always walk out to the car and offer them a shave and a haircut and hold up a straight! In your neck of the woods that would be pretty creepy. Give the urban legends a few weeks to circulate and voila, no more trespassers!