Who will be the next Stake Supplier to start up?

It’s early 2012, we have seen so many people try to cut wood stakes and not make it, some last only a few months, some have gone a few years.  We want to be clear that stakes are not a product with a few week back log, in fact we have access to a few truck loads of finished product for those in need.  We do wonder what will happen to all the surplus equipment as we no longer purchase the saws used to make stakes as we have already cherry picked what was out there and purposely left the old out-dated and labor intensive machinery for those who failed. 

We do see some operation being convinced that a supply yard or some large upcoming job will buy all the production they can produce, after all we get the same phone calls they do.  Stakemill is however looking for operations to do the final delivery for us, we can produce the stakes but with current fuel prices we cannot effectively get a small order from Tampa Bay to Jacksonville or Miami efficiently.  This is where we are looking for someone with a forklift, plenty of indoor warehouse space and reliable one ton trucks and hard-working employees to be our reseller.  Please contact Sean Scully at 727-538-0886 ext 101 with a copy of your business plan, we do require financial records proving your ability to carry the receivables, proof that adequate space has been secured and a good sales track record.

Central Florida Surveyors Turn To Stakemill As Their Supplier Closes Down

August 2011 – Stakemill has seen again a stake supplier not make it in this slow economy.  We had mentioned in an earlier post about their business model and how a few wisely positioned words could lead their customers astray. Stakemill has been cutting wood stakes since the mid 70′s and boy have things changed.  We all are looking for newer methods, production equipment and streamlining the entire operation, but to base our business model on a short-lived product would be like building a business around the current number one song on the radio, short-lived.

Stakemill welcomes these Central Florida Land Surveyors, Road Builders, Government Agencies and Private Businesses that are in need of a quality stake at a competitive price from an established supplier.  See our website for complete product details.

Stakemill

How do your stakes measure up?

ORDER STAKES AT www.stakemill.com

STAKEMILL - How do your lath stakes measure up against Stakemill’s?  We have seen the thin 3/8″ pine stakes from Plant City that frustrate so many of you and the stakes that have nothing defective pulled out from a supplier on Nebraska Avenue in Tampa.  If it is one thing we have learned in 30 years of stake production is that you offer the customer the best product at a fair price you will come out on top time after time.  If you don’t believe us allow me to show you the last three stake producers equipment I have bought at bankruptcy actions or distress sales after those companies failed shortly after startup.  We have seen numerous stake producers close their doors that offered low quality products more times than we have seen them continue to operate.

Our pine lath measures a full 1/2″ thick and every stake is usable, if you buy 3/8″ lath you are getting a third less wood, you should be getting it for a third less than our price.  FEEL LIKE YOU ARE GETTING RIPPED OFF?  You would not pay the same money for half a tank of gas and only accept a third of a tank of gas would you?

Feel like you are getting ripped off?

Stakemill Welcomes Prime Stakes Customers

Stakemill is happy to provide wood stakes, iron rods and concrete monuments to those of you who have been unable to get a return phone call or email from Prime Stakes out of Lake City Florida.  Stakemill once again want to remind everyone that we have seen dozens of stake suppliers start-up and close more times than we see stake suppliers continue their operation.  Rather than repeat ourselves and ask you to go with an established supplier or stay away from locations run in far, far away locations or those run next to mobile homes, we will list a few obvious points those failed business ignored.  It simply takes far away locations too long to reach their customer base by vehicle, and those who reside where they work may eventually be zoned out of business or have nothing at stake and can walk away with little consequences.  We have always been located in a modern warehouse facility located in business parks allowing us to operate as other properly run business do.  We do not share our water and electric bill with our residence, we do not have dirt parking lots nor do we have portable toilets in our parking lot.  Consider these facts next time you accept a job that requires a supplier you will need for the entire job, you would not hire employees that could just disappear and you would not buy equipment that only worked when it wanted to, so do the same with your wood stakes, choose STAKEMILL.

Our Blog Entries

Stakemill is about to celebrate 35 Years!!

Who will be the next Stake Supplier to Fail? 2012

Central Florida Stake Operation Closes Shop 2011

Another Stake Operation Abandoneds Customers 2010

Ft Myers Supplier Doesn’t Measure Up 2009

Brooksville August 2008 Stake Supplier Gets Rained Out 2008

30 Years and Still Selling Wood Stakes 2007

Failed Stake Operation Bought at Bankruptcy Auction 2006

Stakemill Offers a Better Stake

16 Names and Growing

Central Florida Stake Producer Closes Aug 2011

Stakemill

Wooden Survey Stakes

STAKEMILL high quality wood survey & construction stakes - WE DELIVER

Survey Stakes – Wood Lath, Surveyor Stakes & Hubs

For over 32 years STAKEMILL has supplied wood stakes in our home state of Florida, throughout the Caribbean, all of the Southern States, numerous more states as far away as California.  We have seen dozens of companies try to make stakes from drops at a local truss plant to fall downs of other products and even some setup to buy everything and produce nothing and not last more than a year or two.  Without the added value of making the actual stake, we can tell you those companies will not survive.  We should know as we have purchased most of their equipment from asset recovery sales, bankruptcy sales and from landlords that have taken the equipment in exchange for back rent.

Stakemill will continue to be here for land surveyors, contractors, road builders, civil engineers and others for years to come.  Please visit our website or stop into our huge showroom located at the corner of Hwy US 19N and 126th Ave in Largo Florida, 1 block south of Honeywell on US 19N and SR 688.

STAKEMILL

6060 126th Ave

Largo, Florida 33773

Tel 727-538-0886

Fax 727-538-2046

Stake Driver Pro now Shipping from STAKEMILL

Stake-Pro Stake Driver 1x2 SP1X2

STAKEMILL is proud to be the first stake supplier that offers the Ergo Stake-Pro driver for lath, 1×2, 2×2 and 2×4 stakes.  These poly molded drivers house a steel driving insert allowing you to apply the full force of hammer to wood stake while protecting the installers hand.  They come in a hi-vis orange assuring you won’t leave it behind.  They have an ergonomic grip assuring fast placement of stake and a slip proof hold.

Priced at less than $25 (2×4 slightly higher) you can’t afford to not hand these out to your crew members.

Stakemill Stake Pro Driver

Surveyor Wood Stake Sales in Florida

Stakemill wants to thank all of our land surveyor, contractor, civil engineer, road builders, pool builders and government customers (sorry if we missed anyone) for helping us transition into our new facility during 2008 & 2009.  If has been one year since we moved 16 buildings away from our location of 20+ years in Largo Florida to our new facility at 6060 126th Ave, Largo FL 33773.  This new facility has allowed us to expand into survey instruments, GIS & GPS instruments, repair and even used instrument sales.

Stakemill is still producing wood stakes at our Largo facility and stocks an adequate supply for those soon to break large jobs.  We do offer competitive pricing, we offer delivery and even have pick up pricing specials from time to time.  In addition to wood lath hubs and grade stakes, Stakemill offers concrete monuments, iron rods and survey field supplies like paint and flagging. 

Visit us online 24 hours a day at www.stakemill.com

Brooksville Wood Stake Customers Ask – got wood?

got stakes?

The summer of 2008 has been a wet one for Hernando County Surveyors and Contractors in need of a good reliable wood source. Right now everyone understands you take what business comes your way -if it’s new business it is even better. A local sawmill in Brooksville has continually informed their customers they cut outside and can’t work during the rainy weather, we just don’t feel that is fair to do to your regular customers, survey stakes are not a seasonal business to us or to land surveyors, when they need their stakes they need their stakes.  Stakemill also keeps a good inventory level on hand, some of the little guys cut as needed, we were their also.  We want to remind everyone Stakemill is also a small business, but one that realizes to keep your customers you have to predict what inventory levels to keep on hand.  Over the last 20 plus years we have learned more production ways to produce and ways that do not produce.  In other posts we list the number of stake companines that have come and gone - well over a dozen, and that’s just in the central part of Florida.

Stakemill is located in a commercial metal warehouse that allows us to work regardless of the weather, every location we have ever been in and every stake business we have purchased also was located in a commercial complex.

We can show you a few facilities that have no walls and are exposed to the elements and we can also show you numerous customers Stakemill supplies wood to that is within close proximity of these open wall saw mills.

Call us today – 727-538-0886

Surveyors Magnetic Locator Theory of Operation

See model selections here – http://www.stakemill.com/

 Theory of Operation

All magnetic locators operate on the same basic principle; two fluxgate magnetometer sensors, securely mounted inside a rigid sensor support tube, measure the local magnetic field.

The two-magnetometer sensors are vector sensors, mounted 20” apart and each measures the average magnetic field component along their sensitive axis, i.e. the magnetic field component along the longitudinal axis of the sensor tube.

For a magnetic locator to work properly, the magnetometer sensors are aligned opposing so that the magnetic field measured by one sensor is the negative of the magnetic field measured by the other. The locator then sums the output of the two sensors. By summing the two output signals, you cancel any field common to both sensors, such as the Earth’s Magnetic Field, and leave only the differential magnetic field.

The differential magnetic field, the magnetic field detected by one sensor and not the other, is the magnetic field of interest and hopefully represents the magnetic field of your target and not the field of your pocketknife, watch or the steel arch support in your shoes. The drawing on the right shows the construction of a typical magnetic locator and the location of the two sensing elements.

Field Operation

Good instrument performance goes hand-in-hand with proper operation.  When searching for survey benchmarks or underground ferrous targets, the magnetic locator should be held in the vertical or near vertical position.  In this position the instrument audio output is facing the operator and the controls are readily accessible. The picture at the top of this page shows how to hold the instrument for optimum operation.

To pinpoint your target, rotate the instrument to the vertical and use and “X” or crossing pattern.  The audio output will peak directly over your target.

All Weather Operation

The sensor housing is waterproof and the electronics water-resistant.  Moreover, the circuit design and component selection ensures proper operation whether the ambient temperature is -20^oF or 120^oF.

Unparalleled Reliability

For added strength and reliability, the electronics package is made of impact resistant ABS plastic, while the sensor tube and base plate are made of 6061-T6 aluminum, welded together. Moreover, the two sensing elements are shock-mounted on there own individual support tube, inside the yellow sensor tube.  This added sensor isolation guarantees that the sensor alignment and overall instrument performance will withstand normal physical abuse and harsh weather conditions. In addition, all electronic components have been carefully selected for long life and harsh environment operation. 

With normal handling, this combination of quality electronic components, shock-mounted sensors, and robust package design, should ensure a lifetime of maintenance free operation from your DML2000 magnetic locator.

 

The engineers at Dunham & Morrow Inc. have over 35 years of experience designing and building magnetic sensing equipment for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Gamma Ray Observatory, NOAA’s GOES weather satellites, the US Military, and the US intelligence community. That is why Dunham & Morrow back their locator with a full LIFETIME warranty. By following the same demanding design principles required of all satellite hardware, the DML2000 magnetic locator is practically indestructible and so easy to use, anyone can operate it.

Built “Space tough” right here in the USA, our DML2000 locators are known for their performance and durability. Users relax in the knowledge that our proven shock-mounted sensor technology safeguards the sensor’s mechanical integrity in the harshest of conditions. Compare the DML2000 magnetic locator against our competitor’s product before you buy. You’ll find that the DML2000′s performance, light weight, low cost and lifetime warranty make a truly winning combination.

• Satisfaction Guaranteed 
  If you’re not convinced that this is the best magnetic locator you’ve ever used we’ll refund your money!
• LIFETIME WARRANTY
  Covers Everything!
• Unsurpassed Performance
• Separate Power/Volume and Sensitivity Controls
• Uses 4 – AA batteries
• LOW Battery Indicator
• All locators come with a, Carrying case, an Instruction Manual, and a spare set of Batteries.

Product Specifications
Dimensions:	42 ½” L x 3 ¾” W x 1 ¾” D (108 cm x 9.5 cm x 4.4 cm)	Low Battery Indicator:	Red, flashing LED
Waterproof Length:	36” (91.4 cm), base to tip of sensor tube	Temperature Range:	-20°F to 120°F, (-29°C to 50°C)
Weight:	1.8 lb. (0.8 Kg)	Audio Output:	Variable frequency, 20 to 3,500 hertz
Operating Time:	up to 100 hours	LCD Panel Meter:	0 to ± 1999 - DML2000-M only
Power:	Uses four AA alkaline batteries

 

     

 

			The success of locating a buried object depends on your familiarity with the magnetic signature of various targets and the corresponding response of the locator’s audio signal.   Locator’s audio signal responds to the magnetic signature of a survey marker.     As the locator is moved over the target, the waveform depicts the increase in the frequency of the locator’s 20 Hz audio idling signal. The highest frequency occurs when the locator is directly over a vertical target, and over both ends of a horizontal target.         The audio signal peaks over identical magnetic signatures at two joints of a cast-iron water line.         Locating a survey marker in close proximity to a steel fence is no problem with the DML2000.         Manhole covers normally appear as short horizontal dipoles with the peak signal level occurring at the perimeter of the manhole cover.             Frequency peaking occurs directly over service connections and valve boxes.     Target Depth Iron Marker (3/4” x 18”) Up to 9 feet Cast-Iron Pipe (4” Pipe) Up to 10 feet Manhole Cover Up to 10 feet Well Casing Up to 18 feet PK Nail (1½”) Up to 12 inches Iron Valve Up to 10 feet 55 Gallon drum Up to 10 feet Septic Tank (Handles) Up to 5 feet

Survey Stakes and Lath in Florida

HOW DO YOUR STAKES MEASURE UP?

We have asked that question for years, longer than most of the current owners of stakes companies have been in business even though they will tell you they are the longest running stake company.  Stakemill has been located in Pinellas County since it first started cutting wood stakes in 1978, I have been sitting in the same office for 20 years and I am not even 40 years old yet.  We have acquired more stake companies in Florida than any one else, simply putting us at the front of this industry.  We are not located in the woods, nor do we have mobile homes located on our facility and we do not have Port-a-Potties, rather commercial facilities with paved parking lots.  Being in the same city since the late 80′s, more and more surveyors, contractors, government agencies and lumber yards have turned to us as their only supplier for quality wood stakes.  Our prices have stayed the same for almost the last 3 years, before that time we were able to keep our prices the same for almost a 10 year period.  We have new customers tell us on a regular basis the other stake companies are just too expensive and do not offer a quality stake.  That is how we have kept the same customers for over 20 years.