silt stakes?

[paul case]

is anyone out here cutting silt stakes? what size do you cut and how sharp do they need to be? what do ya get for them? i was edging some pallet lumber and came up with a few blanks that looked like they would make some. just wondering???   pc

[r.man]

Your baffling me today Paul, not that it is hard. What is a silt stake and what is it used for?

[paul case]

silt fence stake may be a better description.  they sre the stakes that hold up the little plastic fence that is generally put up around construction areas.  pc

[r.man]

Thanks Paul, you may as well give me the whole education, are these just overlong survey stakes?

[paul case]

that is what i was wanting to know!  pc

[Kansas]

We have cut a few in the past. Usually 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 4, if i remember right. We may have done some full 2x2 ones. Biggest problem is they want them pointed. There are people in the business that will do them cheap, that is all they do. When we have done them, it was for a local company or two and they only needed smaller amounts. I believe we pointed them to a V on the table saw. We even looked at getting a stake sharpener at one time but it just didn't seem the economics would work that well. If you could find a used stake sharpener cheap, that would help.

[5quarter]

I wonder why no one has devised a machine, like an oversized pencil sharpener, that simply sharpened sticks to a round point. it seems that it would be simple, fast and fairly inexpensive. Of course maybe they're already being made and I just don't know about it.

[thecfarm]

I see those fences up all over the place around here in Maine. Really any place the soil is disturbed and may run off.

5quater, here's your oversized pencil shapers,
http://www.hud-son.com/stakesharpener.htm

There are probably others out there too. I have no idea the price or the labor involved,but seem like it's been talked about on here before. If it is easy and profitable to do,everyone would be doing it.   ;D

[paul case]

i was thinking of sharpening them with a saw. i wonder if there is a drill bit that will make the point on them?  pc

[250quality]

What about something like the bit they use for making log furniture?
Looks like a pencil sharpener that goes on a 1/2" drill.

[Full Circle]

In our area, most silt fence is sold in a roll, with the stakes sort of woven into the fence material at fixed spacing and depth.  Makes for a very easy and quick installation (read "reduced labor cost").  I'm not sure who makes the rolls, but they would be a potential buyer of stakes.  Once again, economies of scale, or their big volume, means lowest possible price per stake.

[Taylortractornut]

Depending on the  specs of the job they re  going to.    I was   on a job for TVA the stakes were speced  down to the type of point   on the stake  for each soil.      Some were to be   pyramid point, cone  point or cone point with a 3/8ths flat on the end.       A good machine shop could make a sharpener on a lathe and mill.   I made one one time  out of a chunk of cold rolled and a hunk of planer blade. 

[Collima]

I make silt stakes with my wm lt50. I sell them wholesale.
I make 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 4' and 1" x 1" x 24"
I get 48 cents per stake for the big ones and 21 cents for the little ones. I make over 100,000 stakes per year.  I saw a lot of grade lumber too. Believe it or not it's just a nights and weekends kind of thing because I have a full time logging company.
I use a 3hp electric 220 motor stake sharpener I bought from HUD-son.  They have smaller models too.  It works pretty good.  My advice if you buy the sharpener from them just buy the motor and tenoner. The stand it comes on is junk.
All of my stakes are made out of cottonwood or basswood.

[paul case]

thanks for your replies. just what i was looking for. pc