Customer Reviews

Tolman Tool Stake-Puller with Handle #S-P

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got this as a Christmas gift and finally had a chance to get out to the Black Rock desert and test it out on the playa. I used it for pulling out concrete form stakes and for pulling 24" lengths of 3/8" rebar. The stake puller was outstanding on the form stakes. We had put up a large two pole Army surplus tent, and anchored it with form stakes. Extracting all but one of the stakes took only slightly longer than the time it took to walk around the tent. The stakes popped out of the playa like magic. One stake was driven deep, and at a steep angle, and took several trys to get out, but it came out too.

My previous method of removing stakes was with a vise-grips, or channel-locks and was very labor intensive. This is so much better.

I also tried the puller on small rebar tent stakes. While it worked, the puller did bend the stakes around a bit. It should be noted though, that 3/8" rebar is much smaller than the minimum recommended diameter for the tool. When you're using the tool in a manner its not designed for, you should expect odd things to happen.

Overall, I think this is a great tool, especially when used within its design limitations. Its the sort of tool I wish I'd have had years ago. Its also a sure bet to make you the most popular person in camp when its time to pack up and go home.

We loved this stake puller until the gripping edges lost their bite and started slipping on the smooth stakes we were using to support our structures at Burning Man. The pivoting gripping piece should be made of harder metal. That would have made this one a 5 star tool.

Works great with Re-Bar, but the form stakes we use gave it problems.

Took this to Black Rock City in 2007. I used it to pull up 3' concrete stakes and 2' rebar stakes. I don't recall the diameter of those concrete stakes, but they were just a hair to thin. The rebar was definitely too thin. The stake puller worked on the test run at home (in my grass backyard) but kept slipping out on the playa. However, I wedged a screwdriver between the puller and the stake (to effectively increase the stake diameter) and it worked like a champ!

Would I buy this again? Yes (there is no way I'd want to pull out stakes driven almost the full 3 feet into the playa), but it would be nice if the fitting was smaller to work with more narrow stakes.

i purchased the stake puller primarily for wood stakes. the concept of the puller is OK but the performance is useless for anything you cant pull out by hitting side to side and pulling out by hand. the jaws for the stakes are to short and the peg just slips off when you apply pressure. if the jaws were at lease an 1.5" long the tool would probably work better. it doesn't seam like there was much product testing when it was designed.bottom line if your pulling wood pegs 2' or more in the ground don't waste your money unless you plan on modifying the puller.

Like most of the other reviewers, I took this to Burning Man (my 7th). I didn't try to pull T-Stakes, but I did try to pull out rebar. This tool worked the best on our thickest, longest rebar. Primarily, we pulled 2.5 foot 1/2" rebar stakes, and really it was so easy and fast. It usually took less than a minute to pull out a stake. Generally, I work on bringing down the tents because I don't have the physical strength to efficiently pull the rebar up - with this tool I could easily help out. Give me a lever and a place to stand...

However, the stake puller wasn't 100% awesome - it failed to pull a few types of stakes. We had some stakes not made out of rebar, with a smooth surface. These were easier to pound into the ground, but the stake-puller had difficulty getting a grip on them. We also had rebar for individual tents (probably 1 foot of 1/4" rebar). The candy-caned rebar could be pulled out (since there was something to grip), but it was useless on anything straight that was that thin.

If you've got large shade structures with big rebar, I highly recommend this tool. It's expensive enough that I probably wouldn't buy it just for going to Burning Man once, but the tool seems very sturdy and I expect to be able to use it for years to come.

Just like a couple other reviewers, I got this to use at Burning Man. I'm pulling 3/4 inch concrete stakes with it. I haven't actually used it at the playa yet, but I have tested it at home in regular dirt (which is really a tougher job), and this worked great to remove the stakes. It would be nice if the notch that the stake fits in was a bit smaller, but I noticed that it I place the base of the puller at an angle it works best.

The handle-pipe of the puller is hollow, so you can insert a longer pipe inside it for even more mechanical advantage. I certainly haven't found this to be necessary, but I think it's cool that the option is available.

edit: 10/20/2010
I used this at Burning Man this year and it was wonderful! It pulled out 2 and 3 foot long stakes like they weren't even in the ground. I didn't need to insert a longer pipe or anything.

Works flawlessly on removing rebar that has been hammered in to the desert surface. Burning Man. it handled 5/8 rebar and 3/4in metal tubbing. Is saved my back so I could ruin it loading things in to the truck.....

We drilled and set pins in concrete and it was all the puller could do to get them out. We even had two guys pushing down on the bar. I thought it was going to break. It never did yet. Good product so far.