Walker Miller Equipment Company

Hope you’re having a lovely Valentine’s Day and a terrific Tuesday!  This picture just captures the most sincere form of love: puppy love!

Hope your day is filled with puppy love!

We are so excited to appear on Construction Equipment Guide’s  fantastic site!  Check us out!

It is always so exciting to see your name in print!  This is the online version of your name in lights, in our opinion.  We really appreciate Construction Equipment Guide taking the time to include us.

The article focuses on our recent milestone birthday, 50 years, commemorated by the Wacker Neuson Roadshow party.  It was a fantastic event and the perfect way to celebrate half a century in Central Florida.

We enjoyed a scrumptious 4Rivers BBQ lunch.  What better lunch to have than a personal favorite of the company’s founder, Walker Miller?  He wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Thanks so much to everyone that attended!  We hope you had as much fun as we did!

Have you noticed the chain-link fence that surrounds the old Amway Arena?  With the gorgeous new arena open and operating, it is finally time to retire the original home of the Orlando Magic.  While you may be waiting for a scenic implosion similar to the one destroying Orlando’s City Hall in 1991 and found in Lethal Weapon 3, the movie offers aren’t present twenty years later.

Thanks to digital technology, movie makers can recreate these scenes without the need for real life situations.  Subsequently, construction crews will tear down Amway brick by brick from the inside out.  The salvageable aluminum and copper will be donated to the Nap Ford charter school nearby, while the drywall and steel will be recycled.  The furniture and other removable pieces have already been sold or donated.  Mayor Buddy Dyer expressed his goal of environmentally friendly demolition:  ”We’re becoming known as the most sustainable city in the Southeast.”  Over 50% of the building will be reused in some capacity.  Even the concrete will sustain roads across the state.

The entire process should take approximately six months.  It began last week.  The city will eventually build a work/live/play development entitled Creative Village on the property.

Do you live or work nearby?  Have you seen any developments?

What do you use as a base for a Christmas tree in a showroom of construction equipment, parts and hand tools?  Did you guess a Wacker Neuson 3.8KVA portable generator?  HOW DID YOU KNOW???

Is it because of the prime location by the front door?  While this does make the tree visible from the parking lot, if not the highway, it doesn’t give the tree the respect it deserves from a prime, center location for those inside the showroom.  The tree in fact may migrate around the room until it finds the perfect home (and a nearby electrical outlet!).  We always welcome suggestions

As quickly as November passed us by, we rest assured December will fly by as well if we naively choose to blink.  It seems that just yesterday we were preparing for our 50th Anniversary Party, while it was actually three weeks ago.  Are you anxiously putting up decorations as well, eager to enjoy them before the holidays pass by?

As this time of year is so busy, we wanted to take the opportunity now to thank you for your support, especially over the past few years.  We appreciate the time and attention you give us from your busy lives.  Walker Miller Equipment wouldn’t be here without you!

We wish you a very happy and blessed holiday season.  Don’t take the decorations down too early

First of all, we would like to extend a hearty thanks to everyone that attended the Walker Miller Equipment 50th Anniversary Party/ Wacker Neuson Roadshow last week!  Party goers enjoyed some excellent 4Rivers BBQ, learned about the equipment Wacker Neuson is taking to World of Concrete in Las Vegas, and even got to try their hand at the manipulating a mini-excavator in the Vertical Digging Challenge!  Participants included our web strategist and local bank manager!  They stepped out of their offices, and their comfort zones, and we really appreciate their support!

We would also like to congratulate the winners of our drawing!!  Dave from Seretta is the new proud owner of a 42″ Plasma TV. 

Congrats also to Bob at Southland for winning a Wacker Neuson BTS 635 14″ Cut off Saw and Jeff at PCL now possesses a HAL 300 Laser Level!  Congrats to all our winners and thanks to everyone who entered!

We really enjoyed meeting lots of new people and having conversations in person with others, instead of phone calls or web orders!  A fantastic local photographer and great friend, Tom Kraft, took some fantastic pictures we will include in a Facebook album very soon.  Get excited!

Overall, it was a wonderful event celebrating both the Wacker Neuson Road Show and Walker Miller Equipment’s 50th Anniversary.  And if you missed the big event??  Don’t worry, you can catch all the equipment in Las Vegas in January!  Or just stop by our Orlando office for all the information!

This month marks the 40th birthday of the Magic Kingdom, the oldest part in the happiest place on earth.  The park originally opened October 1, 1971.  October was chosen so the crowds would be smaller and less chaotic than the opening of Disneyland in California in 1955.

Our own Walker Miller president, Connie Miller, was on site just weeks prior to opening when floods threatened the Contemporary grounds.  It was September of 1971 and her father, Walker Miller, was delivering pumps to counter the 12 feet of rising water.  Unfortunately, women at the time were not allowed on job sites so Connie, along with the wives of the other drivers, were asked to return to the guard house.  After some negotiating, Disney’s desperation for the pumps won out and the women were allowed to accompany the drivers as long as they remained in the trucks.  Can you imagine that happening today?  Gender equality has certainly evolved in the past 4 decades.

Disney itself has grown since 1971 to include four theme parks, two water parks and two dozen hotels.  While Magic Kingdom had a relatively small opening day, by Thanksgiving, they periodically reached capacity and had to deny entrance to visitors.  Disney certainly hit the ground running and now is an essential part of Central Florida’s economy.  Walt Disney World Resort is the largest single-site employer in the US, employing close to 66,000 people.  Walker Miller Equipment employs about 0.02% of that figure but started operating in Central Florida ten years before WDW.  As we discussed several weeks ago, Walker Miller Equipment celebrated 50 years in August.

Like WDW, we have also evolved throughout the decades.  We are thrilled to have our website and online parts store!  Unfortunately, we cannot list all the parts and manufacturers we represent here.  Have you searched for parts not listed?  We can add your parts by request!  Contact us via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/WalkerMillerEquipment.

Have a good week!  Adios till next time.

It’s been 7 long months since championship games ended, but tomorrow we finally return to the wonder that is college football.  ESPN will kick off Thursday’s lineup with Western Carolina at Georgia Tech at 7:30 ET.  As both Walker Miller and Connie Miller attended Georgia Tech, it is certainly a favorite around our office.  Let’s Go Yellow Jackets!!

Michigan State will host Youngstown State on Friday evening, followed by TCU at Baylor at 8pm.  While the Horned Frogs probably aren’t nervous about this matchup, they shouldn’t take Baylor lightly as anything can happen in college football!

We will certainly be tuning in at 10am Saturday for the highly-anticipated return of ESPN’s College Gameday live from Arlington, Texas.  This is the home of the LSU-Oregon game, currently AP’s No. 4 and No. 3 teams, respectively.  You can catch this fantastic game on ABC at 8pm.

Speaking of Texas, Walker Miller Equipment has recently shipped parts to the Lonestar state!  In fact, we have been shipping all over the contiguous United States!  Whether you’re in search of Multiquip, Wacker, Stihl, Stone, Honda, or another equipment manufacturer, we have it available on our parts store or it can be specially ordered.  Please contact us at parts@walkermiller.com as special orders are our specialty!  Check us out during the commercial breaks!

Happy tailgating!

Today, we have the privilege of celebrating 50 years in business.  Half a century.  The Golden Anniversary.  Let’s do a small flashback to how things began:

Walker G. Miller left his job as a crane salesman in Atlanta, Georgia, to move down to Orlando, Florida.  It began as Hi-way Industrial Sales with a partner, Ken Herold.  With just a 2 month old business, Mr. Miller returned to Atlanta to move his wife and four children, including a 3-week old infant, down to Orlando.

The business began with a focus on Marlow pumps and grove equipment.  In a few years, construction would begin for a small development nearby, Walt Disney World.  Maybe you’ve heard of it?

As the next decade began, the partnership between Mr. Harold and Mr. Miller began to end.  Mr. Miller took over the corporation and changed the name to Walker Miller Equipment Co., Inc.  The current President, Connie Miller, started work in 1980.  Mr. Miller remained as President until 1992, when he stepped down for health issues and Ms. Miller assumed the role.

Almost 20 years later, she still maintains the position.  Things have changed quite a bit since August 16, 1961.  Should we take a look back on life back then, before blogging and even personal computers?

In 1961…….

• West Side Story and The Parent Trap were the hit movies.
• Gas was 27 cents/gallon (can we go back to that??)
• The Cold War was in full swing and the Berlin wall was under construction (no, we didn’t have equipment on that job)
• The Soviets put a man in space in April and the US sent Alan Shepard into space in May.
• JFK became President and established the Peace Corp.

Communication was different back then, pre-Twitter and iPhone apps.  The art of doing business has changed and evolved with the times, but the same principles remain true: customer service and a quality reputation are essential to staying around.  We are so appreciate to the vendors and customers who keep coming back, time and time again.  Thank you for your patronage. We hope you enjoyed this history lesson.  Happy 50th Anniversary!

Has it really been two weeks since our last discussion?  Summer has just been flying by!  Before summer comes to an end, we want to discuss a popular summer item: saws.  This is a return to our previous discussion of saws but with a new targeted specialty.  A saw soliloquy, if you will.  Last time, we primarily focused on rescue saws, such as the Husqvarna K960 and the Stihl TS700.  These are often called “concrete saws” as well.  These hand-held tools are used by a variety of consumers, including fire fighters.  They use these rescue saws to cut through metal, concrete, asphalt, wood, etc.  Firefighters use them to cut strategic holes in roofs and walls for “forced ventilation” that will control and extinguish the fire.  Over the years, these saws have been modified and improved to accommodate firefighters’ boots and thick gloves as they crank and hold the saws.

Now that we’ve reviewed hand-held cut-off saws, we can progress to today’s topic: the pavement saw, also called a floor saw.  Husqvarna manufacturers the FS series of floor saws.  It is also the parent company to Soff-Cut, the manufacturer of early-entry floor saws.  These revolutionary saws allows workers to cut the concrete slab within 2 hours of the pour, before the final set.  The unique blade and saw design allow this fast process.  Not only does this save valuable time and money on equipment and workers, but this saw also prevents cracks and inconsistencies in the concrete.  The Soff-Cut models begin with the X-150 model, designed for residential and light commercial jobs. For larger jobs, such as medium-large commercial situations, the X-2000 is a more suitable choice.  While the X150 is great for effectiveness with little noise, the X2000 minimizes the noise while also bringing the power.  It has a 9 hp engine and three blade width options to allow precise cuts while still preventing cracks. But what if  a 9 hp engine isn’t enough?  You need the 20 hp engine of the X4000!  This beauty is ideal for the most heavy-duty commercial sites.  It boasts the low-noise and low-dust features of its smaller-model siblings while incorporating a twin-cylinder engine and heavy-duty air cleaner features.  So many benefits!

Another floor saw manufacturer is Multiquip.  Their SP-1 series and SP-2 series Flat Saws are great for small to medium residential or commercial job sites.  Each series boasts several models great for a variety of specific slab needs.  The SP4030 Series Professional saw is designed for more high-end commercial slabs.  Its high-production attributes really get the job done!

At Walker Miller Equipment, the parts for these and a variety of other saws are readily available.  In fact, if you hurry, you can enjoy the 10% discount available through the end of July, 2011!  Simply enter “summer” at checkout!

Hopefully, you enjoyed this saw soliloquy and learned at least something!  If you have discussion ideas for next time, please comment here or on our Facebook!  Have a great weekend!

Remember last fall when we discussed the new Weber Compatrol?  It is a new development in the world of compaction.  It has an on-board computer that detects the compaction level of the soil without an engineer to reduce the costs of having engineers on site until the soil is completely ready.

Well, as the months have gone by since our last discussion, these nifty new machines are growing in popularity!   And why wouldn’t they??  With state of the art technology, incredible benefits of less wasted time for both workers and engineers and an affordable price, its a wonder why more companies aren’t making the switch.  Weber offers several models with the attached compatrol, along with traditional models without it.

Some of Weber’s  key competitors are also giants in the compaction world: Wacker and Multiquip.  Wacker’s WP1550A is a popular model designed for narrow trenches such as gutters or curbs.

It is often compared to the Multiquip MVC88 models, which include MVC88VGH, MVC88VGHW, MVC88GH, MVC88GHW, and MVC88GE-GEW.

For semi-cohesive soils, a great option is the Wacker BPU4045A, the model introduced to replace the now-discontinued BPU 3545A.  These models are competitive with Multiquip’s MVH306GH, a popular reversible compactor.  For high production jobs with demanding situations, Multiquip offers the MVH406GH.  This model competes with the Wacker DPU5045, the diesel version of Wacker’s now-discontinued BPU5045. Continue Reading »