Any Surveyors in the House?

[PatMarlin]

I bought another parcel up here above our place, and I have not had a survey done.

I was trying to figure which direction the lot lines go, as the pins are not visiable or missing. I have a plot map with the coordinates on each lot line.

Trying to figure what I could do, I remembered several years ago a widow had given me her husbands transit and tripod, but it was not the building kind, and I couldn't figure it out what it did exactly, at the time so I stashed it away.

Well- last night I remembered that gizmo and I doug for bout 2 hours and found it. What it is is a Brunton Pocket Transit "Natural Sines" made by Keuffel and Esser Co.

Now being a little older and (hopfully) wiser, I noticed this thing is exactly what I need. I noticed that it's a 360 dg. level compass, with adjustable magnetic declination, with peep sights, and even reads and measures on the verticle!

I got excited, and found the instructions on the net, and man- what an instrument. It's got to be the most awesome compass for the woods too.

Any cast booliteers know this transit?

[Johnch]

I worked 2 summers on a surveying crew .

Many times the stakes are driven to below grade .
A metal detector will find them if they are there.

Look on the road , if the black top is old you may be able to see where a pin was driven throw the center line of the road ( hole may be filled in with different color black top)
Pins along the road side are usaly at the edge of the rightaway.

We always used 5/8 rebar for stakes .

If you have the plot map it should tell you where the pins are ( if there are any)

Hope this helps
Johnch

[felix]

County court house has the stake maps. ... felix

[floodgate]

Pat:

You can do a perfectly adequate job of checking a "metes and bounds" property description with a Brunton compass and a 300' fiberglass tape from Harbor Freight. You just have to find ONE good reference point, set the proper magnetic deviation into the compass ring and work yur way from corner to corner. If you've got a county or state road frontage, the County Recorder will have the survey for it; look for a "begin curve" or "end curve" stake or monument at the specified easement width from the center-line on the shoulder. I'm no surveyor myself, but I've dragged enough chain and held enough rods for folks who are that I've got a good idea how it goes. Check AbeBooks or Powells under subject "surveying" and you should find a good basic book on it; I think Brunton may have published one years back. I've got a nice old White transit-level, a good wood tripod and a 15' rod, and can hold a pretty consistent 36" pace on level ground,; though I do have a good tape, I get tired ging back & forth to hook and unhook it. It's fun, and VERY satisfying, especially if you can trace your parcel back to the original homestead survey in the 1800's. (Most Recorder's Offices are happy to help you find the old records).

I've got a County (now a State) road along one side of out long, skinny 5 acre lot,a nd an old RR right-of-way along the other side. I've got surveys for both; the road (ca. 1937) survey is accurate relative to a USGS quarter-section corner next door, but the logging RR's step-by-step one (1905) had wandered off by 350-400 feet over the 35 miles from where it started, as determined by a still-visible culvert excavation near my East corner. No-one's perfect...

floodgate

[PatMarlin]

Very good- thanks for the tips.

I have a plot map from the county, and I found one pin, and I will buy a tape to find the others.

THis property has 432' bordering the National Forest on the west side. One thing that bothered me is recently, the guberment had surveyors come through and mark all their boundries, and stake up new signs.

When I looked at the map, and looked at the sun and general layout, that forest boundry line looked off. Well now that I used the Brunton- it's told me not only they are off, but seem to be off by as much as 35 dgrs!... :shock:

I rechecked my declination adjustment, and according to the chart my area is 16 degrees for the west coast, and this puts the setting on 344 dgs (the minus side of zero on a 360 dg scale). If I was on the east coast it would on 16 dgrs, to the other side (or plus side) of zero. Just what the chart shows.

One thing I don't understand-

The plot map shows the North to South angle of the forest line:

N 03(dgr) 31' 32" E.

I don't know how that's measured, but what I do know is when I hold the Brunton on their line, its bout 35 dgrs North to South, and not 3.

[woody1]

Very good- thanks for the tips.
When I looked at the map, and looked at the sun and general layout, that forest boundry line looked off. Well now that I used the Brunton- it's told me not only they are off, but seem to be off by as much as 35 dgrs!... :shock:

I rechecked my declination adjustment, and according to the chart my area is 16 degrees for the west coast, and this puts the setting on 344 dgs (the minus side of zero on a 360 dg scale). If I was on the east coast it would on 16 dgrs, to the other side (or plus side) of zero. Just what the chart shows.

.
Pat, I'm sending you a PM. (Correction, I sent an email actually. If you don't get it, PM or email me) I think you've got you're declination set incorrectly. This would make about 35 degrees difference. Regards, Woody

[PatMarlin]

Your email cut off short Woody, but now that I read the instructions again, I think you're right.

I was thinking for west declination, setting the dial to the west example, but now I see they call (per the instructions :roll:) the west coast- east declination.

Oh well, at least now I can learn this Brunton, and do my own survey with a tape, and metal detector. I paid a surveyor $200 few years back just for 2 sides of my place. Coulda done it myself.

[45 2.1]

One thing I don't understand-

The plot map shows the North to South angle of the forest line:

N 03(dgr) 31' 32" E.

I don't know how that's measured, but what I do know is when I hold the Brunton on their line, its bout 35 dgrs North to South, and not 3.

The line is 3 degrees 31 minutes 32 seconds east of magnetic north at the time the survey was done. Magnetic north varies back and forth with time, you need the date of survey to look up where magnetic north was at that time to correct for today.

[waksupi]

Call your local airport for the current magnetic deviation. The north pole has been making a lot of movement the past few years. The airport will have the correct answer.

[PatMarlin]

Woody was correct!

I had it backwards. Thanks for the tip Ric. I wonder if that info can be found on the net? Most likely.

Now I can ad a poor man's survey skills to my bag of tricks. I know lots of people that would love to pay me $100 bucks for a close survey up here, vs. $500 for the pro, cause in this area- much of the time it's not that criticle.

Gotta pay for primers and powder... :mrgreen: