Laser for boundry marking

[Ritten]

I'm looking to do some "unofficial" boundary line marking on my property and need to survey out a 1000ft straight line. I thought about running a string, but figured a laser would be more helpful. The line of sight is clear between the two points and mounting a laser to a post would allow me to mark spots by myself in between the two property limits. My experience with lasers is the $8 unit from the feed store that the dog chases around the house. Is there a civilian hand held unit that is strong enough to be seen 1000' away in daylight and still less than 6" wide at that distance (smaller the better)?

 

[Tboy]

If you haven't gotten what you need yet. What will work for you is a transit/level. Aaa rents them I assume other rental places do as well. One with magnification would be best. If you've never used one it's basically a scope with level bubbles on it. You would setup the stand directly above one corner and the at the other hold or drive a pipe over the far end marker. You or someone would have to look through the transit while the other marks the line.

 

[Tboy]

You could do the redneck version of it because you don't need the level part. You could use a camera tripod and strap a scope to the top of it. Same principle and could be used for roundabout line marking.

 

[Emperor]

If you haven't gotten what you need yet. What will work for you is a transit/level. Aaa rents them I assume other rental places do as well. One with magnification would be best. If you've never used one it's basically a scope with level bubbles on it. You would setup the stand directly above one corner and the at the other hold or drive a pipe over the far end marker. You or someone would have to look through the transit while the other marks the line.

You could do the redneck version of it because you don't need the level part. You could use a camera tripod and strap a scope to the top of it. Same principle and could be used for roundabout line marking.

These are good suggestions. Here's another. Do not assume the lines if it is a property demarcation. If you don't have existing monuments for accurate reference, you are setting yourself up for a possible border fight. Regardless of good intentions, gentlemen's agreements, family understanding, always remember this:

Fences make good neighbors; and so do accurate and recorded property lines!

 

[gwpercle]

You could do the redneck version of it because you don't need the level part. You could use a camera tripod and strap a scope to the top of it. Same principle and could be used for roundabout line marking.

And if you go the heavy -duty Red Neck version, where you leave the scope ON the rifle, make sure the bolt is removed or at least unloaded and bubba don't have any ammo in his pocket.
Reguardles of which transit/scope you use two people make it sooooo much easier.

 

[3fifty7]

Fences make good neighbors; and so do accurate and recorded property lines!

Fences!

Fences!

Fences!

 

[Emperor]

Fences!

Fences!

Fences!

 

[Ritten]

The posts I would be starting from are official corner markers set by the survey company when the property lines were marked before building my house, but only the 4 corners were marked. This is not to set property lines, but rather to see where they are within a foot or two. It's also not to set up a fence since I have undeveloped land on three sides. I just need to know how far I can clear the brush and small trees. I already have thought of using a scope, but a laser would allow me to do this myself. When it comes to property improvements I've found that you can count on good friends and good weather to help you, but never on the same day.

 

[Emperor]

When it comes to property improvements I've found that you can count on good friends and good weather to help you, but never on the same day.

That's why we rear slave children! And if no kids, then get the ol' gal out there! If no kids nor ol' gal; I don't know whether to goad you to get that fixed, or be jealous of you for not!

I know you know this, but if you have to do it yourself you can start at one of the monuments with your scope aiming directly at the other. Put down two flags; first 10 feet from the original monument then the 2nd 10 feet from the first. Once you see they are on line, you can use those two to line up as you walk towards the other monument using each subsequent set to line up with the previous. I used this technique to paint an invisible property line on trees. Ended up being surprisingly straight for having so many trees in the way of each previously marked two trees as I walked toward the unseen GPS point.

I don't expect much help from friends either; but mostly because I want to get things done on my own schedule, and don't want to owe them!

 

[Akajun]

a handheld gps and an engineers compass would be your best bet for what your trying to do. A laser or transit would be usless unless you have a backsight to shoot off of to get your angle. If your in woods a professional surveying gps is useless as they cant really read through the trees.
Get a handheld GPS, mark all four corners as waypoints. Then go to one, lets call it point A, and navigate to another point b. Get the compass reading you need, then use your compass and aim it at a tree or other landmark, or get someone to hold a pole with flagging on the line. Walk to that point, then repeat, leapfrogging to the next iron. Mark the line with flagging.
Now to check your work, go backwards from each point, now from point b to point A. marking the line again with flagging. If you end up following the same line, great, if not where the two lines intersect is close enough, say +- 10 feet depending on the distance. If this is good enough for you then mark your line, if not repeat till you get the accuracy desired.

 

[Akajun]

just re read your beginning thread, since you have clear line of sight, use the flagged posts method that emporer posted, thats pretty much what we did when I did survey work, but then we rarely had clear line of sight.

 

[Emperor]

a handheld gps and an engineers compass would be your best bet for what your trying to do. Get a handheld GPS, mark all four corners as waypoints.

Hey, I saw one of these for sale on here! Cheap too! It's a steal!

 

[edman87k5]

I tried a laser pointed at a board to mark a long property line for a fence once, not as easy as I though. I would yo using a string. It was only about 500' though.
You can rent a transient setup rather cheap and take the headache out of it.

 

[Barney88PDC]

I've got a LRF and a scoped rifle I can come point at you.

 

[Emperor]

I've got a LRF and a scoped rifle I can come point at you.

Make it interesting, put a live round in the chamber too! It will take the banality of it just being like work and will keep Ritten more focused on the task at hand! I God Damned guarantee it!

 

[Jack]

a handheld gps and an engineers compass would be your best bet for what your trying to do. A laser or transit would be usless unless you have a backsight to shoot off of to get your angle. If your in woods a professional surveying gps is useless as they cant really read through the trees.
Get a handheld GPS, mark all four corners as waypoints. Then go to one, lets call it point A, and navigate to another point b. Get the compass reading you need, then use your compass and aim it at a tree or other landmark, or get someone to hold a pole with flagging on the line. Walk to that point, then repeat, leapfrogging to the next iron. Mark the line with flagging.
Now to check your work, go backwards from each point, now from point b to point A. marking the line again with flagging. If you end up following the same line, great, if not where the two lines intersect is close enough, say +- 10 feet depending on the distance. If this is good enough for you then mark your line, if not repeat till you get the accuracy desired.

He doesn't need a back sight if both points are available. Setup on one corner and aim the transit at the other. No angle to turn. I'd use the transit, scope, etc. it will be much more accurate than the hand held gps. We tried using those to find benchmarks and they were always pretty far off.