neilkingent
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2020
- Messages
- 54
- Tractor
- LS 4150
Seems to me it's there responsibility, not yours.
Fence Line App for my phone?
- Thread starter EddieWalker
- Start date
neilkingent
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2020
- Messages
- 54
- Tractor
- LS 4150
Their. (for the grammar police)
ultrarunner
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2004
- Messages
- 23,410
- Tractor
- Cat D3, Deere 110 TLB, Kubota BX23 and L3800 and RTV900 with restored 1948 Deere M, 1949 Farmall Cub, 1953 Ford Jubliee and 1957 Ford 740 Row Crop, Craftsman Mower, Deere 350C Dozer 50 assorted vehicles from 1905 to 2006
Yep… only glad I was there… could have come home to find I was cleaned out.
dodge man
Super Star Member
As a land surveyor these threads always scare me. Cell phone gps is not going to get you within a couple of feet, it might not get you within 50 feet. Even very high quality survey grade gps doesn’t always work in tree cover. If there are a lot of trees, leaves on the trees, evergreens you can’t get a good location. Even in the winter survey grade gps may or may not work in the trees depending on how thick they are.
Cell phone and consumer grade gps is generally good to 10 meters(figure 30 feet). Yes, it can do better but no guarantee.
All sorts of ways to accomplish what you want but a cell phone and apps isn’t it.
Cell phone and consumer grade gps is generally good to 10 meters(figure 30 feet). Yes, it can do better but no guarantee.
All sorts of ways to accomplish what you want but a cell phone and apps isn’t it.
riptides
Super Member
I use an app called HuntStand. On Android. It allows me to edit and place markers on property. It's primary use of course was for hunting. It has various map overlays, one of which is property lines. I used that, in conjunction with my plot survey, GPS and compass to find my property lines. It was pretty accurate since I found most iron rods. My only issue was water. As in moving creeks. I question now as to where the survey claims the creek is, and actually where it is. But a survey is recorded, Mother Nature has her ways.
I suggest using it as a trial and see if it will suffice to meet your needs.
I suggest using it as a trial and see if it will suffice to meet your needs.
OP
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Thanks. I did some searching online before posting this and didn't see anything that would do what I wanted. It seems kind of simple to me, but accuracy doesn't seem to go along with simple.
My neighbor had some work done on his place and the company doing the work had a guy that was doing the survey work. He was not a licensed surveyor, but from what I understand, he found and marks the boundaries of land that the company is working on. His first attempt at our mutual property line was off by over 100 feet. When I asked him about it, after they had tore up my land, he said that he was going off of the County Map boundaries. Their website clearly states that the lines are not accurate and just for reference.
That's when he got serious and actually found the original corner pins. There where all there, but buried deep in the ground after decades of growth. The company cleaned up what they did on my land and did quite a bit extra to make it right. I'm very happy with the results and motivated to get my fence going.
From what I've read about some of the GPS Apps that show property lines, I think that they go off of the County Websites that show approximate boundaries. If that is true, they are not going to do what I want.
To find this line, I can remove all of the trees and pull a wire. Or I can hire somebody to find it for me, but that means spending money for this service where I would rather use that money to buy materials. Or I can go off of my landmark, and use the spot that I now is close by several feet and live with that.
My neighbor had some work done on his place and the company doing the work had a guy that was doing the survey work. He was not a licensed surveyor, but from what I understand, he found and marks the boundaries of land that the company is working on. His first attempt at our mutual property line was off by over 100 feet. When I asked him about it, after they had tore up my land, he said that he was going off of the County Map boundaries. Their website clearly states that the lines are not accurate and just for reference.
That's when he got serious and actually found the original corner pins. There where all there, but buried deep in the ground after decades of growth. The company cleaned up what they did on my land and did quite a bit extra to make it right. I'm very happy with the results and motivated to get my fence going.
From what I've read about some of the GPS Apps that show property lines, I think that they go off of the County Websites that show approximate boundaries. If that is true, they are not going to do what I want.
To find this line, I can remove all of the trees and pull a wire. Or I can hire somebody to find it for me, but that means spending money for this service where I would rather use that money to buy materials. Or I can go off of my landmark, and use the spot that I now is close by several feet and live with that.
LD1
Epic Contributor
I agree with others that no GPS that is available to the general population is gonna be accurate enough to do what you want.
To start a straight line and make sure you end up at your other pin....you need TWO points of reference to get started.
If two pins are within line of sight of eachother....you simply set a transit at one point and aim at the other. Once you go so far....you can simply use the angle marks on the transit.....sight back your line that you started....swing exactly 180 degrees.
When a "back" pin is not visible.....usually two up front are. Not sure how your surveys are in TX, but up here....there is a pin in the center of the road....as well as a marker pin ~30-40' off road. You can simply set up at the pin off the road....sight right at the pin in the road.....now swing 180 degrees and you should be sighting right down the property line.
A really good compass would do the same thing if you have line of sight. If you can only see ONE pin....but have an exact heading based ona previous survey....then you could accomplish the same thing with a compass.
But no APP, or GPS or even the county GIS maps will help. The county GIS is about 10ft off on my north property line.
And to the south....my property line runs straight between two pins ~500' front to back. But the county map follows a drainage ditch, which goes about 250' then makes a ~45 degree turn. According to the county map....I would have about ~150' more road frontage and ~150' less in the back.
The county GIS is good for seeing who owns a piece of property, or finding a correct address if google has it wrong....but for property lines....not a chance I'd trust it
To start a straight line and make sure you end up at your other pin....you need TWO points of reference to get started.
If two pins are within line of sight of eachother....you simply set a transit at one point and aim at the other. Once you go so far....you can simply use the angle marks on the transit.....sight back your line that you started....swing exactly 180 degrees.
When a "back" pin is not visible.....usually two up front are. Not sure how your surveys are in TX, but up here....there is a pin in the center of the road....as well as a marker pin ~30-40' off road. You can simply set up at the pin off the road....sight right at the pin in the road.....now swing 180 degrees and you should be sighting right down the property line.
A really good compass would do the same thing if you have line of sight. If you can only see ONE pin....but have an exact heading based ona previous survey....then you could accomplish the same thing with a compass.
But no APP, or GPS or even the county GIS maps will help. The county GIS is about 10ft off on my north property line.
And to the south....my property line runs straight between two pins ~500' front to back. But the county map follows a drainage ditch, which goes about 250' then makes a ~45 degree turn. According to the county map....I would have about ~150' more road frontage and ~150' less in the back.
The county GIS is good for seeing who owns a piece of property, or finding a correct address if google has it wrong....but for property lines....not a chance I'd trust it
dodge man
Super Star Member
A little note about GIS. The company I worked for did our counties GIS. They were working on it but it was taking them to long so they hired us. They had sone about 20% of it and we did the rest. We actually had the deeds for everybody in the county but just drew it up on top of the aerial photos WITHOUT any ground based survey data.
The ironic part is my parcel has the boundary line going through my shop, which is not the case.
Eddie it’s a cost vs benefit with surveying. I told this to people all the time. I had people call in building a $500,000 house and they didn’t want to pay for a survey. In your case building a fence? It goes in the wrong spot and you have to move it. How big of a deal is that to you?
The ironic part is my parcel has the boundary line going through my shop, which is not the case.
Eddie it’s a cost vs benefit with surveying. I told this to people all the time. I had people call in building a $500,000 house and they didn’t want to pay for a survey. In your case building a fence? It goes in the wrong spot and you have to move it. How big of a deal is that to you?
dodge man
Super Star Member
I’m sorry, there are problems LD1.
Sighting a pin 40 feet away and extending a line? Not good. The rule in surveying was long backsight, short foresight. In this case you are backsighting a point 40 feet away and using it to extend a line hundreds of feet. Any error in one of the pins, your equipment or your skill will get multiplied several times over by the time your 1000 feet away. Picture your rifle scope off a couple inches at 40 feet. How much error is in your rifle bullet at 500 yards?
Compass bearings can be based on so many things that’s a dangerous system. I used a compass all the time to help me find corners, I was good at it, and I would get way off after a couple of thousand feet.
Sighting a pin 40 feet away and extending a line? Not good. The rule in surveying was long backsight, short foresight. In this case you are backsighting a point 40 feet away and using it to extend a line hundreds of feet. Any error in one of the pins, your equipment or your skill will get multiplied several times over by the time your 1000 feet away. Picture your rifle scope off a couple inches at 40 feet. How much error is in your rifle bullet at 500 yards?
Compass bearings can be based on so many things that’s a dangerous system. I used a compass all the time to help me find corners, I was good at it, and I would get way off after a couple of thousand feet.
riptides
Super Member
Deeds - Assuming they are read correctly, and recorded correctly...... I have had the bad experience dealing with surveyors that "interpreted" the deeds incorrectly, both in terms of recording dates and plot markers.
A lawyer had to be consulted to clear the issues, so there is no issue, now or going forward.