GPS app for locating property lines

[lpigott]

Land Glide is awesome but requires a monthly fee. I use it to locate lines and contacting property owners.

 

[oosik]

I've got a Garmin GPSmap 60csx - GPS unit. Its got the latest update software. I would still need accurate coordinates and even with that info its still +or- ten feet - - on a good day.

If I wanted "legally sufficient" survey points - then its going to have to be a registered surveyor and equipment such as a Theodolite.

 

[DrRod]

GPS is a bit unreliable in our neck of the woods. Even in town it gives bad info. I just bought some neighboring land and used the county's parcel map to assess the borders. The aerial photos were done in winter so you could see landmarks much more clearly than with Google Maps and there were enough rocks, stumps, streams, etc. to make it easy to follow.

 

[dmccarty]

If the property lines you are trying to find are in woods, the GPS position can be off by dozens of feet. I have tried to use my GPS to find the property lines and it is problematic. I know where my corner pins are located but the brush and trees can be so thick on a long property line that the pin locations cannot be seen. Standing over a pin, I could see the GPS position move all over the place due to the tree cover. Working when the leaves are on the trees is very problematic. When the leaves have fallen it is only problematic.

Later,
Dan

 

[TractorGuy]

Even the surveyors get it wrong sometimes. I had one corner marker on my property I couldn't locate so I had assumed it was the large fence post on that corner. It had some metal tabs nailed to it that i figured might be survey identifiers but it was also an old electric line post so I wasn't sure. The property next door sold and I could see where the surveyor had dug around looking for the marker as a reference. My line runs 60' longer than the adjoining property because of the road easement. All of the property corners have existing concrete markers but the surveyor drove a piece of rebar on the neighbors corner and put an orange plastic cap on it. I was fairly certain it was a few feet off according to my measurements from the known existing markers. SIL and I were sinking posts for my gate and putting up some fence to stop people from wondering on the property. We had to trench along side a large pine and low and behold we unearthed the concrete marker for the neighbors corner about 3 feet from the new rebar marker. I was able to pull a tape from the concrete marker to where my corner was supposed to be and dug it right up. Problem was I had already sunk that corner post and it was about 6 inches south over the line. I had already nailed up the fence and that neighbor will never see it or say anything about it so it got left there.

 

[MacLawn]

I'd love to have a very accurate boundary locator. Or whatever shows accurately where you are. About every two years, I mark the steel pins with paint and clear around them. I also paint an eye mark on nearby tree. One neighbor build his barn too close on the back side of our land. It's only about 10', and I think our local law says it has to be 25', but not sure. I need to check. But it's too late now. He sold his place and new owner doesn't know about it, except he knows where the boundary is. "Do not remove the ancient boundary stones."

 

[dodge man]

Geez you guys are scaring me. I'm a land surveyor and there is no way you should be using any kind of hand held GPS to try and locate markers or boundary lines. I have a $25,000 GPS system and it doesn't work in the trees a lot of the time in the winter, let alone when the leaves are on the trees. Hand held GPS also is only good to about 10 feet at best, and often much worse. You also have to realize how the GIS system was created? Is it just a pretty picture or is it based on actual survey data? I can tell you most are just a pretty picture. The joke is GIS stands for Get It Surveyed.

As I land surveyor its not like I have exclusive use of tape measure, GPS, and total stations, but I do have exclusive rights to perform boundary surveys. There is nothing wrong with a land owner trying to figure out where his corners are. The problem arises when you start relying on that information to build fences or other improvements.

 

[ericm979]

I know how poor GPS and GIS is. I'm trying to find the fence that was on the boundary many years ago. I said that when I posted and some guys assumed that I'm an idiot who will be using the GPS and GIS to place something. I don't know everything but I'm not that stupid. The land is very steep and the woods are very thick. Stuff grows fast here and things on the ground get buried in debris or covered in brush pretty quick.

ALL I am doing is looking for existing indicators of the boundary. THAT'S ALL I AM DOING. Got it?

 

[dodge man]

If you know roughly where the fence is, a metal detector will find it quickly, at least that's what I do.

 

[Jstpssng]

Geez you guys are scaring me. I'm a land surveyor and there is no way you should be using any kind of hand held GPS to try and locate markers or boundary lines. I have a $25,000 GPS system and it doesn't work in the trees a lot of the time in the winter, let alone when the leaves are on the trees. Hand held GPS also is only good to about 10 feet at best, and often much worse. You also have to realize how the GIS system was created? Is it just a pretty picture or is it based on actual survey data? I can tell you most are just a pretty picture. The joke is GIS stands for Get It Surveyed.

As I land surveyor its not like I have exclusive use of tape measure, GPS, and total stations, but I do have exclusive rights to perform boundary surveys. There is nothing wrong with a land owner trying to figure out where his corners are. The problem arises when you start relying on that information to build fences or other improvements.

A hand held GPS is a tool just like anything else; you can use it properly, or you can make mistakes. I use my Garmin 62 or 64 on a regular basis to help me find old property markers; the lines I work on have been spotted and painted several times over the last 100 years or so.
Generally we're just cutting wood, so if there's any question where a line is we just avoid the problem area.

I also have a file of places that the evidence is sketchy; eventually we will hire somebody to straighten them out..