Need to find survey marker rod!

[Jstpssng]

When I surveyed many years ago for the County Road Commission we used a steel chain. It was a hundred and one feet long if I remember correctly. If we had to measure up and down hills, we used a Plumb Bob to keep the chain level. Some hills required us to measure distances of less than a hundred feet at time because of the slope of the hill. Today, I see all kinds of fancy equipment along roads. Even in farmland, they are using lasers to keep things flat. Here's a link that shows a few steel chains: Surveyors Chain, 100' Chain, Reel, Steel Tape, Chain

In this case he shouldn't even need to do that; simply find the width of the old road R/W and determine where it intersects with his sideline. The distance from the C/L to the monument on his other corner should give him that distance...after finding that point dig a trench a safe distance away down to original grade and carefully work closer until said pin is found.

 

[J_J]

There's no telling how deep it will go with 60' of 4" well casing.

I paid around $700.00 in 1976, if you don't mind telling me, what did you have to give for yours and in what year?

This is the one I have.

SubSurface Instruments Magnetic Locator

I only paid about $200 from a pawn shop. I have had it about 2 years.

It only alerts on magnet materials, or electric field.

 

[dodge man]

The link JJ shows is the same kind of locator we bought last time. They work really well but are pretty expensive new. They will find a pin several feet deep but it takes some experience on how to use them.

 

[Pilot]

Centerlines of roads are not to be trusted. When paving, they don't survey the centerline or the edges. When striping, they don't survey the centerline. It's all approximate. Sure, the road gets surveyed, but edges and centerlines, when constructed are generally off.

 

[Jstpssng]

Centerlines of roads are not to be trusted. When paving, they don't survey the centerline or the edges. When striping, they don't survey the centerline. It's all approximate. Sure, the road gets surveyed, but edges and centerlines, when constructed are generally off.

It's an abandoned road, and should be close enough for his purposes. (to find an existing monument) Other "helps" would be to find other monumentation such as rock walls, pins, etc to help locate the sideline.
I'm trying to envision a 5 foot pile of backfill on a 20 foot wide parcel; it seems that the pin must be just a couple of feet from the edge of the pile.
If he can get his tractor to it, I would just take the backhoe and carefully scrape the edge of the pile away until the pin is found.

 

[dmccarty]

Are there trees near the pin? I figured that there were no trees when the thread started but maybe I am wrong. If there are trees, in my area, the trees are slashed three times to denote a corner. Three trees around the pin will be slashed and help locate the pin.

Later,
Dan

 

[Coyote machine]

The pin I'm attempting to 'excavate' for current and future use is a 'point of beginning', on the lower left of a basically rectangular property map. The dirt road in front of my house would in effect be the bottom line of my property, running from the missing/buried pin down to the right corner of the map/my driveway's end. There are line pins on each side some distance from the corner pins, and then the top two corner pins, which delineate the top line from side to side.
The abandoned town road is to the left of my currently missing in action pin, and there is a pin which I believe marks either the edge of the town's cemetery plot, OR the uppermost edge of the old abandoned town road. Either way, I think I should be able to most easily measure down alongside the active dirt road to where my missing pin should be with the least amount of trouble, from the aforementioned 'Town' pin.
FWIW, the survey was done by a PE in 1966. There are references to 8" and 12" Maple trees a certain distance from the POB pin. I may be able to reference them too; though since 1966 they have probably gotten larger?!
Property is described in the deed as so many acres more or less. There are NO monuments, only iron pipes and iron/rebar pins.
The grade of the active town road is about 5-7' above where the pin is located, and what I AND the town dropped over the edge of the active road was intended to fill in the low spot where all the salt, road debris, and other junk that lands on the road used to flow over the embankment onto my property and then into my pond by gravity feed and rain, flooding, and slope of roadside ditching, (NONE present).
The area I believe I will find that pin in is maybe two feet of fill at best, but I won't know for sure until I dig it out. I started where I thought it might be today, without the map and did find a couple of what were probably beer cans left in the fill from the town's having graded the road and then dumping it where I asked them to several years back. This may have been what my surveyor's pin locator found in just a general sweep of where I thought the pin might be. So now I'm going back to do a better referenced location, hopefully with the map, and if I need further data I will go to the town to find out how far the town's pin is from mine.

 

[J_J]

Can you not rent one of those yellow stick ferrous metal locators like I posted above.

SubSurface Instruments Magnetic Locator

You would have already found that pin. It does not alert on non ferrous metal, saving many hours of locating any scrape of metal in the area.

 

[Coyote machine]

Hi J.J,

I suppose I could see if any of the rental places have one - to tell the truth, until you suggested it, it had not occurred to me that is a possibility. I will see what's available.

Thanks!

CM