Advice on locating missing survey pin?

rinconryan · Jun 1, 2012

I use my Garmin handheld GPS very often for finding corners and have good results. If you take a shot on the corners you have found then have a distance to the lost corner from a survey or your deed, you can create a waypoint where the corner should be. This will give you an area that is close so you can use a metal detector. Then when you find the corner put a t-post in the directions you property goes, about 1/2' away. It is a P.I.T.A. when someone puts a big pipe over the corner and you come out to survey. If you cant find it get a surveyor out there.

Jstpssng · Jun 2, 2012

rinconryan said:
I use my Garmin handheld GPS very often for finding corners and have good results. If you take a shot on the corners you have found then have a distance to the lost corner from a survey or your deed, you can create a waypoint where the corner should be. This will give you an area that is close so you can use a metal detector. Then when you find the corner put a t-post in the directions you property goes, about 1/2' away. It is a P.I.T.A. when someone puts a big pipe over the corner and you come out to survey. If you cant find it get a surveyor out there.

What do you have for a Garmin? We've had good luck with the 60 series; I had my last one for 5 years of daily use, in all sorts of weather. Wouldn't you know, they've been discontinued.

forgeblast · Jun 2, 2012

I have a legend and its a pita, it has some type of flaw that will not let it do a rest and it only ever searches for sats. Garmin wanted 70.00 to look at it with no guarentee of a replacement or fix.

rinconryan · Jun 2, 2012

I have a Colorado 400t, which has also been discontinued.

Garmin replaced it with the Oregon series. Just picked up an Oregon 450t for work and it seems to be just as good, just a touch screen. I have compared the ties with the Garmin to our survey grade GPS and is usually with in 10' of each other, not to bad.

Jstpssng · Jun 3, 2012

rinconryan said:
I have a Colorado 400t, which has also been discontinued. Garmin replaced it with the Oregon series. Just picked up an Oregon 450t for work and it seems to be just as good, just a touch screen. I have compared the ties with the Garmin to our survey grade GPS and is usually with in 10' of each other, not to bad.

no, can't complain about that.

30+ years ago we were out marking wood and while trying to figurte out where we were on the photo, the foreman said "wouldn't it be nice if there was a little flashing dot that shows us where we are?"
Voila, now we have GPS.

:thumbsup:

My first GPS experience was with some kind of Magellan in 1992. They were about the size of a firebrick, but a lot less useful.
I then bought a Garmin12 back in 1998, before they stopped scrambling the sats. It was a good unit for it's time, but we've come a long ways since then. We even use handhelds to locate corners for the GIS system. They may not be perfect, but often it's an improvement over what we had.

Raider43 · Jun 3, 2012

First thing to do is at least discuss with the local land surveyor. Second decide why you want this location and how accurate you want it. (that will also help decide to hire someone or not). Third if you decide to go it alone and take the responsibility, take a tape and start from your so called know point and measure horizontally (not on the slope) the 650 feet or whatever in a straight line. tie ribbon every 50 feet or so. You want to be able to see the line back so you stay straight. Then do the same from the other known point (so called). You will most likely not come to the same point because your direction is approximate and the distance is the better measurement. That will get you close (depending on how good your are with measuring). This is called a distance, distance intersection. then use the metal detector. If you find something, it might be the corner but only a land surveyor can certify. Also doing when the leaves are down makes a world of difference.

Paul
licensed land surveyor for 25 years, Conn.

Now for the problem, if the deed distance is wrong, your are wrong and you have know way of knowing this. The licensed professional does.