Cutting down some trees and have a question

[/pine]

You don't say how long the property line is...just cut the brush back (like any surveyor would do) to get a clear line of sight...then pull a string from peg to peg...or use a cheap laser pointer (when it dark enough)...

IMO...it's usually nice to leave a buffer between properties...FWIW...

 

[tractchores]

Google earth is not accurate enough to cut trees on a property line. I used it on mine before a real survey and I'm in an area with very good images and while it was close it was +/- 10' in places. Cutting someone elses trees can get seriously expensive. If it's just brush tell the neighbor and they probably won't have an issue if you're just clearing to get a real line of site like a surveyor does. BTW most surveyors will set witness pins back a bit from your line and cut the line of site that way VS cutting on someone elses land and they're only cutting small trees a few inches across, not mature trees.

 

[newbury]

I am cutting down some trees on one border of my land. I have the boundary pins located on both ends. The trees lie in the middle and when I am at one end I can't see through the trees to the other end(boundary pin). I have thought about having the wife wear orange vest and stand at one pin or have her shine a flashlight towards the other pin. I don't want to cut down any of the trees on the neighbors property. Is there a way that I can get in the general vicinity and gradually take out enough trees to clearly see the other boundary without enlisting the expense of a surveyor? Google earth perhaps or a portable consumer grade gps?

As others wrote it's best to cooridinate with the neighbor.
BUT if that's not possible and if the wife is willingly to go along with it and you can see her in the vest from the other pin that should work.

I'd suggest sighting thru a scope and carefully picking out trees you are dead positive are on on your land, then marking them and first just thin them to get a more accurate view.

 

[gwdixon]

Google earth is not accurate enough to cut trees on a property line. I used it on mine before a real survey and I'm in an area with very good images and while it was close it was +/- 10' in places. Cutting someone elses trees can get seriously expensive. If it's just brush tell the neighbor and they probably won't have an issue if you're just clearing to get a real line of site like a surveyor does. BTW most surveyors will set witness pins back a bit from your line and cut the line of site that way VS cutting on someone elses land and they're only cutting small trees a few inches across, not mature trees.

A photograph being off +/- 10 feet is a little much to accept, especially if the photo is zoomed in to the max. Otherwise the photo would be completely distorted.

Now, in the case of a GPS device, the error factor is definitely there.

 

[tractchores]

A photograph being off +/- 10 feet is a little much to accept, especially if the photo is zoomed in to the max. Otherwise the photo would be completely distorted.

Now, in the case of a GPS device, the error factor is definitely there.

Unless you have an amazingly easy to identfy item at the corners of the lot then the issue is locating accurate places to measure from and then transfering them from google earth into reality. In my case I had some decent boundaries (stone walls) on 2 lines, I used the angles and FT measures from google earth images to determine the other lines. That's where the error comes in. Surveyors are marking in a much more sophisticated manner and it's not just that the "stone wall" is the boundary, but a specific point on the wall or other land mark. So when removing trees even an error of a few feet can be a big deal.... If it's just to get an idea then it's good enough, but can't replace a real survey.

 

[TomSeller]

Couldn't you just take out some limbs until you can see through? Possibly there is a tree right on the line that would prevent this, but maybe not. The flashlight idea might easily tell you.

 

[oosik]

Here, on my property, I'm glad to have a few of the big Ponderosa pines right on the property line. I use them as fence posts and after spiking a 2x8 to the side of the pine I nail the barbed wire to the 2x8. One of my property corners IS a big pine - its about 5 feet inside my line, but out here, who cares. Three of my corners have been properly surveyed and staked, one with a geologic monument, and the fourth is out in the middle of my shared big lake. I've tried everything to retain a monument for the corner, in the lake, but every spring the ice will remove it. Otherwise, I don't think even think the ducks or geese give a hoot if this corner is properly marked.