GPS for measuring and platting?

[bdog]

Where are you located? I have a survey grade GPS and would be willing to help you for some barley pops if you are close by.

We recently built a 25'x50' equipment shed with six vertical columns. I placed the columns using the GPS and all were with in 1/2". It is an amazing tool. I have over 20k in it but we use it for work and it has paid for itself many times over.

 

[MNBobcat]

Where are you located? I have a survey grade GPS and would be willing to help you for some barley pops if you are close by.

We recently built a 25'x50' equipment shed with six vertical columns. I placed the columns using the GPS and all were with in 1/2". It is an amazing tool. I have over 20k in it but we use it for work and it has paid for itself many times over.

Hey Bdog,

That would have been sweet. Thanks for the offer! I live in Minnesota though. A little far for you to drive. I'd have certainly bought you some barley pops or given you some grapes or both!

Its amazing how accurate those GPS's are. I had heard they were accurate within about a half inch.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I would caution you against erecting your fence anywhere except on the property line. Those have a habit of becoming property lines after a few years then requiring another survey to straighten them out. If too many years pass it may even become impossible to rectify without extensive court cost unless the adjacent property owner is willing to just set it at survey line. We had that problem when we bought our present property. The fence line was up to 75 feet off the real line at one end. Luckily the property owner had no problem with us relocating the fence line. This did take some dozer work to clear 50+ years of timber growth.

 

[MNBobcat]

Gary,

No issues like that here. I'll be putting a road between the fence and the property line. In addition, I have the property line staked with PVC stakes about 4 feet out of the ground and painted red.

 

[oosik]

I have a Garmin hand held GPS. On a good day its accuracy will be +/- 10 feet. I've never seen a hand held anything that can match the accuracy of a tripod mounted Theodolite. But, then again, technology is one of those things that moves faster than my age.

As Gary Fowler said - fences erected "close" to property lines have a habit of BECOMING property lines with time. I don't think you want to have to defend an "inboard" set fence at a later date. Just move the fence on that side to the property line.

OR have an erected fence on the property line and the fence you want to instal and that each is separate, unique and easily identifiable.

 

[skylarkguy]

You might try checking with an engineering department at a local university. They might loan you a total station for all your survey needs.
Alternatively look into differential gps to increase the precision of your handheld unit.

 

[s219]

I found an iphone app but the GPS on the iphone is only accurate to about 15 feet.

I develop the "Theodolite" app for iPhone which is used for a lot of survey work. iPhones can get down to about 3 meter accuracy. You could buy a sub-meter GPS add-on for the iPhone (or iPad) for about $600 and get down to about 20 centimeter accuracy. However, it can take several minutes for the hardware to settle out to that level of accuracy. Me, I recommend using good old fashioned common sense, with a combination of the app, surveyor's tape, and Brunton pocket transit (great tool). Using those tools, I was able to survey quite a bit of our property and develop the site plan. The real surveyors where impressed I came within an inch on the foundation pins. I am of the opinion that surveying is more about technique than equipment. Multiple measurements can be used to reduce the error of any one tool.

Normally, if your property corners are marked, the app with onboard GPS can get you close enough to find the pin, and then it's a matter of shooting bearings to other corners where pins may not be available. Shooting bearings from two directions can let you triangulate a missing pin pretty well.

Good luck!

 

[RippySkippy]

I know you're on top of this. If you need a reason to "get it right" look up Adverse Possession and Minnesota state laws specifically.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've found that the first thing to do is clear the area you are going to be working on. Then I use a wheel to walk of the distances. It's accurate within a foot and when I put flags out, I can double check my measurements, or create an area and then measure off of it. Old School is sometimes still the fastest, easiest and most accurate. It's always the most affordable!!