How to figure out property line over hills/woods

[beenthere]

I have a similar, although shorter, line fence problem (going over a hill) about 800'.

My plan is to pull a wire between the two known points, then lifting the wire at intervals using two posts fastened at the top, with a support wire hanging down. Like hanging the wire from a tripod (only it would be a bipod). Enough supports to get the wire hanging suspended and free from the ground. Then sighting and moving the legs of each bipod such that the support wire hangs plumb. Hope I described that well enough.
I will be stretching wire anyway, so figured this first wire would not be a useless effort or expense. The posts for the bipods would be, but figured 2x4's 8-10' long should do the job. Maybe a tripod of three posts is needed for stability. Its been on my mind for several years. So far the neighbor doesn't want a line fence. Our laws say the line fences must be shared. The right half of the line facing the neighbors property is mine to fence.

 

[archerm3]

are the survey writeups done in Magnetic north or True north?

 

[Josephm]

Beenthere, is there any way you could describe your method a little more? I am having a hard time visualizing what you have described.

Thanks,
Joseph

 

[dodge man]

I think I can picture it. Joesph, picture a tripod with a wire hanging below it. Than take the string line you want for your line and hang it from the wire below the tripod. This would allow it to hang free and give you the correct line. The problem is, if you have a 30' high hill, your tripod would have to be 30 feet high. At least thats my take on his idea, and it would work in theory if you can build the string line high enough.

 

[dmccarty]

Our north/south property lines are marked every 300 feet or so with a pin. I have those lines cleared and I mow them with the DR brush cutter a couple of times a year. This is in heavy woods.

Our east/west lines are another matter. Heavy woods and at best there is a pin every 800-900 feet. And somewhat hilly. Both my father and I have tried to use a compass to work a line through the heavy trees and brush. And we still are off quite a bit and all we are trying to do is clear a line not build a fence.

I am using a hand held GPS to do the same thing on another line and it is easier. All I want to do is get close to the line, there is old flagging up here and there in places, so I can clear the line of brush. Maybe just maybe I will be able to run string to really find the line.

But I doubt it. I have had the surveyors out to remark some lines in the past and it was worth every penny paid. I could tell my neighbors were about to put their septic field on my land. That was going to be ugly.

The new owner of the same house was putting up a fence on the property line without even know where the line was located. I had a chat, showed him the plot and handed him a compass suggesting he shoot the line and see that his fence was on my land. We were near a corner so it was easy.....

Thankfully he moved the fence posts before they put up the expensive fence wire. The fence is six feet tall. He would have been must unhappy when I removed the fence with the tractor.

The money I paid the surveyors was worth every danged penny I paid them. Kept me out of two lawsuits.

How much time and money are you going to spend putting up a fence?

How much money will it cost to pay a surveyor to put in some pins so you can know the location of the line?

How much will the lawyer charge per hour?

How much money is it worth to NOT have to move the fence?

Later,
Dan

 

[TomOfTarsus]

I'm kinda lucky in that I have high resolution orthorectified aerial photos (from the USGS national map), the resolution being 10 cm/pixel. I also had a surveyor precisely locate two corners of my house, as I was putting on an addition and needed to be certain that I wasn't going over the building lines in either direction. I also have access to a CAD program that even works in surveyor's units.

Combining these resources with my surveys, I was able to get an idea of my boundaries that are good enough for now (I.e match anecdotal decriptions), but I wouldn't build fences off of them.

Surveyors have access to GPS units that can get sub-centimeter accuracy, consumer units aren't anywhere near that close, maybe 20 - 30 ft. at best - it's what keeps geocaching fun, rathe than having you walk right up to the cache. But even with the high accuracy GPS, you have to be able to at least project a point from where you are currently located.

With a compass alone, as someone else mentioned, you have to know your local magnetic deviation. I would assume that all surveyors work in true, not magnetic, north, as magnetic changes over time. You really have to watch that.

So I'd say get the surveyor, and just minimize the no. of markers you'll need by thinking ahead as to how you can get from marker to marker with stretched strings or lasers. Everybody knows money is tight, he'll probably work with you on that.

Good luck,

Tom

 

[beenthere]

Beenthere, is there any way you could describe your method a little more? I am having a hard time visualizing what you have described.

Thanks,
Joseph

"Dodge man" described it fairly well (close anyway ). Raising the taught stretched wire at the highest point of the hill so it doesn't touch the ground will allow the wire to want to be straight. I'd expect a few feet of suspension from the top of the tripod (or bipod) would be adequate. A separate plumb line hanging from the tripod as suggested by Dodge man would help knowing when the tripod is moved to the point the taught wire is in a straight line between the two end points.

More than one tripod lifting the taught wire might be necessary to keep the wire off the ground.

 

[Steve C]

Hello all,
I was wondering if someone might be able to help me with a problem I have. I need to build quite a bit of fence on a new property and only the corners are marked with survey rods.

I contacted the surveyor and, for him to come out and stake it every 100 yards or so, will be costly.

I think I can get the straight, flat parts marked out myself. I am just trying to figure out how to get it placed correctly over a wooded hill.

I have thought about putting flares out at night at the bottoms of the hill and use a 1/2" degree accuracy sighting compass and rifle scope. That way, I can go to the crest of the hill and align myself with the compass until I am dead center. Once I am dead center, the compass should read the correct bearing that is listed on the survey, when the light is in the crosshairs of the scope. This is all assuming there wont be too much brush in the way etc. to see the flares.

Does anybody know of any tricks for this? I am not sure if my idea will work or not. I really don't care if I am off a couple of feet in either direction, but would like to get it somewhat accurate.

Thanks,
Joseph

Wait for a evening when there is a little mist in the air. get 2 lasers and 2 tripods. set one tripod over each corner point. Designate the lower corner point as a beacon, and point the laser straight up in the air. Take special care that the beacon laser is perfectly plumb in the plane that is perpendicular to you direction of travel, and it will eliminate any possible deviation from a straight line. Place the second laser and tripod over the other corner marker and shoot it horizontal to intersect the beacon beam. Take a long straight stick with reflective tape on it and a level. Walk about 50 feet towards the beacon beam, hold it up to where it is hit by the horizontal laser beam, plumb it and mark the location. Repeat this process untill you can no longer reach the beam due to elevation or weakness of the laser. Move the horizontal corner laser to the last marked location, and repeat the process. You can just walk towards the other corner 50-100 feet and mark that location, move the corner lazer and the horizontal lazer to that new location and repeat the process, marching up and down hill in a lazer straight line.

 

[beenthere]

That is an interesting approach.
Do you have the name/type of laser in mind?

 

[Steve C]

That is an interesting approach.
Do you have the name/type of laser in mind?

No I do not. I have a couple of $20 lazer levels that I have used to align the blade in my table saw to get it parrallel to the fence. I clamp it to the blade and shoot it to a spot on the wall 40 foot away, mark the location, and move it to the fence and shoot another spot on the wall and mark it. I then measure the distance between the 2 marks and compare it to the distance from the blade to the fence. This allows me to adjust the machine for perfect cuts even when using thin kerf blades. The blade is perfectly parrallel to the fence. I have used the cheap ones outside but they don't have to power to go more than a hundred feet or so. A person would have to find something with a little more hp for my method to work. I have not had a need for it so I don't have any but I am sure that they are out there somewhere if you look around.