I have a collection of old and kinked, bush-hog whacked, grader blade bent, and otherwise mangled rebar. Some still have other surveyors cap, some have mine.
Maybe I should make an art exhibit out of it.
I dunno.
They are hard to straighten and re use.
I usually find them laying down, or barely in the ground, and reset a fresh one.
N
I'd recommend removing the caps so nobody can misuse them, and then recycling the pile as scrap metal.
Sometimes I straighten them enough for use as control points that don't have to be accurately set at a predetermined position, as long as they're stable once set.
I consider them reference material and evidence of what other surveyors have used in the past.
😉
Between the hitch on my truck, some eyelets on that hitch, and using a hammer I've never seen any I couldn't persuade back into shape. That being said if you're working solo making a hundred bucks an hour surveying I'd scrap it all immediately.
First thing you do is...............
Think of a fellow surveyor not too far from your own back yard. Secretly do a bit of exploring around his home to see if he has a nice garden or flower bed, especially a raised one. Make sure no one is home. Install as many used bars as desired, caps and all, fully into that soil, leaving the top of bar/cap just a fraction of an inch below the surface. Then wait for him to post about his find here on Beerleg/SurveyorConnect when he gets around to doing a bit of tilling or replanting.
First thing you do is...............
For those who don't remember: a [msg=274705]post a couple weeks ago[/msg]
> Maybe I should make an art exhibit out of it.
I keep the odd ones around. I mean some day the Guinness Book of World records will open up a category for "Shortest Boundary Marker" and I'm pretty sure I've collected some winners in the 1/2-inch diameter division.
The really old ones do have an educational value. I mean, there can be very good clues as to the age of the rebar depending upon the design of the deformations and cet. The plastic-capped rebars are mostly for laughs since the caps are usually very eaten up in Texas if the marker is close to ten years old or more. They do make a good exhibit to show a client the difference between an El Cheapo boundary marker and something worthwhile.
Recycling drill holes
We use up the old rebar before we get new rebar and save the bent ones for those "iffy" places. I haven't found too many with caps but I have found some. If the cap is blank and has a punch, that's all the better because now I'm working with a pretty accurate point that could belong to just about anybody. I set those ones where I need real good accuracy because nothing else around will work what my client wants.
Recycling drill holes
As Kent says above, I once found one that was 4" long. The plastic cap on top, kept it from sinking in the marsh..... It was on a lot survey. Near Hot Springs. I was a bit alarmed, and finally decided to set a new one, because positionally it was out by 3-4 ft. (It was the odd one out, of a number of subdivision pins) When I went to investigate, it pulled out real easy... 4" long! I called it a disturbed mon, and set my own, 30" long. It had no apparent reliance, and would only have convoluted the area. And, it had not been there very long either. I think my plat said something like, "Fd 1/2" x 4" rebar, Brs N 45°20' W 3.52', I determined it was a disturbed monument, and set mine at the deed position, as shown". It was a swampy spot anyway. Nobody cared, and it kept the title neat in all 4 directions.
N
Recycling drill holes
Did you contact the person whose number was on the cap? Either he needs to be reminded of requirements, or you have to wonder what kind of Twilight Zone creature chewed off 26" of rebar and dragged the remainder over there.
Nate,
About 20 years ago my Dad and I installed this at the house. It's 3/4" galvanized pipe driven into a 6" x 6" deck post (the hole was pre-drilled). It works GREAT for straightening 1/2" and 5/8" rebar and 1/2" pipe. It's usually got to be over 20" or so long to get a good grip and the right tension, but it sure works. Of course, every situation is different, but sometimes a bar can be salvaged.
a bit labor intensive...but..
old rebar can be fashioned to a number of things:
a bit labor intensive...but..
I typically leave them where I find them, if they belong to others.
They are evidence. If it is mangled and disturbed, I typically leave it laying on its side, preferably slightly buried, so it will likely be found by the next surveyor.
Soft rebar is easy to straighten. WOW! This brings me back to the early 60's. Hold a 2 lb hammer in your left hand. With a gloved right hand grip the bent rebar. Strike the bent part of the rebar on the hammer. The weight of the rebar above the bend will straighten the the bend out. I do it all the time. My help look with amazement as the snarly bent rebar straightens out. I do it all the time.
My Tip For The Day! B-)
ps: I did an google search on this technique. NOTHING! I may be the last man doing this. :-O
I did as you mentioned with a 1" x 48" galvanized pipe against a telephone pole last year. The pipe had been bent over by a vehicle of some sort in the recent past and needed to be reset vertically. Its location wasn't that solid before that, so anything that I did was an improvement. I straightened, reset it and shot it as is. BOOM. done.
It's also kinda like installing the head of an axe or hammer on new handle... you hit the handle while the head dangles in the air.
Yep! You got it! 😉
> Hold a 2 lb hammer in your left hand. With a gloved right hand grip the bent rebar. Strike the bent part of the rebar on the hammer. The weight of the rebar above the bend will straighten the the bend out.
I'll have to give that a try!
I have a collection of old rusty rebar with caps on them for Arkansas PS 1254 and PS 1056 that I save to carefully bury when I really need to find a 1/4 or Section Corner. You just dig a hole, then place the rebar in the center, then backfill and tamp around it. It works every time. I also have a BM on the bumper of the truck.
