So the quandary is what do you do when a perfectly trimmed 15' tall conical Holly is dead on the street r/w property corner and you need to collect it for a survey? I can stick the locator in about four feet and I get a strong reading about a foot and a half out from the base of the bush but to uncover it I'll have to obliterate the bush. Anyone ever destroyed a 1500.00 bush for a 850.00 plot plan survey? I'm thinking my only choice is to note it as inaccessible and just go with witness corners. The problem with that is this is the line of contention that necessitated the survey. I am going to fully survey both lots and run out the line behind some other houses as well. What would you do?
locate two offset points at 90°, D-D to c/l stem. Easy-peasy
SS
I'm actually referring to a buried iron corner about three feet into the bush that I can't even get to in order to dig up and identify it. To dig it up (I estimate its at least a foot deep like all the rest I found on the lot) I would have to basically destroy that entire side of the bush and it's right on the road in a very high end subdivision.
Probe It From 3 Different Directions
Use geometry to get best probable position. Basically you have to confirm it is within tolerance of other corners. Instead of destroying the bush, spend time to get adjoining lot corners and subdivision monuments.
One not easily accessible corner should never render a survey impossible.
Paul in PA
Probe It From 3 Different Directions
I actually just did the calcs on the corners I've found and amazingly the worst one was only out a little over a tenth (or I'm out a little over a tenth) so I think I'll just go tie as many other corners as I can and if they check I think I'll feel comfortable enough to put the line on the ground. Being a land surveyor I still don't like it though.
Tunnel your way in
Seriously. Approach the bar from the side by essentially digging a tunnel from ground level down about one foot and about one foot wide. Prove that it exists. Then use a solid pole or something similar of a definite length to place against the bar at two slightly different angles and shoot that offset twice. Add half the diameter of the bar to your offset when drawing where two circles of that radius intersect. Boom, you have everything you need. If anyone else wants to see the bar, leave the tunnel open and let them crawl under the bush to see it with their own eyes.
You can probe and find the monument from two different directions and locate it that way.
They do make long handles for shovels and hoes.
Even if you must cut into the holly, it will recover in time. Setup close enough that you will only have to minimalism the cutting.
You could put on some brush buster clothes and crawl up under it and get your little buddy shovel out and see what is down there.
😀
Get a T-post and use it as a lever to part the branches near the corner. Once the branches have separated, use another T-post on the other side of the opening to pull those branches aside. Once you get a spot opened up, drive the T-Posts down to hold the spot open. It may not work on this bush, but it usually works on the worst offending vegetation.
Mr. Gardner,
Who owns the tree? Your client(s)?
If it is a boundary dispute, the owners have to weigh the potential loss versus the gain, don't they?
If reference monuments are not acceptable in this case, you have have only one recourse: Stihl!
JA, PLS SoCal
:good:
I would trim the Holly about 0.1' off the ground!!!!;-)
I once worked for the local DOT and we had to stake an interchange for viewing purposes right through a Holly farm. We came out of there looking like we lost a cat fight!
I HATE HOLLY!
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. Typing class 9th grade!
I tried a similar approach with two helpers and two shovels but the thing is just way, way to dense. We almost damaged the holly and still didn't have any room to dig.
It is literally on the line from what I can tell. I've asked the owner of the property that planted and maintains the holly (there's six or seven more on the same line) and he is emphatic about not damaging the darn thing. He says he pays more to have them cut that way every year than the survey is worth. Didn't really appreciate that comment but what do you expect out of a very connected personal injury attorney.
I was going to do that until I was told nothing was to be cut on the bush and that I'd just have to find another way to do it.
Leave a blank area in your drawing and description where that holly lies or input a picture of the bush.
Tell the high powered lawyer to have a go and see what he can do with that at his closing.
:gammon:
Probing From 3 Different Directions Gives Object Size
Describing the approximate diameter gives more information to confirm what is there.
You want to make multiple parallel probes from 3 different directions to best describe the offset distance.
Paul in PA
> I once worked for the local DOT and we had to stake an interchange for viewing purposes right through a Holly farm. We came out of there looking like we lost a cat fight!
Old time party chief to naive, inexperienced, rodman wearing hiking shorts (for the last time) after a close encounter with multiflora rose: "Son, what the hell did you do in there, try and f&$@ a bobcat?"
"...try and f&$@ a bobcat?"
O.K., I'm giving up on the whole "try and vs. try to" issue.
I guess language just evolves sometimes whether you like it or not.
Don
Don
The speaking in the quoted above was a hillbilly klansman, I'd hesitate to use him as a resource for proper english usage rather than, say, Fowler.