There's a story I heard one time, about a job, that needed done. It was design, stake and asbuilt an interchange. With bridge, drainage, etc.
The engineer put in a bid of 2 million dollars.
The surveyor put in a bid $200,000
And this guy (Dave) who had been doing construction staking (and fixing mistakes in engineers plans) for 25 years put in a bid for $20k.
The engineer called up the surveyor, and said, if you and Dave will withdraw your bids, I'll get the contract. I'll give you 200k, and we'll hire Dave, for 20k, and we'll have a fine profit, and won't have to do a thing.
Well, I need a new bi-pod. Adir-Pro in China is making a ton of them. It appears that some Americans are buying these, (maybe for 30$ each, in bulk) and placing their logo on them, and reselling for 120$ each. A tidy little profit.
I can buy an Adir-Pro bipod, off eBay, for $70 to $100 each.
What bipod really is good quality, and lasts well?
All the dollars and cents aside, what's a really good bipod?
Thank you!
Nate
Years ago I knew a "dirt" contractor that had a couple of old worn out scrapers, a motor grader and a push Cat.?ÿ He made his living scratching out the subdivisions I would stake.?ÿ A big tire manufacturer was coming to a town not far from here to build a huge tire plant.?ÿ Everybody was pretty much convinced the grading contract would be north of 2 million bucks.
This fella put in a bid for 750K and was low bidder.?ÿ The general contractor was hesitant to accept the bid, but he told them he could do the job for that price if they would cover the performance and maintenance bond and front him a line of credit for diesel.?ÿ They accepted and he made a pile of money for himself and the GC, enough to get some new equipment and establish himself prominently in the industry.
Of course all the other bidders tried to sue.?ÿ Since it was a private job and no public or municipal moneys were being used the GC could pretty much hire whomever they wanted.?ÿ
"Big job" contracting is a snake pit.?ÿ You can make money and you can also "get bit".
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almost 20 years ago I took a construction law class, the instructor was a lawyer who had been a general contractor. He said the contractor is the eternal optimist, sure we can do it for that much, there won't be any problems, job will go perfectly smooth AND we have to get work.
All the dollars and cents aside, what's a really good bipod?
The thing with bipods is maintenance. They are very simple devices, but the plunger/spring arrangement needs to be regularly tightened, and the dissimilar metals of the rod and plunger need to be kept greased, or they will rust up solid in no time. When that happen you can replace the road and plunger.?ÿ?ÿ
I guess you are right, @Mark Mayer.?ÿ
I have a 5 or 6. Old Bipods. All with the rod stuck in the lock mechanism. Try to remove, and the rod twists off.?ÿ
Thanks,
N
My preferred "bipod" is a spade 1m long and a ski pole cut to the same length and then wrapped around the top with bike inner tube to grip. Hold at 90 degree's to each other and fine for any total station work and gnss shots <1min.
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Much easier to cart around as have to be carrying the spade anyway, no bipod legs banging against the pole or extra weight,?ÿ quicker to level and no attaching and reattaching it to the pole.?ÿ Only time I break bipod out is for static GNSS or a backsight where a pole is more convenient than a Tribrach and legs
Repair kits cost around $30 and 10 minutes per leg. Your bipod will be good as new. I get mine for Portland Precision Instruments (local equipment dealer). They get them from SECO.
Would you provide a picture please? Happy 4 and b safe
I have stuck with seco bipods since they have always performed better for me than other brands.?ÿ I've purchased 3 new seco bipods over the last 3 to 4 months. The first one, which is the only one I've used quite a bit is sticking in the tube. I've disassembled and cleaned it but the problem persists. I hope the other two aren't duds.?ÿ
I'll start a separate post with some photos to keep this thread on track
I've always used Seco stuff too, but last year I bought a Dutch Hill bipod. It's excellent! I also finally broke down and bought the Hixon 25' prism pole to use for my base. Excellent, very well made pole, and I also got the available gigantic bipod. Good stuff!
Have been using SECO for 25 plus years. As Mark stated with maintenance I haven't had one fail yet. Only issue is the clamp connecting it to the pole has a small contact area which has caused cracks in carbon fiber poles if over tightened.
Recently switch to Dutch Hill with the pole saver clamp. It provides a solid connection and excellent distribution of pressure on the pole.
And in last couple of years seco have updated the clamp from the 'spot' design to one that cups the pole, sounds like to keep up with the competition.
@lukenz I ordered a couple of the new style crush-free clamps and updated my older seco bipods with them. Relatively cheap way to have the new clamp without buying a whole bipod.
@stephen-ward They work great. On my carbon fiber rods the clamp likes to slip down over time. A little friction should stop that so I might put a little cloth tape around the rod at the contact point.
I've had half dozen Seco 3 legged pods and they all have worked well.
They are not so durable as a tripod and the aluminum parts with threads lose their threads thru oxidation for me. Maybe it is the harsh conditions from cold and extreme hot and lots of humidity.
Everyone worth the cost as they hold the rod all day and never complain or show up late.
0.02
Well, I fastened the vice grips to the button, and to the aluminum wedge, and sprayed it with PB Blaster. After working it for 5 min, it came apart. The problem was that it needed TIGHTENED, and the aluminum wedge was frozen on the rod at the bottom. I put it together with grease. Then dumped chain saw mix into the outer tube, and plunged it all in and out, 20x, and then dumped the mix. Things are working great now!
It is a Dutch Hill Brand. But, I suspect it is a Chinese, or Vietnamese model.
N
@mark-mayer unless they are Leica 🙂 I have a prism pole about 1995 vintage that uses the same leg mechanism as the Leica bi-pod and pole tripods, have never had one apart and they just keep on working. At a previous place I worked the prism poles were old wen I showed up and no issue in five years I was there, this was on the coast and rode hard and put away wet all the time. I have a SECO bi-pod I haven't used since buying the Leica one years ago, and those SECO ones you are correct about needing TLC often.
