Ok so I am about to pull the trigger on buying my own locator. I have used the GA52cx mostly in my career. I did use the Chicago o Steel one years ago. Has any one had experience with the Maggie version of Schonstedt and do they work as good and reliable as the GA52cx.
I am sick of grabbing a locator to go to a site and they have been beat to death and have knobs missing and such. So I just going to buy my own.
I was out today on a 49 acre piece blazing a line through some thick timber for a drain field and also flagging up corners on a property I am closing on next month. I didn’t have a locator but was able to find all corners but 2 But a couple via packing land in some rough areas so was wishing I had a locator with me. One is probably literally under a 48” oak that has fallen. I started looking online at the cost of the 52cx and man have they climbed in prices. It seems a few years ago I picked one up for a friend for under $800 and delivered it as I was heading his way to help. Now they are $1100 -$1300. Geezers. Anyway if the Maggie’s is just as good let me know. Or I will go with the old faithful.
Used on of these for years and was very happy with its performance.
I used one of those for a day once last year. The old boss had one it was light as a feather from what I remember. I will have to check that out price wise for sure.
I've had an ML-1M for over 20 years. It works just as well, if not better, than my Schonstedt GA-72Cd which is the same vintage. As I recall, Subsurface was founded by several guys that left Schonstedt when it was sold in the 90's.
The Maggie does look intriguing for those jobs were you need to pack it in. But not intriguing enough to wan to shell out a grand for the connivence alone.
That's a big investment. As you say they are well over a grand nowadays. You know that they can be repaired, good as new, right?
I had one of those collapsible models of Schonstedt a few years back. It worked fine, but it wasn't as convenient as I expected it to be. That and it was shorter than the standard model even when extended so it required more stooping. I've also used the GA-72 for extended periods, but when I've bought a couple of Schonstedts since then I chose the standard GA-52 model each time.
Yeah the MAGGIE and the 52cx are both over a grand now. That M1 is just shy of a grand.
Yeah I know they can be repaired as good as new for sure. I am looking for a used one for that very reason as well. Have to see repair cost with used cost vs new. I need one personally anyway. I went to a site to help a friend not long ago it was close to my house. Crew had missed several corners couldn’t find. I got lucky using pin flags and got close to it and ground was soft enough that I was able to scratch around and find the corners about a half foot down. They never even dug to look. But my friend said there locator was not working. So all they found was what was sticking out of the ground. I was like they could have come back and staked out with having found a couple on the other end. I am always walking farms looking to buy so being able to snoop around sometimes is not bad. Big investment for sure. Guess a couple 4 legged leather bags will go to market lol.
I have a few stories about guys who have lost or damaged their pin finders (and other tools), either maliciously or accidentally, and then gone for months and years without a working unit, fearful to come clean to the boss about it. I have more stories about crews swapping their broken stuff for good stuff out of another crews truck. It's a lot more common that you might think.
If I was the Field Survey Manager of a multi crew operation I would make a point of spending a day a month in the field with each crew just to find out these sorts of things. I'd institute a policy of replacing and/or repairing whatever needed it, without comment or repercussions. If, in the fullness of time, I found that one crew or another was extraordinarily hard on their stuff we could deal with that appropriately. But it is seriously false economy to send crews out without working equipment.
I used this product for 20 years, and it is my favorite detector, both in form and function.
It is right around $850.
Whatever you buy, I highly recommend something that indicates polarity. The price point doesn't really change, but you will find yourself using it to understand what is under the ground, especially with manholes and mon cases and bits of random metal.
Yeah don’t get me started about be responsible for equipment. One thing my past employer might never appreciate. As I did full inventory and spot checks frequently. It was funny many tias I had all that logged and tracked. Because we would have to donate parts of our equipment to out of town crews often unfortunately and when they would call on a Sunday night and say can you grab the extra equipment and head to finish up X job or get crew member A and have them ready for X project. Last minute. I would say well this and that are in this state as of x date and this is in this state so we only have X. And my crews are using Xyz. Only. But I will give credit to Junk on the bunk and poncho inspections along with wall locker and survey deployable and non deployable equipment. I was responsible for. Several millions of dollars worth of supplies and equipment from surveying to plotters computers etc. so I don’t take that lightly at all. Remember the old Trimble 4000 ssi. All the cables. Yeah we had 18 of those 6 wild T-3 6 Dino levels with 2 invar rods per set up 3 5600 1” total stations with the old cpu face plate singers radios for rtk key equipment for keying radios and gps units and other items. I could go on all day. It is still mostly in my head.
I will check this one out as well.
Don't get me wrong. Absolutely avoid trying to fix any blame. At least until it becomes crystal clear that things are being abused. This isn't the military. Instead create an environment where it is understood that things wear out and break in normal use, and that the work done with it is valuable enough to be done with well functioning equipment. If somebody needs to be spoken to for rough handling of equipment do it behind closed doors. Let the perpetrator go if you have to. But don't be seen and heard storming around about busted stuff.
Praise in public. Correct in private . Always that’s what I try to do. Unfortunately my position now is not handling the crews. But I agree with you 100%. Nothing worse than having crews scared to say I broke this or this is broken. Never understood that but some leaders instill that fear into the employees and some don’t even realize that for sure.
I inherited two Maggies when I began my job. One is kind of broken (something rattling around inside of it) and the other is pretty new. The form factor is clumsy (my opinion), it looks like a toy, and you can't use it as a light duty walking staff/brush poker.
I have used Subsurface since they broke into the market. When it was time to get my own, I ended up with cosmetically nice ML-1M that I purchased on eBay for about $185, knowing that I could get it repaired if needed (it needed one screw for the case and has worked flawlessly). There are still deals to be had. For instance, there is a nice ML-1M on eBay right now, with bag, than can be to your door for about $600. That's a good deal considering MSRP. There is also another for $400 OBO which was clearly run over...buyer beware 🙂
I have a CST/berger Magna-Trak 100 and even after a service it is still not as good as the GA-52Cx or Dunham & Morrow DML2000-XR that I've used in the past.
That said with a GNSS rover running off a CORS I don't need one much anymore, quicker to turn on GNSS, search and dig. Once you've got the first mark then base over it or calibrate onto it and your away.
