Keeping Tripod Legs Stable on Asphalt

In that situation, can you use one of those three-armed bases that are intended for concrete, wooden floors, etc? Stabilized with sandbags?

Cheers,
Henry

I used a sheet of plywood on a rooftop project where I had to protect the roofing material from damage.

I see that you tried the bottle caps. Try using a very large fender washer. The points on the feet should stick through a bit.

If that doesn't work. Treat it as though you were setting up in a swamp. Drive some 2-foot hubs into the fresh asphalt and set up on those. It should be a piece of cake and no one will mind.

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I use woods stakes (18" or 24"). Lay them flat on the asphalt and set the tips of the tripod into the stakes. I wouldn't do this for control work, but works "good enough" for many tasks. Again, just lay the flat side of the stake on the asphalt, they're not driven into the ground.

Iƒ??ve used large washers like one user mentioned with good success. This method seems common in Florida.

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I've used the rubber "cups" that are made for furniture legs on wood floors - I actually found some 1" diameter self adhesive felt circles in the arts & crafts section of Walmart that fit inside them perfectly.

RPLS#, post: 443239, member: 12280 wrote: What are some reccomendations on how to keep my total station from sinking in asphalt? Im on a project where I have to setup on some freshly laid asphalt, its pretty soft and I'm having to re level the instrument quite a bit. I tried metal bottle caps under the feet as one user here had mentioned but that didn't seem to stop it. Thanks

When we used to work in town much more than I do now, and had more asphalt to deal with than I do out here in the country, we would scrounge up a few handfuls of gravel or sand, maybe from an unpaved parking lot or something, and pack it up against the tripod feet -- it would cool them down and cool the asphalt and keep the legs from sinking significantly.

Taco Bell Dawg, post: 443264, member: 12957 wrote: I use woods stakes (18" or 24"). Lay them flat on the asphalt and set the tips of the tripod into the stakes. I wouldn't do this for control work, but works "good enough" for many tasks. Again, just lay the flat side of the stake on the asphalt, they're not driven into the ground.

12 or 16" pieces of lath also will work. These can be anchored to the asphalt with 8 penney nails and the tripod legs can be pushed into the lath to keep them from sliding.

I take a 1/2" rebar and punch shallow pilot holes into the asphalt, then place the tripod feet points into those holes. Works like a charm. Concrete is another story.

paint the ground white at leg points
Aervoe
white upside down , one $4 can will last you a year
add a cup of water to your taste

Always had fine results just using, 4"ish cut offs of 5 quarter p/t decking thats usually laying around job sites

I'll admit that I've set up on asphalt for some small, noncritical thing. But I found myself remembering the teethmarks in my behind when Dad saw it. I was taught to never ever set an instrument up on asphalt. Concrete only if you have divots or chain the feet.

I've been using the tripod stabilizers from Lo Ink for the past 2 or 3 decades. They work very well on pavement.
https://www.loink.com/product/106/32

No one's using hubs? I like the wedge type anyway, and they're perfect for sticking each foot on. They usually have one course side to use on the pavement side.

JPH, post: 443483, member: 6636 wrote: No one's using hubs? I like the wedge type anyway, and they're perfect for sticking each foot on. They usually have one course side to use on the pavement side.

That's what I always used. Lay them on their side and make sure you don't kick them out.

There are places where you either set on asphalt or you dont work. Mitigating stability problems requires different approaches for the type of asphalt, climate and equipment.
Spreading the tripod wide, using a chain between the legs and washers under the feet takes care of most issues. There are even white rubber blocks chained together that work on fresh asphalt.
With our S series robots, dropping the hi to around 5 feet with the legs moderately extended gets it done. Avoiding cracks and joints is a must. Other than that you only need to follow good procedure with checks before, during and at the end of each setup.