I in the process of finishing up a project in eastern Oregon where the DOT set aluminium caps in 1981. Most were buried to prevent being plowed up, the wheat ranchers plant right up to the gravel shoulder. I would say of the 50 plus I found, well over half were corroded to the point they were not readable with some falling apart when I touched them. I'm sure it is a combination of dislike metal, soil type and whatever else chemicals they are using. Even the rocks are bleached milk white. If you are going to go with aluminium or brass, I would get one with the plastic sleeve to project against corrosion brought on by dislike metals.
@gradetek I've used the folks from landmarkgeo for years, no complaints here and they have always been good quality...
@john-putnam I found the same thing in the sandy "soil" in SW Florida, and much faster than your experience. I went to the sleeved caps on my second order, as I found some within a year that had eroded to a knife edge at the cap. lesson learned.
I've often seen these rebar drivers for sale but never had the opportunity to use one. They always seemed like a gimmick to do something that was already straightforward enough. But I found one kicking around the storeroom lately and gave it a try. To my surprise it puts a bevel on the top of the driven rod - which without it would be mushroomed. Also cuts down on the painful near misses. This tool is going to have a place in the truck going forward.
+1 on the rebar drivers, I carry both 5/8" and 3/4" versions in the truck. I only use 5/8" rebar, but I've found that some of them have an exaggerated side rib that prevents them from fitting into the 5/8" driver.
They're a must when setting aluminum monuments on rebar in hard soil or pavement situations. Those aluminum caps don't have enough give to fit over a mushroomed rebar.
They are the bomb. Besides making it easier to drive, they put a nice fillet on the rod and caps just slide on. Once the cap is on you can flip it upside down to drive the rod and cap a little more without beating the cap up.
Pretty much everyone I've shown it to in the field has ended up getting one.
https://www.surv-kap.com/Survey-Accessories/Rebar-Drivers
I like these rebar drivers better than the ones posted above. They're slightly lighter and don't take up as much room in the stake bag, plus the red color makes them easy to find when they get set to the side after driving the rebar.
Well, I went with these:
https://www.surv-kap.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_139_141&product_id=515
I should have got a rebar driver too.
I've see, the Barnett industries ones last over 40 years, in sunlight.
I usually lightly spray paint my caps, to block uv light.
I've asked for plastic caps, with aluminum foil caps. So far, nobody makes that. I think it would be long lasting, and plastic barrier between metal and aluminum would be good.
Perhaps it would require a different stamp process.
Those are also less than half the price of the Bernsten version.
I was on a longish project that in the beginning I located a series of pins with 15-20 year old legible caps. Three months later, after a dearth of chipmunk food I suppose, the tops of every one of those caps had been chewed away. Had I not been there in time, I would have never known who set those pins (nothing of record) and who set them made a difference in my boundary determination. After that, I started using stainless steel caps that have no plastic on them but are crimped on the sides. There is no way to get one of those off without destroying the cap. Not sure about the longevity with dissimilar metals with rebar and stainless but I like them so far. I've seen many of my older pins with plastic caps that have had the caps ripped off or mangled. No more.
The plastic caps were costing something like 63 cents apiece and the stainless caps were $1.63. In the big picture, the final result of all of my expensive work and effort is memorialized a lot better for a very small fraction of the total fee.
Morasse caps - we have EXTREME UV here and they look brand new after 45 years. It's almost impossible to remove them from the rebar
I in the process of finishing up a project in eastern Oregon where the DOT set aluminium caps in 1981. Most were buried to prevent being plowed up, the wheat ranchers plant right up to the gravel shoulder. I would say of the 50 plus I found, well over half were corroded to the point they were not readable with some falling apart when I touched them. I'm sure it is a combination of dislike metal, soil type and whatever else chemicals they are using. Even the rocks are bleached milk white. If you are going to go with aluminium or brass, I would get one with the plastic sleeve to project against corrosion brought on by dislike metals.
In most soil types aluminum caps will last as long as people have been setting them, but in the wrong soil the can be illegible in a year. Brass works everywhere.
I only drive with the shaper....best decision I've ever made. regardless what the other guys say, I'm a shaper driver.
Morasse caps - we have EXTREME UV here and they look brand new after 45 years. It's almost impossible to remove them from the rebar
These are what I use as well with identical results. The color and integrity hold up to the elements, at least here in upstate NY. The rebar sticks completely through a hole in the cap so the caps get installed first in batches and put in the truck. Then the rebar is driven into the ground where needed. Any mushrooming only further adds to the inability of the cap to be removed.
Licensed Land Surveyor
Finger Lakes Region, Upstate New York
