> rake (or whatever it is)
It's a piece of a spike drag harrow, a now little-used farm implement to break up and smooth tilled ground before planting. Dad used one when I was small. There would have been 8 or so of these toothed bars framed together in each section, with perhaps two to four sections pulled behind a team of horses or small tractor.
Wikipedia photo
Thanks for clarifying that for me Bill.
One of our crews found this lighter stake this week in S.E. Ga
Spent 105mm Artillery shell casing, primer dimple was the point. Found pushed into the tundra.
4' Railroad track section, set vertically with chiseled "X" in the end. Buried in gravel road.
I as at a Walt Robillard seminar when he mentioned a lighter stake and drew many blanks (Oregon). We don't set them here but did have a party chief that carried a pitchwood hub in case he needed to set a POT or side shot. We can still find them, with rusted tack holes years after the survey.
... 10 rods to the wagon axle set by D. Boone's Son...
Saw the call twice in two different Counties, only found one axle...
One of my favorites was a retracement of early GLO Surveyor W.O. Downey and his survey of T.24N., R77W., 6th P.M. where he set "Mastadon Bones". The crew passed over Como Bluff which is covered with the bones and I guess they decided to use a few for corner monuments. They were kinda "funny lookin" and unique.
Pablo B-)
I set a pogo stick once. It was a big land deal- several thousand acres of farm land that was scheduled to close before year end. Multiple surveyors were called in on the job. First day I met one of them at a section corner we both needed to establish the boundary for the cut-outs we were each assigned. Monument was gone but witness accessories were good. We worked together to reestablish the corner but neither of us had a piece of rebar in our trucks. We looked around and found the center tube of a pogo stick complete with spring. We set it, both shot it and went our separate directions. My plat reads "Set Pogo Stick Tube" along with other information. I figure we're all allowed a few unconventional monuments. 😀
Jack
Wasn't me but the surveyor I took over from did a lot of work out in Bethel Alaska and their was a notorious surveyor out there who was known for setting some rather unconventional monuments. The one that took the cake was a 'Set Table Leg' called for on one of his plats. Apparently he set just that, a table leg, nicely turned on a lathe apparently. As a joke my predecessor made this and I inherited it.
I think the most unconventional things I ever recovered was an old model T buggy axle. Made a fine monument.
i would like to find this one some day...
BY ASA
JV1057'STABLER. STATION IS ON THE FLAT SUMMIT OF A RIDGE WHICH IS COVERED
JV1057'WITH ORCHARDS AND ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS, AND IS CLOSE TO THE
JV1057'BOUNDARY FENCE BETWEEN THE ORCHARD OF W.P. MILLER AND A FIELD OF
JV1057'A.M. STABLER. UNDERGROUND MARK IS A SHORT-NECKED QUART BOTTLE,
JV1057'FILLED WITH ASHES, AND HAVING INSERTED IN ITS NOSE A PIECE OF
JV1057'TRACING MUSLIN ON WHICH WERE WRITTEN THE NAME OF THE STATION,
JV1057'ITS PURPOSE, AND ITS LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. THIS BOTTLE WAS
JV1057'PLACED AT A DEPTH OF 3.75 FEET. THE SURFACE MARK WAS A FREESTONE
JV1057'POST, 30 INCHES LONG AND 6-3/4 INCHES SQUARE ON TOP, WHICH WAS
JV1057'DRESSED SMOOTH AND HAD THE LETTERS U.S.C.S. CUT UPON IT.
JV1057'THE TOP OF THE STONE WAS ABOUT 2 INCHES ABOVE THE SURFACE OF
JV1057'THE GROUND. FOUR REFERENCE POSTS WERE PLACED AROUND THE
JV1057'CENTER MARK, EACH CONSISTING OF A FREESTONE POST, 30 INCHES LONG
JV1057'WITH TOP 5 INCHES SQUARE, HAVING THE LETTERS U.S.C.S. CUT
JV1057'THEREON. THE TOPS OF THESE POSTS WERE PLACED 2 INCHES ABOVE THE
JV1057'GROUND. THESE REFERENCE POSTS FORM A SQUARE, THE CENTER OF EACH
JV1057'STONE BEING EXACTLY 5 FEET FROM THE STATION, AND THE SIDES
JV1057'PARALLEL TO THE CENTER MONUMENT. IN THE RECOVERY OF 1917 IT
JV1057'WAS REPORTED THAT THESE REFERENCE STONES HAD PROBABLY BEEN
JV1057'SLIGHTLY DISTURBED BY PLOUGHING.
Reading the rest of the recovery notes, it seems that the original bottle and post were lowered and a disk placed on top.
http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=JV1057
Still, this would make a nice "Jerry Penry" type of recovery operation if you could get permission and the area hasn't been regraded. It should be easy to locate by the coordinates.
regrettably, it looks to have been regraded. the station is on the roadside (open section) and very nearly under the roadside ditch. remaining hopeful to find in the future
