Mapman, post: 405042, member: 6096 wrote: Horses and mules would have carried the heavy stuff.
Theoretically they might have bon-fired the area first. A couple of hours of that would likely thaw it out some. Plus the added benefit of a charcoal pit. Sit around the fire and have a little whiskey to take the chill off too!
They were paid by the mile .....................
wfwenzel, post: 405054, member: 7180 wrote: They were paid by the mile .....................
Around here too. From reading notes and diary entries I got the impression nobody really even stood still at most corner locations. In fact the compass and chain crew usually plowed ahead and left "Mutt & Jeff" following up behind them with a mule, shovel and the rocks. One entry indicated the reference marks were made and noted during a final 'ride through' by competent (literate) personnel.
I've always gotten a chuckle over our modern day investigation of possible original corner locations. I've spent half a day in 50' radius circle sniffing trees, probing and digging holes. The reality is the crew spent less than a few minutes there and proceeded up line with haste. If they stopped at all it was probably just to pee...
paden cash, post: 405090, member: 20 wrote: If they stopped at all it was probably just to pee...
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
When I did blue tops I carried an army shovel, pole axe, 6lb sledge and knap sack full of 2x2x6 oak stakes.
Most of the work was done with pole ax with it having an axe on one side and flat side for driveing.
When it was too deep the shovel came out
When it was too hard the sledge drove the axe into the ground.
When it was really to hard it was not uncommon to split a hub in half and set half a hub.
Oak hubs became scarce at times and those 1x2 pine hubs would splinter way too easy
As a substitute we used ash hubs from broom factories using the cutoff portion to make broom and mop handles
A Harris, post: 405116, member: 81 wrote: When I did blue tops I carried an army shovel, pole axe, 6lb sledge and knap sack full of 2x2x6 oak stakes.
Most of the work was done with pole ax with it having an axe on one side and flat side for driveing.
When it was too deep the shovel came out
When it was too hard the sledge drove the axe into the ground.
When it was really to hard it was not uncommon to split a hub in half and set half a hub.
Oak hubs became scarce at times and those 1x2 pine hubs would splinter way too easy
As a substitute we used ash hubs from broom factories using the cutoff portion to make broom and mop handles
Back when we used to drive miles of bluetops at a time, we used white oak 1x2 hubs. There was a local guy that got the scrap edges from a stave mill that made slats for oak whiskey barrels and he cut the hubs out of that. Had 6"ers for the hard and high spots, 8's, 10's, and 12's depending on the grade. Anything over that got a 36" stake with a grade marked on it til they got it closer.
