I was thinking that these could be used on witness trees. As the tree grows, it's got 6" of radius before it's covered up.
I find many witness trees, with the "point of measure aluminum nail, 30-40 yrs old, and grown over. They are only 2" or 2-1/2" Long. Why not substitute stake whiskers?
Or, some other form of long lasting plastic. I often find location posters, with all the nails popped except one. It seems like an area we could improve, upon, for generations to come.
I'm bringing this up for discussion, and to see if anybody else has come up with a practical way to preserve witness trees. That are less or non invasive. Maybe a stake chaser, with aluminum metal part, an smaller nail hole.
I'm appealing to this resource, rplstoday.
Maybe something good can come of this idea, like a spark. Starts a fire.
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One simple thing I've seen done is to leave the nail heads proud by an inch or so, thus allowing for some growth of the tree.?ÿ
Stake whisker plastic would probably turn crispy and blow away, as flagging does, within a few years. Otherwise it's not a bad idea.
In this day of being able to measure 1/2 mile and mile distances almost as fast as you can walk to the monuments, to millimeter precisions,?ÿ the need for witness trees is diminishing.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
Use a long 16d nail driven halfway in to hold the chaser to the tree and point it at the monument.
I switched to mag hub nails with whiskers several years ago. The oldest I have returned to is about 4 years. The plastic was faded but still pliable.?ÿ
The biggest advantage will be the tail of plastic as the following surveyor exposes the nail. It's the same as that first bit of flagging when you are digging in a road bed.?ÿ
Yes, @mark, I guess it's retro-thinking... As I try to find an old survey marker, in a dozer trail, with an ambiguous witness tree.
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the need for witness trees is diminishing.
If the corner is gone; nothing beats a reference 40 feet away. And if I have 3 or 4 of them, I'm doing the happy dance...
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We called them turkey tails and used them exclusively for marking hubs in final grade staking.?ÿ I've never considered a found witness (bearing) tree to be good to the hundreth; it's a witness (bearing) tree that as the decades pass grows, twists & turns and ultimately dies, although the stump may last for hundreds of years.?ÿ I've without exception properly blazed and scribed GLO bearing trees over the years; no nails, etc.?ÿ
Think blazes and scribing are ephemeral??ÿ Think again; at undisturbed corners the blaze & scribing are obvious for a decade or two; then the wound closes up but is still obvious (we called 'em "pussies") and judicious excision of the bark reveals the scribing;?ÿ then after more decades the tree dies, falls over, the heartwood rots away, but shards of bark rot more slowly and meticulous examination of nearby bark litter can reveal bark with a reverse impression of the original scribing and can be associated with a particular stump.?ÿ A properly marked original GLO corner in undisturbed forested country should have a bearing tree in each quadrant, so long after the monument has disappeared you can declare it obliterated, pull from found bearing tree(s) and locate it within a few tenths or a foot or two.?ÿ Much better than declaring a corner lost and proportioning from miles away which is *guaranteed* to not mark the original corner's location.
Also line tree blazes are useful including machete cuts on brush which are not included in the record but clearly show where the original surveyor ran the line even decades later.?ÿ It's sad that due to GPS/Total Stations now nobody actually "follows the footsteps" of the original survey and using "coordinates" from afar, makes a declaration the corner is lost?ÿ without reconnaissance and slams in proportioned corners which upsets long held boundaries in repose.?ÿ I'm glad I'm retired and no longer have to battle jacklegs who ignore evidence and do a one day survey where they plant pins and there's strong evidence the original corner is 50' (or 0.15') distant and collect their fee.
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The whiskers will go away within a few years.?ÿ Not sure if it's due to sunlight/heat/cold/varmints or what but I've found more reference nails with whiskers that are whiskerless than with whiskers.?ÿ Great for the short term, though.
