I (usually) have a 25' tape in the truck, although I may go months between using it.?ÿ So if it goes AWOL, I may not notice for some time. When I did notice, I wouldn't be in a rush to replace it. I use a 6' folding rule for measure ups. The one I have now is the third in 15+ yrs, and has a few years of service life left.?ÿ In the same period probably more than a dozen 25' tapes have passed in and out of my life, in spite of the fact that I rarely use them.
Another common surveyor thing that isn't in my truck is an 8lb sledge. I have a 4lb engineers hammer, but the 2lb edition gets more use.?ÿ
There is a machete, but it gets little use these days. Hand pruners and loppers have taken over those tasks for the most part.?ÿ
For some reason that reminds me of a large military contract I worked on about 11 years ago.?ÿ We were tasked with cross sectioning and locating everything along the main runway of a military base and had a week to do it.?ÿ I had multiple crews show up the first day of work and all had to go through the Contractor's gate and have their vehicles searched.?ÿ The first truck searched caused quite the ruckus with security as they found manchettes, plumb bobs, pointed sections of range polls and other items common in crew vehicles.?ÿ It was a big deal all morning with all the trucks having similar standard equipment but everything worked out after a million phone calls.?ÿ For some reason your post brought back memories of that day and made me laugh.?ÿ?ÿ
Doesn't get a ton of use but years ago I found a load strap tensioner along the side of the highway surveying one day. Sort of resembles a pry bar and it's what truckers use to tighten the ratchet straps on their trailer loads. To this day I have not found a better tool for popping the lid off a monument well. Needed it last week and nearly panicked when I couldn't find it right away.
Uncommon items in the survey truck...
Dewalt cordless grinder. Used for: correcting errors scribed in concrete; grinding out a smooth surface in rough curb/concrete to set scribes.
Ace propane torch: used for heating surfaces to get targets to adhere better.
Speed squares
6ft hexagonal digging bar
PLS 5 laser.?ÿ
I store a small 12' box tape in the instrument box so I don't have to walk back to the truck to get a tape for measure up.
Super soaker to drain monument wells.?ÿ The battery powered wet/dry vac works well too but I haven't needed it enough to buy one yet
I've recently employed the battery powered angle grinder with 4" masonry blade for concrete/rock scribes and metal blade for short pipe sets and fence demolition.?ÿ Considering adding a sawzall for tree trimming since I have a spare and the batteries are on board for the hammer drill and angle grinder.?ÿ?ÿ
I don't bring the chainsaw very often, it use to be an everyday thing....
Still carrying a rock bar but don't use it much
I (usually) have a 25' tape in the truck, although I may go months between using it.?ÿ So if it goes AWOL, I may not notice for some time. When I did notice, I wouldn't be in a rush to replace it. I use a 6' folding rule for measure ups. The one I have now is the third in 15+ yrs, and has a few years of service life left.?ÿ In the same period probably more than a dozen 25' tapes have passed in and out of my life, in spite of the fact that I rarely use them.
Another common surveyor thing that isn't in my truck is an 8lb sledge. I have a 4lb engineers hammer, but the 2lb edition gets more use.?ÿ
There is a machete, but it gets little use these days. Hand pruners and loppers have taken over those tasks for the most part.?ÿ
I also keep a 25ft tape for measuring walls, and HIs.?ÿ It apparently made its way to the Robot case which was not in the truck and needed to do some light topo with the TS.?ÿ The 100ft tape is a huge pain to use - almost a 2 man job, so I tried the disto for the first time.?ÿ A little shaky to hit the head of the nail, but it worked pretty good.?ÿ
I know guys on here have been half joking for years that new guns should have one built in to measure the HI, but that was the first time I tried.?ÿ Will definitely try again.
I have a bucket with mon well bailing supplies. A couple of rags, a sponge, a plastic cup, and a hand trowel. I used to have a hand pump which worked very well the first couple of times I used it but quickly jammed up with grit and became useless.?ÿ
The thing with box tapes is that they are steel, and we work in the rain around here. The tape gets wet and, if you forget to carefully dry it- the whole 25 feet - it is a rusty blob by the time you need it next. That and the tape will pick up grit and debris on it when wet, and the thing jams up. A 100' cloth tape for measuring buildings lacks the spring loaded retraction, but won't rust out on you.?ÿ
I used to have a hand pump which worked very well the first couple of times I used it but quickly jammed up with grit and became useless.?ÿ
Years ago I bought a very nice and rather expensive diaphragm bilge pump for emptying wells.?ÿ When it worked it worked great, but a little dried dirt on the flap valves rendered it inoperable, and cleaning those valves required extensive disassembly.?ÿ Out of frustration I eventually replaced it with a throwaway bilge pump, just a plastic tube with a plunger and I-don't-know-what-kind of check valve, and it not only works every time, it's faster, too.?ÿ It leaks some around the plunger -- so wet hands are a given while using it -- but it's efficient and reliable, and dirt cheap to boot.
I (usually) have a 25' tape in the truck, although I may go months between using it
I keep a 25 footer on my belt all the time.?ÿ I'd bet 90% of the time when I'm working with others someone will look around and say "Anyone have a tape?".
I always have an ideal marker on me; I really don't care for sharpies at all.?ÿ I'll use ideal markers forever if someone keeps making them.
I floated the idea of looking for or buying a cordless dremel once for scribing Xs but was told it was a silly/pointless idea.?ÿ Glad to see someone else does it.
300' tape, 25' tape, 25' dec/in box tape, 12' metric/eng box tape, 10' HI tape, 6" wood ruler and a disto. Going from a Ranger to an F-150 can be dangerous.?ÿ?ÿ
I have a bucket with mon well bailing supplies. A couple of rags, a sponge, a plastic cup, and a hand trowel. I used to have a hand pump which worked very well the first couple of times I used it but quickly jammed up with grit and became useless.?ÿ
Ah yes, the mon well digout kit.?ÿ The 18" marine hand operated bilge pumps work well and you can pop off the bottom flap valve & clear it in a jiffy. Useful is a SS soup ladle with a long handle to dig out silt/gravel once you're cleared the water out.?ÿ Also a WW2 signal mirror in a canvas wallet to shine down the well to see how you're doing.?ÿ Useful when centering the instrument's optical plummet in dark recessed mon wells to light up the mon cap.
My natural tendency in most things is to accumulate stuff, to hang on to things "just in case". Except in the area of tools, including my work truck. There I want to be able to put my hands on stuff readily. I do not want to be searching through piles of stuff to find things. So I'm pretty quick to pare down the stuff I carry around. I'm not sure what you are doing with a 300' tape but I haven't had a need for such a thing for many a moon. You might want to cull the herd.
The best addition to the survey chariot is the co-worker.?ÿ There are plenty of things that need done that can be done quicker and better by a spry sprout than an old story teller.?ÿ Besides, someone has to be a mentor.?ÿ Those are becoming tougher to find.
I have a very unique tool in my truck.
Since I do a lot of centerline intersection point replacement after paving I needed something to help recess the spike and washers I set.?ÿ I bought a disc one-eighth of an inch larger in diameter than the washers I set and about a half an inch thick. I place it where the washer is going to go and whack it several times with a hammer.?ÿ The new, "soft" asphalt packs down and gives me a flat spot to keep the washer neat looking.
It cost me fifty-two cents, but I had to pay $2.50 to have it cut off the bar stock.
@holy-cow:?ÿ Can I like this more than once??ÿ Ten times?
I haven't been on a military installation since before 9/11.?ÿ I'm sure things have changed.
I did have a crew at the federal prison in El Reno, OK during the time that Tim McVeigh (Oklahoma City bomber) was being held there.?ÿ The place was locked down like a...well, federal prison.?ÿ At the contracting officer's urging we completely cleaned out one of our trucks (even the glove box) and took only the essential equipment we would need.?ÿ This included our own written inventory to be re-checked by the guards at the gate.?ÿ We could take no hand tools, nails, hammers or stakes into the prison.?ÿ We needed a couple of grated inlets lifted and we had to call the prison maintenance staff.?ÿ The yard had to be cleared before they could remove to the grate.?ÿ That was what I called the "$2500 flow line shot".
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