I like to use tripods that have the double locking mechanism. I think it gives you a fail safe. Years ago, with a year old Topcon 8003 robot, I was using a light duty set of legs b/c I had a lot of traversing to do and the robot itself was pretty heavy so the light duty legs made carrying it easier as I moved from setup to setup. Anyhow, it fell flat on it's face in a gravel road b/c of the vibration the robots create. I learned that day, that the sturdier wooden and heavy duty fiberglass legs are the way to go. That said, it does make for a heavy load if you traverse quite a bit w/it.
As far as setups go, I always try to keep it out of the road. If I do have it in a roadway, it's coned off pretty good and signs are up. Still makes me nervous though. So far I've been lucky, but I think it's b/c I stay out of the travel lanes as much as possible with it. With a little bit of careful planning you can put some random points in locations where you can use them w/out being in the actual pavement.
