Decades ago I had the privilege of watching The Great Slydini do his paper ball trick, where the ball would disappear right in front of the audience volunteer. Slydini would say, "You know why you no see? Because you no watch. Watch!"
I thought of him when I uncovered an open pipe lot corner that hasn't seen the light of day in probably 60 years. I could see where other surveyors had scraped the dirt away, found nothing, and pronounced it "not found." Repeatedly. A metal detector was no use because of the chain link fence. I found it by doing something astonishing: I got out the pickax, dug down past the asphalt and more dirt, and there it was, waiting patiently to be found.?ÿ
You know why you no find it? Because you no look. Look! (and actually dig).
Chain link fences are a pain in the arse, and I have no doubt that I've failed to find monuments near them when I didn't have a very well-defined search area.
??You know why you no find it? Because you no look. Look! (and actually dig).?
Amen brother. I hopefully have one waiting for me at the inside corner of a chain link fence. There is a tall skinny rebar nearby with a broken wood stake. I have computed the corner to be between the rebar and the fence corner. Like you said, the metal detector is of no use in these situations. I will dig so that I may find.
A former employee often took the stance that a difficult pin was gone. He would explain how the ground looked disturbed or some other excuse to justify not looking thoroughly.
Drove me crazy!?ÿ
I think that believing you will find the corner goes a long way in finding the corner.
Decades ago I had the privilege of watching The Great Slydini do his paper ball trick, where the ball would disappear right in front of the audience volunteer. Slydini would say, "You know why you no see? Because you no watch. Watch!"
I thought of him when I uncovered an open pipe lot corner that hasn't seen the light of day in probably 60 years. I could see where other surveyors had scraped the dirt away, found nothing, and pronounced it "not found." Repeatedly. A metal detector was no use because of the chain link fence. I found it by doing something astonishing: I got out the pickax, dug down past the asphalt and more dirt, and there it was, waiting patiently to be found.?ÿ
You know why you no find it? Because you no look. Look! (and actually dig).
i have found many like this, just tell your client an armadillo must of been there the night before and dug up half your yard.?ÿ
I'm guessing finding a monument without a pin-finder is becoming one of the "lost arts" that plague our profession.?ÿ I remember a silent hand gesture made by the party chief designating a rectangular area he wished to be searched.?ÿ
The tool used was usually governed by the soil conditions.?ÿ Shovels, spades, grubbin' hoes (a maddox for you that are educated) and even single-bit axes are all acceptable.?ÿ The art is producing a pattern and depth in which nothing can escape detection.?ÿ It's a Zen thing.?ÿ Sort of like kick-starting a motorcycle, you have to expect results.?ÿ Expecting failure will result in such.
In the words of a wise old surveyor, "If you're not finding anything you're either looking in the wrong place or not digging deep enough."
Fellow called this morning saying he couldn't find the bars from a survey I did for his adjoiner six years ago.?ÿ Wondering if I could tell him precisely from memory where to find them.
@paden-cash Why didn't you just say that a shovel is the most important tool in the truck?
As for pin finders and fences, way back when I was a survey pup I was fortunate to have a party chief show me how to search for pins near fences with a Schonstedt. He showed me how to lay the pin finder on the ground perpendicular to the fence and slide it back and forth through/under the fence. There is a "sweet spot" approx. 1 to 2 inches from the bottom. With a little practice one can pick out the sound of the hidden pin from the interference from the fence.
A few years ago, I flabbergasted a couple of young surveyors by finding what they couldn't. The corner was a No. 3 rebar driven through a tree stump root?ÿ next to a fence corner of a cemetery. They had never learned patience by trying to find a pin with a dip needle so they quit way before they should have.
@gene-kooper Sure have, the change in tone is the clue. I use a Schonstedt GA-72, which has a polarity display, and if you lay it flat and run along the fence the polarity will switch from positive to negative, along with a tone change, as you pass over a pipe.
I also worked for a crew chief who would to tell us to dig until we saw the backside of a China man, found a lot of monuments that others didn't with that saying in my head.
