Whats yours strangest tool in the truck
> Oh, I do love my pruning snips. But what pray tell is a thin-wall irrigation tube cutter?
Liz, I use 1/2 in. thin-wall PVC irrigation pipe for laths and guard stakes. I haven't bought any wood lath in years. They are easily cut out of 20 ft. joints of pipe with this sort of pruning shear made specially for cutting the pipe.
I cut (or rather, my assistant cuts) the 20 ft. joints into 4 ft. pieces which we carry in the back of the truck and trim down further as needed for guards.
A pair of gear loppers is really useful in the forest especially since they don't aggravate my sore elbow.
I have a set of those in the garage, never thought to put them in the truck.
you squeeze and release, squeeze and release until the pipe is cut through. They'll cut any PVC pipe.
1/2 in. PVC Pipe for Laths
The great thing about the 1/2 in. thin-wall irrigation pipe is that it slips over a 5/8 in. re-bar and the head of a 3/8 in. spike. So, for flagging points in rocky ground, if just a plain re-bar has been set for a line stake (as for fence construction), you can slip the pipe over the top of the bar and flag it up, leaving the top nearly 48 in. out of the ground and highly visible.
You also have the option of using a 3/4 in. bit in the rock drill and just drilling a hole in rocky ground to drive the pipe/lath into. The works well. I've set them in drill holes in solid rock before.
30" or 36" piece of black gas pipe (or any semi-thick walled threaded pipe can be used) that was threaded on both ends (bought at Lowe's) with a union separated and put over the threads. This little gem works great for rehabing (or adjusting newly set) 1/2" or 5/8" rebar back to straight (or into proper position). Can probably be used for the 1/2" pipe I am currently setting for some corners also.
Other than that, everything is fairly typical for a survey rig... which, of course, is packed full of unique things that no other profession carries.
I'd also say that what is typically carried varies by region also. Guys in urban areas probably carry lots more drills and power tools than the country guys. I'd say some city guys don't carry the same cutting tools (machetes and bank blades and chainsaws) that the country guys do either.
as usual with surveying... it all depends...
Probably the really, really big spoon we use for scraping out asphalt chips and gravel and dirt from deep, yet, small holes. Bend it a bit from time to time to catch a bigger load.
J-shaped 1/2" rebar with a handle that someone designed and welded for lifting manhole covers. This came with the job, and the first truck. And it's a fine tool, I imagine, but I just use a pick instead.
My bobblehead GPS mount.
I strap it down to the front of the 4 wheeler. Mount the GPS on the top. It has a weight on the bottom and a 4 way swivel in the middle at the mounting bar. It keeps the GPS vertical regardless of the angle that the 4 wheeler is sitting at. That is until it starts swaying side to side like a bobblehead dog in the back window of a '66 Belaire, then I have to stop until it calms down.
It's a work in progress or in other words, it didn't work as well as I thought it would but it still works.
James
"What's your strangest tool in your truck?"
Me.
😛
A set of lock picks...but I don't want to get into details for fear of incriminating myself
