New GPS

[Okrafarmer]

We have used Magellans in rental cars and find Garmen much simpler to use.  To me easy and simple is good.

Yes, we use Garmins at work, and they are quite reasonable. Not infallible, but workable.

[Magicman]

Maybe it's just a learning curve, but at least the new GPS and I are on friendlier terms.  New stuff.   smiley_dizzy   

[SwampDonkey]

Can the Magellans do areas? The Garmins can, but it's buried in menus as I recall.

[Magicman]

I spent several hours today getting acquainted with the new Etrex 30. It is going to be OK, but there surely are differences.

I did download a bird's eye map from Garmin and uploaded it to the GPS. It sorta washes out the TOPO lines and the screen is too small to really see close details. This was a "free" one years subscription and I doubt that there will be a renewal.

I will order the 24K TOPO that shows the NF as well as private boundaries for Colorado.

[beenthere]

MM
Will you use it primarily for the elk trips?

Is this review a pretty good review of what you are finding with yours?
http://gpstracklog.com/2011/10/garmin-etrex-30-review.html

[Magicman]

Will you use it primarily for the elk trips?

Yes.   

I read that entire review and others before I decided on the unit.  The review is accurate.  I considered the "Oregon 450" unit which has a larger screen and is also "touch screen" based, but I kept going back to this Etrex.  After today, I know that it will be OK.  I moved the contents of each screen around to better suit my needs and deleted some of the options.

[LOGDOG]

I'm getting in on this thread late but wanted to ask you guys for suggestions on a handheld GPS unit that would be accurate enough for me to flag my property lines from stake to stake in as straight of a line as possible so I can take a forestry mower through there, shred my line and put up fencing? The last surveyor I had give me an estimate to flag the lines for me was $12,000.00 for a little over 60 acres. The longest lines to flag would probably be 2000-2500 ft on two sides.

Any suggestions for a GPS unit for this?

[Buck]

My experience with consumer grade devices is not accurate enough for that application. The latest one I've used was the Garmin Rino and previously the Etrex line. Rino was a lot better but I would want to be dead on while flagging property lines. 12k=ouch!

[Magicman]

I will be better able to answer that question after I spend some time with it at the farm.  This unit is much more accurate than the Etrex Legend that I have been using, because I am seeing less than 15' accuracy instead of 50-75'. 

For doing right of way clearing, it may be OK, but for actually painting a property line, I would rather do it the old way.

[Okrafarmer]

Why on earth would surveying 60 acres cost $12k?    ??? That doesn't make sense. That's more than some sawmills cost new. Doesn't sound like the terrain is too hard to traverse, either. I would have thought, maybe $1-2K.

[beenthere]

Logdog
The corner stakes you mention are established? From a recent survey?

Once the line is cleared of brush using the GPS, then if line-of-sight is possible a transit should/could provide you with a straight line. Working with your adjacent landowner for agreement might suffice for your objective.

But if the corners are not established, then they likely need to be surveyed. A reason for the $12k given? Did it include brushing the line?

[SwampDonkey]

Seems like robbery to me. We did 260 acres of woods lines, 3 side. The forth was already established because it was the US/Canada Border. We did all that survey in a day, plus the paper work for $750. And, the lines on the three sides were not well established because loggers around here like to cut down lines.  >:( Woodlot owner style surveys are illegal in NB, has to be a registered surveyor. The fellow who surveyed here works 3 days a week surveying for a local mill. Had a helper. They blazed and I painted. Used a survey grade GPS with a station set up in the field, carried a rover.

[Magicman]

I would hate to know what it would cost to have my farm (outlined in red) surveyed.  I lease the 200 acre parcel outlined in yellow.


 
Some of the corners have pins, and almost all of the lines are either painted or have old fences.   The Cabin is at the end of the white road in the NE corner.  The majority of the open fields are now Pine or Oak planted.  I have plenty of GPS opportunities.

[LOGDOG]

Yep ...$12,000.00, and that included me providing my bulldozer and a trackhoe with me as operator to clear the line. That price included them flagging the lines in addition to the corners which are established. Most of my corners are pretty straight forward. My two Western corners have two different stakes flagged in each of the corners so there may be some confusion about which is the correct stake. I had a total jerk move in on my South line. He's been hunting deer at night. Had to report him to Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries. We had a little confrontation the other night about it. That's part of the reason I want to fence it.

Surveyors down here have gotten use to the oil and gas company work that pays well. They've had tons of surveying to do for pipelines and drill sites and the oil and gas companies don't squawk at price. So when a private landowner like me comes along, and they know they can get "X" amount for their time surveying a drill site or pipeline, or go do my job, they're going to want to make at least the same amount for their time. Supply and demand. Granted ... I did go to one of the best surveying and engineering firms in the area. There may be someone out there who will do it for less. If any of the corners are in question though, I want someone credible I can call on to fight a dispute. Especially once I've cleared the line and installed an 8' high game fence around the place. I have good relationships with all of the adjacent landowners except the new one.

[Magicman]

Our "jacked up" land values are a direct result of the above mentioned oil and gas activity in Louisiana.  We supposedly have "better hunting" so folks flock here with their pockets stuffed with $$$ and will pay whatever it takes to buy land.  Land "values" have more than doubled in less than 10 years.  This in turn has caused the property taxes to almost double.

Oil patch money is good, but the spillover into other seemingly unrelated activities and areas has it's negative effects.

[SwampDonkey]

Surveyors down here have gotten use to the oil and gas company work that pays well. They've had tons of surveying to do for pipelines and drill sites and the oil and gas companies don't squawk at price.

They do here, and would never pay those prices. We have mineral and gas surveys here as well as roads and they don't get those kind of rates. They are for the most part on crown land (public) anyway. Any on private for the most part is treated like crown land because the government owns what's under the dirt and rights of way for public roads or on crown reserved rights of way. They realize that those jobs are hit and miss, and the majority of times are lean where woodlot owners and forestry will keep them from starving to dead. ;D Many forestry companies hire contractors to paint the existing lines on piece work and the rates are quite low, comparable to a farm hand, basically. Mineral claim lines, similar deal. You are also subject to scrutiny and if they make a fuss, well you worked for nothing. That's one of the reasons forestry and mining like piece work, no benefits and low pay. It's a bit different in Alberta because your in remote areas. Back here, you wouldn't be 50 miles from a town.