Need Help Finding a Survey Pin

[zuhnc]

I am having a survey done on my property. Surveyor found quite a few pins in various locations; some close to where they are supposed to be, some quite off. All according to the legal description. Around here the surveyor drives the 1/2" iron pin (rebar) a couple of inches under ground, and then puts a cap on it with the surveyors name embossed. Our surveyor said he found at least three different surveyors' caps on the various pins he found.

He says he will be back after hunting season is over to complete the job!

I am at 37.918 degrees N, or 37 degrees, 55 minutes, and 4.8 seconds N. Same spot, different nomenclature. Like Imperial and Metric measurements.

 

[MSD]

You know it is by the fence so just get a measuring wheel and go from the last 2 known pins and measure it from both directions.

 

[Terry G]

Most likely the coordinates that are on the survey map are Minnesota State Plane Coordinates. To convert these to Lattitude and Longitude you will need to know which coordinate zone you are in. Somewhere on the survey plat there should be a note describing which zone in you are in.

If you can identify the zone and send me the coordinates, I can convert those coordinates to Lattitude and Longitude for you.

My guess would also be State Plane Coordinates.

 

[Mcrafty1]

Call the surveyor and ask him to come back and show you where they're at, if he's the one that hid them on you.
He may be busy but your time must be worth something.

 

[olddavid]

You know it is by the fence so just get a measuring wheel and go from the last 2 known pins and measure it from both directions.

If the terrain is grown up what I call a walking yardstick can help. It's basically a triangle made up of two sticks lathes or what ever with a cross piece about 1/3 of the way up. I used old antenna elements. The distance across the bottom is 3'. leave one stick or lathe about 6" longer at the top to use as a handle. As you walk pivot the assembly about the farthest point in contact with the ground and count the number to get the distance in yards.

 

[DanielW]

I'm not sure if something like this exists for Minnesota, but here in Ontario the Ministry of Natural Resources has a website called, 'Make a Topographic Map'. It's a really ridiculous name for a website, but very handy. Not only does it give you topographic information for the whole province, but if you zoom in far enough and turn on the satellite view, all the property and zoning lines for the province are shown in grey. I've found it to be incredibly accurate - it will usually land you right on the survey stake. This summer, for instance, I was able to see on the website's arial view that a property line corner in the middle of the bush looked to be about a third of the way between a large, distinctive white pine and smaller balsam just East of it. I went to the white pine, walked about a third of the way toward the balsam, and sure enough I was standing on the stake.

But even if your state doesn't have something like that, modern cellphone GPS apps are surprisingly accurate. It's not really that phone GPS's have improved so much, but rather they've now opened up different GPS frequencies and satellites to the public domain. If your phone has sightlines to a few satellites, it can usually place you within a couple feet (possibly even better), at which point it usually only takes a little searching or digging to find a peg.

 

[JimB2]

I'm not sure if something like this exists for Minnesota, but here in Ontario the Ministry of Natural Resources has a website called, 'Make a Topographic Map'. It's a really ridiculous name for a website, but very handy. Not only does it give you topographic information for the whole province, but if you zoom in far enough and turn on the satellite view, all the property and zoning lines for the province are shown in grey. I've found it to be incredibly accurate - it will usually land you right on the survey stake. This summer, for instance, I was able to see on the website's arial view that a property line corner in the middle of the bush looked to be about a third of the way between a large, distinctive white pine and smaller balsam just East of it. I went to the white pine, walked about a third of the way toward the balsam, and sure enough I was standing on the stake.

But even if your state doesn't have something like that, modern cellphone GPS apps are surprisingly accurate. It's not really that phone GPS's have improved so much, but rather they've now opened up different GPS frequencies and satellites to the public domain. If your phone has sightlines to a few satellites, it can usually place you within a couple feet (possibly even better), at which point it usually only takes a little searching or digging to find a peg.

Daniel, just a word of caution about Make a Topographic Map property lines.
The Make a Topographic Map property lines are very good for anything that has been surveyed and recorded with the County Land Registry office in the last 50 years or so but in parts of Ontario that was surveyed in the early 1800s and farmers put up fences according to those old surveys rarely do they match the Make a Topographic Map property lines and can be off by 100 ft or more. The surveyors of the early 1800s did not have the precise tools that are available today to mark property lines.

 

[MSD]

If the terrain is grown up what I call a walking yardstick can help. It's basically a triangle made up of two sticks lathes or what ever with a cross piece about 1/3 of the way up. I used old antenna elements. The distance across the bottom is 3'. leave one stick or lathe about 6" longer at the top to use as a handle. As you walk pivot the assembly about the farthest point in contact with the ground and count the number to get the distance in yards.

My Dad used to use one of those when he wanted to measure off a field for a certain crop.

 

[Steve in VA]

I need help finding a survey pin. I had a farm surveyed into thirds 15 months ago. I marked the fence with a flag and painted the barb wire orange by all the pins. I need to find one certain pin and the flag and the orange paint are GONE. Yes I could call the surveyer back and have him flag the one pin that I need but he is real busy and I really don't want to bother the guy. I have the written survey results and have the GPS coordinates. Is there a free app that I could put on my I Phone that would be accurate enough that I could just walk right to it and I mean right to it or will I still have to look around for it. I thought about burning the brome off of the area & see if I could see any evidence of a 15 month old dig. I've also thought about buying a metal detector because I've been wanting one anyway. But I would like to try the I Phone first. Thanks Gerald

If you aren't under a time constraint, you could employ the law of large numbers. Use a phone GPS app to "find" the pin and mark that with a visible flag of some sort. The next day use it again and flag that spot. If you can use different GPS apps then even better. As you add more and more separate measurements you move closer and closer to the true location as a average of the measurements.
Just a thought.

 

[Mule Meat]

Last survey i had done here i followed up w/ a metal T post and dropped a 4' length of 3" white PVC pipe over it. I think you can see it from space.

Same here. Except I painted the T post and circles around a couple of trees purple (color used to mark property lines here). Then went back and put in some 6" pipe three in the ground and sticking up three feet filled with concrete at each bend in the line. Heck of a lot of work. But the markers will be there long after I am gone.
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Survivers here use plastic pins that are numbered driven into the ground when marking property lines. Then tie a bunch of ribbons around the location. It makes it easier to find the pins for a couple of years after they have been placed.
If you are with the surveyors when they do the survey. It pays to carry a roll of heavy tape like the police use and put up your own two or three foot long flags.

 

[Russ from MN]

Russ: You are East of your prime meridian. I'm not sure where Minnesota's prime meridian is. If I'm reading it right, you are North 37 degrees, 22 minutes, 20.874 seconds from some Minnesota meridian. And East 41degrees, 49 minutes, and 91.009 seconds of your prime meridian. These are designations of the latitude and longitude. Usually the numbers are followed by something like "BM", which in my neck of the woods stands for Boise Meridian. steve

I didn't realize MN had its own meridian, why? I thought everything started at Greenwich and the equator!

 

[wh]

When you find it install a taller rod. Then slip a pvc pipe painted bright green or orange over it as tall as you wish. Had this farm surveyed in 94. 145 acres. Located in 2 different sections (all joined just in bordering section). Had the surveyor to put marker stakes on line so that you can see from one to next. At corners installed 2 inch pipe. Then went back and drove steel post at each stake. Even at corners. Go around once a year and repaint them orange. There is no question where line is. Surveyor printed a very large map showing property with all corners marked and distance/direction between them.

 

[Terry G]

If the terrain is grown up what I call a walking yardstick can help. It's basically a triangle made up of two sticks lathes or what ever with a cross piece about 1/3 of the way up. I used old antenna elements. The distance across the bottom is 3'. leave one stick or lathe about 6" longer at the top to use as a handle. As you walk pivot the assembly about the farthest point in contact with the ground and count the number to get the distance in yards.

If you are in the Minnesota north coord zone your Lattitude is 46deg.39min.3389sec. Longitude is -101deg.51min.17.074se.

That comes up in SW North Dakota on Google Earth for me.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I need help finding a survey pin. I had a farm surveyed into thirds 15 months ago. I marked the fence with a flag and painted the barb wire orange by all the pins. I need to find one certain pin and the flag and the orange paint are GONE. Yes I could call the surveyer back and have him flag the one pin that I need but he is real busy and I really don't want to bother the guy. I have the written survey results and have the GPS coordinates. Is there a free app that I could put on my I Phone that would be accurate enough that I could just walk right to it and I mean right to it or will I still have to look around for it. I thought about burning the brome off of the area & see if I could see any evidence of a 15 month old dig. I've also thought about buying a metal detector because I've been wanting one anyway. But I would like to try the I Phone first. Thanks Gerald

When my neighbor had his property surveyed the surveyor only used wood stakes and a red flag. I put in a metal piece of pipe.
My county uses Beacon, an app to show who owns the property, picture of buildings, appraised value and taxes due. The property lines on Beacon are spot on. Ask your county appraiser or tax assessor if they use such an app for public use. The aerial view of my property shows where the electric poles are.

 

[DoubleO7]

Ask your county appraiser or tax assessor

There is likely a link to that sort of thing via their respective websites.

Just like your county assessor does.