Any surveyors? Planting trees
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: Pat Lefemine
27-Jan-25
I have a question about using surveying equipment to get a perfect line of trees planted. It’s about 500 yards planted in a straight line.
I have access to a Milwaukee exterior red laser good for 2000 feet. Would that work for getting a perfect line of trees? It has a remote laser detector so I assume it would work but figured I would ask.
Thanks
From: Charlie Rehor
27-Jan-25
Cheesehead Mike (retired surveyor) has helped me in the past.
From: Grunter
27-Jan-25
Curious why you need it laser straight?
From: Duke
27-Jan-25
Get a couple of points marked and use construction line string between pounded stakes.
From: MIKE
28-Jan-25
Could you lock a rifle scope onto a tripod and use the reticle and a partner to mark a straight line?
From: ki-ke
28-Jan-25
^^^This
From: WV Mountaineer
28-Jan-25
A handheld compass would do just fine getting everything in line.
From: Buckdeer
28-Jan-25
GPS or even ONX may get you in line but I would think pointing in a direction and knowing the exact degrees in minutes and seconds would take surveying equipt.I would just pick where you want first and last tree and lay line between these points.I like to put flags in the ground at each tree location. It always makes me realize how far off my eye is for lines.
From: t-roy
28-Jan-25
Even if you’re off just a tiny bit, I highly doubt you would be able to tell that things are off once the trees get any size on them. I would think your Milwaukee laser would be plenty accurate.
From: Hawg
28-Jan-25
I'm a land surveyor and if you were in my area I'd be happy to help you lay out a line. We have given an old total station that was no longer in use because of failed electronics to a fence builder (former client) who needed to lay out lines for fence. The optics were still good and it fit his need to lay out half mile stretches of fence.
Maybe contact local surveyors to see if they have something similar that they would part with for free or minimal cost.
BTW we don't have another one and you didn't hear this from me:)
From: Ben
28-Jan-25
If your good for 2,000 ' Just do your layout to 1,500' then shoot a point at 1,800' or so. Setup over your 1,500' mark then, shoot to your 1,800' for reference and go on. Repeat as neccecary. With a transit set both begining point and ending point and setup over your startpoint and lockin your transit. At halfway double check by flipping the trans 180* and shoot back to your beginning point to check. It's a very easy and simple setup.
From: Ben
28-Jan-25
If your good for 2,000 ' Just do your layout to 1,500' then shoot a point at 1,800' or so. Setup over your 1,500' mark then, shoot to your 1,800' for reference and go on. Repeat as neccecary. With a transit set both begining point and ending point and setup over your startpoint and lockin your transit. At halfway double check by flipping the trans 180* and shoot back to your beginning point to check. It's a very easy and simple setup. With the laser you can shoot all your locations in a low light twilight or at night and it is much easier to see than in bright daylight
From: RonP
28-Jan-25
yes, use the laser for the layout. it'll work, even on a windy day. :)
From: Buckdeer
28-Jan-25
Ok,now that you brought this up how about more info on your habitat improvement plans. What are you planting etc? I am in process right now of move oaks a cedars with a tree spade.Unfortunately it was brought on by my city neighbors burning trash and killing some trees.
From: squirrel
28-Jan-25
What you really need is a theodolite, it would be perfect. But depending on the roughness of the country many other ways to skin that cat. $20 in mason twine being one...
From: Buckdeer
29-Jan-25
We use baling twine if we need real long runs of a straight line
From: DonVathome
29-Jan-25
Plant first and last tree then eyeball all middle trees. Use rangefinder or gps to help spacing if needed.
From: kokosing
29-Jan-25
If I was planting corn. Put a marker at the end of the field and drive straight at it and don't take your eye off it. Put something on the tractor to mark the ground and give it a test run.
From: jmiller
29-Jan-25
We plant hundreds of thousands a feet of trees each year in eastern ND. We use two people to line up rows and pound stakes every few hundred feet.
From: jmiller
29-Jan-25
From: jmiller
29-Jan-25
From: Buckdeer
30-Jan-25
Looks like you used a fabric layer,I used one for some shrubs on a gov program.What types of trees are those,looks great
From: jmiller
30-Jan-25
Yep we machine plant with a tree planter and then use a fabric machine on a tractor to lay fabric. It works great to do lots of trees. On my own property though I laid the fabric by hand and hand planted trees.
From: Buckdeer
30-Jan-25
Looks like quite the variety of shrubs and trees.I had to use one when I planted sandhill plums for program requirements.I used a pull behind planter to plant alot of the 5 or 6 thousand trees and shrubs we planted but nothing compared to yours.
From: Cheesehead Mike
02-Feb-25
Not sure if you got your question answered but it looks like you have several suggestions. A Milwaukee laser is not really "surveying equipment" and I never used anything like that while surveying. Picking up an old transit or theodolite might be overkill for just planting trees. A rifle scope would probably work fine.
