[Ariens93GT20]

Thank you! I feel that I have a little more insight, and comprehension to my plat and land now. You worded things plainly enough that even somebody who has a hard time wrapping their (my) head around this stuff, can follow along and understand pretty well. Honestly, a lot of the stuff the guys were saying above kind went over my head. I appreciate ALL of the information from everybody though!

So, the marker in the SW corner that is visible, can I assume that it would have been placed in-line with the actual marker that's buried in the road and the marker in the SE corner? That way, I could just use that marker as my reference point for a straight line from East to West, along my South border. I don't know if that would be a reliable point of reference though.

If doing that you may want to check and see what the clearance requirements for fencing are. Even the placement of fencing materials can become an issue. Build it for yourself and not someone else later down the road. I have seen it happen before as strange as it maybe that people had no say, jurisdiction to what happens to the fence even on their property if built wrong.

 

[Just Jeff]

If doing that you may want to check and see what the clearance requirements for fencing are. Even the placement of fencing materials can become an issue. Build it for yourself and not someone else later down the road. I have seen it happen before as strange as it maybe that people had no say, jurisdiction to what happens to the fence even on their property if built wrong.

Thanks. I'm not building ANY fences though. At least not planning on it at this point. My main reason for doing all of this is just so that I can cut trails through the woods on my own property, with one just inside the boundaries of my perimeter. Doing this, we'll be able to ride our side by side around all of our property, and not just what's been clear-cut already. This will also allow me to get my tractor around the property, and skid logs out for easier cutting and bucking in an open area for later use in our outdoor wood boiler.

 

[UrbanTractor]

Jeff, have you considered hiring a surveyor to set corner and boundary marks? In my area, they are not very expensive to hire (but building lots are tiny by comparison here.) And if I bought a big tract like yours, I would want my own survey for my records anyway. Just a thought…

 

[Just Jeff]

Jeff, have you considered hiring a surveyor to set corner and boundary marks? In my area, they are not very expensive to hire (but building lots are tiny by comparison here.) And if I bought a big tract like yours, I would want my own survey for my records anyway. Just a thought…

I hadn't considered it. I'm not necessarily opposed to it, I just didn't think we'd have an actual need for it until the idea of making a trail around the perimeter of the property came to mind. I don't know how much "not very expensive" is though LOL. Once I go locate the iron in the SE corner though, I won't be real worried about having an actual survey done. I'll be able to use the other three known points to keep me on my own property.

 

[ZTT42]

Hmmm have never seen this aluminum capped roadway marker. Could be on count of 30 years of dealing with state highway in six different states.

Here is an example of the kind of GLO survey marker that should be in the middle of the road near the yellow sign in your photo. It is likely not visible and set below the surface of the road. It is not a roadway marker, but is a section corner marker from the original Section/Township/Range survey of Michigan. From your plat, it appears the surveyor found this marker in 2014 when he did your property survey. You could probably find it with a metal detector. I don't think there is any way to be sure the yellow sign is on your property line.
The second pic is the kind of cap I would expect to see on the rebar markers the surveyor set (the SE and NE corners of your property.)

 

[ZTT42]

I re-posted your plat as one box. Not sure if you did the split or that's what you had.
Here are a few more observations.
-There are actually two surveys on the plat - first, the SW1/4SW Section 19, and second, your property and the right of ways.

• your south line is the same as the south line of Section 19, and the SW1/4SW1/4 of Section 19.
• Your east line is the same as the east line of SW1/4SW1/4.
• your west line is the road right of way line.
• your north line is the south edge of the road right of way of Old Beechwood Road.
• The SW1/4SW1/4 Section 19 is 40.44 acres.
• They subtracted 1.19 acres for Beechwood road, and 0.97 acres for the west side road, so your property is

36.28 acres.

• In 2014, the surveyor put a nail in the middle of Beechwood road at the S 1/16 corner of Section 19. That is the NW corner of the SW1/4SW1/4 Section 19. This "nail" might be a little plastic disk with the nail in the middle, or it may have been a nail pounded through some folded up plastic flagging ribbon. It is possibly still there, but a long shot after 7 years.
• I attached a little pic of a survey section labeled with the correct surveyor jargon. Your property would be in the far Southwest corner of the pic.

 

[ZTT42]

Here is a drawing of the type of compass quadrant bearings used in the plat. For simplicity, it shows degree bearings - the surveyor ran lines in degrees-minutes-seconds. So for example the South line at the bottom of the plat shows S 88 41' 32" E, that's 1deg 18' 28" south of due East, or 91 deg 18' 28" Azimuth.

To be official, everything would be tied into that SW section corner - the aluminum capped marker. So, the surveyor found that corner, then ran the south line at S 88 41' 32"E to the SE corner, then turned and ran the east line, etc., He monumented the corners for the SW1/4SW1/4 Section 19 with a nail in the Old Beechwood Road and two rebar posts. From that information, he identified the road R/W boundaries and consequently your property lines.

I found a couple of references on line to this type of notation and zillions of references to azimuth directions (0-360 degrees). Azimuths are the common notation used in map and compass training today, and are much less confusing. The surveyor used it because the original survey used it, and possibly some technical accuracy reasons I don't know about.
This discussion brings back memories of locating forest section corners for the State in the 1970's using a staff compass like this one. Used correctly they are quite accurate, including magnetic declination settings, a level bubble and aiming sights. I think it could be read in at least 1/4 degrees.

 

[Ariens93GT20]

Here is a drawing of the type of compass quadrant bearings used in the plat. For simplicity, it shows degree bearings - the surveyor ran lines in degrees-minutes-seconds. So for example the South line at the bottom of the plat shows S 88 41' 32" E, that's 1deg 18' 28" south of due East, or 91 deg 18' 28" Azimuth.

To be official, everything would be tied into that SW section corner - the aluminum capped marker. So, the surveyor found that corner, then ran the south line at S 88 41' 32"E to the SE corner, then turned and ran the east line, etc., He monumented the corners for the SW1/4SW1/4 Section 19 with a nail in the Old Beechwood Road and two rebar posts. From that information, he identified the road R/W boundaries and consequently your property lines.

View attachment 2555884

I found a couple of references on line to this type of notation and zillions of references to azimuth directions (0-360 degrees). Azimuths are the common notation used in map and compass training today, and are much less confusing. The surveyor used it because the original survey used it, and possibly some technical accuracy reasons I don't know about.
This discussion brings back memories of locating forest section corners for the State in the 1970's using a staff compass like this one. Used correctly they are quite accurate, including magnetic declination settings, a level bubble and aiming sights. I think it could be read in at least 1/4 degrees.

View attachment 2555887

Good ones were within 1 second of a degree. But if you're going sailing don't forget your sextant. Got to stay on course.
But in engineering reality we changed the degrees, minutes and seconds to decimals of degrees. Then radian segments
I don't miss smolies table's one bit.
Well got off on a subject most wouldn't understand. Sorry about that.

 

[Just Jeff]

Well, I finally got all of the stuff for my drone "remote air drop kit" delivered. I went out and dropped the package three times right before dinner. Here is the first (actually third, but first processed) video of practice dropping. Ignore the description in the YouTube description. I have to go back and edit it to reflect that it was my third drop, and this drop was made from 100'. I made two more drops, and both of those were from 200'. But I uploaded and processed this video first, and put the wrong description in for it. Since it is still processing, it won't let me edit it right now. So, I'll go back and make the changes later.

I was surprised that the handkerchief drifted so far in just 100'. I had two good sized rocks in the handkerchief, so I thought it would drop pretty much straight down. Wrong!!! LOL. It IS really windy out at the moment though. I even got a "high wind warning" on my controller while flying. So, I'll have to make sure that I fly and drop the marker in my SE corner on a calmer day.

Allen (@ZTT42) gave me approximate GPS coordinates for that corner, so I should be able to get pretty close to the actual property boundary, and drop this relatively close to it.

First "remote air drop" from my Air 2S - YouTube

 

[MARK (LI)]

Looks like you are having fun with the drone...are you landing it yourself, or using RTH?

 

[Just Jeff]

Looks like you are having fun with the drone...are you landing it yourself, or using RTH?

It IS fun Mark. I do both. Use RTH as well as landing it myself. Most times I do it myself as it's much quicker than waiting for the drone to do it.

 

[ZTT42]

Kind of quiet here. Have you managed to look for your elusive corner?

 

[Just Jeff]

Kind of quiet here. Have you managed to look for your elusive corner?

I apologize. I have not found it, nor looked yet. I've had a lot on my plate for the last two weeks or so. Been cutting trees like mad, trying to get enough firewood ready for Fall/Winter, and now I'm having Electrical cardioversion for my A-Fib on Monday, so I've been having all of the pre-requisites done. Today I had bloodwork done, Covid test, and an EKG, in preparation for Monday. I'm not crazy about what they're about to do, but I figure I'll give it a shot one time, and if it doesn't work, I'll just stick to the Eliquis for the duration. In any event, I haven't looked for it yet, but rest assured, I WILL, and all of everybody's work and assistance in this thread won't have been in vain. I PROMISE! LOL.

 

[ZTT42]

My goodness! Here's praying all goes well for you and you can get back to the woods. No apologies needed.

 

[Just Jeff]

My goodness! Here's praying all goes well for you and you can get back to the woods. No apologies needed.

No, no, we're all good. Thanks for your well wishes, but I'm not real worried. I appreciate it though, thanks!

 

[DL-North]

Jeff,
Good luck with your heart "tickle".
They tried it on me twice, didn't work either time.
But, the procedure isn't big deal, once they take blood and put in an IV, they put you to sleep, and 5 minutes later they are done. Another 10 or so you are waking up.
I was told that the longer you have had A-Fib, the harder it is to correct, I suspect I've had it a long time.
The next step is the ablative (scratch the heart wall) and I/we haven't decided to do that yet.
I'm just on Warfarin to reduce the clotting risk. We'll see.
Dan

I'm having Electrical cardioversion for my A-Fib on Monday, so I've been having all of the pre-requisites done. I'm not crazy about what they're about to do, but I figure I'll give it a shot one time, and if it doesn't work, I'll just stick to the Eliquis for the duration.

 

[Just Jeff]

Jeff,
Good luck with your heart "tickle".
They tried it on me twice, didn't work either time.
But, the procedure isn't big deal, once they take blood and put in an IV, they put you to sleep, and 5 minutes later they are done. Another 10 or so you are waking up.
I was told that the longer you have had A-Fib, the harder it is to correct, I suspect I've had it a long time.
The next step is the ablative (scratch the heart wall) and I/we haven't decided to do that yet.
I'm just on Warfarin to reduce the clotting risk. We'll see.
Dan

Thanks for your input Dan. I'm glad to hear that the procedure isn't a big deal, because I'm pretty nervous about it. I just picture laying on a table, unconscious, and then them defibrillating you, and your body bouncing on a table violently! I'm trying to not do any internet research of it though, because that just makes matters worse inside my own dark mind LOL! Ya, I have poor expectations of the results of this procedure as well. I just don't even hear many doctors saying "we have a great success rate with this procedure". And if that's the case, I keep wondering "why bother then"? But as you said, the longer you've had it, the harder it supposedly is get and keep the heart in rhythm. That, and the age of the person. They think that I've only had it for about two years, and I'm 54, so they're trying to sell me on the whole "you're a prime candidate for this" thing. I'm not buying it, but I figure I'll let them try it once.

 

[Just Jeff]

I'd like to thank everybody for their help in helping me find my last property boundary. I FINALLY got off of my butt and went and found it. @ZTT42, and @PA318Guy, you guys were instrumental in helping me! Well, really everybody helped a lot, and I really appreciate it.

The other day I downloaded a hunting app on my phone called "OnX", which I believe is based on property taxes and previous surveys. It's not "perfect", but it's within 20 feet or so. So, I went out today, and found the SE property marker. The rebar WAS there, but fortunately, somebody else also put a metal fence post there to mark it, or it would have been nearly impossible to see/find without a metal detector.

So, the wife and I walked the entire South property line, and added waypoints at each place that I stopped to wrap a piece of pink loggers' ribbon around a tree that was relatively close to our property line. I just need to walk the East side from North to South now, and mark that as well. Now I know exactly where I'll be safe in continuing to cut my trails. The yellow dots are where I've started cutting trail the other day, and will continue to the South and then West to the dirt road. After that, who knows where it will go? But it will be fun having access to all of our property now, so that I can also know where I can safely (without trespassing on neighbor's property) scrounge firewood from.

@ZTT42, the GPS coordinates that you estimated for our SE property corner was within 15 feet of the surveyor's rebar!

 

[PA318Guy]

I'd like to thank everybody for their help in helping me find my last property boundary. I FINALLY got off of my butt and go found it. @ZTT42, and @PA318Guy, you guys were instrumental in helping me! Well, really everybody helped a lot, and I really appreciate it.

The other day I downloaded a hunting app on my phone called "OnX", which I believe is based on property taxes and previous surveys. It's not "perfect", but it's within 20 feet or so. So, I went out today, and found the SE property marker. The rebar WAS there, but fortunately, somebody else also put a metal fence post there to mark it, or it would have been nearly impossible to see/find without a metal detector.

So, the wife and I walked the entire South property line, and added waypoints at each place that I stopped to wrap a piece of pink loggers' ribbon around a tree that was relatively close to our property line. I just need to walk the East side from North to South now, and mark that as well. Now I know exactly where I'll be safe in continuing to cut my trails. The yellow dots are where I've started cutting trail the other day, and will continue to the South and then West to the dirt road. After that, who knows where it will go? But it will be fun having access to all of our property now, so that I can also know where I can safely (without trespassing on neighbor's property) scrounge firewood from.

@ZTT42, the GPS coordinates that you estimated for our SE property corner was within 15 feet of the surveyor's rebar!

View attachment 2560313

View attachment 2560314

Congrats, glad you are all marked out now, another project you can mark complete now!

 

[ZTT42]

@ZTT42, the GPS coordinates that you estimated for our SE property corner was within 15 feet of the surveyor's rebar!

I had been wondering where you had gotten off to. Happy to hear and see you found the corner and happy to be of help. I have used OnX when hunting antelope in eastern Montana where ownerships are confusing and the fences aren't even on the property lines (open range). And hunting white tails in western Montana where the property lines are like yours.
So, did you do the flag drop thing with your drone or just go crashing through the brush with your GIS?