I wanna be a surveyor....any thoughts??

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I wanna be a surveyor....any thoughts??

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:08:30 PM EDT

any one currently or have benn a "surveyor"?

I think i would really like to do that.

Any one with thoughts / comments about that as a profession??

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:11:55 PM EDT

[#1]

My brother used to be one years ago.

Based on my recollection of his experiences, I hope you like poison ivy and bug bites.

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:14:40 PM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:

any one currently or have benn a "surveyor"?

I think i would really like to do that.

Any one with thoughts / comments about that as a profession??

Never been one but I've paid a lot of their invoices. You could do a lot worse.

Do pipeline surveying. I never even give a damn what the survey costs because I'm too wrapped up in the other 99.5% of the cost of the job.

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:14:59 PM EDT

[#3]

As a noob you'll be holding the pole, pulling the chain and cutting the line of sight. I was a surveyor for the Forrest service at the Lake Tahoe basin. Cutting a few hundred yards through manzanita is an all day thing. Given you have to stop every so often to sharpen your chainsaw. You may step on a nail or two, sit on a cliff and watch the nude beach below with the instrument on lunch hr, get hit by a swarm of hornets ....man have I got stories.

It is a fun job though. You'll find survey monuments that haven't been touched in a hundred years. Lines of site cut 120yrs ago, artifacts, etc... If you work for the FS like I did you'll get to see a lot of the outdoors, rain or shine.

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:16:15 PM EDT

[#4]

sure, why not. i am always surprised that they don't wear snake boots here tho.

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:21:18 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
As a noob you'll be holding the pole, pulling the chain and cutting the line of sight. I was a surveyor for the Forrest service. Cutting a few hundred yards through manzanita is an all day thing. Given you have to stop every so often to sharpen your chainsaw. You may step on a nail or two, sit on a cliff and watch the nude beach below with the instrument on lunch hr, get hit by a swarm of hornets ....man have I got stories.

It is a fun job though. You'll find survey monuments that haven't been touched in a hundred years. Lines of site cut 120yrs ago, artifacts, etc... If you work for the FS like I did you'll get to see the country a lot. You'll be outside a lot too, rain or shine.

Most survey companies don't use chains anymore, the rest is about right though.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=1077680

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:22:39 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Most survey companies don't use chains anymore, the rest is about right though.

No you're right they dont, it was just a figure of speach on my part.

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:23:23 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
As a noob you'll be holding the pole, pulling the chain and cutting the line of sight. I was a surveyor for the Forrest service. Cutting a few hundred yards through manzanita is an all day thing. Given you have to stop every so often to sharpen your chainsaw. You may step on a nail or two, sit on a cliff and watch the nude beach below with the instrument on lunch hr, get hit by a swarm of hornets ....man have I got stories.

It is a fun job though. You'll find survey monuments that haven't been touched in a hundred years. Lines of site cut 120yrs ago, artifacts, etc... If you work for the FS like I did you'll get to see the country a lot. You'll be outside a lot too, rain or shine.

What he said. One exciting aspect depending on where you live, they might let you pack heat.
Surveyed a place on the WA.coast where black bear were around, so the crew said pack heavy.

Good time to learn if anything.

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:33:07 PM EDT

[#8]

Great profession if you like working out side. I like being a surveyor, but its not for everyone. The company I work for has gone through 3 rodmen in the last year. After a few months of hacking line through green briers, multi-floral rose bushes, and mountain laurel, they quit. Good help is hard to find, and these kids coming out of high school and college, just don't have the work ethic of past generations.

Here is pic of me last winter, setting centerline and marking clearing limits on a new job. 2 feet of snow and it was some of the most difficult conditions I ever surveyed in. We used a 4 man crew, I had to have a crew member just to shovel the snow so I could set up the instrument.

Posted: 9/4/2010 8:36:00 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Great profession if you like working out side. I like being a surveyor, but its not for everyone. The company I work for has gone through 3 rodmen in the last year. After a few months of hacking line through green briers, multi-floral rose bushes, and mountain laurel, they quit. Good help is hard to find, and these kids coming out of high school and college, just don't have the work ethic of past generations.

Yep, we've been through 3 just this summer. I swear they get more worthless every year. I convinced one of them that a pump jack was pulling milk out of the ground.

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:00:35 PM EDT

[#10]

I do some gps work, I'm a cad designer so I enjoy it quite a bit, it gets me out in the field every now and then.
Doing topo or boundary work is some good shit except for shooting monuments in busy intersections. I work for a city so if it's too scary I can get the intersection shut down. Private guys usually don't have that luxury.

Construction staking on the other hand sucks a dick. The new robotic transits may be making it better if you still get to go out with a two man crew but when I did it your trying to Carry the rod a bag of lath a bucket of hubs a little sledge hammer a tape and I can't remember what else.

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:02:07 PM EDT

[#11]

And if you like to survey indoors, become an undergound mine surveyor. Damn satellite reception sucks tho so gotta do it old school.

SRM

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:03:18 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
And if you like to survey indoors, become an undergound mine surveyor. Damn satellite reception sucks tho so gotta do it old school.

SRM

I hear EDM reaches a long way in a mine...

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:18:47 PM EDT

[#13]

Only to the intersection

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:32:02 PM EDT

[#14]

My buddy was a surveyor but he worked his way up to draftsman.
I worked with him one summer doing exterior architectural surveys.
We lived on Slurpees and 2 for 99 cent 7/11 hot dogs.

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:39:07 PM EDT

[#15]

I used to help a buddy out during the summers holding that damned rod. Drudging through heavy wooded areas really sucked. The first day I did it, I had 17 ticks on me at the end of the day. After that I learned to get the highest Deet spray you possibly can. I also wore pants and tied my legs off with flee and tick collars.

Posted: 9/4/2010 9:44:26 PM EDT

[#16]

Or if you want to do what surveyors do plus drag a screen and shovel around and dig holes, look into archaeology.

Posted: 9/7/2010 10:57:51 AM EDT

[#17]

I am 42 and want out of what i do. I like hard work and dont mind heat at all. Grew up
in the woods. I miss being outside. I am in pretty good shape.

only take about 2 years to do school for it. Most of it from home.

Should I get a Gofer job with a company just to see how it is?

Posted: 9/7/2010 11:03:40 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
I am 42 and want out of what i do. I like hard work and dont mind heat at all. Grew up
in the woods. I miss being outside. I am in pretty good shape.

only take about 2 years to do school for it. Most of it from home.

Should I get a Gofer job with a company just to see how it is?

yep. If I were you I'd establish your rep as a hardworker with them then see if they'll be willing to partly fund your school if you continue to work for them as a surveyor after getting certified.

Posted: 9/7/2010 11:15:40 AM EDT

[#19]

I worked on a survey crew part time for several years. I learned quite a bit and enjoyed being outdoors. Find out what the requirements are to become a surveyor in your state. It's not all that easy. There are times I wish I had gone for it as a career choice.

I also did some archaeology in college. Cool stuff. Surveying pays much better.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I wanna be a surveyor....any thoughts??

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