laser Level apps and tools

[Davy Crockett]

Iv'e been racking my brain and AI's too, trying to come up with an inexpensive way to finish grade a lot . I bought a cheap laser level that I was hoping would work but it's worthless outside . I could get an elevation app on my phone but from what I gather they arn't accurate. Has anyone used a cheap lasers with a receiver ? or know how far they actually carry a signal ? I hate to drop $ 150 for another el cheapo that won't work. I hate the thought of string level, plus I'll need it in an area where string won't work.

 

[LBrandt]

Iv'e been racking my brain and AI's too, trying to come up with an inexpensive way to finish grade a lot . I bought a cheap laser level that I was hoping would work but it's worthless outside . I could get an elevation app on my phone but from what I gather they arn't accurate. Has anyone used a cheap lasers with a receiver ? or know how far they actually carry a signal ? I hate to drop $ 150 for another el cheapo that won't work. I hate the thought of string level, plus I'll need it in an area where string won't work.

Check your rent-all they might have real transits or rent. LB l

 

[Davy Crockett]

Check your rent-all they might have real transits or rent. LB l

They want $ 75- $ 100 a day so I kept looking , I expected them to be way lower than that. Used to be able to rent a water truck or a mini ex for that . The price of things sure are going up .

 

[Obi-Wan]

Iv'e been racking my brain and AI's too, trying to come up with an inexpensive way to finish grade a lot . I bought a cheap laser level that I was hoping would work but it's worthless outside . I could get an elevation app on my phone but from what I gather they arn't accurate. Has anyone used a cheap lasers with a receiver ? or know how far they actually carry a signal ? I hate to drop $ 150 for another el cheapo that won't work. I hate the thought of string level, plus I'll need it in an area where string won't work.

Check pawn shops in your area they may have one - most likely stolen but should be reasonably priced.


Or rent - one person operation, set it up and pound a few stakes to grade to, all grades set in less then a day

 

[Davy Crockett]

Problem is I'd need it again a couple more times plus driving 100 miles to a place that has one.

I was hoping my phone would work but it sounds like that's not going to work. Now, what I'm hoping for is a receiver that I could mount on my dozer blade and use my wireless back up camera to watch the monitor inside the cab. the two things that could go wrong is the signal won't reach or if I use a camera and monitor on the receiver the picture might come out goofy and hard to read.

 

[Kurtr]

Just go rent the dozer with gps and do it in a day.

But really renting would be the cheapest and trying to attach it to the blade doest work out ask me how i know

 

[Davy Crockett]

Just go rent the dozer with gps and do it in a day.

But really renting would be the cheapest and trying to attach it to the blade doest work out ask me how i know

Ok, how do you know ? My way of thinking is both receiver and camera have magnetic bases so mounting won't be a problem , if vibration is an issue I could stop . You have been around this stuff a lot so I'm sure you know what your talking about , I'm just wondering why it doesn't work ? I'm guessing I'll end up buying a unit but dang I wanna be able to mount it on a blade or a scraper. It would sure come in handy to have and use right from the start of the project. Do you guys use GPS units in machinery ?

 

[Kurtr]

Ok, how do you know ? My way of thinking is both receiver and camera have magnetic bases so mounting won't be a problem , if vibration is an issue I could stop . You have been around this stuff a lot so I'm sure you know what your talking about , I'm just wondering why it doesn't work ? I'm guessing I'll end up buying a unit but dang I wanna be able to mount it on a blade or a scraper. It would sure come in handy to have and use right from the start of the project. Do you guys use GPS units in machinery ?

pretty much all grading of any size is done with gps now. Problem with laser unless you want flat you have to know how to set the base up to the slope and then your talking some coin. We tried to use the laser on a pole we made to bolt to the bucket of blade it just doesnt work like the one designed for it. Im guessing its the vibration. What are you trying to grade that would make answering the question easier.

 

[Davy Crockett]

For now it's just a lot roughly 200x 100 . It doesn't have to be perfect by any means , it was a hill shaved down and now need a gentel slope to shed water one direction. Most likely a 3''-4'' deep water way to make sure it doesn't puddle.

 

[Davy Crockett]

Then a pad to build on

 

[Davy Crockett]

I don't have a real dozer , just a 50-20 john deer with a 12' dozer blade and a 6 yard scraper , It works good for small jobs and that's all I need it to do.

 

[Kurtr]

For now it's just a lot roughly 200x 100 . It doesn't have to be perfect by any means , it was a hill shaved down and now need a gentel slope to shed water one direction. Most likely a 3''-4'' water way to make sure it doesn't puddle.

If you just rented the level once set stakes on the out side of your work area. Then set your grade on the stake us a screw or a mark. Then you can pull a string from stake to stake and use a tape measure to measure . Its rudimentary but works and the string does not lie and you only need the level once

 

[Davy Crockett]

If you just rented the level once set stakes on the out side of your work area. Then set your grade on the stake us a screw or a mark. Then you can pull a string from stake to stake and use a tape measure to measure . Its rudimentary but works and the string does not lie and you only need the level once

Thanks Kurt, I'll tinker with it a little and see what I come up with. At first I was going to set a stake in the lowest area where water puddles and then use a line level and set stakes off that. Elevation doesn't matter , I would shave 3 more feet off it but running out of room for material. I hate renting stuff with a passion , I'd rather just buy one and then own it except for high dollar stuff. I'll research the mid rage lasers more and see if they sound ok. One on marketplace for $ 200 the guy said it will do 200' but it's new in the box and what the box claims and what the unit does is usually way off .

 

[Davy Crockett]

There used to be a tool like a short telescope that you looked through that would give you a rough grade , I forget how it worked but if I remember right it had crosshairs and a level bubble or something of the sorts. I saw a guy using one in the oilfield when he was building locations , he built nice flat locations.

 

[Kurtr]

There used to be a tool like a short telescope that you looked through that would give you a rough grade , I forget how it worked but if I remember right it had crosshairs and a level bubble or something of the sorts. I saw a guy using one in the oilfield when he was building locations , he built nice flat locations.

Hand level and i think that is a skill that was refined years of doing it. I know i couldnt even come close using one.

 

[jake57]

a couple of years back I was helping a guy landscape his yard. He had an angle blade plus up and down angle for his bobcat. He mounted a 5/8th plywood maybe 15" by 4ft. high on the outside edge of the blade and mounted one of those front camper levels on the top of the plywood so it was easy to see. Leveled everything on his shop floor. I used it alot and I was amazed at how well it worked. You have to keep working the area a little at a time and don't adjust blade as your doing a run

 

[jake57]

Oh I forgot that you set where you want the ball in the level and hold it there. remember little at a time

 

[Davy Crockett]

That sounds cool , any and every little trick of the trade comes in handy at least once in life. I was sitting here thinking if I mounted a strip of clear plastic like that on my blade and a couple strips of reflective tape an an angle to reflect the beam in , I should be able to see the beam on the backside. . 8 passes with a 12'' blade = 3'' rise per pass on 100'. Put blade on low side and mount laser on high side and from the beam mark up every 3'' with a marker . I'd do it at night if I had to then could probably get away with this junk laser. Back drag it and done.