Laser level kits for land drainage?

benny6910

Member
Arable Farmer
If your digging them in you’ll need a level that you can put gradient in with and a receiver you can mount on the digger arm. There are plenty of different makes of levels just different price tags.
 
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angles is theodolite isnt it? Thats a bit outside our box. We work out levels on gradients ourselves. We do groundworks. Its not difficult to use and a calculator to convert falls into meters

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The issue maybe that you would need to understand how to use the machine and programme it. If you hire it they expect you to have ability and perhaps some CAD drawings to work with to set it. Again out of our ability. A standard level, very long tape/wheel and spray markers is how we do it.
 

Wombat

Member
BASIS
Location
East yorks
angles is theodolite isnt it? Thats a bit outside our box. We work out levels on gradients ourselves. We do groundworks. Its not difficult to use and a calculator to convert falls into meters

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we have a big Topcon laser we just type the grade we want in to it and it adjusts to that then u just walk up checking the base of the drain is correct every so often. With the remote you can change the grade from the digger seat as u want.
 

simon w

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Hayling Island
Hi we use an aft trencher on the farm and have a Fukuda FRE207 level with a magnet receiver FRD360 mounted on the trencher you dont need the in cab display as you can see the receiver from the cab. We replaced the round tube on the trencher with 4x2 box section all works well.It is best to use a magnetic receiver so you can adjust it easily at the start of the trench, it must have a security chain as it can fall of if the trencher jumps.The level must have have grade control we are on very flat land and lay most drains 1 in 200 .5% grade or less. I don't think we could lay drain without this setup we have layed over 2.5 kilometres this autumn. I hope that's helpful let me know if you want any more details
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
Rtk gps is the rolls Royce version of a lazer level. your monitor is unlocked to various programs that enable you to use machine control hydraulics. Very common here as draining over long distances you’ll need to factor in curvature of the earth. It’s not much but we are very flat and 6 inches in a mile is hill farming to some. Buying a laser level is only one part you’ll need the detector to really make full use of it. Sine are dual grade and will give N and S as well as E and W. very handy tool to have around the farm. Fitted a kitchen for the wife and used it to get it all level.
 

simon w

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Hayling Island
Rtk gps is the rolls Royce version of a lazer level. your monitor is unlocked to various programs that enable you to use machine control hydraulics. Very common here as draining over long distances you’ll need to factor in curvature of the earth. It’s not much but we are very flat and 6 inches in a mile is hill farming to some. Buying a laser level is only one part you’ll need the detector to really make full use of it. Sine are dual grade and will give N and S as well as E and W. very handy tool to have around the farm. Fitted a kitchen for the wife and used it to get it all level.
It's interesting that you find rtk accurate enough for drainage. I have used it for surveying levels and found it quite accurate so will give it a try on the trencher also will try out opengrade software.
 

Farmer Fin

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Aberdeenshire
We do it more farmer version. Our level doesn’t let you put a set angle setting on it but it will allow you to use an angle base plate to set the angle. Then the receiver on a long stick checking the height of the bottom of the trench for the digger driver as you go along.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Evening all,
Have been looking into laser level kits for doing land drainage, so out of interest what are people using and find works best?
Have a look here. https://www.fjdynamics.com/en/product/excavatorguidance.html

The staff are really responsive to emails and help.

A few of us have bought autosteer off FJD, and found they offer a really good service. I have no idea what prices construction kit costs, but I will kazard, the FJD equipment is competitive, very competitive.
 
Hi all, bit late to the party I know. Damn lurgy going around...

When talking about field drainage with Laser Levels there are two different routes to go down and within those two routes, there are a further two choices that depend on budget.

Typically a laser level package is a two-part system comprising of Laser Level (normally mounted on a tripod) and Detector / Receiver mounted on a measuring staff.
You can however have a laser level package configured so that instead of mounting the Detector / Receiver on a staff it is instead mounted on the dipper of the Excavator. The Detector / Receiver is not connected to the excavator's hydraulics, it purely shows the operator too high / too low / level or on grade via incredibly bright LED's.

So you need to establish do you want to go down the route of either a staff mounted Detector / Receiver or a dipper mounted Detector / Receiver?

With that established you can then focus on the right type of Rotary Laser Level for your application and budget. When talking about grading with a laser there are two distinct types of Rotary Laser.

Grade Facility & True Grade.

Grade Facility lasers account for most of the Rotary Laser Levels you see (either out of the box or with optional accessories like a remote). As the name suggests the laser has the "facility" to tilt the beam and allows you to set a gradient or fall. However, it is an entirely manual process that requires you to calculate the exact gradient the laser is angled to.

True Grade lasers are specifically designed to make gradients and slopes as easy as possible and you do this by keying in a percentage value directly into the keypad for both the X & Y-axis. The Laser then automatically tilts the laser head to the exact gradient entered. As an example, if you wanted to set a 1:40 fall you would look at your conversion chart which would show that it's a 2.5% fall and so in the X-axis you would enter 2.5% and then the laser would tilt to that value. You know you have then entered a 1:40 fall for your drain run.

Then you need to establish do you need Grade Facility or a True Grade Laser?

Grade Facility lasers are cheaper but slower and True Grade Lasers are faster and easier but significantly more expensive. So again, your choice comes down to the available budget.

So some suggestions (although sadly there are lots of permutations)....

Option 1) If you don't want to have a magnetic Detector on the Dipper and are limited by budget so a True Grade laser is out of reach:

The Fukuda FRE-205 DUO Kit
The Fukuda FRE-205 is a fully self-levelling, has an accuracy of ±3mm @ 30m, rechargeable, horizontal only laser level with a range of 500m diameter. It also has the ability to set slopes and gradients in both the X & Y axis.

The Spectra LL300N Premium Kit configured to include the RC601 Remote Control.
The Spectra LL300N is their heavy duty long range ground workers laser.
It is a full self-levelling red beam rotary laser which levels on the horizontal. It is accurate to ±2.2 mm at 30 m, range of 500m, has an IP rating of IP66 (Dust tight / Protected against powerful jets of water) and a 5-year warranty. It is rechargeable but can also run on alkaline batteries. It can set slopes and gradients in both the X & Y axis, but you need to add the RC601 remote control to the order to unlock these features.


Option 2) If you don't want to have a magnetic Detector on the Dipper but want a True Grade Laser:
Your "True Grade" laser level options (lasers which you can key-in a percentage or gradient) are:

The Fukuda FRE-203XT True Grade Laser Level Kit
This is a full self-levelling red beam rotary laser which levels on the horizontal, vertical and does 90deg squaring. It is accurate to ±2.8 mm at 30m, range of 500m, has an IP66 (Dust tight / Protected against powerful jets of water) and a 3 year warranty. It is rechargeable but can also run on alkaline batteries.

The Spectra GL422N Extreme Kit (currently out of stock 03/11/21)
This is a full self-levelling red beam rotary laser which levels on the horizontal. It is accurate to ±1.5 mm at 30 m, range of 800m, has an IP rating of IP66 (Dust tight / Protected against powerful jets of water) and a 5 year warranty. It is rechargeable but can also run on alkaline batteries. It can set can set slopes and gradients in both the X & Y axis.

Option 3) If you want to have a magnetic Detector on the Dipper and are limited by budget so a True Grade laser is out of reach:

The Fukuda FRE-205 DUO Kit configured to add a Spectra CR700
Description as above but you would also add the Spectra CR700 to the package to give you a Detector which can be mounted on the Dipper and a staff mounted option.

The Spectra LL300N Premium Kit configured to include the RC601 Remote Control take out the standard Detector and replace it with the CR700.
Description as above but you would add the RC601 remote to the Standard Premium Package and select the CR700 Detector instead of the Standard HR320 Detector.

Option 4) If you want to have a magnetic Detector on the Dipper as well as a True Grade Laser:

The Fukuda FRE-203XT True Grade Laser Level Kit configured to add a Spectra CR700.
Description as above but you would also add the Spectra CR700 to the package to give you a Detector which can be mounted on the Dipper and a staff mounted option.

The Spectra GL422N Extreme Kit but configured to take out the standard Detector and replace it with the CR700.
Description as above but you would select the CR700 Detector instead of the Standard HL760 Detector.

If you would like to know more about the Spectra CR700 please see:

https://www.laser-level.co.uk/spectra-cr700-magnetic-detector.html

A few videos for the Spectra CR700 can be seen here:



Sadly as you can see there are lots of permutations to this application (and it gets very complicated) but hopefully, this goes some way of explaining the choices available.

I hope this helps.

Mark Roberts
Laser Levels Online
 
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Only job is a laser with an X / Y axis that you punch in the grade %. Whether you mount the receiver on a staff or on your digger comes down to whether you can afford to have a helper continually checking the grade as you go vs spending a bit more on a magnetic machine receiver and checking the grade yourself as you dig..
 

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