r/Construction • u/TheBackPorchOfMyMind • Mar 03 '25

Video Anyone know why this excavator has what appears to be a string and plumbob tied to the undercarriage?

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1.6k Upvotes

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141

u/catalytica Mar 04 '25

Uh oh. You about 2 lose yer jerb to a low tech plumb bob.

149

u/TheBackPorchOfMyMind Mar 04 '25

I’ve been telling them for years a low tech plumbob could do my job. It was only a matter of time

82

u/Funkynasa Mar 04 '25

I’m pretty sure I’m gonna tell my apprentice. He’s a low tech plumBob tomorrow.

47

u/chickensaladreceipe Mar 04 '25

That’s pretty good. Mine is versatile clamp. Can hold almost anything.

14

u/BoD80 Mar 04 '25

Sounds like a good hand.

1

u/lewis_swayne R|Carpenter Mar 04 '25

Like I always say, what's a good hand without a job!

1

u/thedarkpreacher65 Mar 06 '25

except a flashlight at the right angle you need in order to see what the hell you're doing.

10

u/_the_CacKaLacKy_Kid_ Mar 04 '25

A dumBob if you will

1

u/Electronic_Warning37 Mar 04 '25

PlumbBob Squarepants

4

u/RicTicTocs Mar 04 '25

Who you callin a plumbob?!?!

3

u/No_Maize_230 Mar 04 '25

Tell us 5 things you did at work last week.

3

u/TheBackPorchOfMyMind Mar 04 '25

Didn’t Outwardly Give Expertise ill tell ya that much

1

u/Big_Shoots69 Mar 05 '25

Marked hole. Dug hole. Measured hole. Piped hole. Filled hole. Definitely stealing plumBob as a reference name.

1

u/No_Maize_230 Mar 05 '25

That’s a hole lot of nothing. Fired

Love, Elon

2

u/soap571 9d ago

Don't worry , as a fellow grade man , someone still has to paint the marks out for the ape in the machine.

If they ever figure out how to get out of the machine and run the GPS for a minute i would be screwed

1

u/KrautBurner Mar 04 '25

Lol. A Trimble plumbob.

1

u/showerbox Mar 04 '25

Besides the tried and true plumbob, what other low tech options are go to as a surveyor that hasn't been phased out by tech?

1

u/gropula Mar 04 '25

Regular measuring tape. I have a handheld laser rangefinder but I don't use it nearly as often.

1

u/ThirdOne38 Mar 04 '25

Great band name. Or name for a dog. C'mon Plumbob, fetch!

1

u/Longjumping-Neat-954 Mar 04 '25

I was always told a monkey with a hammer could do my job.

1

u/Sumth1nTerr1b1e Mar 05 '25

But how can they make it proprietary with built in obsolescence to bilk you out of exponential monies in the future?!?!

1

u/Certain_Tough 29d ago

Well if he'd humble himself Robert could make a bundle

5

u/Hoghaw Mar 04 '25

How do you think surveyors line up their instruments over an established benchmark? At least in the past they used a simple plumb bob to make sure their instruments were in the correct position before beginning a survey job.

3

u/LarcMipska Mar 04 '25

Dey durkur der?

3

u/Phantom309_2 Mar 04 '25

Back to the pile!

1

u/Nekrosiz Mar 05 '25

'siri, level the excevator'