This is 12 years old and still the only vid that actually does a good ob of explaining this properly. Everything that has been produced since then is redundant.

Far and away the best demonstration and explanation I've seen anywhere, thanks for taking time out to do it!

When I was in the market for a new Laser, this video sold me on the Topcon brand. I am very grateful for the effort BobcatNinja and his side kick put in producing this fine video.

Excellent video man. I love how you explain and teach. I operate a E34 Bobcat and a JD 160C and 225C (RTS) and this really helps me understand how/why the laser level and the math works. Sometimes my boss will jump in and do the math for me and I dont learn WHY the numbers match up to what they do. This helps alot! Thanks again.

Thanks this was exactly the information I've been searching for. Im just a homeowner but im constantly trying to control water flow on my property. Im buying one of these.

Excellent video, couldn't have explained it better with an hour long video and a month of planning! Well done

Thanks man this saved my life we just did a rv pad that the guy wants a 3 inch drop on it and for my life I couldn’t figure it out till I saw your video

Awesome video and fantastic explanation! I just discovered your videos and I really enjoy them. You all do fabulous work! Keep it up!

very good vid. I have been need this vid for years on how to use that part of the laser. On a job now which can help with the labor.

this was a very helpful and well explained video. Thanks a lot man and keep it up!

thanks for posting this. it was helpful

And thank you for the nice compliment! And thanks for watching!

Great video! Defenitly helps explain it!

Thanks for the video I was asking for it too.. You did a good job explaining it ... And yea I can see how it could be a pain to explain size you don't know what people already know.

Thank you for this really informative video!

wow , thanks alot , i have jobs abut grey laser , and i was surfing on the web and i found this video thanks GOD god bless you to take your time

Great explanation of setting up the laser to determine the grade. Technology has made string obsolete. Thanks for the video. We use it in the Heavy Equipment course in Kelowna, BC to demonstrate to students how to set up the equipment.

Great demonstration very understandable thank you!

thats sick i like how you set up the laser on the excavator, way better then staking out grade

Nice explanation thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍

Thanks for the video Tom!👊

Glad I could help you out. Tank you for watching and the nice comment!

Awesome video, huge help and easy to follow. Thanks for sharing my friend.

Hello.I fond of this video nothing stupid or baffled.Productive explication as it should be one you comprehend a concept will do excellent job.Thank you.

thank you so much. you explained it very well.

Great video man.

That was perfect. Thank you!

Brilliant and well explained video,5*

this is a great video!

That was fantastic! Thanks!

Very good and informative vid:)

Nice video, i don't have pich control on my laser and haven't ever really tought how to set it up. But now i know. :)

Thanks! Glad I could help!

great video well explained

I've got a similar setup with Spectra Lasers. It really saves time.

easy as cake for the first time. I always thought it was hard to understand with my uncle when we did our pool. I want to be an heavy equipment operator when I get out of high school(im a junior this year) and if you have any tips on how to get involved in the career, reply to this. thanks

Easy to understand thank you

Thanks for the video. By any chance do you know the formula to get the percent of a slope

Thanks! I appreciate it!

Ill see what I can do! Good idea!

BN, luv ur vids! For setting ur pitch I noticed a small error tho - u haven't set the laser to run thru 8" below the sill AT the edge/corner of the deck, but u instead set it 8" below the laser source (the instruments are offset from the deck a foot or 2) When u initially set ur level the laser will be horizontal. And then when u set the pitch the laser points FROM the laser source down to where you set it at your mound. Thus the laser at sill won't be quite 8" below sill the way u set it up

Great video

Really good clear video, I knew how to grade level, but not with a pitch, now all is clear, I have similar equipment, just a point if you have a pad, say 10m wide, 30m long I assume you would need the laser at the highest point of your pad and in the middle, If the grade was 1m drop over the 30m, is that just the centre line or does it apply to the full width over the 30m length? Hope that makes sense

can someone explain how the grade is achieved. if the grade is your reference point how do you determine the original grade point

great info

btw it was really helpfull!

We finally bought a slope laser and if you are doing this alone your best friend is a remote for the laser. Helps a lot when you can hold the laser stick and control the laser beam with the remote at same time.

@chevydirtjumper Yes that is correct.

yea great explanation. took me three months to understand simple shit like this. next do slopes with a lazer

6" of gravel. All I was setting was the finished height of the gravel, which is 9" down from the sill. On top of the gravel there is 1" of sand then the concrete pavers that are 2.5" thick.

So if I have a 50x100 parking lot, I can set the laser say midway along the short side and water designed to flow straight across. I set my receiver on a rod at grade by the curb.(this grade is the same all along the curb) set the slope and I can check grade all over the parking lot at this setting? thanks, enjoyed the video...I guess you can call the rod a stick, my operators call the tripod a stand. rrw

Damn you're good!

Do you have a link to that complete level set? I'd like to get one. Same make and model unless there is a better one.

Where did you get the magnetic receiver and what’s it called? Thanks

@McFaddenExcavating Thanks!

i was the one who asked for it, did you set the the grade level with the sill first before dropping it down 9 inches?

Pitch refers to building trades, like framers. Slope or cross slope refers to excavation and surfacing trades!

How many inches of gravel do you put in on this job. You say at 9" it will be top of gravel. Does that mean the concrete thickness will be 9"'? Just trying to understand thanks.

Haha! This video has been up for a year and I can't believe you are the first person to comment on that!

Good point, but with a patio project like this, there never are plans, especially with elevations. On a large earth moving site? Sure... but not usually in the landscaping field

What camera do you use for your videos ? Everyone I use jumps too much in my digger

I have understand it although englisch isn't my mother tongue I have only learned it in school but great video make more of this

Also, could you do a video showing to to "translate" a benchmark from one reference point to another. Like if you laser is much higher than your area or lower. If you know what im asking?

how would you use this concept when your trying to follow existing grade? Im replacing a dirt driveway with pavers, and the driveway exists on a pretty steep decline.

.083' = 1" so you know 9" is .75 or 3/4 of a foot. Plumbers use inches.

When you added the pitch on the laser how much did you take it down

Very well shown and explained. Just don't understand that in the US they still drive with the medieval measure of inches While the rest of the values are in the 2020s. In the rest of the values, all measurements are in mm (Millionth of a Meter) 1 mm = 0.039 inch

@wwalsi Thanks!

You would need to make up some sort of extension that clamps/bolts to the dipper arm and then clamp the magnet to it, you don't need to have the laser 5 feet above ground.

Hello could you please make a video or an explication. How to dig a trench using magnet receiver on backhoe or excavator 2-13 feet deep.Thank you in advance.When you set up a station laser beam it is about 5 feet above the ground,however when you place the stick to the trench sometime the boom is fully emerged in the trench.Do not grasp how could you use it?

Nicely done,

How much did this whole laser system cost?

Looks like I'm buying a topcon. Haven't found the receiver yet.

TopCon

Making it way to complicated.. it's really not that much work.. patio 20x 20 put a minimum of 1% of fall on it so at the 20' mark u will be .20 lower than what you started with at the house.. 2% would be .40 lower and so on

25.4 mills per inch. handy thing to know :)

Crazy how loud the zoom on the camera is, LOL

You do know that your stick is not in 10ths but actually in inches. Each mark is a 8th of a inch thick. So you actually get to measurements from each line that's why at each inch mark it goes to a point to show the top of that line is the next inch. It's for when you are looking through a transit and you have thin crosshairs yet you still need to see the line.

Small pad like that ....all that's needed is a stringline and level .

You dont need thimble earthworks with this it seems a lot easier aswell

hahaha who noticed the guy at the end.

Sorry...edit. I meant to say 9" of course1

u moved up and inch and a half graded checked it and moved back down

Who is doing your plans? ... because grade on site plans should be expressed in decimal feet 101.5' 99.25' etc. Feet-Inch rods are handy for some apps but you're introducing a potentially huge error if you have a worker who doesn't know the difference.

It's not pitch, but we professionals call it slope or fall. Roofs have pitch and it's clear you don't understand decimals either

Why dont you just figure the slope percentage? Measure from point a to point b. You already know the height difference for the slope. As an example say your height difference is .30 and your distance is 30 ft. Use a calculator and put in .30 and divide it by your distance which is 30 feet than multiply it by 100. That formula will give you your slope percentage which in this case will be 1% which = an eighth of an inch per foot. After you establish your slope percentage you need to set up your laser or aim your laser as you already know. The laser I use at work is a bit more sophisticated than yours and has a digital read out. Since I already know my slope percentage I set the laser to 1%. Make sure the laser is facing the right way or check it after you are done setting it up. I shoot my start point with my finished grade after which I go down on my rod for my sub grade and I am good to go.Its a one man job. I have been in commercial excavating for 30 years and this works best for me.

Yea Ima cieling grid man I'll show you a laser

ist doch ganz leicht

I hope you know all engineered site plans are in tenths not inches. Unless your working off of an architects plan which is rare.

a better way of explaining is to minus you go up to add you go down

You do know lasers are not 100% accurate. The further out you go the more it drops. You should get a transit there only off by 100ths

americans why cant you just freakin get metric like the rest of the whole wold!!!! omg 10th of an inch? feet are 12. just making it hard on yourselves. Lol.

Those Bobcat 360's are shite..... so much play in the arm

What are you talking about all my plans are in tenths and hundreds.never on a grading plan are they in inches jr.jr.jr.come on to bigboy jobs we will laugh at you with that inch smeal