does anyone have a method for measuring land to find amount of acres in a area.

-- tim gruber (herbs@computer-concepts.com), February 12, 2002

Answers

square feet divided by 43,560 equals 1 acre , square rods divided by 160 equals 1 acre 1 rod equals 16.5 feet Most of the old fences had their posts spaced at 1 rod

-- (smhamp@yahoo.com), February 12, 2002.

An acre is equal to 43,560 square feet.

You could determine the APPROXIMATE area of your parcel by relating its shape to the closest geometric figure, ie. square, rectangle, triangle, trapezoid, parallelogram, etc., then determine the area and divide by 43,560.

To determine the area of a square shaped parcel, multiply the distance of two of the sides---equal numbers in a square---and divide the result by 43,560. The answer is the area in acres.

To determine the area of a rectangular parcel, multiply the distance along one of the long sides and the distance along one of the short sides----long sides same, short sides same in a rectangle---and divide the answer by 43,560.

If your parcel is many-sided or irregular, it becomes much harder to determine the area. The "easiest" method would be to employ coordinate geometry, or you could break it down into many little triangles, I can explain both methods, but it would take quite a while.

Perhaps the truly easiest way, and the ONLY WAY TO BE CERTAIN, would be to hire a land surveyor. Yeah, I know, "easy", but expensive.

NOTE: See the lady's post below! This is another example of the usefulness of algebra.

G. Smith

-- Gerald S. Smith (pls5638@hotmail.com), February 12, 2002.

The county extension office has the aerial photos of all the property in your county. If you take a look at the one which covers the area you're interested in they may have outlined the property and determined the area in acres as part of a government program in the past.

With a little luck you may find the acreage already measured and marked on the photo in the extension office.

-- Darren (df1@infi.net), February 12, 2002.

Measure your average stride length...your pace as it where. With a compass, pace from survey mark or corner to corner of your land, plot it on a piece of graph paper, using the compass to help you with the angles at the corners. Make one line on the paper equal to some length in feet. Do a bit of math to calculate the total number of squares enclosed on the graph paper, multiply by the number of feet per square, divide by the number of ft square per acre and there you have it.

look at your tax bill...and remember that yo pay taxes to the middle of the road, not the edge.

Oscar

-- Oscar H. Will III (owill@mail.whittier.edu), February 12, 2002.

I agree with Darren, you can get an ariel view from the soil & water conservation dept. In our area they can also supply a clear plastic overlay marked off in acres, just lay it over the photo and count the acres.

-- Paul (treewizard@buffalo.com), February 13, 2002.

Locally that information would be in the Tax Assessors Office. They measure acreage to the third decimal place. They have this little device, looks a bit like a pizza cutter, they run along the borders and it computes acreage. They also use the overlay grid method.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

Try these 2 programs. They teach you how to survey. I am a surveyor and I think these programs are good for teaching the basics. Go to this site and dowload these two programs. They are shareware/freeware. sly253a.zip and sly253b.zip http://www.simtel.net/pub/pd/45259.html (this is the sly253a.zip file) http://www.simtel.net/pub/pd/45260.html (this is the sly253b.zip file) Follow the instructions and it should be easy. Good luck, Bart

-- Bart (Dominickwb@dot.state.sc.us), February 13, 2002.

In Reply to Oscar's post...in Texas, and in many other states, you do NOT pay taxes to the middle of the road. What the tax office shows (or appraisal district, depending on where you live), should be the amount of land that you own, net of public roads or right-of-way. Steve

-- SteveD(TX) (smdann@swbell.net), February 13, 2002.

Since the arial photos are shot at an approximate scale, you can also use a ruler to measure distances on them and do some rough figuring if there's no overlay available and the acreage wasn't figured previously.

The ones for our area in 1939 were at 1" = 660'.

-- Darren (df1@infi.net), February 13, 2002.

How could I be so unlucky to own land in 5 states where I pay tax on the acreage to the middle of the public rights of way? I always thought I should move to Texas! For the purpose of State and USDA the acreage is based upon productive acres minus all driveways roads, etc. They use an aerial map and a little indexed wheel to trace around the fields with which calculates the acreage. At least in South Dakota, I am allowed to take hay from the road ditch which is part of the public right of way that I pay taxes on, but is not included in my producing acreage according to the USDA and state agencies.

Oscar

-- Oscar H. Will III (owill@mail.whittier.edu), February 13, 2002.

Oscar: Yes and so do I. My land is measured to the centerline of the road and I pay taxes on it. Utility easements go only as far as the barrow ditch. One acre, by my measurements, is 208-ft 7-in squared= 43,555.69 sq.ft.

-- al (yr2012@hotmail.com), February 13, 2002.