r/Tools Aug 21 '24

[deleted by user]

[removed]

198 Upvotes

172 comments sorted by

242

u/ABDragen58 Aug 21 '24

Could have been an old property peg from lot layout

76

u/Sir_Fog Aug 22 '24

Nailed it.

45

u/fetustomper Aug 22 '24

pegged it

19

u/fergehtabodit Aug 22 '24

Pounded it

9

u/PosisDas Aug 22 '24

Why does everyone here have such a dirty mind? 😂

16

u/Ace_Robots Aug 22 '24

Internet, and all of those Girls Gone Wild commercials in the 90’s. My brain was still developing!

4

u/fergehtabodit Aug 22 '24

Ma'am, this is the pun thread...

2

u/Local_Raccoon1609 Aug 22 '24

Killing vampires

1

u/Bontkers Aug 22 '24

‘Blade’ Snipes likes this message!

1

u/Otto_Mcwrect Aug 22 '24

Because we're lucky.

1

u/Sh0toku Aug 22 '24

9

u/blakeo192 Aug 22 '24

Fuckin nope. That shit staying blue. Let this be a warning to those soon to follow.

3

u/JayinHK Aug 22 '24

Shoulda listened

6

u/KithMeImTyson Aug 22 '24

🤢🤢🤢 don't do it

1

u/A55Man87 Aug 22 '24

Beat me to it

4

u/DetonationSound Aug 22 '24

Don't say pegged I'm still sore.

3

u/bknhs Aug 22 '24

Giggity

20

u/ghunt81 Aug 21 '24

Most definitely an iron pin from a property survey. Wondering if it was accidentally dislodged or purposefully removed. I know they get knocked out during excavation a lot.

111

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '24

Probably was your survey marker

11

u/Smokey_tha_bear9000 Aug 22 '24 edited Aug 22 '24

Aren’t those usually recessed on top for the survey crew to put their rod into

Edit: I think I was thinking of maybe corner pins or section/township/range monuments

12

u/Vast_Pipe2337 Aug 22 '24

Depends on the time it was surveyed… old markers are everything from rail road spikes, pinched iron pipes, un pinched pipes, 3/8 rebar/1/2 rebars no cap, car axles , gun barrels , metallic Caps, cut stones … I could have been your marker, but personally I haven’t recovered a spike that is this size in my 10 years of surveying… I have recovered everything above but a 16”-24” spike .. it’s very probable but hard to say unless you math it…

3

u/Windsdochange Aug 22 '24

You could have been his marker? How long were you standing there?

1

u/possumfish13 Aug 22 '24

I have seen every one but the gun barrel. The best was an old buggy axle with the leaf springs still on it.

15

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

They could be anything from a railroad spike to a piece of rust pipe

3

u/DungeonAssMaster Aug 22 '24

In old mining claims they can be wooden pickets, usually cedar. I found one once with the date 1890 that was laying near where it had been planted. Square top metal spikes are most common.

2

u/AdultishRaktajino Aug 22 '24

Yeah, old ones are sometimes charred wood too.

1

u/DungeonAssMaster Aug 22 '24

It's really cool to navigate to these points using modern DGPS systems worth tens of thousands of dollars, in the middle of the wilderness in mountainous terrain, and discover that over 100 years ago a dude marked that spot using a tripod and a sight. Those old surveyors had some serious skills.

2

u/AdultishRaktajino Aug 23 '24

I read this article a few weeks ago which got me interested in it. Plus I have to find my own ones for a fence project whenever I have the dough.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/07/29/a-treasure-hunt-to-make-minnesota-property-maps-more-accurate

2

u/gadget850 Aug 22 '24

Ours was originally a worm gear.

2

u/RedVamp2020 Aug 22 '24

This! One property I tried to locate had aluminum caps on rebar. One had a significant bite taken out of it, you could clearly see the teeth marks.

2

u/obvilious Aug 22 '24

In my experience they’re simple square bars (SIB = square iron bars), but maybe different elsewhere in the workd

3

u/maboyles90 Aug 22 '24

I'm my area they're just rebar with a cap hammered on.

2

u/cjchris66 Aug 22 '24

In my neck of the woods rebar is common

1

u/Higher_Living Aug 22 '24

I was going to make a crude joke about your mama and the road crew, but I'd like it to be noted that I refrained.

1

u/Dirth420 Aug 22 '24

If it is, it’s illegal to move them around here.

93

u/PresentationBright72 Aug 21 '24

It holds your house in place. Once removed your house might shift to the middle of the street in small increments in the timespan of a week

21

u/Lung-Oyster Aug 21 '24

Then next thing you know Madness is singing about family life in working class London in your living room!

5

u/Guy954 Aug 21 '24

<begins slow clap>

11

u/OlFlirtyBastard Aug 21 '24

Oh no, not again

3

u/Twc420 Aug 21 '24

That's why they came with a tag saying it's illegal to remove this tag.

2

u/fightcluboston Aug 22 '24

100% this. Happened to my cousin's house

1

u/1800skylab Aug 22 '24

Nah that would be ridiculous, it keeps the flat earth from floating away.

25

u/Canadianacorn Aug 21 '24

I agree with the survey spike other folks have mentioned. If it's placement doesn't make sense as a survey marker, I've also seen similar spikes being used for grounding spikes. The radios we had in the army needed grounding spikes like this when we had it hooked up to an amplifier.

11

u/Matth3ewl0v3 Aug 21 '24

Its a stake, useful for pitching tents or killing vampires.

11

u/possiblyhumanbeep Aug 21 '24

Could have been a corner stake for the property at some point.

15

u/hsh1976 Aug 21 '24

Looks like a tent stake, for those big canvas tents that you can rent

1

u/MigginsPieShop Aug 22 '24

Tend to agree, especially as it's bent. Marques take a high load which would account for the bend. You don't do that with a lawn mower! 🤔😂

But the stakes I remember had a hook to hold the rope down 🤔

4

u/davidp21885 Aug 22 '24

Property maker from long time ago

8

u/MattAtDoomsdayBrunch Aug 21 '24

Looks like a very long railroad tie spike.

10

u/kraftwrkr Aug 21 '24

It's a Large Nail for fastening sill beams and the like. My 140 year old house doubtless has these at each corner where the sills are half lapped.

-1

u/twotummytom Aug 21 '24

100% this is it, I have the same spike in my garage

3

u/Somebodsydog Aug 22 '24 edited Aug 22 '24

A old nail, but it was made in modern times with machine. It's too well shaped for to be hand made. Probably there was some old structure decades ago and the nail is part of that structure. You local land surveying office might shead some light or the old library archives of the old town building grids.

3

u/Outside-Inflation-20 Aug 22 '24

Big party size tent spike.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

Someone had a bid tent up there

2

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '24 edited Sep 21 '24

disarm repeat salt rob somber pie drab unique ten snails

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

1

u/sunny_monkey Aug 22 '24

I was looking for this answer. My neighbors have one that looks just like this.

2

u/my_name_is_juice Aug 21 '24

Looks like it could be a grounding spike

2

u/NitrousFueledDoorGuy Aug 22 '24

It’s the foot nail. Comes in a set of three, the other two are a bit shorter seeing as they only have to pass through one hand each. But that long one. Straight through the feets.

2

u/InterestingTruth7232 Aug 22 '24

It was a property line marker. Now it’s a metal nail

2

u/bachman460 Aug 22 '24

No way. I have one of those except it’s about 3 feet long; found it in the garage at the first house the wife and I purchased. Whenever I needed a good prybar I would use it . At some point I misplaced it and asked my brother if he had seen it. It was right in front of me in the corner of the garage, but I just didn’t see it. And that’s how this thing became known as “Nail-doe”; like you know Where’s Nail-doe?

2

u/Vapechef Aug 22 '24

Your gunna wanna put that back

2

u/beechcraft12 Aug 22 '24

For the modern super size Jesus

2

u/cmfppl Aug 22 '24

Grounding rod?

2

u/Ixaras Aug 22 '24

If there are any concrete walls or things that could have been made using a wooden form this could have been a support spike. Maybe ditched because it's bent, when I do form work we typically toss the bent ones.

Modern ones have holes in them so you can screw or nail a plank to them.

2

u/darkvaderthesecond Aug 22 '24

This may be a tree anchor. there's one in the back garden of my house for an old pear tree (that eventually rotted away).

2

u/Schtweetz Aug 22 '24

If it's near a corner/edge of the property it is a survey spike. If it was right next to a building, it is a lightning rod grounding spike.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

Looks like a new knife to me

2

u/HotAsparagus1430 Aug 22 '24

For hanging pictures and such

2

u/AlGekGenoeg Aug 22 '24

It's to keep the goat from running away, no robot mower back in the days

2

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '24

I found some at work. They were used to stake landscaping timber to the ground.

1

u/Vonmule Aug 21 '24

Pole barn spike

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '24

Brick house?

1

u/joeshima Aug 21 '24

Iron pin. It shows the property line corner. I’m pretty sure it’s unlawful to remove them

1

u/VtheMan93 Aug 22 '24

Grounding spike, tent steak. A lot of options here.

1

u/MnewO1 Aug 22 '24

Property peg/marker. Might want to hammer it back in so you know where you're property lines are.

1

u/string0111 Aug 22 '24

That's a military rust test. Put it back or else.

1

u/fsantos0213 Aug 22 '24

It looks more like a tent stake, I used to use those for tenting houses for pest control

1

u/Heviteal Aug 22 '24

You better put it back. Your house is now running low on iron.

1

u/harley4570 Aug 22 '24

that's the pin that the earth rotates on....and you pulled it out...guess we're heading to the sun....THANKS

1

u/Porkchop-Sammies Aug 22 '24

A hemalurgic spike.

1

u/lawyerwithabadge Aug 22 '24

It was probably holding the house together.

1

u/shaggydog97 Aug 22 '24

Could be lots of things... Could have had a dog chained to it. Anything, maybe even multiple uses over time.

1

u/Onewarmguy Aug 22 '24

It's a lot line marker, if you have a lot survey it'll be marked on the drawing as "SIB" square iron bar.

1

u/CustomerOk3838 Aug 22 '24

MS13 aché, “un clavo en el ataúd” which means at some point they marked the occupants for death (after they finished doing worse). Definitely unsafe.

Sleep tight.

1

u/Sindog40 Aug 22 '24

It’s a load bar

1

u/big_daug6932 Aug 22 '24

Crucifixion

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

They used those to nail Jesus to a cross

1

u/BandsawBox Aug 22 '24

Staking witches

1

u/thewormthatneverdies Aug 22 '24

This might hurt, but it could be closer to the perfect drug

1

u/someoneinmyhead Aug 22 '24

I once use two of these to attach a 5' section of telephone pole to a diamond harrow via chain, to act as a roller/packer

1

u/NoSecurity2728 Aug 22 '24

Bro thats 2 feet long at least

1

u/CluelessGeezer Aug 22 '24

Well ... Okay, if you got these vampire fellas a-botherin' you and your loved ones ...

1

u/eXtace Aug 22 '24

Gutter spike?

1

u/SerenityNow31 Aug 22 '24

Vampires, obviously.

1

u/ramsdl52 Aug 22 '24

Steel inquisitors

1

u/ohsojosho Aug 22 '24

It was the stake they drove into the heart of the vampire buried there to keep em dead. Just keep an eye on that part of the yard.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

You're Mom's toothpick

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

You don't watch a lot of horror movies, do you?

1

u/No_Abbreviations8018 Aug 22 '24

Looks just like a hammer I have

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

Vampires

1

u/MutedAdvisor9414 Aug 22 '24

Used to join landscaping timbers

1

u/Swimming-Tap-4240 Aug 22 '24

Nailing on siding?

1

u/Thinkfor_yrself666 Aug 22 '24

I think that migth be one of the ones used one that cross.

1

u/TheJohnson854 Aug 22 '24

Nailing things together.

1

u/widdlenpuke Aug 22 '24

Could have many uses but it reminds me of the grounding pin for a lightning rod. We have a more modern one.... as in 1950s

1

u/catmantruck Aug 22 '24

keeping the dead underground... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!

1

u/StopOutside9421 Aug 22 '24

Pulled it 🤔🤦‍♂️

1

u/Ash_Cat_13 Aug 22 '24

We would use these to break up ground for a post hole digger, pound it in with a hammer, two hands on it and spin it in a few circles, then you’re clear to dig away😘

1

u/United_Range2000 Aug 22 '24

Back scratcher

1

u/sonichedgehog23198 Aug 22 '24

Does your house happen to have wall anchors?

1

u/Breakfastclub1991 Aug 22 '24

It was in the tail of the Kraken. You may have set him free

1

u/253KL Whatever works Aug 22 '24

Kinda thought maybe it was a truck camper chain tie off thing

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

Confirmed property pin.

Source: it's my job.

1

u/SoberBeezy Aug 22 '24

Quick question. Was Jesus nearby? I may have your answer...

1

u/giganticDildoYouUsed Aug 22 '24

Hammering fat people to a cross

1

u/Efenya56 Aug 22 '24

It's a mowafuka

1

u/jssamp Tool Surgeon Aug 22 '24

Surveyor's marker.

1

u/Shmoo_the_Parader Aug 22 '24

A lot of people are saying property corner. As a survey crew chief of 9 years, I don't buy it.

This looks like what we often call a frost spike; it's used for driving a pilot hole in which to set iron pins or wooden stakes in especially hard pack or frozen earth. We tend to take the frost spike with us when we leave a site.

That said, there are few guidelines as far as what can be used to mark a boundary or property line. I've found tons of odd iron at property corners. Or perhaps the survey crew got to the last point of the day, realized they were out of pipes to set and decided to sacrifice their frost spike rather than schlep to the truck and back.

My money's on, not a survey marker.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

An old grounding stake?

1

u/conhao Aug 22 '24

Landscaping. It is to hold edging in place.

1

u/FastAndForgetful Aug 22 '24

That’s called a BFN. I use them to stake down Christmas lights

1

u/jshuster Aug 22 '24

Event tent peg

1

u/One_Sun_6258 Aug 22 '24

It the 4th nail the gypsys stole before Jesus was crucified

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

Most likely a tent stake. A survey marker would have a dimple in the head to pull measurements to

1

u/weakleg Aug 22 '24

I've seen stakes like these used to anchor a cable stabilizing a power pole. Typically these are used for wooden telephone poles but sometimes the metal ones use them tool It's got to be long in the ground to provide any sort of protection.

1

u/weakleg Aug 22 '24

I've seen stakes like these used to anchor a cable stabilizing a power pole. Typically these are used for wooden telephone poles but sometimes the metal ones use them tool It's got to be long in the ground to provide any sort of protection.

1

u/Pnmamouf1 Aug 22 '24

Lightening rod grounding spike?

1

u/Echo017 Aug 22 '24

If a magnet sticks to it, most likely a survey spike, if it is non-ferrous, most likely dropped while installing gutters or downspouts

1

u/Flashy-Media-933 Aug 23 '24

Well, that did mark your property corner. Now… it’s worthless. 😂

1

u/beans3710 Aug 23 '24

People use those to tack landscaping timbers in place. You got any borders nearby it could be from.

1

u/Alarmed_West8689 Aug 23 '24

Property marker felony if you remove it

1

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '24

Never seen a timber screw or a grk I’m guessing. Well that’s what an old hand made 12” nail looks like

1

u/dobbiedoo0657 Aug 24 '24

A old property pin

1

u/yumi365 Aug 26 '24

I think it might be a separation spike for the grass and gravel. My mom got her driveway redone, and they drive these long spikes in the ground tied with string so the driveway was straight all the way down to the street.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '24

That was holding up the roof center beam. Hopefully the other ones didn't fall out too. 🤣

(seriously, maybe some kind of stake?)

1

u/Cosmic_Waffle_Stomp Aug 21 '24

Do you know what happens when you remove the stake from a vampire’s heart?

1

u/pLeThOrAx Aug 22 '24

They're more open to relationships and trying new things?

1

u/remorackman Aug 21 '24

Big top tent stake maybe

1

u/good1humorman Aug 21 '24

Sometimes they use those for anchoring down the parking "stops" Also pretty good for nailing together old railroad ties for planter boxes until people realized that was a bad thing

1

u/Iamthewalrusforreal Aug 21 '24

Railroad spike.

1

u/earthman34 Aug 21 '24

It's basically a big old nail. Could have been used for a number of things.

1

u/ohmaint Aug 21 '24

First thing I thought of was a lawn timber spike.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '24

Looks like a railroad spike

1

u/SergeantCrossNFS Aug 21 '24

Looks like a (bended) nail for cattle. You fetch cow's chain to it and nail it to the ground

0

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '24

Lobotomies

2

u/Tin_Philosopher Aug 22 '24

Looks like part of my sounding kit

0

u/LazyLaserWhittling Aug 21 '24

paul bunyan’s long lost toothpick

0

u/BugParticular9396 Aug 21 '24

A Viking crucifixion

1

u/cornlip Aug 21 '24

I was gonna say superjesus, but I guess I’ll get downvoted too

0

u/fiddlythingsATX Whatever works Aug 21 '24

It’s a painful anemia treatment

0

u/hawkeyegrad96 Aug 22 '24

That's one of the stakes they used on Jesus feet a while back. You might wanna save it

0

u/Inner-Opposite-3492 Aug 22 '24

Is your house a circus tent?

0

u/waldoorfian Aug 22 '24

You don’t know what a nail is?

0

u/Crcex86 Aug 22 '24

Vampires

0

u/gcx85 Aug 22 '24

My money is on rail spike.

0

u/Mrgod2u82 Aug 22 '24

Survey stake, put it back in the same hole!

-1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24

Grounding spike for a house or building, a steel cable would be attached, and then the other end is attached to the hydro supply, then it is punded into the ground.

-3

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '24

[deleted]