Talk:Metes and bounds

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I'd sure like this explained better, with pictures perhaps on the degrees and direction. The example is good, but a picture would help. --Eckre (talk) 22:24, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

I'd certainly be interested in systems in use in other countries. But, I'm totally unqualified to write about them. We could link from here or the Surveying article. Lou I 15:04, 25 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Metes-and-bounds is the method of deed description in the area of the state of Ohio known as the Western Reserve. The Western Reserve was claimed by the State of Connecticut even after the passage of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. Ohio's Western Reserve, formerly know as the Western Reserve of Connecticut, is roughly the northeast quadrant of the state. 68.109.232.251 (talk • —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.109.232.251 (talk • contribs). 17:15, January 12, 2007  (UTC)


 * While it may be possible that some of the earliest deeds were described with metes and bounds, the Western Reserve was surveyed into 25 square mile townships (which makes them distinct from the usual 36 square mile township). older ≠ wiser 18:21, 12 January 2007 (UTC)Bold text

--71.133.243.16 17:16, 21 July 2007 (UTC) Insert non-formatted text here


 * Metes and Bounds are primarily used for states that were a part of the original thirteen colonies or that like maine were split off from them. The most important thing about deeds given in metes and bounds is that they always go from corner to corner in a direction a given distance. A corner is generally marked with a monument. Boundaries like roads, rivers, streams that meander along the course a person might walk between corners never define the limits of the property, only the lines between corners.69.39.100.2 (talk) 19:01, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Isn't this still used in the entire US?
Sure, the PLSS is good for pieces of land consisting of sections or regular portions thereof. But if you're creating a deed for a an unplatted irregular piece of land or making a subdivision plat with irregular lots, you still use metes and bounds to describe it. --NE2 08:30, 28 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Certainly not; many jurisdictions exclusively use either the Lot and Block Survey System or the Public Land Survey System. -- Orange Mike  &#x007C;   Talk  14:11, 28 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm talking about the definitions of the lots contained within the plat - those are done by metes and bounds. --NE2 09:54, 2 August 2010 (UTC)


 * I think that once an area is platted, then there is no need to use a metes and bounds description, unless some agency specifically requests it (which doesn't make much sense to me). Once an area is platted, then a description by lot and block works very well, no matter the shape of the lot or block. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.10.65.79 (talk) 15:17, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

Rods?
As a boy in Australia my dad let me survey with his dumpy level and chain, not an abstract cricket pitch but an actual physical chain comprised of 100 links each about 8" long, 25 of which formed a rod. In California, where I've done a fair bit of surveying, limited to areas under a hundred acres, I've never encountered rods, all distances seem to be given in feet.  Are there regions in the US today that prefer rods to more conventional units like feet or metres?  Or anywhere else for that matter?  --Vaughan Pratt (talk) 08:09, 25 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I have been told (and I have no citations for this, but it makes sense) that many of the farming communities in Utah, Idaho, and surrounding states were laid out so that the streets were 1 chain (66 feet?) wide. Many of these communities were established in the mid-to-late 1800's as an expansion and colonization effort of the LDS Church, and there was some standardization to the layout methods used. There is also reference to an adage that Brigham Young (the president of the LDS Church at the time) wanted the streets "wide enough to turn an ox-team and cart around in." Newer streets in these communities tend to be narrower that the older (possibly original) streets. I have not, however, seen any reference to rod-lengths in these areas, nor any other use of chain-lengths; but I do not deal with survey records much. 184.99.69.16 (talk) 18:48, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

County roads in Oklahoma are 66 ft right of way, fence to fence. My dad taught me that a rod is a "face acre", that is, a 160 acre square field is 160 rods wide. Old equipment was made 8-1/4 feet wide so if you planted down and back you have planted 1 acre, or 1/2 acre for a 40 acre field, or from the side of an 80. He said they would plant down and back, refill the planter and determine how many pounds of seed or fertilizer per acre they were planting. He thought rod was a farming term, not a surveying term. 72.37.249.100 (talk) 23:25, 28 February 2013 (UTC)Andy Martin

It all depends. In the most parts of the US that I'm familiar with, a rod is equal to 16.5 ft; a (Gunter's) chain is 66 ft, and composed of 100 links. A road right of way is sometimes 33 ft (two rods) on each side, for a total of 66 ft, or one chain. One way to define an acre is by 'breaking down a section,' where a section is one mile square. There are 640 acres in a section, which measures 5280' by 5280'. Thus, an acre = 43,560 feet square. Rods originally, I believe, *were* a farming term, but from way back. So is furlong, for that matter. Rods became a term used by surveyors and others to describe land. A lot of roads in the PLSS are 66 ft (Right of Way, or R/W, or RoW) wide. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.10.65.79 (talk) 15:15, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

Diagram with a short example needed
I'm not a SME, but this article can be greatly improved by adding a diagram containing an example.Bcwilmot (talk) 04:43, 29 September 2012 (UTC)

Torrens?
The pages on Torrens explains that it is a method of recording land ownership, not of defining the physical boundary of a plot of land which still has to be done by some other system. I don't think it belongs in this article. Stub Mandrel (talk) 16:08, 25 May 2018 (UTC)