Has anyone ever been involved in making a corn maze? They can be laid out by the grid method, but some companies use software with GPS devices to make them. Would it be possible to plot the coordinates using signmaking software and load the file in a hand-held GPS device? Don't laugh..........I don't know beans about GPS
[ January 11, 2012, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
Posted by Tim Barrow (Member # 576) on :
Wayne I have seen gps devices used to layout large grass signs at racetracks,..it seems the software was the same that is used to layout footings on large construction sites,...It could be used to layout corn mazes also but I don't see it being to cost effective,...I would assume the software uses CAD file of some sort and most cad programs recognize dxf file formats,...all the operator would have to do it set the origin on the gps device and then it marks the layout with a tool that looks sort of like a metal detector with a spray can attached and it sprays marks as the device moves over them in relation to the cad file and the origin on the gps device,...it is not an inexpensive hobby tool or process,,.....
Posted by Frank Smith (Member # 146) on :
Crop circles are a lot easier. Helped with one of them once.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Thanks Tim, I found one company which uses GPS and charges between $2500 and $6000 to make one on your farm; but there's not enough corn grown in our neck of the woods anymore to get into that kind of market.
I was just thinking of making a small 3 acre one on my place(a little over 450' x 300'). Something the kids could have fun with but not large enough to get lost in.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
What would really be cool, is for Google and mapquest to update their satellite images when the maze is completed.
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Those things just get me cornfused...
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
Yes, those cornfounded thangs...
Posted by Preston McCall (Member # 351) on :
Try a CPS system...Corn Positioning Satellite. "At the tall stock at the end of this row, turn left...Now turn right in twenty stalks..." I bet you would be 'all ears' on this kernal on an idea. Corny? Heck, I am from Kansas!
Posted by Craig Sjoquist (Member # 4684) on :
No reason you can not draw/lay it out to scale in a sign program, might easier to use a pre-made maze you find in a kids book to work from the 1st time.
Then start measuring, using a grid method to lay out, make corrections as you go.
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Wayne,
It's the ethanol talking...
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
A sign program is handy for alot of other things besides just signs. I've used mine to design all kinds of stuff from my house and shop to toys and honeydo projects.
#1. Using the sign program in metric mode (mm) and the ruler feature. I could use the step/repeat function to lay out a matrix of dots, number them along x and y. The rows of dots on the y axis would be 3' apart, to represent the rows of the cornfield. and the x dots would be 1' apart. The corn would actually be planted about 6" apart in the rows.
#2. Layout my maze/text on the matrix and remove the dots inside it.
#3 Starting with the top row, I would record the numbered coordinates on each row on a piece of paper. In my 3 acre cornfield there would be 100 rows, 450' long.
#4 Label a 450' piece of high tensile electric fence wire with numbered pieces of tape at intervals of 1 foot apart.
#5 Before marking, I would let the corn grow to about 6" high. In the cornfield, stretch the numbered wire taught along each row and mark each coordinate with a spot of white chalk. When the coordinates are done, connect the dots.
#6 Pull each stalk inside the lines, up by the roots and feed them to the sheepies.
The GPS method sounds much easier.....
[ January 11, 2012, 11:20 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
I subcontract out to Gort for that sort of thing.
Posted by TJ Duvall (Member # 3133) on :
My father-in-law has been making them for a few years now. He simply draws it out by hand on regular old graph paper. Each square or 2 represents 5 feet or so. Then he just cuts it while the corn is small with zero turn lawnmower. He has done them from about 1-5 acres or so.
Posted by Nevman (Member # 332) on :
This one should easily work Wayne!
ooooooooooooooooooooooo o o ooooooooooooooooooo o ooooooooooooooooooooooo
LOL
Good luck with it - sounds like fun!
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
This is a simulation of how it might look from, I don't know 2000' or so? The "W" is over 70' high. The short spaces at the ends of the word are about 1.5 times the length of our house and the whole word is 330' long. I read somewhere that they recommend at least 5 acres but, mine is going to be no more than 3. I need to plant the corn anyway for next winter's sheep feed and have a couple of months to design the rest of the maze around the letters. One of my best customers is a pilot so, i may ask him to take take a few shots from the air, or maybe Google will update their satellite image.
[ January 13, 2012, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
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