Bought a $30 leveling laser off Amazon and it's already off by a quarter inch

Picked up a cheap laser level for a boom truck setup I was doing on a parking garage last week. Hooked it up, checked the bubble, and the beam was already drifting after one drop off the cab step. I just used a string line and a torpedo level like I should have from the start. Anyone else had bad luck with those budget lasers for rough terrain work?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_river1d ago

And yeah, I learned that lesson the hard way too. Spent forty bucks on a little green beam laser for setting up forms on a residential slab. Worked fine in the garage for a day, but once I had it out in direct sun and bumped the tripod, it was way off. I ended up just using a water level and a string line like my old man showed me. Those cheap lasers just dont handle real world abuse or temperature swings. If you need dead nuts accuracy on rough ground, stick with the string and a bubble.

haydenburns1d ago

Have you ever tried taping the laser to a 2x4 and leveling that with a bubble instead of trusting the tripod alone? I did that after a cheap laser drifted on me in the heat, and it held way better once the board was solid and not wobbling on those skinny legs. Still ain't as good as a string line for rough ground though, those lasers just can't handle the bumps and dirt like the old ways can.