Detecting an 1880's era house yard this weekend

So a buddy and I are hitting an old yard this weekend of an 1880 house. We had the chance to do a quick survey today (thanks to the gracious owner) and found a TON of iron blasting off everywhere no matter how slow we sweep. Heyyyyyyy... Who doesn't love a challenge! Did manage a '25 wheat today in our 30 minute hunt. (4" down amongst iron)
Anyway, I will report back with images and of course I am breaking out Mr. Magnate to try out Tom's technique of layered hunting... (ala-article)

I have one of the Rare Earth units that has a pull of 275... Shaped like a large mans wallet. Not the 1700's site old of course where this practice is better suited, however I really want to try this procedure out again in a larger area where the owner has no problem with digging deep and large anywhere. Chances like this don't come by me often so we are going for it.

Check back after the 18th for the Full Story... Any other words of wisdom beforehand is always greatly appreciated.
Pete

You are on the right track..........but you must intelligently select the correct location to dig pits.....and use the rare earth magnet accordingly. LET US KNOW HOW MANY COINS YOU CAN DETECT "BEFORE" DIGGING...............THEN HOW MANY YOU FIND AFTER REMOVING THE IRON MASK!!! Not just coins.......but any non-ferrous target.

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but you must intelligently select the correct location to dig pits

Yes! We have great knowledge from the grandson who grew up there. He pointed out where the cloths line was AND which side was used for the mens jeans and work pants. Also the location of an old garden and where the kids would pick for berries.

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LET US KNOW HOW MANY COINS "BEFORE" DIGGING...............THEN HOW MANY AFTER REMOVING THE IRON MASK!!! Not just coins.......but any non-ferrous target.

Absolutely-I think this will be a fun challenge, yielding some interesting results.
Thanks Tom and more soon!!!!!

Good luck!!!!

Well I wanted to report back on my findings, so here is my little story.

Here is the site we had to work with. Really Nice!!! Privacy too so who could ask for more!?!???


Suffice to say-I was shocked by what was found.... Or perhaps by what was not found. This was started in an area directly under an old cloths line.
I started off with an area 2 by 6 feet long. I worked the top sod layer free and rolled back the first 2 feet. Eager to give it a try, I removed the first 3 or 4 inches and spreadout on a canvas (painters cloth) tarp that was 3 feet by 10 feet long. (so to spread out thin layers)
Out came the magnate and alas. IRON. I mean a BUNCH of iron. I spent 10 minutes just trying to remove the ferrous material. Everything from nails to almost sand like bits were being discovered. Once this was finally complete, (approx 75% removed-Much of the older tiny stuff barely clung to the magnate) I ran the detector over and did find 2 large copper tacks (nails) that weren't there before.

I re-peated this until I was down to the 15 inch depth mark. STILL the same material. Iron bits AND nails were still coming out of the hole. With the exception of a few non-ferrous items, (eraser tips more copper tacks) I was dumbfounded by what was there... OK-One last shovel scoop of the 16" to approx. 20" depth.... Ahh!! The SAME results. And no coins.



Well suffice to say was flat out beat down with the results. I mean who could imagine an 130 year old lawn with THAT MUCH iron in it??? Also I must mention that upon trying this technique later in the day, I then finally realized my ground balance was way off for the entire yard. I did an initial GB where I was in error using those settings for the rest of the yard. (I SHOULD HAVE done a GB in the majority of the area I was detecting!! My huge mistake!) Also folks-That first initial pit I dug??? Wore me OUT!!! That is some hard work for sure but boy will it get you in shape fast!

Here is a closeup view of the tiny bits of ferrous. Yes-that is tiny iron... NOT dirt.

So instead of working the first grid I setup for myself, I dug a few "sample" areas and encountered the same results. I still can't believe what was found (and not found) I must also mention, that my detecting buddy picked a nice Merc in the garden that was barely an inch down. (along with wheats and a Buffalo, that came from the test bed spot earlier in the week)

OK-So what did I learn from this????
1) GB in the area I'm detecting. And update my GB if I think the ground (and EMI) is changing.
2) Pick a better spot to perform the test bed exercise. (Yes-Exercise!)
3) GO BACK and try again with what I learned and select and area that may yield better results.
4) Yes-I am going to perform the Dankowski layered technique again because it was an invaluable tool. (I just should have started the day with that!) Hopefully we will be allowed back a few more times before the home is sold. Sorry I don't have the best results to show, but honestly, I still learned a bunch and next time, I will be better prepared.
Thanks for reading!
Pete

I have had that happen to me prime place no finds something or someone changed things or hunted there before

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

And what an education it is! xxxxxx I wonder if you found a 1890's burn-barrel/burn-pit. And furthermore.........how deep do you need to dig..........to FINALLY reach a depth where no more metal objects are coming up. Why are objects/metal so deep. Interesting results.