tools of the trade

[Rumblebelly]

hello all,

I'm wanting to go bottle hunting this year. I found an old bottle dump and found a few prohibition era beer bottles and other types laying on top of the ground. I want to go back once the ground thaws and do some digging.

What items do I need and how or what should I look for?

I have a 3" wide shovel, various other shovels, spades, forks, rods, etc. I am going to make some sifters with various size mesh to sift some of the sediments.

the area is loaded with broken glass and clay. The soil is too full of iron sediment to detect in. A creek runs through it as well. Should I look in the bed of that as well or mounds.

Any help is appreciated and if anyone would like to join me ... that would be good too.

Thanx,
Rumblebelly

[creeper71]

hello all,

I'm wanting to go bottle hunting this year. I found an old bottle dump and found a few prohibition era beer bottles and other types laying on top of the ground. I want to go back once the ground thaws and do some digging.

What items do I need and how or what should I look for?

I have a 3" wide shovel, various other shovels, spades, forks, rods, etc. I am going to make some sifters with various size mesh to sift some of the sediments.

the area is loaded with broken glass and clay. The soil is too full of iron sediment to detect in. A creek runs through it as well. Should I look in the bed of that as well or mounds.

Any help is appreciated and if anyone would like to join me ... that would be good too.

Thanx,
Rumblebelly

first thing we need to know is the dump on a flat surface or a hillside??

[jgas]

Hey Rumble.....DYNOMITE! Just kidding, like Creeper asked, Hill or not?? Privy digging is a bit of a different ballgame than regular dump digging. But the tools are much the same. Shovels and muscles! jgas

[Rumblebelly]

somewhat hilly (small hills) all round terrain. It is in the middle of a forest preserve. The glass area exposed from my recollection is about 3-5 footballs fields in size. The area is well picked, but still so much stuff. I remember seeing lots of clay gallon size jugs with no bottoms. I sold some duplicates to a friend.

Thank you again,
Rumblebelly

[jgas]

That sounds like a huge area. Did they make the park over a landfill?? Sounds like it may be a hit and miss mission. Find a spot with a lot of glass and probe around with a 3 foot or a 6 foot spring steel probe. Feel for the glass and trash and then just start shoveling away the overburden. You never know, you might strike the mother lode of glass. jgas

[creeper71]

That sounds like a huge area. Did they make the park over a landfill?? Sounds like it may be a hit and miss mission. Find a spot with a lot of glass and probe around with a 3 foot or a 6 foot spring steel probe. Feel for the glass and trash and then just start shoveling away the overburden. You never know, you might strike the mother lode of glass. jgas

I nev er probe, I just start digging... as for it being picked over I douibt that maybe the first few iches to a foot... not to many people know how to dig a dump clean... I am willing to bet you find some real nice stuff