Two short hunts in the farm trench

[VaNana]

Not much more that is easy to reach. These were all under tree roots.
I know that the lock is not glass but it was fond in the middle of all the glass. The large pice of green glass looked cool. How old do you think that is. It must have seen huge and hard to make.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[NJKLAGT]

Great finds! You're so lucky to have such a great hunting spot, thank you for showing us your discoveries.

The big green piece of glass looks like it's from the base of a pontiled demijohn, maybe 1850s-60s?

 

[smokeythecat]

Great finds. I love bottles, but haven't found many ever. We have a trash pit located on the farm we dig on. The trash fills in an old roadbed about 80' long by 8' wide. Machine won't ground balance anywhere near it. I assume it's full of copperhead snakes right now. That's a January dig. Lots of big metal sticking out of the ground. Not sure I'll ever dig it, could get hurt easily down there.

 

[epackage]

There's probably a privy right under or right next to the tree, the roots love that old outhouse "soil" and trees grow great over top of or very near old privies.

 

[sprailroad]

Can't tell about the glass, but the lock is pretty cool. The lock looks pretty toasted, so nothing to lose, try soaking it in apple cider vinegar say for a week, the vinegar works really well in eating away the heavy rust, then alittle wire brushing and soaking again if need be, it might turn out looking OK. Also if it looks like something you might want to keep, then also soak it in a water /baking soda mix, the baking soda will or should draw out the acid from the vinegar.

 

[Dug]

The only thing I would add to sprailroad's helpful tip about lock preservation is to bake the lock when done. Baking relics on a hotplate in the garage seems to halt any hidden cancer on items I have done.

Here is a lock I recently did.

 

[NJKLAGT]

So much anticipation! If these privies get found, it will be absolutely bonkers.

Try digging deeper in that shallow depression you described in your earlier thread. Go until the coal/ash debris stops. If you keep finding material that isn't the natural soil, then that's progress in anyone's books. So, it might be some tough and dirty digging, but there could be all sorts of little treasures thrown in with that mix of debris.

It could very well be a trash and ash pit (which is still good), but depending on what the dimensions are it could also be a privy. My first privy had about a foot and a half of burnt wood and ash debris on top, so don't get discouraged! Get dirty and dig it, and have your metal detector handy.

 

[VaNana]

Great finds! You're so lucky to have such a great hunting spot, thank you for showing us your discoveries.

The big green piece of glass looks like it's from the base of a pontiled demijohn, maybe 1850s-60s?

So much anticipation! If these privies get found, it will be absolutely bonkers.

Try digging deeper in that shallow depression you described in your earlier thread. Go until the coal/ash debris stops. If you keep finding material that isn't the natural soil, then that's progress in anyone's books. So, it might be some tough and dirty digging, but there could be all sorts of little treasures thrown in with that mix of debris.

It could very well be a trash and ash pit (which is still good), but depending on what the dimensions are it could also be a privy. My first privy had about a foot and a half of burnt wood and ash debris on top, so don't get discouraged! Get dirty and dig it, and have your metal detector handy.

Thank you for all that great information! I would love to see what I can find. I think I will wait to dig the yard up until after my son's wedding in late June. We will have a lot of family coming in and the rehearsal dinner will be here on the farm.

 

[VaNana]

Great finds. I love bottles, but haven't found many ever. We have a trash pit located on the farm we dig on. The trash fills in an old roadbed about 80' long by 8' wide. Machine won't ground balance anywhere near it. I assume it's full of copperhead snakes right now. That's a January dig. Lots of big metal sticking out of the ground. Not sure I'll ever dig it, could get hurt easily down there.

I do think about snakes when I am out in the woods I just hope that they hear me and go the other way. I would be tempted to dig through that trash pit though being that big where would you start? How old goes it look? Did they put all the old farm machinery in there?

 

[VaNana]

There's probably a privy right under or right next to the tree, the roots love that old outhouse "soil" and trees grow great over top of or very near old privies.

'This is the path from the back door that I think led to the one privy. The stones end half way up the hill but the privy was probably up by the trees and Payton our dog. The low spot (kind of hard to tell in the picture) that may have been the privy for the foundation in the front yard. That tree was planted about 1986 but I think it was replacing an older one. Where I am digging now is in the woods.

 

[VaNana]

Can't tell about the glass, bot the lock is pretty cool. The lock looks pretty toasted, so nothing to lose, try soaking it in apple cider vinegar say for a week, the vinegar works really well in eating away the heavy rust, then alittle wire brushing and soaking again if need be, it might turn out looking OK. Also if it looks like something you might want to keep, then also soak it in a water /baking soda mix, the baking soda will or should draw out the acid from the vinegar.

I have it soaking in 'Evapo-Rust' right now along with another that I fond in the front yard awhile ago but never finished enough to keep from re rusting. I probably should have used the apple cider vinegar first. I have not used the baking soda mix before. That is really good to know.

 

[VaNana]

The only thing I would add to sprailroad's helpful tip about lock preservation is to bake the lock when done. Baking relics on a hotplate in the garage seems to halt any hidden cancer on items I have done.

Here is a lock I recently did.

View attachment 1447991

View attachment 1447993

Dug that looks great! I need to bake them. Did you put any thing on it like wax or any sealer? I have a hard time making myself finish the project. Need to be held accountable.

 

[Dug]

I opted to soak my lock in Evapo-Rust also as I was concerned what my normal soaking solution of white vinegar might do to the brass plate. (Since the lock I have done a 1918 brass nose fuse and the vinegar didn't hurt it other than bring out a shine.) I did dremel off all the rust blisters on the lock with diamond bits before the soaking.

I heated the lock back up a second time just to get it hot enough to melt the micro crystalline wax on and towel dry it quickly.

I'm told these locks were typically smokehouse locks.

Bear in mind during your yard explorations that there is likely more than one privy hole since they eventually filled up and another was dug; and they were typically close to one another.

 

[Harry Pristis]

The rule of thumb I've heard is that the privy was located 12 to 15 paces from the back door (adjust for a cookhouse, if one was attached) . . . This is not too close to offend the nose in hot weather and not too far during inclement weather.

 

[RelicDude]

You have some great age there.

 

[sprailroad]

VaNana, DUG'S Post #6, very good point I had forgotten, I did "Bake" a couple of Iron items at 200 for a short while in order to be sure it's dried out inside, Thank you Dug, by the way your lock looks great, and the tip about baking soda/water soak, is something I learned only recently on T/Net Forum myself, just passing it on to you, again my understanding that the baking soda should draw out the acid, so as not to rot from the inside out, THEN bake it, of course icing is optional.