How deep is the average farm cache??

[Ism]

Ok,

I currently have permission to hunt an old farm property still intact and occupied. I know the usual places to hunt...foundations, tree's, chicken coop...etc. My question since I have never found an intact cache nor had much experience hunting them, is how deep is the average farm cache?

Thanks,
Randy

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HI: just as deep as the possessor of the valuables decides is deep enough depending upon terrain, conditions, tools, and the time element. It is too variable to give a simple answer.

In the case of an outlaw, how much time would he have to dig, tools to dig with and freedom from other eyes. What type of ground is he working in , etc. ?

In the case of the homeowner, only as deep as he considers safe. Remember, he has to remove some of the contents from time to time, it is a form of a bank.

Generally speaking, prob most are less than 1 meter deep to the top of the buried metal.

Some that I have found were only deep enough to cover the top of the metal - 1".

Always use common sense with any stories that you may hear. I have lost track of the ones that have told me of a deep treasure when the top soil was only in inches, I have even been told once that it was buried in surface rock?

Ask away my friend


Don Jose de La Mancha

[Ism]

Thanks for the reply. Actually I have often wondered if the cache's would be shallow in lieu of banking.

HI: just as deep as the possessor of the valuables decides is deep enough depending upon terrain, conditions, tools, and the time element. It is too variable to give a simple answer.

In the case of an outlaw, how much time would he have to dig, tools to dig with and freedom from other eyes. What type of ground is he working in , etc. ?

In the case of the homeowner, only as deep as he considers safe. Remember, he has to remove some of the contents from time to time, it is a form of a bank.

Generally speaking, prob most are less than 1 meter deep to the top of the buried metal.

Some that I have found were only deep enough to cover the top of the metal - 1".

Always use common sense with any stories that you may hear. I have lost track of the ones that have told me of a deep treasure when the top soil was only in inches, I have even been told once that it was buried in surface rock?

Ask away my friend


Don Jose de La Mancha

[Shiloh1]

Another thought would depend on how long the cache has been buried. Over time gold, being a heavy metal, has a habit of finding a way to settle the ground it is sitting on. If the cache is less than 100 years it wouldn't have settled as much as a 1000 years. It would also depend on the type of soil. The more the sand the deeper it will go. The more rock in the soil the less it will settle.
Guess your guess is as good as mine.

[CWnut]

Think on it some. How deep would you bury a jar of money if you had to retrieve it occasionally. I use a jar because old mason fruit jars were common around old homesteads but a cache could be in any kind of container. Imagine yourself living on the farm 100 or so years ago. You were gone most of the days into the fields so you had to hide your money to keep it from thieves, family and fire. Get creative in your thinking and you will come up with dozens of possible locations.

But to answer you question, most farm caches that were buried were within arms reach. usually the bigger the cache the deeper it is buried. Smaller sums of money for everyday expenses were usually placed out of sight such as a closet shelf, behind a loose board or within a wall. Keep in mind that the owner of the cache would want complete secrecy whenever they would retrieve their money.

[GrayCloud]

Old CW knows his stuff.

[Ism]

Thanks All for your input,

The ground is peppered with debris, large and small. The task will be difficult hence the depth question. As CW pointed out, I have been trying to put myself in the place of the landowner. There are no rumors of a cache on the property I just want to give it a reasonable search.

[spartacus53]

Think on it some. How deep would you bury a jar of money if you had to retrieve it occasionally. I use a jar because old mason fruit jars were common around old homesteads but a cache could be in any kind of container. Imagine yourself living on the farm 100 or so years ago. You were gone most of the days into the fields so you had to hide your money to keep it from thieves, family and fire. Get creative in your thinking and you will come up with dozens of possible locations.

But to answer you question, most farm caches that were buried were within arms reach. usually the bigger the cache the deeper it is buried. Smaller sums of money for everyday expenses were usually placed out of sight such as a closet shelf, behind a loose board or within a wall. Keep in mind that the owner of the cache would want complete secrecy whenever they would retrieve their money.

I would have to go along with CW here, also keep an eye out for any unusual land markers such as a rock outcrop, anything out of the norm that would catch your eye. Think outside the box and look at the land and put yourself in that persons shoes and go where you may think is a good and recognizable spot.

[wheelerite]

Also You would want to know the location of the original house and which way it faced. The old timers would have a favorite place to sit and also be able to see the location of their money. a lot of times they would bury their caches under a fence post. Just something to think about when your looking for good locations for caches.
ksmith

[idigdirt]

From your fingertips to your elbow. Now go find one kid....

[Ism]

From your fingertips to your elbow. Now go find one kid....

That's pretty much what I figured myself but have no experience in finding an intact cache. I also perused the board better and found the same question with a wealth of answers. Sorry to repeat the question, I don't have the search function available to me and I missed the thread.

I suspect that these trashy farms must be cleaned up before any of the deeper than surface caches can be found. Even focusing on the prime areas it would take a few weeks of hard work to cleanup the surface trash. In addition, I don't think the homeowner would appreciate what their sod looks like afterward unless a cache was found.

Besides dig-dig-dig, are there any techniques you experts have developed to reduce the time cleaning these sites up?

[Timberwolf]

Not that I have found any, but those that have have told me that most caches are 2' and less deep.
I hope you find what you are looking for.

Timberwolf

[Connecticut Danny]

I agree with #11. The farmer dig up the money to pay the bills.

[Siegfried Schlagrule]

To my knowledge most ground caches in farm country lie between the fingertips and the elbow on your arm. The minimum depth in farm country was below the depth of a plow working the ground. They start out about 18 inches deep and can go deeper due to ground cover, leaves, etc. That would be in the US. Most guides to caches in Mexico show them to be between waist deep and shoulder deep. I'm sure each country has their own average depth and I'm also sure that immigrants to the US did what they were used to and didn't immediately do what their neighbors were doing. good luck, siegfried schlagrule

[Connecticut Danny]

#13 have great information.