He everyone, I've been hunting a mill site cellar hole with a homestead cellar hole nearby. A couple of days ago as I was leaving, I scanned a large wall (about 8' high, 15' long) that would have been inside the mill, with the detector. I got a good signal about a foot from the ground, I was in iron disc. mode. So I thumbed the knob a notch up and scanned again. Good reading. I did this until I was at full discrimination, and still got a clear strong signal. The detector picks it up as a medium size object (I have a fisher 1236x2, and I know it pretty well). I tried pulling a few small stones from the foundation, but it was getting dark, and I couldn't see anything, so I left. I went back yesterday armed with the tools I needed to pull some of the other stones, and a flashlight. I went through the same routine with my detector, just to make sure I wasn't crazy. Same thing, great signal. I was able to pull some larger stones, looked in with the flashlight, and saw nothing. I checked the signal again, even scanning the stones I pulled out. Then I scanned the ground right under the area, no signal. The signal is still loud and clear in the wall. I'm not sure even a large piece of iron will give me such a good signal, but maybe I'm wrong. If I take any more stones out, I'm afraid the wall will collapse. I'm thinking that it's probably too far into the wall to hide a cache anyway. But, it's bothering the heck out of me. What would produce that type of signal, that size (the detector only gives me a tone in about a 6" x 6" area). Should I keep pulling stones? The wall is about 3 - 4 feet thick, and some of the stones are huge. Would someone hide their cache inside a place where others could possible find it? I'm just reluctant to keep pulling stones, but if it is a cache… I don't want to deface this mill, it's a beautiful site. I carefully placed all of the stones back in place and left. Any suggestions on how to go about doing this without the wall collapsing? Any ideas on what else this signal could be? Any and all ideas/suggestions welcome. THANKS.
If you dont find it, It could bother you the rest of your life. but it sounds like a perfect place to cache coins. you can try to put in some rebar to reinforce the wall while you plunge around just be careful of the wall. If it were me I would take a buddy and find that signal.
how about a picture, is it possible someone dropped a coin from the top and it worked its way down between, or it is a large container on other side of the wall?
dan
If it's a cache, the original cacher probably included a means of retrieval. Search the wall for a "pathway" of acessable, removeable stones leading to the target.
I wonder if it could be historical/commemorative/dedicational material about the building, such as was sometimes placed in cornerstones.
Here are some photos I just took and a rough diagram of the layout. The photo with my hand shows exactly where I get a signal - you can see the hole where I pulled stones out. The large round stone is right above where my hand is. The photo of the wall with the stick leaning against
it shows how tall it is - the stick is 6' tall (I measured it to my height). The entrance to the mill is to the left of the wall - behind the tree. The tunnel runs about twenty five feet long under ground starting at the south wall.
I did scan the ground right below the area, and did not get a reading. Only when I scan the wall does it detect the object. I don't think it's one coin, but maybe it is. Would the reading be as clear as it is because it's not detecting through soil - with all of the air pockets in the wall, I'm guessing it's able to read deeper - any thoughts? If there is an object on the other side of the wall, it would be in the ground - the wall backs up to dirt. Think of a cellar with the inside dug down and a stone wall up against the dirt hole. This wall is the only one that large in this hole. This is a mill, so I'm not too sure how the building looked, it's hard to visualize. When I take photos, maybe I'll be able to visualize the space better. Another question, I don't know when a metal will completely discriminate out. Does any detector discriminate silver? Large iron objects? I had mine to the max and it still produced a sharp signal. Thanks.
That round stone sticks out like a sore thumb. All the other stones are flat and angular, which is much easier to build a rock wall with. The round stone also looks like it may have been set there purposely to drop if the stone below it is moved. That would be so cool if there is something good there, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Don't get hurt whatever you do, no cache is worth that.
That round stone sticks out like a sore thumb. All the other stones are flat and angular, which is much easier to build a rock wall with. The round stone also looks like it may have been set there purposely to drop if the stone below it is moved. That would be so cool if there is something good there, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Don't get hurt whatever you do, no cache is worth that.
Someguy, here is a photo of the target area circled. The hole above it and to the right is about 10" deep. There are still a lot of small rocks inside the hole that I can probably get to and pull out - I just need to be careful. The target rock is about 15" deep, so I couldn't see anything on the other side of it.
Dave45's idea of removing the stones from the top down makes sense, except some of the stones would require more than 2 people to lift - specifically the top right stone - it's about 3 to 3.5 feet wide. I don't think I would be able to do this and put it back together the same way either. I just finished building 4 stone walls on my property so I do have experience - this would be a challenge to say the least. I don't feel comfortable taking it apart either, it's almost like I would be ruining a part of history.
To me, this just doesn't feel like a place to hide a cache. Too many small stones packed inside behind the large stones. These are filler stones, definitely put in when the wall was built. The wall has settled over time, you can see one large stone top left that is broken in half, so maybe the target stone, or stones around it, did pull out at one time.
I'm thinking maybe digging down, maybe I can drop that stone down, or loosen it from the bottom up, and still be able to put it back as I found it.
Unfortunately, I'm not going to get to it for a least two weeks. The saga continues.
The small rock to the lower left of the round rock looks like it's wedged, holding the round rock in. I'd try getting some 4x4s & some 2x6s a hand saw and some wedges. shore up the hole as you go. Take a friend with just in case & as we all know let someone know where you are.
If it's a cache, I don't think the person would make it too easy to get to, maybe just barely in arms reach.
Good luck to you & let us know how you do either way!
Just an idea, have you thought about bringing a pinpointer or similar smaller detector? It may narrow down which way to go if you stick it in there. and poke around. Also, could be a "hot rock" found it's way into the wall.
theres small cameras with lights on them on ebay cheap you may be able to stick one of those in there wiggle it around and maybe see what it is. you may spend a few dollars now but your not hurt you wont have to tear down the wall unless its something there and wont worry you any more either way good luck with it and keep us posted
HI*thom: unfortunately the broken rock just above, to the left, of the top + is partially suported by it now.
The "one" rock that appears to have no supporting role (in the picture) is the square one to the immediate left of the two white "+" marked ropcks. This may actually be the intended access to the back of the round rock, which was never intended to be removed, just the square one.
2 : 1 it is a tool left behind when they were constructing the wall, but it is curious, the single round rock.
The stone walls in the fields here, are favorite hiding places.
A few jacks and 2x4 's carefully placed, can do wonders to temp support the wall's rocks allowing the removal of the round stone ---carefully.
Ok, what you need to do is get some short lengths of 1" X 4" (or whatever you have available) and wedge them in on edge to act as supports and then you can start removing some of the stones. Think of it as building a small tunnel.
Relic hunting consists of a series of misadventures interspersed by occasional moments of glory.
HIO THOM: Well done my friend. It is the only logical one to remove if this was the purpose of this area in the first place. I retract my bet on a tool being left behind the round rock.
If you are successful Richard, "do not" post a picture of it in it's entirety, but only of one small piece for us to drool over.
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Originally Posted by utah hunter
