Cellar Holes

[Luckystiff]

Hey guys I have a question about digging cellar holes..Do you notch out iron? the reason I ask is i have alot of old 1800 to early 1900 cellar holes in my Area and the 5 that i have hit are Full of old metal Junk it would take days/weeks to clean out just one cellar Hole if i Dug all the metal hits i get..

Thanks..

 

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[Swartzie]

Yep. I disc out iron. Also take it slow and easy. Some goodies could be between the iron. And don't just work near the hole. Work away from it too. Once you think you have most all the non-ferrous stuff cleaned up, then you can start cleaning out the iron. One cellar holes can keep you occupied for many months.

Good Luck!
Swartzie

 

[HutSiteDigger]

You may find this article I wrote interesting: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/general-discussion/356330-so-you-wanna-dig-cellar-hole-out.html

 

[Luckystiff]

Nice read that looks like a lot of work. Never dawned on me about all the other debris that may have been dumped in the hole over the past 100yrs.some of the cellar holes I have found around my house are twice the size of the one in your article. I would need a backhoe to get any where near the bottom. I have to say most don't seem to have a ton of dumped junk just a lot of old metal parts sticking out of the ground.

Question: I know there's no way to tell but how deep did most old cellar go.4-5ft? from the top of the rock Foundation?

 

[Elad]

You wouldn't believe what I have done at cellar holes...

Tons of back-breaking work but you will get good results.

1) cherry pick the site with your detector, using small coils around the foundation.
2) lower discrimination and dig every other non-ferrous object
3) use all metal and dig everything. Yes, even those pesky nails. Or simply proceed to step 4.
4) dig pits around the heaviest iron concentrations (usually around the foundation) and sift through the dirt. use magnets and metal detectors during this stage as well.

Happy hunting, and if you do "excavate" be respectful of the land and FILL IT ALL BACK IN.