When do you STOP digging????

[Emkate79]

OK...so since I came here to post about my missing rings...you guys have inspired me. I've actually always wanted to get a metal detector...but always talked myself out of it. So...I got one. Not anything great...just your basic bounty hunter. K...so my house was built in 1900...the first one on this block. Traced my land back to the Amsden's purchase in the mid 1800's. I live in Fremont, OH...so Indian land is all around...also Fort Stephenson is here. SO...I was digging in my backyard today...and found TONS OF METAL!!! Nothing worth anything...two pennies that were from the 60's...an old belt buckle...tons of nails...and huge metal wedge thingie? (I'm assuming that's what my detector hit on)...a small metal box...some small glass bottles...what looks like a measuring cup...but there's no measurment on it. Anyway...just lots of STUFF!!! I could have kept digging FOREVER!!! I guess that's my question. When do you stop There is now a HUGE hole in my backyard (not far out either...I've got a LOT of yard to explore). So do I just leave the rest and call it good? Do I keep digging and maybe eventually put in a pool where I've dug out my yard? HELP!!!

Thanks in advance!!!

 

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[birdman]

I had a house in North Dakota built in 1920 which turned up over 100 keepers. Tons of wheats silver dimes buffalo nickles, old toys ect. .I did not worry about the grass since it was my house but the wife was not too happy that our yard looked like a war zone. Its your home so take your time and keep digging .Just try to be careful with the plugs so not to kill all the grass. No telling what is waiting for you!

 

[bigscoop]

It's a learning process:
A) Fill your holes back in.
B) Learn your machine, i.e., which tones are what type of metal?
C) Determine what type of targets/tones are personally worth your time to dig?

There may be someone in this forum that is close enough to your location to meet up with you to help you along? Or, there may be a club in your area that you can contact?

 

[ivan salis]

when do you stop digging? never --you just take breaks between digs -- rememeber to fill your hole back in and to cut flap / horse shoe shaped type cuts in the grass and carry out any trash you dig up

 

[lennon631]

Also, don't be too quick to THINK you have junk metal, examine it all very carefully, you may have relics in your hand and not know it! Start with warm water to get your excess dirt off, and if you think you may have something but don't know what it is, there is a section called "what is it" and filled with very knowledgeable people...
Oh! And welcome to the addiction! Paul

 

[coin finder]

Hi, I Stop digging when I Hit Water !

 

[Frankn]

You never really stop digging in your back yard! It is your backup place when another site doesn't pan out. It is your practice site to learn your detector. As you dump the trash, it gets easier! Keep the items you find and mount them on a history board for your house.

​

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Emkate, I'm assuming that these "tons" of targets, are all conductive targets, right? In other words, you're not digging iron, and all these targets are therefore conductive, right? If so, then it sounds like you simply have a very ratty back yard. Perhaps previous owners had burn-barrels in their backyard, and scattered the resulting ashes. Or simply ....... in yester-year, before the advent of curb-side garbage pickup, a lot of folk simply pitched out their kitchen trash to let the chickens and hens peck on it in the backyard (particularly in more rural settings).

Have you tried your front yard? Those are typically less junky, as people would tend to keep their front yards more cleaner and upkept, than the rear yard, which could be work zones, etc...

If it is still non-stop signals 360* around your house, then you simply have trashy yards. Might wanna try other hunt spots. Like, more upscale parks, school yards, etc...

 

[Monty]

Stick your ear down to the hole and if you hear sing song sounding Chinese language, you have gone too far. Monty

 

[Emkate79]

Thanks for the advice!!! I don't feel so crazy now!!! I closed up the hole from yesterday...and found another spot by the giant tree that's out back. There are two things from the hole last night that I'm curious about...and I'll post pictures in the "what's this" forum later...although the one thing is that huge wedge. It's metal...and it's about the size of a brick...only in the shape of a wedge. Would that have been to split wood maybe I can't imagine it would be an axe head...it's just SO heavy!!! It's supposed to be a hot one today...so I'm not sure how far I'll get with this next spot...but this is fun! I don't mind digging up garbage...especially when it's someone's garbage from the late 1800 to early 1900's!!! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't just being a psycho by continuing to dig when there's stuff down there!!!

Thanks again for not finding me creepy and annoying (or if you do...not saying anything). This is just really fun and exciting to me. The kids are really getting into it too (I have a 14 yr old and a 3 1/2 yr old). It's also something to keep me busy while my husband is deployed on a submarine with little contact! Not sure how he's going to feel when he finds out I've been digging tons of holes in the backyard...but I'm sure there's much worse things that could be done!

Em

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Em, I see now (didn't see it earlier) that your initial post describes ..... "tons of nails". If that's the case, you're not using your machine's discrimination ability. Iron is very easy to nix out. You gotta re-read the instructions or whatever.

 

[Emkate79]

Em, I see now (didn't see it earlier) that your initial post describes ..... "tons of nails". If that's the case, you're not using your machine's discrimination ability. Iron is very easy to nix out. You gotta re-read the instructions or whatever.

Cool...thanks!!! I will be honest...I didn't read the "destructions" at all. I am my Father's child!!! He always left those as a last resort. A stubborness I've adopted I suppose! I will take a shot at the instructions and see what I can do!!! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[extractor]

I don't stop diggen till I hit bed rock! Glad to see you joined the madness , hobby

 

[Deepdiger60]

My house out here is considered young 122 years old compared to most house,s here 10 years ago i moved here my yard and back property is large just over 1 year ago i started to MD it i still keep finding coins and relics in the back field it seems to never be hunted out and most finds are deep like the 16th century bronze buckle ,keep hitting that place of yours like others said keep it neat Dd60

 

[bigscoop]

Ah.....children. In that case, let them explore to no end.

 

[mlayers]

I stop digging when the ground gets dry and hard. Plus welcome to Tnet hope you like this site. I am in Williams County if you get over this way give me a shout and we can hunt together and maybe I can help you out.....Matt

 

[njnydigger]

Sounds like a lot of fun to be had in the future. First, due to the amount of "garbage" you mentioned finding, I would assume your property has never been searched before - or at least not in a LONG TIME. That is EXCELLENT!!! Why? You basically have what us detectorist's call a "virgin" site. Lotta potential. However...

Since it's never been searched before, the top-layer of the ground normally collects all of the "waste" from over the years. Nails, metals, broken toys, etc. In order to find the REALLY "good" stuff, this top-layer needs to be excavated first. Sounds like you are doing a fine job on that already. There will probably be a number of "keepers" mixed in with the top-layer as well. However, again, the deeper you go, the older and more valuable (monetarily and sentimentally) the finds tend to be (generally speaking). So...

Don't look at detecting your yard as a race. Heck, it's up to you if you want to proceed any further or not. If it were me though, I'd say you have a golden opportunity to dig up relics regarding your area's past. If indeed you DO want to venture forward, take your time. Maybe make it a weekend thing or something to do with the family. Between what you'll learn about your machine and the great finds potential, you'll come out the other end WAY ahead of the game.

 

[gods country girl]

I use my own yard to detect when i do not have time or gas to get to my usual spots.my house was built in 1833 and the property goes back quite a few years earlier.it sat empty 40+ years before i bought it.my kids and i spend lots of weekends detecting , we are still working on getting rid of the top layer of junky stuff.i cannot believe how deep matchbox cars can go in a short amount of time haven't found anything amazing yet, but am still searching.There is a lost treasure tale that goes with my property so i hope!! to find that someday.still having fun in the meantime.
Good Luck you never know what you'll find.

 

[wwace]

I would stop with just a small excavator personally, you can dig really fast and hard ground isn't a problem ,anyways sounds like you have alot of fun ahead of you. Set up the disc to get rid of iron and scan the yard for all the conductive tones then clean up trash to get the remains. good luck and welcome

 

[SushiDog]

It sounds like you found the original trash pit from the original owners....I wish you well....SushiDog