Do you dig/rescue targets from frozen ground?

[TheRockDoc]

Hello all in Tnet world. I have been using my etrac as much as possible lately with awesome results (IMO), and last week I found my 2nd silver with it, a rosie. It was found in a city park and I feel confident that there is more silver there, I have pegged several deep targets that sound great, but the ground is soooo frozen that Without a ton of work and time it is not possible to retrieve them. I was just going to wait until it thawed, but then I got to thinking that maybe someone on this site has some techniques for rescuing some underground treasure while the top 4-6 inches of earth is froze solid....

Any and all thoughts are welcome, just seeing if there is something I havent thought of yet.

Thanks as usual, happy hunting.

 

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[Sandman]

When I first started to coin hunt, I got bit bad and went detecting on frozen ground. I would take a claw hammer and a screw driver to chip the dirt to get near the coin but this was before depth meters or even screens. I bent a few coins and luckily none were key dates or even old. But this was back when you could hunt all year and never see another hunter. I wore safety glasses to keep frozen dirt out of the eyes. It was one way to enjoy the season till the ice got thick enough for ice fishing.

 

[gleaner1]

Its murder to get thru a half inch of freeze, but I just did Christmas day at a house built 1804. Pulled four silver dimes and a mangled sterling bracelet and a few wheats. Anything over 1" of freeze, I dont bother. Too tough.

 

[Bum Luck]

I dig in frozen ground 4 months out of the year for a living, digging up property irons.

Despite racking my brain, I've not come up with any breakthroughs.

I got a custom made car spring chisel bar, an Estwing Geopick, and a gas-operated spline drive hammer drill. All great tools. But:

The problem is that frozen ground acts like frozen putty. It's not really hard (the hammer drill speeds through rock & concrete) but 'grabs' the tools.

It's tough enough to dig pop tabs and can slaw in the summer, but why you'd make that job 100 times harder and think it pays off to dig frozen ground is beyond me.

I research in the winter. Where it's warm.

 

[rocksolid]

As long as you aren't in need of a clean cut on sod somewhere, a camp axe will get you where you want to go, quickly. (Down to a couple of inches.) Sharpen it good. Be careful. Wear a heavy set of leather gloves and eye protection. Once below the frost line, you can dig as you would otherwise.

 

[TheRockDoc]

Thanks for the replys, it sounds like it is just what I thought, old fashioned elbow grease and a will to win "today"..... I guess I'll wait until a warm few days here in the valley and go back then.

 

[goldentruth]

I was at Lowes Hrdwre store, and I found a cool steel Mini-Mattock (Size of a hammer) with a orange rubber grip handle. One end is flat and a semi-point is on the other. It is heavy duty, I took my hand held Milwakee side grinder with a cut-off fibre blade and cut into a sharp point. Christmas afternoon the ground had a slight perma-frost and I used this tool and hammered it into the ground, it cuts great and I pick it down around the fist sized rocks. Works for me, it may work for you too. When I hit a larger rock or many small stones that make it like hard cement, I use my full size mattock with long wooden handle. I carry my long wooden handle magnet and it sticks to my matock so I can put both over my shoulder with the other hand free for my MD. I use a swivel hammer holder hanging from my belt for my Hand held matock. Easy as pie. Once you get started in the sun, it's not that bad. Later in the day, I hit the hard areas in the shadows which still have some light snow. Good luck. D. from California

 

[ivan salis]

hand held propane torch to warm the ground

 

[Hosensack]

Ivan is actually on to something, a plumbers torch and heating up the blade of a digging tool might work. Time consuming I'm sure, but now I have to try.

 

[goldentruth]

Hello again, How about using a ice pic? I got to try that myself. Good luck.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Hacking and chopping through frozen soil just isn't worth it. You can't dig clean holes, it's far too easy to ruin a coin, it takes 10 times as much effort than during thawed conditions. Non of those things say "lets go detecting".

When the ground is frozen, use that time to do research.

 

[TheRockDoc]

Hacking and chopping through frozen soil just isn't worth it. You can't dig clean holes, it's far too easy to ruin a coin, it takes 10 times as much effort than during thawed conditions. Non of those things say "lets go detecting".

When the ground is frozen, use that time to do research.

I really like this advice, and further more, I am finding that even with it being winter, (and cold lately) it is still possible to find spots to hunt that are not to difficult at all. Like, any area that faces south and isn't shaded at all during the day-for instance... So there are still places to hunt without having to deal with 4+inches of freeze.
My problem Jason in Enid, is that I got my etrac in september, so not only am I just barely learning how to even recover a target whether the ground is froze or not... My problem with research is that I really do not know where to begin as far as that goes... I have been given alot of decent advice, like "go to the library and find old historical maps, and other early docs"... that makes sense, but I just dont really know what Im looking for, or what to do when I find it for example. I am in salt lake city utah, and if I knew how to do research I would do enough of it to find some lost mormon gold. I just need to know where and how to start and then just as importantly-finish... I would have a whole lifetime of spots by spring if I had half an idea how to do the research.... Any suggestions/feedback/guidance

Thanks in advance, Chris.

 

[limegoldconvertible68]

Certain sites there should be no problem digging coins in frozen soil. Its a pain in the neck but it allows detecting when you otherwise couldn't. However, you mention that you will be in a city park. Sometime in frozen soil you really leave a mess. If you do too much damage to the soil you might leave unsightly scars in the lawn. That might attract unwanted attention to your detecting. If you get MD'ing banned from your parks, you end up a looser in the long run.

 

[SeaninNH]

When the ground is frozen I either hunt in the woods or the salt beaches.

The worst part is that the beaches in New England in the winter can be a bit on the cold side. Just dress warmer than you think you have to.

 

[pumice]

Frozen ground.......I've dug, and then I've not dug it. depends on the type of ground. I have several different types by me.
Assuming we're talking frozen at the least 2-3 inches in depth.....
Frozen sod, don't even bother.
Sand, that's do-able, breaking out the top surface to get underneath.....
pumice, that breaks apart even better than sand, bigger granules.......
plain 'ol dirt..usually let it go intil it thaws out.......

HH

 

[Bum Luck]

hand held propane torch to warm the ground

Ivaaaaaannnnn...................

 

[Bum Luck]

Hello again, How about using a ice pic? I got to try that myself. Good luck.

Let us know how that works........

 

[rocksolid]

I don't have experience in this, but maybe along and in shallow streams. From what I see, the majority of coils are waterproof. A spade, rubber gloves and a strainer might get you some nice finds.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

do not even think of digging public frozen grass--as someone above mentioned it will do damage......however if you have a private spot -have at it.... i did hunt once in ground that was rather solid...i used a big claw hammer as a digging tool....you will be amazed at how much of that dirt you eat with every swing of the hammer...i dont intend to do it again..i did manage a nice 1 reale that day,it has a scratch right down the middle of the face from chopping the frozen block of soil in half till icould find the target....

 

[ivan salis]

move to a warmer climate say --florida? where you can dig year around. (just not in "my" spots.)