Tim Gordon
Tenderfoot
- Nov 13, 2014
- 7
- 0
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Greetings from Mason City, Iowa! I'm seeking some input, insight, advice, suggestions, thoughts, recommendations, or whatever anyone is willing to share based on their experiences in metal detecting and treasure hunting. What I want to do isn't the same as most treasure hunters set out to accomplish, but I guess 'treasure' is relative. I'll give all the details I feel are needed for the inquisitive reader to understand what I'm up against. As far as I can tell, 'relic hunting' most closely describes what I'm up to, even if the relics would only be of historical value to myself given the circumstances.
I have wanted to get started in metal detecting from the first day I learned that metal detectors existed and that average, regular people could get their hands on such a machine. I may have been five years old at the time. Naturally, where I wanted to be doing this is the old acreage we live on. I didn't know it at the time, but the place was parceled out by Uncle Sam in January, 1856 and what we've always called 'the old house' was built in 1884 and was the farmhouse on what had been a complete, operating farm up until the late 1920's or so. I suspect but have never been able to prove that there was originally a sod or log cabin hereAfter all but ten acres were sold off, only the house stood. From the Depression until after WWII, the place had been a rental property with a lot of folks coming and going. The junk deposited out here was epic. I was endlessly fascinated (still am) with the parts of vehicles, agricultural implements, appliances, machines, and other assorted hardware that turned up half buried in the ground, or even just barely exposed. I dug up anything I found just so I could try to guess just what it was. Most of it is still around here, too! Who knows what lurks below the surface here? When I asked Dad about getting a metal detector, his reply was that one would probably 'burn out' from all the metal in the ground around here, which is mostly iron and steel. Several years later, I seem to recall his mentioning that metal detectors are all 'set up' for non ferrous metals, so we'd probably never find much of anything since all the junk, er, I mean treasure, is iron and steel relics.
Thirty years later, I certainly know better than that now.
So, lots of iron and steel artifacts in the ground. Unfortunately, with no rural trash delivery service available until quite recently, all trash was disposed of on-site. Tin cans weren't recycled, they were burnt with the trash and left to rust. This occurred in a number of different locations on the property through the years. I suspect that very near to most of the old iron and steel relics, the soil will have very high concentrations of iron oxide as a result. Can anyone tell me if this will pose a problem for one trying to use a metal detector?
This is glacier territory, and they left us ROCKS! Large and small, plain and stunningly beautiful. The variety is absolutely AMAZING. I'm no geologist, and I have no idea what these rocks are or what they contain...or if they'll trip a metal detector! The property features two soil types, sandy on one half, wet and heavy on the other. I have no idea if this will pose any difficulties. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Farm fields around here have been plowed since the latter half of the 19th century. 1880's, maybe? North Iowa was generally swampy and marshy, thus settled later than much of the rest of the state, or even Minnesota a few dozen miles to the north. Much land here was untillable until it could be tiled and drained in the 1920's or so. Soil conservation wasn't much of a thought until lately, and still isn't being practiced like it should. The topsoil in the yard here gets thicker every year as it's blown off of all the surrounding fields! Clay is maybe 16-18" down much of the time. Gaining topsoil from the neighbors and having a very significant number of deciduous trees here, I suspect things get buried much quicker than in other places. Depth of detection could be a big deal. Any thoughts from experienced detectorists here?
Historically, the only other thing of possible interest that sticks in my mind is that Mason City is smack in the middle of a southwest-to-northeast neutral zone brokered by the US Government in an 1830 treaty that kept the Sioux separated from the Sauk and Fox. I believe the Winnebago migrated back and forth in said neutral zone at different times of the year, for hunting and/or trading. I couldn't tell you when that would have ended...1870, maybe? Probably whenever the Indians left the area! Honestly, I don't recall much said or seen of Indian artifacts around Mason City. I doubt there'd be much native American history to be found around here using a metal detector.
I'm a fairly avid handloader. Most of the shooting I do is more test firing my handloads for evaluation purposes than anything else. It's also so I can get my brass and lead back for analysis and reuse! One can imagine how handy a suitable metal detector would be in locating spent brass and lead! Does anyone have any suggestions specific to this use?
I am a big fan of reclaimed lumber, and absolutely hate finding buried nails, fence staples, and other metallic objects with the edge of a blade! Would a standard metal detector be useful in preventing this, or do I need something else? My Studsensor would work just fine, but I think a regular metal detector would be quicker.
I am not a big fan of flat tires or having to repair or replace tires punctured by nails or screws. I wear spike protective jungle boots outdoors in all hot and temperate weather, so stepping on those doesn't really bother me. I'm afraid I can't say the same about young nieces and nephews, though! I am wanting to 'grid' the property, and start a reconditioning project, one grid square at a time. I'm not sure how big the squares will be, maybe a square meter, maybe a bit larger. The idea is to completely clean each square of stuff I don't want there, ranging from unwanted vegetation, to litter, to junk under the surface waiting to emerge. I feel a metal detector could be very useful for this!
Beyond this place, I'm just not sure. I've seen some 'MD' being done around Mason City through the years, but not a lot, and not lately. We have some parks here, but I'm sure digging is out, so it'd just be dropped coins an jewelry on the surface. The nearest beach is a dozen miles away but probably exhaustively hunted by now. I do know where most of the old farmsteads around me were, but most have been bulldozed and plowed under 20-40 years ago. Many are now on land owned by the cement companies here, and I really don't know what their policy is on granting access permission, though I have heard they do allow some people to hunt deer on the land in the fall and winter. Mason City was a town of about 700 by 1870, with wood and some masonry structures that were mostly gone by 1900 or so. The dirt streets of the era were paved with bricks by turn of the century, and then the bricks were paved over mid-century. We don't have any Colonial or Civil War history here, and any late 1800's artifacts lost and not yet found are likely to be under the concrete of downtown. Still... I can't rule out ever wanting to look to see just what I can come up with! Coinshooting and jewelry are a distant second consideration, though.
For a guy like me, can anyone recommend a model of metal detector I should be looking at, or name any that I should avoid as unsuitable for my intended purposes? I have an inkling that a very basic, inexpensive beginners' model would actually get me pretty far... but, I also realize that it may just frustrate me more than anything else, too! At the same time, I imagine anything much over a thousand bucks would be pretty pointless since this isn't an area with a long history of high population density. That being said, I figure that some things will be a bit on the deep side with all the erosion loss that builds up on land that isn't tilled and around the acreage in particular, the amount of FeO2 from decades of rusty tin cans and other light gauge steel junk could make things very interesting as far as ground balance goes. Anyone who can enlighten me on this area is much more than welcome to do so!
ANYTHING anyone can offer from their experience in metal detecting would very much be a blessing. I've got a feeling that I'll be needing all the help I can get, and published sources will only get one so far.
Thanks!
I have wanted to get started in metal detecting from the first day I learned that metal detectors existed and that average, regular people could get their hands on such a machine. I may have been five years old at the time. Naturally, where I wanted to be doing this is the old acreage we live on. I didn't know it at the time, but the place was parceled out by Uncle Sam in January, 1856 and what we've always called 'the old house' was built in 1884 and was the farmhouse on what had been a complete, operating farm up until the late 1920's or so. I suspect but have never been able to prove that there was originally a sod or log cabin hereAfter all but ten acres were sold off, only the house stood. From the Depression until after WWII, the place had been a rental property with a lot of folks coming and going. The junk deposited out here was epic. I was endlessly fascinated (still am) with the parts of vehicles, agricultural implements, appliances, machines, and other assorted hardware that turned up half buried in the ground, or even just barely exposed. I dug up anything I found just so I could try to guess just what it was. Most of it is still around here, too! Who knows what lurks below the surface here? When I asked Dad about getting a metal detector, his reply was that one would probably 'burn out' from all the metal in the ground around here, which is mostly iron and steel. Several years later, I seem to recall his mentioning that metal detectors are all 'set up' for non ferrous metals, so we'd probably never find much of anything since all the junk, er, I mean treasure, is iron and steel relics.
Thirty years later, I certainly know better than that now.
So, lots of iron and steel artifacts in the ground. Unfortunately, with no rural trash delivery service available until quite recently, all trash was disposed of on-site. Tin cans weren't recycled, they were burnt with the trash and left to rust. This occurred in a number of different locations on the property through the years. I suspect that very near to most of the old iron and steel relics, the soil will have very high concentrations of iron oxide as a result. Can anyone tell me if this will pose a problem for one trying to use a metal detector?
This is glacier territory, and they left us ROCKS! Large and small, plain and stunningly beautiful. The variety is absolutely AMAZING. I'm no geologist, and I have no idea what these rocks are or what they contain...or if they'll trip a metal detector! The property features two soil types, sandy on one half, wet and heavy on the other. I have no idea if this will pose any difficulties. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Farm fields around here have been plowed since the latter half of the 19th century. 1880's, maybe? North Iowa was generally swampy and marshy, thus settled later than much of the rest of the state, or even Minnesota a few dozen miles to the north. Much land here was untillable until it could be tiled and drained in the 1920's or so. Soil conservation wasn't much of a thought until lately, and still isn't being practiced like it should. The topsoil in the yard here gets thicker every year as it's blown off of all the surrounding fields! Clay is maybe 16-18" down much of the time. Gaining topsoil from the neighbors and having a very significant number of deciduous trees here, I suspect things get buried much quicker than in other places. Depth of detection could be a big deal. Any thoughts from experienced detectorists here?
Historically, the only other thing of possible interest that sticks in my mind is that Mason City is smack in the middle of a southwest-to-northeast neutral zone brokered by the US Government in an 1830 treaty that kept the Sioux separated from the Sauk and Fox. I believe the Winnebago migrated back and forth in said neutral zone at different times of the year, for hunting and/or trading. I couldn't tell you when that would have ended...1870, maybe? Probably whenever the Indians left the area! Honestly, I don't recall much said or seen of Indian artifacts around Mason City. I doubt there'd be much native American history to be found around here using a metal detector.
I'm a fairly avid handloader. Most of the shooting I do is more test firing my handloads for evaluation purposes than anything else. It's also so I can get my brass and lead back for analysis and reuse! One can imagine how handy a suitable metal detector would be in locating spent brass and lead! Does anyone have any suggestions specific to this use?
I am a big fan of reclaimed lumber, and absolutely hate finding buried nails, fence staples, and other metallic objects with the edge of a blade! Would a standard metal detector be useful in preventing this, or do I need something else? My Studsensor would work just fine, but I think a regular metal detector would be quicker.
I am not a big fan of flat tires or having to repair or replace tires punctured by nails or screws. I wear spike protective jungle boots outdoors in all hot and temperate weather, so stepping on those doesn't really bother me. I'm afraid I can't say the same about young nieces and nephews, though! I am wanting to 'grid' the property, and start a reconditioning project, one grid square at a time. I'm not sure how big the squares will be, maybe a square meter, maybe a bit larger. The idea is to completely clean each square of stuff I don't want there, ranging from unwanted vegetation, to litter, to junk under the surface waiting to emerge. I feel a metal detector could be very useful for this!
Beyond this place, I'm just not sure. I've seen some 'MD' being done around Mason City through the years, but not a lot, and not lately. We have some parks here, but I'm sure digging is out, so it'd just be dropped coins an jewelry on the surface. The nearest beach is a dozen miles away but probably exhaustively hunted by now. I do know where most of the old farmsteads around me were, but most have been bulldozed and plowed under 20-40 years ago. Many are now on land owned by the cement companies here, and I really don't know what their policy is on granting access permission, though I have heard they do allow some people to hunt deer on the land in the fall and winter. Mason City was a town of about 700 by 1870, with wood and some masonry structures that were mostly gone by 1900 or so. The dirt streets of the era were paved with bricks by turn of the century, and then the bricks were paved over mid-century. We don't have any Colonial or Civil War history here, and any late 1800's artifacts lost and not yet found are likely to be under the concrete of downtown. Still... I can't rule out ever wanting to look to see just what I can come up with! Coinshooting and jewelry are a distant second consideration, though.
For a guy like me, can anyone recommend a model of metal detector I should be looking at, or name any that I should avoid as unsuitable for my intended purposes? I have an inkling that a very basic, inexpensive beginners' model would actually get me pretty far... but, I also realize that it may just frustrate me more than anything else, too! At the same time, I imagine anything much over a thousand bucks would be pretty pointless since this isn't an area with a long history of high population density. That being said, I figure that some things will be a bit on the deep side with all the erosion loss that builds up on land that isn't tilled and around the acreage in particular, the amount of FeO2 from decades of rusty tin cans and other light gauge steel junk could make things very interesting as far as ground balance goes. Anyone who can enlighten me on this area is much more than welcome to do so!
ANYTHING anyone can offer from their experience in metal detecting would very much be a blessing. I've got a feeling that I'll be needing all the help I can get, and published sources will only get one so far.
Thanks!
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