Got permission to hunt two dream sites this weekend and.....

ringding

Hero Member
May 5, 2006
679
15
Detector(s) used
Pioneer 505
One site was an old playground at an old church. It had the old swings and slide and a bicycle merry go round type ride. For the other site I got permission to hunt a college immediately after the graduation ceremony. The only stipulation for the college was no digging. I was so excited and the only stuff I found was a quarter and 6 pennies and a bunch of trash (at the playground).
 

Upvote 0

Boobydoo

Gold Member
Apr 24, 2006
6,338
28
Michigan
That's a bad stipulation for a treasure hunter with a detector... "no digging".
Best of luck to you at the church. There's got to be a lot there if you search around.

Smiles!
BDoo
 

EDDE

Gold Member
Dec 7, 2004
7,129
65
Detector(s) used
Troy X5
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
probe and pop thats not digging.... ;D
 

Born2Dtect

Bronze Member
Jun 11, 2004
1,683
68
Hurlock, Maryland
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Excalibur II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Read an article in a magazine that addressed the no digging thing. This guy used a probe to locate objects. If the were deeper than a finger he would use a pair of locking forceps, 9 inches long with a fairly big jaws, big enough to get a quarter in. He used this for years without complaints or problems. I tried them and was ables to get a couple of coins out at 3-4 ". I have not been confronted in 3 hours of detecting but you never know.

Ed Donovan
 

B

beachgirl

Guest
Those forceps sound like a great idea. I assume it does not leave a very noticeable mark.
 

S

stefen

Guest
DAMN...NOW YOU HAVE TO CANCEL THE BACKHOE.

MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER USING A PLUG CUTTER WHICH IS BASICALLY A PLANTING TOOL AND CUTS A ROUND HOLE ABOUT 2 INCH DIAMETER X 8 INCHES (OR SO) IN DEPTH.

THIS WAY A HOLE IS DUG AND THE PLUG CAN BE IMMEDIATELY REPLACED WITH NO OBVIOUS DAMAGE.
 

OP
OP
R

ringding

Hero Member
May 5, 2006
679
15
Detector(s) used
Pioneer 505
There was a possibility of finding stuff on the surface at the college, you know, cufflinks, bracelets, earrings, but I didn't find anything. The metal detector gave good signals but it was below the turf. The person that told me not to dig was a campus policeman. They have the power to arrest. At the church I could dig and I dug every signal but all I found was trash and a couple of modern pennies. Maybe someone else with a metal detector beat me to it. Oh well.
 

rasrandy

Sr. Member
Mar 3, 2005
409
0
Long Island NY
Detector(s) used
Whites XLT
I did an old church and was told its been MDed by many people.
I left w/3 IHs and some wheats. So try again now that some
of the trash is out of the way too.HHs
 

Born2Dtect

Bronze Member
Jun 11, 2004
1,683
68
Hurlock, Maryland
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Excalibur II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The article is in the 2006 Annual for Treasure Finds. Got mine from Lost reasure.com.

Ed
 

EDDE

Gold Member
Dec 7, 2004
7,129
65
Detector(s) used
Troy X5
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
to keep the foreceps from marking /scrathing coins heat the jaws up and put some lead solder in the "gripper grooves"
 

Dave N Japan

Bronze Member
Mar 31, 2006
1,192
539
Japan
Detector(s) used
CZ-3D, CZ-20,CZ-21, F-75 LTD, AT Pro, F-44
Fisher Impulse 8 and 10,
GTA 750 CTX (new)
ADS Master Hunter 7 (Retired)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
So glad I hunt mostly in the jungle where nobody cares and the jungle don't care.. I still kick the dirt back in just for GP! :)
 

OP
OP
R

ringding

Hero Member
May 5, 2006
679
15
Detector(s) used
Pioneer 505
Went to church today and the old playground equipment has been uprooted and is about to be removed!!!! Wahoo. I will go tomorrow and hunt it before they put new stuff in.
 

wmas1960

Sr. Member
May 17, 2005
260
2
Chicagoland
ringding said:
One site was an old playground at an old church. It had the old swings and slide and a bicycle merry go round type ride. For the other site I got permission to hunt a college immediately after the graduation ceremony. The only stipulation for the college was no digging. I was so excited and the only stuff I found was a quarter and 6 pennies and a bunch of trash (at the playground).

Sounds like a good thing if you can find what is truely an OLD playground. I search a lot of them around me and, here, they are all new modern, engineered arrangements. Almost all are sand or woodchips which is good to dig in. Might look like heck when you leave but the good thing is, as the wind blows and the freshly dug sand and chips dry out, it all looks normal again.

Also, there is little likelyhood of anything really old being here. Reason is that all the old equipment and surface material is all removed when they build the new tot lot and fill with new clean chips or sand. There might be some possibility, if you really want to dig, for someone to find something old in the original ground underneath. However, my understanding is that the sand and wood chips are pretty deep to provide maximum cushioning if a child falls.

After searching the local beach last night, and getting eaten alive by biting flies, I decided to wander to a few local tot lots. One that I stumbled on was right next to the Police Department. Wasn't really that concerned about that except that it looked so nice and well kept. There was also a rubber, artificial surface that covered about a third of it. The rest was impecably maintained wood chips under the swings and a small sand box that I wouldn't have any problem digging in. Normally I wouldn't worry about the wood chips, as I mentioned above, but that this park was right next to the PD and Village Hall. Might do it later but figure I would need to be a little more surgical with my Lesche to do it.

Still though, would only figure to find modern clad and maybe, an occasional lost piece of jewelry or something. I did find a small toy car at one of the lots along with a token or something, about the size of a Half Dollar or Silver dollar. It said OLD NAVY on it. Seems to have a couple nubs on it where there might have been a shank. Perhaps a zipper pull or a keychain at one time. A little work with a needle file on the edge to remove a couple burrs and it would be like a simple token.

Wind started blowing fierce, all of a sudden. It got dark and started to rain. Besides, my XLT started sqaulking at everything and I couldn't pinpoint worth a damn. There were times when I had the trigger pulled and it would just go silent and, kind of, lock up. I tried a new ground balance and that didn't work. I think the batteries might have been getting low so I called it a night.
 

wmas1960

Sr. Member
May 17, 2005
260
2
Chicagoland
ringding said:
There was a possibility of finding stuff on the surface at the college, you know, cufflinks, bracelets, earrings, but I didn't find anything. The metal detector gave good signals but it was below the turf. The person that told me not to dig was a campus policeman. They have the power to arrest. At the church I could dig and I dug every signal but all I found was trash and a couple of modern pennies. Maybe someone else with a metal detector beat me to it. Oh well.

That might have been an over cautions consent for you to search. Basically saying, go ahead but don't do any damage that will get me in trouble.

I would follow up by getting permission from the grounds keeper or custodian of the property. Show the person some of how you would go about digging and get some other recommendations or suggestions of what might be tolerated. Then, see if you can get a written concent that you can have on you, if you get confronted by the Campus Cop.

If it is an athletic field you might have additional difficulty though. You might have to go through the athletic department rather than grounds keeping. Athletic fields are often a whole separate maintenance thing. The university that I went to had a really nice stadium and they held graduations there. Out on the field with spectators in the grandstand. However, as is often the case with certain athletic fields, especially stadiums, they are viewed to be the property, so to speak, of the coach. If a stadium, you can bet you will deal with the wrath of a very posessive football coach. It is MY FIELD and you aren't going to do anything of the sort.... I remember controversies over the damage that graduation would do to the turf on the field. They had some good arguments over that. Graduation would often be right at the time that the field would be re-seeded and preparations would be started for improvements before the fall football season. Fresh grass seed and all. So, be prepared that you might encounter some difficulties that would make it more trouble than it is likely worth.
 

wmas1960

Sr. Member
May 17, 2005
260
2
Chicagoland
ringding said:
Went to church today and the old playground equipment has been uprooted and is about to be removed!!!! Wahoo. I will go tomorrow and hunt it before they put new stuff in.

Now's the time to do it. Before they put in the wooden borders that they usually do (railroad ties etc.) and fill in with about 8 or 10" of sand or wood chips. OR, goodness sakes, the artificial rubber stuff that I mentioned above. Got to admit though that it was very cushioning and soft. Very comfortable on the feet. Probably very safe if a child falls. and, easier to keep cleaned up, I guess.

Try to get there before they remove any dirt, sand, gravel or chips. I would also go check again later, if they get to a point where they skim or level the area. Right before they start putting in the new surface. That might make some even older stuff more accessable to the surface. It might be possible that this isn't the first major reconstruction of the playground.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top