Age of buried farm tools?

[bos1111]

Hi all,

New to metal detecting and to this site, but I'm super excited about my first finds. I searched an old suburb of Boston (private land with permission) known for farming as far back as the 1700s. I unearthed the following things:





I'm particularly interested in what those large (and heavy!) matching brackets might be used for... and also how old you think the log-splitting wedge might be (on the left). There's also a silver ring with leftover leather on it--kind of interesting. They were mostly found together next to old, buried barbed wire. The metal detector pinged "gold/bronze/silver" for most of these (my first time with a metal detector, sorry for the novice remark!). There were also a few bullet casings, some nails, bolts, a lure, and what looks like some old wheels (or parts of wheels) from farming equipment.

Either way, it was super fun and I look forward to going out again! Thanks for your help ID-ing!

 

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[SkaBa]

Welcome to T Net!

Great finds. More knowledgeable people will chime in.

 

[old digger]

In your first photo the solid round object is a wheel to a toy metal car. the other small wheel was most likely part of a toy crane. The hub with the spokes was probably from an older tricycle. The large pieces in the second photo look like end pieces to an old mantle clock.

oops! Sorry, Welcome to TNET!

 

[BagLady]

Hi. Welcome to Tnet. The only thing I know for sure, is the ring with the leather was part of a harness.
Might I suggest you find something to use for size comparison so we get an idea of how big or small an item is?

 

[mcl]

Welcome!

I can't say for sure, but if I had to guess, the large cast iron brackets are actually the two sides of the lid of an old-timey outhouse toilet. See the examples below:




Basically, you had one lid for each side of your body. Life was hard in those days, so when a man had to put the seat up, he had to do it twice; one lid at a time. Putting it back down was actually the worse part, though. You had to be careful not to let the heavy lids slam down, otherwise you might damage the wood and have to rebuild the entire outhouse, or worse, the lid might break away from the frame and fall into the depths below. This was especially problematic in the frigid temperatures of a cold winter's night on the east coast. A man had to be disciplined and ignore the pain as he gently put each of the icy iron lids back into place. Now you may be wondering why the lids you found are more utilitarian than the examples I posted. While it is possible that the owner of the outhouse was leading the life of an humble ascetic, denying himself the luxurious indulgences of those days, the more likely explanation is that the owner, being quite stout, required a bit of extra support when "going to meet the Governor."

At least, that's my best theory.

As for the detector going off as "gold/silver/bronze" on that stuff, one of two things could have been at play. First, very large ferrous pieces tend to throw off the metal detector's ability to discriminate. So, it might just have been due to the size. One way you can avoid that a little bit is when you get a hit, try to see what the boundaries of the object are by swinging around the spot where you got the hit. If the object seems much too large to actually be what the detector thinks it is, you might be better off skipping it. The second possibility is that either you haven't quite figured out how to work the discrimination function on your detector yet, which comes with practice of course; though that reminds me, make sure you actually set it to discriminate mode!

Nice job on your first hunt. Hope you had fun and look forward to hearing more about your finds in the future.

-mcl

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Your "S" hook is the end to a bungee cord most likely, your fishing lure is a red devil spoon or a copy of that style.Next to the splitting wedge looks like maybe a corroded caster wheel.Can't be sure with it laying on side.On the solid wheel I was thinking it was a wheel minus rubber from a little red wagon.I think the spoke wheel is part of a pulley and the five wires and center could also be part of a lamp shade.

 

[Tony in SC]

The crumbled up pile is a fishing reel. Tony

 

[vpnavy]

I noticed this is your first post - so, Welcome Aboard! You didn't list your state (or country) in your profile. So, you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forums: Select Your Area.... and selecting your state for information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country).

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

The crumbled up pile is a fishing reel. Tony

Great I.D didn't notice it was a level wind baitcaster.Dang I call myself backoftheboat and missed that.

 

[Tedyoh]

As far as your wedge, they are kinda like the wheel, hard to date because they really haven't changed, i have one just like yours.....i wouldnt think any earlier than 1880's / 90's..

 

[hvacker]

Your "S" hook is the end to a bungee cord most likely, your fishing lure is a red devil spoon or a copy of that style.Next to the splitting wedge looks like maybe a corroded caster wheel.Can't be sure with it laying on side.On the solid wheel I was thinking it was a wheel minus rubber from a little red wagon.I think the spoke wheel is part of a pulley and the five wires and center could also be part of a lamp shade.

Ya. red devil. I used to sell those at my Uncles hardware store in the late fifties. Great lure.
The problem with iron is that it disappears. That's why native iron is so rare.
All native and human iron will vanish.
Maybe that's why all this interest in mining meteorites? Curious, Que' no!
The big iron pieces outside the red devil look like fire place andirons
Whoops looks like mcl got this one.

 

[bos1111]

Thanks everyone! To me, the big iron pieces do look like fire place andirons, but I would have never thought about the outhouse toilet. Great thought!

I think tricycle spoke is spot-on, and good ID of the lure and fishing rod. It's so hard to tell with it crumbling, but there's a pond nearby, so it's def possible. Also, I would not have caught the horse bridle. Pretty neat.

I'll be looking into how to clean all these pieces... and anxious to get back out there. Thanks again for all the feedback!