Any suggestions for hard digging

[john37115]

I recently got permission at an old fairground in TN and I have hunted it a total of about 8 hours and found some wheaties, buffalo, v-nickel and silver dimes, not to mention clad. The problem I am having is 4" - 6" layer of packed gravel under 1" of topsoil. I sprang my wrist trying to dig through this stuff. I have tried a mini-pick which works fine but will only dig down 3" - 4" before the handle hits the side of the hole. I don't want to go in with a large grubbing hoe or pick. I don't think that would look good to people with the Fair. I have a lesche shovel which I can jump on, I'm 250 lbs. and it will not go in the ground. I have a lesche trowel and one gravel at a time is all I can pick out. SLOW GOING to say the least. Any Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

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[Diggerbarns]

That IS some tough digging! Got to watch not to hit your coin/target with the pick.Try after a good rain.

 

[cedarratt]

Go all out and use an actual pick...

 

[trixster]

What seems to work for me is a heavy bladed screwdriver you can "stab the ground and get it loosened up then scrape the looses dirt away til ya get down to what you are looking for .

 

[borninok]

John37115,

I'm understanding what your situation is and really don't have a good answer per se for you, but thought I would throw the following thread topic out to you:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,93522.0.html

I bought one of these monsters from the company in Tulsa, OK and have had good digging leverage with it. They offer 2 (?) styles. I can honestly say it is a brute when it comes to hard digging. I carry this bad boy along with my Lesche digger, both have given me my money's worth.
HH,
Mel

borninok

 

[imafishingnutt]

i have an old military Kabar from Viet Nam i use and pick it a bit at a time but it works.

 

[cosmic]

Modify the head of this(thin it down)
http://cgi.ebay.com/FIREWOOD-LOG-WO...ryZ11704QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or this
http://www.goldfeverprospecting.com/crackjack.html

I had one for prospecting but can't find it anywhere on the web... It should work the easiest of anyway I can think of..

 

[robert roy]

Yea, the gravel is a real pain. I use a screw driver to loosen up the dirt and rock but usually I just avoid the stuff like the plague. Everytime I see gravel at aplace I want to MD I just cringe!
Robert roy

A handy digging tool.

 

[john37115]

Thanks guys for all the help, some great ideas. I have one of those slide hammers for splitting firewood. I never thought about trying that. I think I'll give my wrist a week to heal and go at i again.

 

[Ant]

I use a small matox pick or a prospectors pick to hack open the rock hard ground here. You can see a fair selection of prospectors picks at prospectors depot dot com.

HH and gold luck.

 

[bootybay]

I use an ice pick in those rocky areas...found over 400 coins in em too

 

[EggHunters]

Well John, the ground here in SATX is really hard in most places (granite) . We use a couple of different tools, 1) a long bladed flat screw driver, also we have a tool that we bought on-line that's supposed to dig hard ground also. We are trying to find a small hammer/pick to dig up the ground here. got a few blisters trying to dig up deep signals...

 

[shanegalang]

Tell you what works great........a Estwing 22 oz hammer! That's right........while I was a framing carpenter we would often use a hammer claw to dig a trench to get a form board down. Works great. I guess one draw back is if you hit the coin (target) you risk damage to it. I hunt at a fair ground that has about a 4 inch layer of small white shell and the hammer claw does wonders bursting Through then I use my shovel once Ive broken through.

 

[mtntrekr2]

I keep an old mason's hammer in the car. The type they use to chisel and break the brick or block with. I have often used it in hard to dig areas where I needed a small pick. I also keep a large old screwdriver with me that I have had to use the hammer on to drive it in to loosen the same type of hard packed gravel in a few spots I have been at.
I had a signal at 6" for a solid Quarter and knew it was going to be hard to dig but just knew I had to. At 6" I got a silver Wash. nothing great but it was a silver. But seemed like I had to dig a mile in the hard pack. Between the hammer and screwdriver I got it.

Just my style
Joe