old farm houses

[3searchin]

We've detected two 1800's farm houses recently and the grounds are extremely clean. I mean there are very few Beeps at all coming out of the ground. We dug up a few chunks what looks like melted aluminum or lead or something. Now we've found a few good relics and some clad, but the ground is really clear of anything. The other thing that I've noticed is that the modern coins that we have found are very deep 4 to 5 inches.
My question is Has anyone one else run into areas like this, I mean usually the older houses we've hunted the ground has a lot of nails or iron/metal pieces laying around. These are still working farm houses with tons of history. I don't think it was "hunted out", but it really seems weird to me that they are so clean.
Could it be that the more historical items are too deep for my detector seeing as the normal clad is 4 to 5 inches deep ? I have an XLT and we used a whites spectrum II this past weekend also on one. I've dug coins and items from over eight inches down before in harder clay soil. So I really think I'm getting at least that deep at these places the soil is nice loose top soil.

I'm just looking to see if anyone else has had experiences like this and if anyone has any suggestions or theories on the clean soil?

Thanks for listening
3S

P.S. and the last hunt was on all fresh batteries also.....

 

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[deepskyal]

I may have your answer.

I work with a couple guys that own farms that are several generations old. Back in the day....they did a lot of crop growing right up to the main house.
The guys I work with both are either dairy or beef farmers, so there was also the issue of doing something with all the manure.

I've been hounding the one guy about detecting his place because he is around 6th generation on this land, with the house being original.

His reply....
His uncle recalls the days from his childhood, growing corn right up to the house, the plowing of the land every year, right up to the house...and the spreading of the manure, several inches deep for fertilization of the crops.

His uncle also recalled how they played pirate when he was a kid and they burried money, alot in silver dollars, that they never found.
He figures it would be a waste of time for me to detect because it could be possibly scattered over several acres by now, as many times as its been plowed.

They plow twice a year. Spring to loosen and warm the soil...fall to turn under stubble and kill bugs.

So....it's a good possibility that all those old nails and such have rotted away and been scattered over the years, and same for anything else that may have been there. Not to mention, with the plowing...those things turn soil to a depth of 12" or more sometimes. Now add a few inches of manure, year after year......

Just my theory, talking to the farmers. The way they do things now, with the exception of more modern equipment instead of horse drawn equipment, is still done the same way as over a hundred years ago.

Al

 

[Farmercal]

I have hunted old homesteads with mixed results. One I just frequented again on Monday before heading back to Florida (the homestead is in Alabama). This time I found a few modern dimes, a zippo lighter, a stainless steel spoon, and a 50's era Gaines dog food token. I hunted that same yard before and didn't see these items which were 4-6 inches down. All the coins I have found at this one house were relatively modern and 4-5 inches deep. The only old penny I found was under the front porch and was within an inch of the top of the soil and was a 1909 (go figure). I also hit a closed down school and all the memorial pennies, clad dimes and quarters were 5-6 inches below the surface of the ground. The wheat back penny and mercury dime I pulled out were within 4 inches of the surface. So yes, the modern coins can be that deep. I also think that the reason I haven't found a lot of silver in the rural areas I hunt is due to fact that the people back then couldn't afford to lose too much money.

 

[3searchin]

Thanks for the input guys. It just seemed very strange, the lack of signals in these two farmhouse areas. I've hunted plenty of old farms around the area and I fully expect to find a ton of nails, plow parts even old chain links. I have a bucket full of those types of item in the garage. It so far seems to be these two that are very extremely clean. I don't expect to make a great find everytime we go out, but it makes for a long day when your not getting any hits at all......not to mention the kids get bored quick.

The soil around the houses is perfect topsoil, very little rocks and very easy digging. It's nice deep rich dark soil perfect planting anything so I would believe that at one point the plowed close to the house.

I think I'll have to play with the settings on the XLT to try and get a little deeper and see what pops out.

If there's any XLT owners out there that know how to tweak theirs to get a little more depth that info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again
3S

 

[(())RandY(())]

I once found a New State quarter 5 inches down!!! I could not believe it...same area found a silver quarter 1 inch down,dosent make sense ...also at one time they may have brought in some new dirt at the place you hunt...