Very frustrated, but theres potential. I need your help.... (UPDATED)

[Kiros32]

Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help.... (UPDATED)

I went back to my parents place today and got in about an hour's worth of digging. When we moved into this house in 1987, I was 5, but I remember finding a button lying right on top of the ground. We had the house built so the lot had been dozed. Anyway, I went to that part of the yard today because I hadn't been back since I got my machine. I found half of a horseshoe at about 8 inches. Not a foot from where I found this I got a signal for iron. It varied between 0 and -14. I tried to pinpoint it and it took a little while to find exactly where it was and how deep it was....it said 4 inches. So I started digging, and digging, and digging. I kept checking and the signal seemed to get stronger as I dug. I got to 10 inches and checked again. The signal was still there, still saying it was 4 inches deep. So, I assumed that it was something fairly large that was throwing off the depth finder. Anyway, 15 inches, 20 inches, 2 feet down, I gave up because it was getting dark. The signal was still there, but I found nothing.

So my question is, what could this possibly be? Why would it throw the depth finder off so much? I left the hole open and I plan on going back next weekend. In the mean time, HELP!!!!

 

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[vwayne1]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Depth finders on your detector are calibrated for coin-size objects. Any other size will throw it off. Very large items, i.e. septic tank lids, sprinkler distribution boxes, will really give you fits. Dig it if you want, but dont expect your detector to give you any real info on that large of a target.

 

[Jeffro]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

A nail in the side of the hole you dug can do the same thing, too. Pinpointers are handy in these situations, sometimes.

 

[Monty]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Careful of buried electrical or cable TV lines. They give off that type of signal! Monty

 

[Kiros32]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Those were initial thoughts, however, I was able to locate the TV lines and electricity, plus our septic tank is no where near the hole. I have an Automax Precision Pinpointer that I searched the hole with, walls and all, and still nothing. This is why it's so frustrating. Surely something valuable couldn't be buried that deep right?

 

[bk]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Nearly every time I get a signal like that, I find a nail. It's usually in the side of the plug.
try to widen the hole, but don't go any deeper then you already have.

 

[Kiros32]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Ok, I will widen the hole to see if I can locate the culprit. I will keep you updated.

 

[silverswede]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Yes, frustrating and labor intensive. I dug one of these in metal mode once and in hard packed rocky soil. At about 3' I struck paydirt, an 18" galvanized culvert. Hope your treasure turned out better. Let us know.

 

[DigEmAll]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

My first 9.5 inch cannonball was about three feet deep.

 

[Kiros32]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Our house was the first house on the property, however, the property was of course landscaped and that is how the button appeared on the surface. I am going to widen the hole this weekend to see if it is in fact a nail in the side of the plug. If I am still getting a signal, then I will just keep digging. Our house is in CW country, not known for large battles, but in Kearneysville, where the house is, there were several skirmishes and I guess the possibility exists for it to be a piece of heavy artillery.

 

[dandan]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Depending on how long its been there a piece of iron will put out a halo even after it has disintegrated. Dont mean to rain on the parade but its a possibility! Dan

 

[brz]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Depending on the type of detector you have, in the pinpoint mode you can run your coil slowly over the area and be able to tell approximately how long or wide the target is, or atleast find its outer edges. Good luck. Let us know what you find out.

 

[eathabs]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help....

Ran into the same situation last year. I got a solid silver dollar signal and kept digging. After 20 minutes I started checking the sides and ended up with a foot long chunk of aluminum siding. I thought for sure I finally had found silver, no such luck. On the bright side I did get a few cents at the recycle station for it. Save all your aluminum and cash it in!! I'm still searching for that first silver..........and gold.

Good luck and HH.

 

[Kiros32]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help.... (UPDATED)

Ok, so I went home this weekend and widened the hole, and of course, it was a nail in the side of the plug. Oh well, I guess I will have to wait for my 3 ft deep cannonball.

 

[bk]

Re: Very frustrated, but there's potential. I need your help.... (UPDATED)

That's what I figured.
This happens a lot, and about the time you start to widen the hole the park guy shows up, and there you are with a foot deep pile of dirt around your hole.
No matter how well I pinpoint, the nail is always in the side of the plug.