Hole in the woods....?

[huntsman53]

As Always...When Treasure Hunting...Searcher Beware!

Warning!...The seeds of black cherries contain cyanogenic glycosides, compounds that can be converted into cyanide, such as amygdalin. These compounds release hydrogen cyanide when the seed is ground or minced.

View attachment 1678718

While I stated that based on the appearance of the bark of the tree that it was likely a Wild Black Cherry Tree, I am not totally certain that is fact! Trees in South Carolina and especially those so close to the coastal regions, grow quite a bit different than here in the Smokies, foothills of the Smokies and surrounding valley locations. Besides, there are species of trees there that don't grow here and the bark of some trees take on a different appearance depending upon the soil conditions and climate in which they grow.

 

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[Red James Cash]

Cut the tree down and count the rings.

 

[Mud Hut]

Looks like a black walnut tree to me.

 

[Limitool]

You bet Brad. Question is, if something is in the hole that weighs 500 lbs, how in the hell are two lightweights going to get it out?

Well that's a damn good question Frank. I got out a piece of 3"x3"x 3' angle iron out I had lying around shop here. I put my new 500 lb rated magnet about 8" away and BAM!!!!! I swear if a finger was in the way the world would have heard me screaming (again) like a little girl. This magnet is POWERFUL. I could not get the magnet off till I pushed it all the way to the end and then used a huge pair of channel locks to raise it up some. This thing is not a toy and will snap fingers in two easily. But it doesn't weigh much at all. If it ever latched onto something very heavy I truly don't know what I'd do. I thought about that when I was using it off the bridge into the Duck River around here. If it ever latched onto an old car, boat or old bridge railing I'd probably just have to let it go...!

 

[SCholes]

Saturday update: Spent time surveying the area and metal detecting looking for any signs of a previous structure. So far nothing obvious, but there were signs of people walking through the property and throwing trash as they made their way to their destination. That being said, there were pings in several areas and after several cans and foil we headed to the hole. Now this thing is 16.5 feet deep to the top of the leaves and we weren't about to throw a ladder in it to "see" what we could find. We decided we needed a way to remove the leaves to at least see the bottom. Right now, our cheapest idea is to make a 20ft piece of 1" pvc pipe and fashion a scoop of some sort on the end to remove the leaves.
Scratching our heads and discussing the plan for tomorrow, we headed back to our trucks and I was metal detecting through the woods.... about 20 yards from the hole:

 

[releventchair]

Saturday update: Spent time surveying the area and metal detecting looking for any signs of a previous structure. So far nothing obvious, but there were signs of people walking through the property and throwing trash as they made their way to their destination. That being said, there were pings in several areas and after several cans and foil we headed to the hole. Now this thing is 16.5 feet deep to the top of the leaves and we weren't about to throw a ladder in it to "see" what we could find. We decided we needed a way to remove the leaves to at least see the bottom. Right now, our cheapest idea is to make a 20ft piece of 1" pvc pipe and fashion a scoop of some sort on the end to remove the leaves.
Scratching our heads and discussing the plan for tomorrow, we headed back to our trucks and I was metal detecting through the woods.... about 20 yards from the hole:
View attachment 1679023

You could due to owning the site , research "well sweeps".
A claw that lowers opened on a rope end that can be tripped to unlatch or close , might pull some samples.

A reversible shop vac motor mounted on a 55 gallon barrel might pull some too. Would take the same amount of pipe ,with additional flex hose near barrel/joint to pipe.

 

[SCholes]

You could due to owning the site , research "well sweeps".
A claw that lowers opened on a rope end that can be tripped to unlatch or close , might pull some samples.

A reversible shop vac motor mounted on a 55 gallon barrel might pull some too. Would take the same amount of pipe ,with additional flex hose near barrel/joint to pipe.

I was thinking about those options and instead of a claw make a clamshell to at least grab as much leaves as possible. I also thought of using my Toro leaf blower ( I have a portable generator) which reverses to suck up leaves through 4" drainage pipe and shred them.

 

[huntsman53]

I was thinking about those options and instead of a claw make a clamshell to at least grab as much leaves as possible. I also thought of using my Toro leaf blower ( I have a portable generator) which reverses to suck up leaves through 4" drainage pipe and shred them.

Even a decent and sturdy dip net with a wood pole such as a straight round mop handle shoved up in the dip net's handle and secured, then the mop handle shoved down into a lightweight 15 foot or so aluminum pipe and secured, would work. I had this setup in Key West when I worked and lived there to catch Blue Crabs and Shrimp and it worked fantastic. I usually caught 2 to 3 and sometimes 4 dozen Blue Crabs a night when conditions were right but held a record of 104 in one night. When the Shrimp were running, I would usually catch a 5 gallon bucket full a night but caught two 5 gallon buckets full on one occasion. However, the total length of mine was only 14 feet. Do understand that depending how old the hole is and how long there have been trees around to drop leaves and limbs in the hole, the hole might actually be 1 to 4 feet or more deeper than what you have measured (i.e. to the leaves).

 

[Robot]

If It Worked On Mexican Cenotes...It May Work For You?

This Dredge was used in some of the 19th Century Cenotes at Mexico... that I visited.

Maybe it could work for...You?

I would change the Mechanism with a UTV Winch!

 

[SCholes]

Today was a bust for the hole but a win for the new Stihl chainsaw! I was hoping to finish sooner but I was completely spent by the end of the day to even consider adventuring.




My buddy think it's an old cesspool....probably had a wooden top which has fallen in after years of decay. We're currently on the fence of whether we want to continue to search or call in a professional to assess.

 

[BC1969]

Ugh.. Some years back I made a post here about the dangers of old wells.
Crikey!

 

[Potts]

Maybe to it goes to Oak Island.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Good luck on your adventure, just be careful and bring a friend...just in case!

 

[Limitool]

I'd still like to see a powerful magnet thrown into the hole. One with a good quality eye bold and a high gauge nylon rope. Anything that is under all those leaves will bring out a ton of them upon lifting.

 

[RelicMedic]

There is a spring box up a mountain where we used to play as kids. It looks very similar to your picture. I vote spring bos as well

 

[93civEJ1]

well....this thread is a let down so far!! Jump in there!!

 

[SCholes]

Sorry about the lack of updates, been so busy with clearing the old double wide first but I have more information.
First- it's an old well. I visited the county assessor and we started chatting about the property and history of the surrounding area. I showed him the picture and he said it was an old well. He had almost the exact same hole on his property but it still had water. It is a known fact that when the union army marched through the area, home owners threw their valuables in the wells and fished them out later if they could, sometimes they were lost.
Second- he told me about the USGS historical Topographic online map which we searched in his office and indicated a home was on the site back in 1946 near the location of the well. There were were a lot of plantation houses in the area and my property was part of a farm.

Anyway, should be done with clearing the property this weekend and plan to try to make some headway on searching in and around the well.

 

[huntsman53]

Sorry about the lack of updates, been so busy with clearing the old double wide first but I have more information.
First- it's an old well. I visited the county assessor and we started chatting about the property and history of the surrounding area. I showed him the picture and he said it was an old well. He had almost the exact same hole on his property but it still had water. It is a known fact that when the union army marched through the area, home owners through their valuables in the wells and fished them out later if they could, sometimes they were lost.
Second- he told me about the USGS historical Topographic online map which we searched in his office and indicated a home was on the site back in 1946 near the location of the well. There were were a lot of plantation houses in the area and my property was part of a farm.

Anyway, should be done with clearing the property this weekend and plan to try to make some headway on searching in and around the well.
View attachment 1682941

Thanks for the update! When you get finished metal detecting and searching in and around the well, make sure you come back to search around where the Mobile Home was and also the house that was on the site in 1946. You never know what you might find.