need some tips on hunting old farms

[gmsparky]

I was at an old farm, old for here, 1860's, this past weekend. Near where the old barn had stood, and the surrounding area, my detector went crazy. Lots of hot rock, overloads, etc. There was a lot of metal junk I dug, big and small. Any tips on making the hunt easier, shooter coil or a 5.3 setting adjustments? I'm using a DFX and M6. Any advice will be welcome. Thanks

 

[Evolution]

Shooter coil would probably help a little with target separation but you may just have to take the time to dig some of that junk out of there and see whats under it. It's not uncommon to get alot of iron hits around an old barn. Have you searched around the actual house at this site yet?

 

[CRUSADER]

I agree with the above. I have no tips for your type of machine other than clear that iron as it will mask other items. The more you clear the more rewarding it will be. The way I look at it; no rubbish = no activity = no finds.

 

[DJ_Quinn]

I don't have any tips for the machine but I do for the methodology. I sued to start around the old houses and barns, but now I go straight to the fields. That's where the best finds are. Wait until the field gets plowed under in the fall, if it hasn't already been done, and then check the fields out systematically. Good luck!

 

[CRUSADER]

I don't have any tips for the machine but I do for the methodology. I sued to start around the old houses and barns, but now I go straight to the fields. That's where the best finds are. Wait until the field gets plowed under in the fall, if it hasn't already been done, and then check the fields out systematically. Good luck!

Thats true as well, all my finds are from fields.

 

[SgtSki in MI]

Be ready for LOTS of Iron!!!

Hi Sparky,
I hunt old farmsteads quit a bit. All I have to say is be prepared to dig LOTS of iron. There's a site I've been working for 3 years and was JUST beginning to hit some coins before I went to Iraq again. Nothing impressive so far but it's there. Sometimes you just gotta clear out the trash before you start hitting the good stuff. Then there's the Mason Jar lids too, they're a given at a farm site as well. If you're lucky enough to have a farm that used coal for heat, you'll find the cinder pile too and there'll also be cinders around the chimney cleanout door if there is one. There is a whole range of trash targets at a farm. Shotgun brass, .22 cases, all sorts of whatzits.
If you can access the area frequently, and are willing to take the time to clean out all of the trash that masks the goodies, then eventually it'll pay off.

I should have asked beforehand, is this place occupied or abandoned? If it's abandoned and the chicken coop's still there or you can determine where it was, you may want to spend more time around there. A lot of farm families back in the day didn't do the bank thing, and a chicken coop was a prime hiding place for handy cash. (24-hour alarm system!). Same with a spot where a doghouse was, if you can see it. And a lot of times "Ma" used to stash her "pin money" near the kitchen door in a flower bed if there is a sign of one. I found a tobacco tin in a spot like that once, but ma must have made a withdrawal because there was just a couple wheaties and a buffalo nickel in it (all 'teens). A lot of farmer's wives also used to sell produce out in front along the road and that area's always good for stuff too. There's lots of places where caches can be on a farmstead...just use your imagination. I haven't been so lucky yet, but one day..... If this is an old abandoned farm, don't enter any structures that are standing, PLEASE! It's all fun and games until you fall through the floor and are laying in the cellar with a couple of broken legs. The chicken coop should be OK though if it's still standing. I don't ever recall seeing a chicken coop with a cellar. Also, keep a very VERY sharp eye out for wells. A lot of these are still there and usually covered with rotten boards and overgrown...very dangerous!!!

Also, if it's an abandoned farm, and you have permission to check out other parts of the property, the family dump's a good place to try and find too. Some bottles can bring a nice buck or two. Remember, they didn't have a garbage truck pull up every Thursday back then and trash had to go somewhere. If there's any gullies or creekbeds on the property that's where I'd look for the dump. If not, it'll be on the edge of the property somewhere on ground that wouldn't be productive for farming. Of course this also depends if the property remains intact and wasn't parceled off. A good way to check this is to use old plat books (A nearby library or the Township Hall should have these to determine the original farmstead and then bounce it against a current plat book to find out if it was parceled and who owns the chunks nowadays. Then just ask the current landowners for permission to look around. I've had very little difficulty obtaining permission for stuff like this.

And speaking of books...it looks like I just wrote one!!!

Hope all of my rambling does you some good!!!

Good luck and HH!!!

-SgtSki

 

[SgtSki in MI]

Sarge, where in michigan are you from? i'm in suburban detroit, (and no , i haven't robbed or killed anyone yet.)

Hey gm, I'm from Hesperia about 45 minutes north of Muskegon. That is, when I'm not busy being in Iraq like I am right now. I've wanted to hunt some Detroit spots someday but haven't gotten around to it. I would REALLY like to get down into the SE Corner of MI and see about some older finds.

HH,
-SgtSki

 

[Old Dog]

Sparks,

If possible check out any fences on the property.
The old timers used to use the post holes as a "land Bank"

Some of the caches found in post holes are not as small as reported.
and if you can access a cellar check out the floor if it is a dirt one.

OD

 

[N.J.THer]

You have many great tips above. The only thing I will add is that I've had some luck at searching around large trees at the edge of planting fields. If the tree was around back in the 1800s or early 1900s and all the other trees and brush are much smaller it was most likely the only shade in the area at the time. Good for taking a break from plowing or enjoying a little midday snack and great for pocket spills and old eating utensils.

Good luck

NJ

 

[BuckleBoy]

I would focus on the water source. If there is an old well there, make sure you give the area around it a thorough searching. If there is a creek, river, or spring near the house site, search the area between the house and the water source. Water was so important to early settlers...and these paths would've been traveled every single day the house was occupied. In later years, and with the advent of indoor plumbing, these paths would've been less used, and they will likely have less modern trash on them. There will be older finds there. (This includes the area between the house and the outhouse as well!)

-Buckleboy

 

[Kas]

Here's a couple of tips when hunting farms.

From my farm house hunting experiences.

Standing at the front door look toward the driveway that leads to the road. If, the house isn't far off the road, walk on an angle toward the end of the drive where it meets the road.

This is the path to the mailbox. You see, back in the old days they put their money in the mailbox with the letters and the postman took the money and put the stamps on the letters for you. Money spills by the mailbox, and out of mom's day dress pocket as she pulls the letter out on the way. In 50 feet from the farm house door to the mailbox I found three IH's and a barber half. If it's back a long lane by sure to check the the area around the road where a mailbox my have been placed.

Also along the side of the drive where cars would park, and in any open grassy areas where lots of cars could park for family reunions. Anywhere you would like to go sit to get out of the sun on a hot day. A resonable distance into current farm fields. Most farms today have had their Fruit tree orchards plowed under to give more acreage to farm. And all edges of fields out to six feet or so.

Good luck.
Ken

 

[Skrimpy]

"Also, if it's an abandoned farm, and you have permission to check out other parts of the property, the family dump's a good place to try and find too. Some bottles can bring a nice buck or two."

This is ALWAYS true. The right bottles will bring $ and the farms ALWAYS had a dump and ALWAYS had a privy. Sometimes two of each. One for winter and one for summer (ie they didn't want to walk too far in the cold). Ive never heard the mailbox thing but it makes sense. I have heard the driveway thing. Whats the shortest path to the driveway from the back or side door (if you can still locate it). Where that path meets up with the diveway is going to be where you find pocket spills.

 

[DJ_Quinn]

THANKS to everyone for all the helpful tips!! It looks like i have to get to work and get dirty. I hope my knees hold up. This place is still lived in, but not farmed. SGT SKI, great tips on the hiding places, they make a lot of sense. Sarge, where in michigan are you from? i'm in suburban detroit, (and no , i haven't robbed or killed anyone yet.) thanks again everyone!!

Hey, I'm a suburban Detroit lad myself. Grew up in farmington Hills, but moved to Ireland quite a few years ago, before I started detecting. How's the detecting in Michigan these days?

 

[SgtSki in MI]

"Also, if it's an abandoned farm, and you have permission to check out other parts of the property, the family dump's a good place to try and find too. Some bottles can bring a nice buck or two."

This is ALWAYS true. The right bottles will bring $ and the farms ALWAYS had a dump and ALWAYS had a privy. Sometimes two of each. One for winter and one for summer (ie they didn't want to walk too far in the cold). Ive never heard the mailbox thing but it makes sense. I have heard the driveway thing. Whats the shortest path to the driveway from the back or side door (if you can still locate it). Where that path meets up with the diveway is going to be where you find pocket spills.

I didn't touch on privies when i wrote my post (well OK...book) on farms. Privy digging's a whole different treasure hunting animal. Skrimpy's right on them being a darn good spot though and I can add to this a little. In addition to what Skrimpy posted here's a little more on privies. There should be more than one spot where the privy was located. As anyone who's been in an outhouse knows, there's one thing about them that's a given: they STINK!!! In the summer, it was common to have the privy further away from the house than in the winter. Not everybody did this, but I'm told by the old-timers who actually grew up with them that it was common. Figure out the prevailing winds for where you are hunting also, the privy was usually put where it would be downwind from the house. And also look for a LILACS!!! That's about all of the intel I have on privies but I'm sure there's those on here that can provide some more.

An amusing (and gross!!!) story comes to mind that I was once told by my great-grandpa when he was alive. He was kind of a wild one and so were his friends. One of their pranks when they were running around town being hooligans at night was to move a person's outhouse back from the hole so that it was in front of the door. Someone would walk out at dark to use it and wind up knee-deep in you-know-what. In retrospect, it's a good thing nobody was hurt from them doing this.

HH,
SgtSki

 

[Skrimpy]

"An amusing (and gross!!!) story comes to mind that I was once told by my great-grandpa when he was alive. He was kind of a wild one and so were his friends. One of their pranks when they were running around town being hooligans at night was to move a person's outhouse back from the hole so that it was in front of the door. Someone would walk out at dark to use it and wind up knee-deep in you-know-what. In retrospect, it's a good thing nobody was hurt from them doing this."

It's amazing that someone didn't get hurt because of this! Some privies were dug to be more than 20 feet deep! Yes. As I said, some old farms had winter privies (and winter dumps) because they didn't want to walk all that far in the cold but wouldn't put up with the smell in the summer of the dump or privy. Also, privies often were "dipped" if the homestead family was very wealthy or the residence was in the city. With privies on a farm you want mid to low income, but not too low. In addition, there may be several privies all right next to each other. With residences outside cities people tended not to have them dipped but just dig another after capping the first with clay. For dumps you want very wealthy families (ie huge piles of glass). Get yourself a 7 foot spring steel probe and start sticking it in the ground up to the hilt in the areas where you think the privies might be (ie downwind from the house, where there's bunches of lilacs, bunches of roses etc).

 

[extractor]

It's all great advise above.I would check the fence line

 

[DaChief]

I have had the most luck around old barns and houses by using the small sniper coils with sensitivity turned down about half speed to start. You have to go to a smaller coil when you get into that much trash and iron. The only other method that will work in that environment is to lift your regular coil a little higher which in turn makes is more like the smaller coil but that is not as effective.

I have worked some old farms for years and I do mean work. Clearing out trash can have its rewards because I have found that if you are patient and search through such stuff, you have elevated yourself to the top 1 percent of most treasure hunters. In other words, not many folks have the patience it takes to hunt such mess and usually there are some really good things amongst all that iron.

What has been said about the fields is really gospel also. You can't beat a good old field that produces. Everytime that thing is plowed, it is like a totally new field. You just keep finding stuff season after season. I worked one for over 15 years till the farmer quit plowing it. I pulled CW buckles, buttons, old spanish coins and the like from it for all that time.

Get you a good mixture of coils. One sniper, one medium grade, one standard size and one large and you will be set to do most anything. You will really love that sniper coil. I use mine near metal objects, sidewalks, in trashy areas and the like. I probably use it the most of all my coils.

Good Luck!

Jim

 

[Old Dog]

GET ER DONE ! !

And stay safe .

OD