The BIG one that did NOT get away: But what is it?

cusedpjd · Jun 22, 2013

OK, so here is my story. I'm new to detecting. Been doing it for about 2 months and LOVE it. Have found some cool things and was walking around in my yard today taking another pass around the house. In the past, when I have had some high signals on discrimination (three quarter turn) settings near the side and back of my house it has almost always been aluminum siding remnants. So I got a high signal yesterday and it was covering a wide area. I figured it was just a large piece of siding. So I dug a plug and put the pointer in. Nothing. This was odd because typically the pointer will go off with such a big hit. I dig another plug. Nothing. I swing the detector over and it is still loud. I did two more plugs and still nothing. I had to go in because it was getting dark so I covered up and decided to come back today and dig two plugs in the other direction.

So today I go back, dig the two plugs so and still nothing with the pointer. I go over with the detector and the area is so loud over a big area that the only conclusion was that either my pointer was broke or the area was deeper. Pointer was fine so I keep digging down. Layer after layer and still nothing with the Pro Pointer. I keep digging and digging and now I am about two feet down or more. I've never dug this deep before and finally the pointer goes off. I find one end of the thing and then start trying to find the perimeter. Eventually I find three sides but this thing is long and it was extremely heavy. Not budging a bit and I am 6"6 and 250 pounds. So I just keep trying to find the other end but this thing just kept going and going. And I kept digging and digging.

I never got so sweaty and dirty doing a dig. Three hours later I finally find the end of it. I've got to get inside by 4pm to go out for a dinner. It's 3:45. There is a giant rock on one end that was wedging in the object. I finally get it removed and it loosened the object. I pull on the object and it moves! In fact, I can get it out of the ground but it is about 100 to 150 pounds or more. You can see from the pics how it looked in the hole and multiple pics after extraction. It was caked with a dirt rust mixture that I had to chip off and in doing so I caused 2 small holes in the find. I removed alot of dirt around it and some inside of it. As you can see there are two tubes inside. I tried to get as much dirt out as I could. Thing is, I am not sure what this thing is or how old it is but it must be old given how deep it was. Best I can think off is maybe an old muffler? No markings at all. 27 inches long. Looks like there is a spout of some sort. The land my house is on used to be an old farm if that helps. Hope you all can help me ID and possibly date this thing. Thanks!

4reale · Jun 22, 2013

Hello Midas!

cusedpjd said:
OK, so here is my story. I'm new to detecting. Been doing it for about 2 months and LOVE it. Have found some cool things and was walking around in my yard today taking another pass around the house. In the past, when I have had some high signals on discrimination (three quarter turn) settings near the side and back of my house it has almost always been aluminum siding remnants. So I got a high signal yesterday and it was covering a wide area. I figured it was just a large piece of siding. So I dug a plug and put the pointer in. Nothing. This was odd because typically the pointer will go off with such a big hit. I dig another plug. Nothing. I swing the detector over and it is still loud. I did two more plugs and still nothing. I had to go in because it was getting dark so I covered up and decided to come back today and dig two plugs in the other direction.

So today I go back, dig the two plugs so and still nothing with the pointer. I go over with the detector and the area is so loud over a big area that the only conclusion was that either my pointer was broke or the area was deeper. Pointer was fine so I keep digging down. Layer after layer and still nothing with the Pro Pointer. I keep digging and digging and now I am about two feet down or more. I've never dug this deep before and finally the pointer goes off. I find one end of the thing and then start trying to find the perimeter. Eventually I find three sides but this thing is long and it was extremely heavy. Not budging a bit and I am 6"6 and 250 pounds. So I just keep trying to find the other end but this thing just kept going and going. And I kept digging and digging.

I never got so sweaty and dirty doing a dig. Three hours later I finally find the end of it. I've got to get inside by 4pm to go out for a dinner. It's 3:45. There is a giant rock on one end that was wedging in the object. I finally get it removed and it loosened the object. I pull on the object and it moves! In fact, I can get it out of the ground but it is about 100 to 150 pounds or more. You can see from the pics how it looked in the hole and multiple pics after extraction. It was caked with a dirt rust mixture that I had to chip off and in doing so I caused 2 small holes in the find. I removed alot of dirt around it and some inside of it. As you can see there are two tubes inside. I tried to get as much dirt out as I could. Thing is, I am not sure what this thing is or how old it is but it must be old given how deep it was. Best I can think off is maybe an old muffler? No markings at all. 27 inches long. Looks like there is a spout of some sort. The land my house is on used to be an old farm if that helps. Hope you all can help me ID and possibly date this thing. Thanks!

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Looks like an old muffler run over by a truck.

wvwildman · Jun 22, 2013

nice muffler

WilliamH · Jun 22, 2013

Nice Muff ler. Wh

4reale · Jun 22, 2013

It's a muffler for sure, from the pics - lot of work for a piece of junk. Your machine should have cut this out, by 'tuning up' your discrimination, eliminating junk and old iron/steel targets, unless your relic hunting, in which case you dig every signal, no matter now far down you have to go. If you're working on private land, get your permissions, work out what the split will be if anything is found, and experience the euphoria you et when you get the target, even if it's a rusty old bottle cap.

I moved to Jupiter, Florida from Redding, CT. via Ecuador within a year, back in 1991. I had no job, was 43 years old and living with the love of my life and our 7 year old Corgi in a 1 bedroom condo 150 yards from the Atlantic Ocean. My first metal detector purchase was the spark that ignited the fuse which caused a family feud, divorce, new wife, loss of business, move to Ecuador, then to Florida, where I bought my first Fisher Machine, a 1280-X, which the new wife didn't object to, especially when I came home from the beach with all the Jewelry that people had lost, even ages ago ( my first ring was a size 5 Platinum wedding band with a center stone of 1.2 crts, 2 baguettes of 3/4 crts. on either side, and an imprint on the band of "Love is Forever" and the date October 13th, 1913.

I even advertised this find, and it cost me $60.00 back then, and nobody came forth to collect the prize, so by law, it became mine, along with the pounds of other stuff that I found walking nearly 12,000 miles over the next 27 years. Strokes in 2007 put an end to my days of hunting - I could locate, but not dig anything more. So it was, 150 yards North of Carlin Park, in 1992, that I got a profound hit from my now 1 year old detector, which I had come to know as well as my wife and Corgi (Oliver, who was a human in dog's disguise), and proceeded to dig the anomaly which set off my machine like the grand finale of a Fourth of July Celebration.

Mind you, there is documented wreck not 3/4 of a mile North of the now existing Jupiter Inlet, built in 1953, the lighthouse in 1859, and I got a hit worth exploring. I spent the next 3 hours, with my Kellyco Big Brute 6 quart scoop digging a hole in semi wet sand before the tide would come in and bury me to uncover an ancient 1916 undercarriage of an old Ford that was completely encrusted with Limestone. No way to get it out, and no reason to, either. I had attracted a crown of a hundred people at least, walking the long beaches, watching me finally uncover a piece of junk.
So for the next 25 years, I was crazy as a fox, and dug more than 20 pounds of Jewelry and thousands of dollars worth of coins where the wonderful tourists would empty their pockets onto the sands that swallowed up everything when you moved an inch.

Heck - if you could locate an Apple 1 computer today, and manage to swindle the owner out of something he had no idea of what it was worth, you could bank a half a million.

cjon455 · Jun 22, 2013

my hands hurt just looking at that pic! now thats alotta diggin

63bkpkr · Jun 22, 2013

A lot of digging but you proved to yourself there was something there and, I hope, you put it in the garbage can to be hauled to the dump or recyclers. Also your yard is now free of that particular signal. You will need to acquire a bit more dirt to fill in the hole. Keep having fun with your machine and the best of luck with your future finds!.........................63bkpkr

cusedpjd · Jun 22, 2013

I had the discrimination notch turned three quarters and was on discrimination mode. I think it was simply the size of the target that made it go off so loud even though it was so deep. It also does not seem to be made entirely of iron. Part of it is still a shiny silver color. Then the problem was that I could not tell what it was until I actually extracted it, but yes, alot of work just for an old muffler. LOL. Nonetheless, I definitely got a major work-out, which I needed and it was an interesting experience for sure. Next year, once I am sure I will stick with this hobby, I'll likely move up to an AT Pro. But for now, I have my Bounty Hunter Tracker IV which I originally bought to find a wedding ring I thought I may have lost in the yard but I likely lost it elsewhere. Ring is replaced now, but the hobby stuck. Hopefully better finds to come.

cjon455 · Jun 22, 2013

take your time w/ ur upgrades. Make sure you enjoy the hobby first. I upgraded from my Bounty Hunter to an Ace350 and then from that to an ATPro. A friend of mine jumped right to a Minelab and never uses it!, he got bored w the hobby quick and wont sell me his darn machine! I guess im just sayin be careful because it gets addicting fast and you can spend a ton of money if your not careful lol

cusedpjd · Jun 22, 2013

Agree cjon455. That's why I am going to wait till next Spring before doing an upgrade. Gotta make sure I will stick with it.

vpnavy · Jun 23, 2013

Nice (muffler) find cusedpjd.

AnnieF · Jun 23, 2013

BH IV is a workhorse!

cusedpjd said:
I had the discrimination notch turned three quarters and was on discrimination mode. I think it was simply the size of the target that made it go off so loud even though it was so deep.

That's right. I used a BH IV for about a year before I upgraded to an AT PRO. I *loved* my little IV! It's what some here call a "beep & dig" machine... which for some is a bad thing, but when you think about it, why? Some people say dig everything anyway, so if you're in that camp, the BH IV can't be beat! That little bugger catches all kinds of stuff! Even little pieces of coated wire in a foot of sand! I know, because I've dug them!!!

The AT PRO was intimidating at first, and I'm still not using all it's capabilities yet, but good golly, when you are ready, I recommend it!!!!

Keep having fun and don't let anyone get all snotty on your about your machine. It's a workhorse and a real gem for a novice... and even experienced hunters who dig everything anyway!

cusedpjd · Jun 23, 2013

Thanks AnnieF. Also, I think it went off on discrimination mode because most mufflers are made of aluminized steel? So I don't think there is a way that a think this size and made of that metal could have been tuned out. Appreciate the support. And yes, I've dug plenty of barbed wire too!

g-olden years · Jun 23, 2013

Love my Bounty Hunter! (Even though BH WILL sound off over any large metal object despite fiddling with the dials.) Largest thing my son found with our BH before he upgraded to Teknetics was a REFRIGERATOR a foot or two underground, lol. Nobody had left treasure inside, ha-ha. We cracked up when he realized what was under there. Since my son upgraded a few months ago, I'm now sole user of BH which last month found for me an awesome custom-made HEAVY GOLD RING which was in same hole as trashy corroded spoon rammed up against boulders near old iron junk. Actually the gold ring was mostly covered with thin skin of iron due to being under there for decades, missed by the multiiple detectorists who'd bypassed or skimmed too quickly over that iron-infested area of the beach or who had such fine tunings that they missed the gold-in-with-junk-spoon find. I was able to flick off most of the iron skin from my fabulous ring with my fingernails. Bounty Hunters are wonderful! Andi