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Any recommendations on how to dig in a certain type of ground?

Y

yogaguy

New member
Hi All. I'm trying to find out if anyone has any suggestions on how to dig in a VERY hard ground. My uncle has a farm up in Wisconsin that I go to about 4 or 5 times a year. I will be heading up again in april. The ground that I mention is where all my relatives and visitors have always parked for,say...the last 50-60 years. I found an old photo of what the ground in this spot used to look like in 1920 and it was all grass. It's a pretty big spot, so I reason that at some point things were probably dropped on the ground there. Especially with all the cars that have parked in this area for the last 60 years. But as you can imagine now, where there used to be grass is now a very hard rocky type of ground. There does'nt seem to have been gravel actually dumped on it, or if there was the pieces are very, very small now. But last year when I briefly ran my detector over some this ground I got some good sounding signals about 3-5 inches down. I tried to dig the ground up but could barely make a dent in it with a screwdriver or regular shovel. Any suggestions on what i could try? Thanks All. Sincerely, Randy
 
A quick trip to Lowes will offer you any asortment of digging tools of all types. Take your "pick" which is what I use for hard ground, I found it at a tool auction, probably used for machine shop, but it works great.
 
The ground here in Arizona is nearly ALL very hard! I bought a little pick at WalMart garden shop. It had three prongs on one side and a mattock blade on the other. I sawed off the two outermost prongs and left just one thin spike. It has worked great getting down into the "concrete" we call dirt here. I have found a lot of silver coins in ground so hard nobody else wanted to dig.

Good luck!

Marc
 
When it dosent rain around here for a week or more, the ground can get as hard as concrete. Normally I use a shovel, but when the ground is hard, I use a pick. You just have to be careful you dont damage the target you are trying to dig up.
 
Yogaguy, I'd be chomping at the bit to search the area your talking about, by the "statistics" you just mentioned, but I'd also want to take along some vitamins to give me the energy to do it. Like these other guys said, I would concur with them that if the ground is that hard, "dogone it", you're gonna have to get some kind of a pick, if you can't afford to rent a back hoe. Like one of the guys was saying, you need to be careful with a pick to "dig around" the target, in order not to damage it. You know, thy're gonna laugh when I say this, but if it's REALLY HARD GROUND, you might even buy a "big pick" like the one "the old guys used when you were growing up, and you'd see them straining they're (you know what off).. Again, if you go that big you need to be even more careful to dig "around" the target and lossen up the ground so you can manipulate it to try and find the target. Beachguy. By the way, if you "do" this site, please let us know how it works out. I'm very curious about it. :|
 
How ya doin' Gila? I'm still trying to pull my financial life together, by working 6 days a week, but I'm still thinking about you and hopefully, down the road a few months, maybe, getting together. I feel for you digging in that hard desert ground. It's tough, but if your still finding stuff, and sounds like you are, it's a good reward for all your hard work. Marc, beachguy.
 
Hey, if you think "you've got it bad", (and I know you do, in the tough ground), but think about those poor prisoners at the Yuma territorial prison, breaking up the rocks in the old days. Jeezzzz, I may be out of line here, but, you know if they we're still doing that stuff, it makes me glad I never had to go there. Marc.:(
 
Gila, I know I'm really "messing" with you today, and I know this is a little "side kind of thing", but honestly, have you ever heard of the Lost Dutchman Mine? I think it was in Arizona, but I'm not sure. I know there were programs on it over the years, and many treasure hunters have looked for it, but I'm just wondering if someone with a metal detector could have a chance at that. Just a thought, and you know, while we're on the subject, even though it's apparently pretty difficult if not impossible to pick up extremely small nuggets with the Quatro, I'll bet it would pick up a strong box or a sizable bag of gold dust or nuggets at a reasonable depth. I think you get my drift on all this, and I know there's some alleged "treasure burial sites here in California", why not Arizona too. All the activity of the bandits in the good old days, stage robberies, etc. There has to be some "loot", buried somewhere, but of course where? Well of course, the next question would be, WHERE DO I FIND OUT THAT INFORMATION. And you know, I'm not sure, but I'm just "baiting" you and everyone reading this to explore this possible venue of lost treasure, me included. I know the guys that found the lost Spanish ships underwater, used to go to Spain in order to read the old achieves of the ship wrecks over the years in order to get enough info on where to dive for the loot. It's probably the same for us. Where did these guys get robbed or killed or whatever when they had the gold or whatever. Marc.
 
As kind of an adjunct to all this, I think most of the forum people here are "pretty smart cookies", from what I've read, and so I'm not trying to "insult" any of your intelligence, but you know one of the things that any of us could possibly overlook is friends, family and olde people who have stores to tell of things in the past. Of course you know where I'm going with all this but I'm just reminding "us", me included, to: "" Not forget the stories of the old timers"" of things that happened in the past. One perfect example for me is I talked to an old lady next door about a year ago who told me: "You know, that darned husband of mine, or "whoever" of mine used to put penny's and coins in a hole in the wall of our old house at such and such an address where I grew up", and old so and so used to bury money in the back yard in mason jars. I ran into someone else, besides her that told me one time, "You know I know, that so and so buried some of his money in jars on our old property, way back when". I'm not making this up, they really told me this, but I didn't have the bucks to take him back to his old home town and look for it, but the point I'm making is these people do have stories and I, at least, believe that some of them are true and it might lead to some really great finds. Don't forget about these possible terrific leads from "eye witness" people who saw things happen in the past. Marc.P.s. Another great source of info is the old person who tells you where the old "carnivals" or "crap shoot gambling" places used to be. Don't even think that this can't happen, because after "enough" years, some people will "give up" information that might have incriminated them years ago, but now they're not worried about it like a robbery loot burial or whatever that could lead you to a viable site. Hope this is good info for you. I really believe this stuff could and sometimes happens.
 
I'm finding stuff regularly, but what I haven't found for about a week is my flippin' DIGITAL CAMERA!!! :rage:

I'm guessing my dear daughter has it up in Phoenix in her college dorm.

Oh, well......soon, I hope.

Marc
 
Hi All. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the advice and suggestions on how to dig in this type of ground. I was definetly thinking the same thing about making sure to leave enough room around the target if I used some kind of pick. I was also thinking about even trying a hand drill?? I'm not sure though if it would just "lock-up" though while trying to penetrate the ground. But if it would work, I could just use the biggest bit I have with my set, and stay about an inch away from the target and drill down and just pry around a bit in the hole to see if the ground was loose enough by the target. Just a thought I had. Thanks again everyone, and I'll definetly take pictures or even video and put it on here. Sincerely, Randy
 
You know what yogaguy, that's not a bad idea. For Pete's sake, if that ground is double misirable, why not use a cordless hand drill to break it up a bit. You know, some people may snicker at you, but if it makes the job easier I'd say, have at it and let us know how it all works out. I'd kind of hate to carry that drill around on a hunt, but in the case of super hard ground, it may be worth it. :twodetecting::O:|
 
Hi Beachguy777. I thought it might not be a bad idea either. I kinda' just thought of it a few days after I posted the question about the ground. The cordless drill sounds good, but if I could even somehow get a long enough extension cord, (this piece of ground I mentioned is just about 10 yards away from the front door). I could even run it from inside the house? That might give an electric drill a bit more kick to it with the voltage going through it. I'll definetly check it out to see if it's feasible. I'll let you guys know when I head up there and get back. Sincerely, Randy
 
Yogaguy, this is probably a little late in response but, for myself if it is a park or lawn then a metal detecting knife with a sereated edge will work. If the ground is frozen then you are in trouble because a big mess will have to be made. I live in New Mexico and when I'm away from parks and lawns and in out the high desert I carry a hand pick axe and the metal detecting knife at the same time. My choice of hand pick axes that I carry is no longer made, but it has a spade on one end and a point on the other end. this generally works for everything in the field.

But, one time I went to a stagecoach stop of the 1880/1890 era and had a good hit with the Quattro. That day I took the big wooden handle pick with a 3 1/2ft handle that I normally never carry and it would not penetrate the ground more than 1/4" at a swing. What was going on, little pieces of the ground are hitting me in the face, the ground was clean and nice. What I found out was that it had snow several weeks earlier and then melted into the ground and refroze. I went back a month later and the ground was normal hardness. Just last week I transplanted a rose bush bush from the front of the house to the back of the house . Removing was easy, putting in the ground was hard(frozen).

If you are not working in frozen ground or not then I suspect that a large pick or digging bar will be the way to go. For most reasons if the ground is extra hard the ground is usually only hard for a few inches or so in depth, from my experience. So find the hardware required to meet the resistance, use it and let everybody know if you found treasure or not.
 
Hi jjwest. It's never to late to get responses from people on this forum. I appreciate all the suggestions people give. The pick was one way I read for getting through the ground, but I also thought about using an electric drill with a good size bit on it? I'm not sure if it'll work, it might just lock-up when I try drilling. The ground I mention isn't far from the house, so I could possibly run an extension cord out to the area. Just an idea though. I'll also definetly post pictures of anything I find on here. Or if I can figure out how to put a video clip on here from my dvd camcorder I'll do that also. Sincerely, Randy
 
I want to know if you found anything at that old stage coach spot or not. Sounds like a great place to detect. After you went back a month later did you get any goodies? Marc.
 
Right on Randy. What do they always say: Necessity is the mother of invention. Let us know what you come up with. Now you've got me thinking of stuff. I know a friend with a bobcat who has a jackhammer attachment on it, but that would probably be overkill for most sites, but boy it would sure break up the ground, I'll bet.:|
 
I use a strong survival knife, it gives me the edge and still the sensitivity to feel coins with the tip. Takes some practice though.
 
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