Piece of junk?

[MangoAve]

Found this yesterday. It's so big it was registering as a nickel. It was found near a river. There did seem to be 100 ft length of area wide enough a vehicle could fit and the gound sort of looked slightly compressed. There was a slight ramp down a near by hill too, but it was barely 5 ft wide. And there was more than 400 ft between the two spots where there is no way to fit a vehicle through.

The thing I found almost looks like it could be the carrier plate or parking lever for a drum brake assembly. I've pulled apart a few of them, and the only thing is the bent edge doesn't wrap around enough to fit a brake cable. The rear side has one protruding tab I circled in green on pic. The front has three tabs. It doesn't have any holes in it. Any ideas besides?
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[Tony Two-Cent]

OxShoeDrew could tell you what it is. :thumbsup01:


Yes, it's an ox shoe. Because of the way an ox's hoof is shaped, their shoes come in two separate pieces.

[MangoAve]

As soon as I see the reply I did a google image search and there it was. Guess I havent seen too many Ox shoes before. :duh: Thanks for a quick response. Guess it wasn't really junk after all. Now the question is why was it where I found it? I'd say 40ft from a river. And not much area for farming. 37791

[coinnut]

Yep, we find them all the time. Being by the river is expected. Ox were used for many purposes, including dragging downed trees for fire wood or building materials. Also used in the fields for clearing land for planting. They are massive enough to fool the discriminator into registering it as a non ferrous target. This is normal.

[del]

yes , your first ox shoe Jim :cheering:Drew would be so proud :lol: . Oxen were the heavy machinery/tow trucks and bulldozers of the 17th,18th and 19th centuries and vital animal to have around for survival if you were a farmer.

they do ring up nice , especially this time of year

[MangoAve]

Lol. Now today's haul... only a key for a Ford. I know it's pre-1990 but idk if it's for a car or tractor. It was found near a house from 1760 which had a barn. It was 20 feet from the barn doors. I'm guessing the pegs on the wall inside were for the horse or ox harnesses. No I couldn't go inside, I just saw it thru the windows.
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[coinnut]

Looks like a Model T ford key or close to it. Nice old find

[KCFindIt]

Keep digging and you may just come up with the vehicle and then you'll know! Interesting looking older key.

[MangoAve]

Keep digging and you may just come up with the vehicle and then you'll know! Interesting looking older key.

Lol. You might just be right. As the ox shoe, found at a different locale, rang up as a coin cuz it is so massive, I found a brake pad that rang up as a coin because it too was massive. I think it belonged on a moving truck because it was about 8 inches long. And there were a few wiring harnesses above ground I moved out of the way. So if I keep digging I will find the rest of the car. Found some keys that are close in match on ebay. One of their keys says 55. Mine just says 5. Mine is the wrong color do to being in the gound. It supposed to be silver.

[Tom]

Nice finds, glad the Ox was not attached to the shoe.:hystericallaugh:

[giant056]

Awesome find in my book :thumbsup02: I've only found one of them myself, in my area I think work horses were more commonly used but the one ox shoe that I did find was in the ballpark that I frequent so much the summer before last. It was actually a celery farm back in the 1800's and I'm sure the owner opted for oxen to get the plowing job done. He was a Dutchman as were most people in Kalamazoo at the time and eventually the land was donated to Kalamazoo from what I understand. Oh by the way I'm 3/4's Dutch :grin:

[MangoAve]

Looks like a Model T ford key or close to it. Nice old find

Don't mean to stroke your ego there George, but you are correct. The key was form a Model T. I can only date it as 1926 or 1927. They keys were that shape from 1918 until 1927, but only 1926-1927 were brass. And having a low number 5, I thought it was older. Still good find tho. Drew, Dan, Giant, don't hate me for saying the key was a better find in my book.:coffeelaugh:
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