How is this idea?

[OxShoeDrew]

I am hunting a very beat cellar hole. It has a house and three barn holes. I looked over the property and picked a VERY trashy 6x6 spot at the intersection of the house, well, and one of the barns. My thought was that the trash scared previous detectorists and the spot may have been overlooked as it is not immediately on any of the holes. I'm going to remove all the trash then see what's underneath. Am I wasting my time? Are these $2000 MDs able to see through all the trash and already ascertained my spot's contents? Thanks! HH all (except at my 6x6 square)

[Dimeman]

Remove all the visible surface trash by hand, and then detect the area. You might have to dig up lots more trash before you possibly get anything good. But if nobody elase was searching it BECAUSE of the trash, you might just get some goodies that they were too lazy to move the trash for.
Getting to the good stuff isn't easy...but it could be worth it if you get a nice keeper or two.

[Lowjiber]

Are these $2000 MDs able to see through all the trash and already ascertained my spot's contents? Thanks! HH all (except at my 6x6 square)

Nope! Trash is trash and a pain for everyone.

I agree with Dimeman. Sounds like you've got a good location...after a bit of work.

[coinnut]

I make my detecting career at that exact kind of site lol There are targets under them nails. Some machines will pick some of them up, but certainly not all of the good masked targets. Try this. Dig any reading that is different from the other signals in that 6x6 area. That way you can learn to find some good targets mixed with iron, just in case you don't want to dig every nail at every site Then go back and dig every target in the 6x6 section. If you picked a good square, you should get some non ferrous targets (hopefully coins, but probably buttons). Good luck and go for it!!

[Jeff (or)]

If that site has been productive , go for it. You might find some great keepers. Remove as much trash as possible, use a small coil, dig the iffy's and one way signals.

[milco]

I have done a similar thing at a site with a 20x20 area. Found an 1867 nickel and 1865 IH recently. I find stuff in that small area everytime. Each hunt is different because of the trash I remove each time I am there. Man, I love sites like that!

[steve in so az]

Maybe try this - at a given spot where you have dug signals but not others go ahead and dig everything and see if you missed anything worthwhile. Not a huge site but not a tiny one.
It just might be eye opening, nothing to lose and maybe something to gain ! Steve in so az

[OxShoeDrew]

Thanks everyone. In the first square foot I took out a few small pieces of surface sheet metal, about 6 square nails, then the 2 types of shards. Under those, at about 18 inches....the flat button and two hand hammered nails.
Coinnut, you were spot on. For the long term I'll have to learn to negotiate trashy areas without the archaeological type digging. BTW, does anyone have any info on the red clay dish with black glaze? It seems it was made on a potter's wheel.
Thanks again, and stay safe in the heat.

[coinnut]

Thanks everyone. In the first square foot I took out a few small pieces of surface sheet metal, about 6 square nails, then the 2 types of shards. Under those, at about 18 inches....the flat button and two hand hammered nails.
Coinnut, you were spot on. For the long term I'll have to learn to negotiate trashy areas without the archaeological type digging. BTW, does anyone have any info on the red clay dish with black glaze? It seems it was made on a potter's wheel.
Thanks again, and stay safe in the heat.

I'm not up on my pottery, but I would say it is in the general age bracket of that flat button. Colonial to just a bit post colonial. But that's just a guess I'd say that was a successful experiment. You got a flat button in an area that you would have never found detecting. That flat button could have just as easily been a Capped Bust Dime Nice job and a quick answer to your question without digging all signals, everywhere thumbsup01

[steve in so az]

charlives - I have made about everything under the sun out of clay in the past - your pieces do look like they were made on a wheel but hand made can also look like it. Hard to tell from a pic. Steve in so az

[BOWSER]

i am thinking of taking a dirt rake to a trash site and clean a spot at atime. thumbsup01

[steve in so az]

What is a big help in cleaning a dump site is a large, strong magnet pulled through it all. Clears out a lot of undesired junk. Here's a couple I use - built the smaller one. Steve in so az

[OxShoeDrew]

What a great idea Steve. I bet just the surface stuff hides a lot of desirables. Tomorrow I'm going to try another square foot, after I take Coinnut's advice to first dig the differing signals in my search area.

[BOWSER]

i knew you had a gmmick steve,thats how you find the good stuff

[steve in so az]

We use them along the railroad lines - the old settlements/houses that the maintenance guys lived in. They always had a dump. Steve

[OxShoeDrew]

i am thinking of taking a dirt rake to a trash site and clean a spot at atime. thumbsup01

Bowser, Let me know if that works.

I checked the surface of my 6x6 area and dug a surface signal that was different then all the rest. In 5 min I had the large flat button in the pic (may not be an old one). Then I tried it again and came up with the plated sugar bowl top. So I gave up on digging everything in the square because it seemed I learned how to find small non-ferrous items. The things I found are round...I'm getting close!!! haha Thank you all.

[coinnut]

Holy Moly Look at the size of them lids lol They could mask a treasure chest I would dig all the good signals I could dig before I went and dug everything. There is no other way to get it all except to dig it all. So I have learned to settle for second best. But there are some sites that I would pick axe and shovel my way through, if they were on property that I could do that on