New to ad need advice!!!

[red fox bob]

I found 5 old foundations that are all cut sandstone.The property they are located on is water authority property.I am friends with the caretaker & he wants to go with me.My question is how to hunt these sites?Any advice is greatly appreciated.I'v done alot of hunting in parks,on the beach,soccer fields,baseball fields,etc. & have done well finding coin & a small amount of jewelry some silver & one gold 10k 11.8 gram chain ( Just found the chain 2 weeks ago @ Mrytle Beach ).I have no experience hunting these kind of sites . Again Thanks ahead of time GL & HH Bob

 

[del]

Detecting these is similar to detecting around a modern home the only exception is there is no standing home but still an immediate yard although very over grown . There will be many obstacles and or saplings , briars and dead fall branches or even trees , this makes it difficult to grid out like a park or beach. Usually with in 10 to 15 feet of the stone lined structure there is a heavy presence of iron debris , this from the collapsed building walls and roof and all the nails and metal flashing associated with it. These areas need very slow detecting with a small coil , the more iron you dig up and remove in this area the better your chances of hearing the buttons and coins that may have been masked by the iron . These areas are usually so contaminated with iron you detector may sound like machine gun of grunts , squeals or chirps , just outside of this 10 to 15 foot boundary its a bit quieter and easier to pick our the non ferrous targets . These areas are usually already detected hard and if your site has been then only a deeper coil will get you the better items others might have missed . This time of year is good to explore an area like these to see if there are any other buildings (barns , sheds , ect.) away from the home site to detect around them and straight back to the main building .Be careful as there are some potential dangers around these sites Bob , I wrote something a while back to help out "newbies" to foundation or cellar hunting here

http://www.americandetectorist.com/newenglandcellarhole.shtml

If you have questions with something take lots of pictures and ask away , there are many great cellar hunters here who can help.

Dan

 

[MangoAve]

Interesting there would be sandstone foundations around your area. I figured they'd be brownstone. Either way, Dan pretty much summed up the big points. There are far less pull tabs at cellars compared to parks and schools, so something in that category might be worth digging. Even if there is a hiking path nearby making higher chances for pull tabs, I'd still dig it. The iron is the biggest challenge and you may need to go over spots a few times. As Dan, stated, look for the other areas with activity whether it be thru listening to any iron pockets or if you see spots where other structures used to be. I have seen cellars that had as many as 5 wells (two at the main prop and three along the road within 300 ft). Just be aware of any open wells. Often barns can be across the old roads and are often overlooked by others. Realize too that any fields associated with the place were areas that were often worked and until the later part of the 19th century, they had no pockets in clothing. That, and they were plowed like farms today (but manually instead of with tractors). Some objects could have been turned deeper so bigger coils might be beneficial for these fields.

 

[red fox bob]

Interesting there would be sandstone foundations around your area. I figured they'd be brownstone. Either way, Dan pretty much summed up the big points. There are far less pull tabs at cellars compared to parks and schools, so something in that category might be worth digging. Even if there is a hiking path nearby making higher chances for pull tabs, I'd still dig it. The iron is the biggest challenge and you may need to go over spots a few times. As Dan, stated, look for the other areas with activity whether it be thru listening to any iron pockets or if you see spots where other structures used to be. I have seen cellars that had as many as 5 wells (two at the main prop and three along the road within 300 ft). Just be aware of any open wells. Often barns can be across the old roads and are often overlooked by others. Realize too that any fields associated with the place were areas that were often worked and until the later part of the 19th century, they had no pockets in clothing. That, and they were plowed like farms today (but manually instead of with tractors). Some objects could have been turned deeper so bigger coils might be beneficial for these fields.

My plan included using my large coil first then going back and use my Eclipse 5.3. As far as weeds and small brush or trees,supriseingly it is flat ground with large pine trees over a large area.I didn't think about the buffer area near the foundation itself having alot of junk,that was a good tip from Dan.Thanks for the tip about the wells,that was something else I didn't think of.This is my first cellar hole site so I have alot to learn.Thanks Guys