✅ SOLVED Civil war steamboat pieces

[Tigerdude]

Hunting a bayou edge where steamboat was burned and left behind. Anyone ID large pieces? The nails are hat I think are nails to hold down decking. They are hand made with a rosette head and square.

 

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[A2coins]

Now that's a cool find

 

[capsmith]

Looks like pieces of a single tree , for horse drawn equipment

 

[Tony in SC]

Looks like they were on the end of a wooden shaft/pole to be used as an eye or loop. Maybe from a wagon?

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I have to agree with capsmith and Tony, these look like parts from a wagon tongue.

Dave

 

[Tigerdude]

I’ll clean it up a bit and post a better pic. Don’t think this came at the tongue of a wagon. It’s a serious heavy piece of iron:

 

[TomPA]

It does have the "look" of a wagon tongue, but does appear to be of the extra large variety (if it is indeed one). Maybe it was applied in the same manner, but for something a little more robust.

 

[Tigerdude]

Solved! I friend texted me that it’s a gudgeon, a piece of a rudder system. Here is a pic of one. makes sense we found two gudgeon plus the deck nails. Will be digging bigger holes to find the rest.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I learn something new here every day.
Glad that you got an I.D.

Dave

 

[devldog]

Tigerdude, Congrats on some nice CW finds of the steamboat rudder pieces. Have you weighed these pieces? Best of luck to you on your future searches of the area.

 

[Tigerdude]

No I haven’t weighed them. I have the shorter piece and my friend has the longer. It’s a solid piece of iron. Interestingly, we found them about a foot or two apart and oriented in same direction on their sides. They were dredged out many years ago when the bayou was cleared of obstructions.