Tips to approaching an old farm dump?

[DaneD28]

Well when i was a kid behind my dads house was a corn field then woods. At the beginning of this wood line was an old dump and we would dig for bottles and just milk jugs and coke bottles and what nots, but now that I am older and realize there is value with some of the stuff we found I am not really sure where to start in approaching such a large dump spot. Just figured I would ask for tips from people who have dug these and if there are indicators for caches and other things. If not ill probably end up just digging everything. I have a metal detector so ill keep that on to pinpoint only silver and higher end metals but any advice would help.

 

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[cudamark]

Welcome to Tnet! If it's a good site for relics, I'd dig and screen the whole thing. Just be careful you don't break any of those rare bottles!

 

[DaneD28]

is it even worth detecting theres a ton of scrap and do u think places like this would hold caches or coins or prob just relics

 

[cudamark]

Probably just relics and maybe a few coins. Sometimes the relics can be worth lots of $$$'s so don't dismiss them. Just like coins, they're value is based on condition, rarity, and demand.

 

[DaneD28]

yeah makes sense will take several trips before its all dug up ill definately post wat i find. prob sunday will be first dig

 

[JOHUNT]

How is your ground not frozen? We hit a high of only 8 degrees today in upstate NY. Anyhow, you should be able to find some neat stuff just take your time. I have been slowly unearthing my family's old dump site from 120-140years ago. Lots of farm implements and probably 1000's of bottles(mostly broken). Happy hunting!

 

[DaneD28]

same deal in northern nj frozen right now but since its in a valley get alot of runoff

 

[gunsil]

Just gotta dig carefully, I use a small gardening pick axe type of tool. If there are Coke bottles it probably isn't that old, but you will find out when you get a couple of feet down. Detecting will be useless if it's like any dumps I have dug due to the large amount of metallic junk tossed in among the bottles. Took me three summers to excavate one that was fifty yards long, forty feet wide, and three feet deep. It was on a slope and I dug a trench all the way down to dirt along the lower length, and then proceeded up the slope digging all along the length putting the rest back into the previous trenches as I went along. I wouldn't try it in frozen ground, you'll break too many bottles since they get stuck to the soil when it freezes. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[DaneD28]

yeah i hear ya ill have to check in next week when it warms up a little bit, if not i got a stream to puts around in for some gold lol while i wait for it to unfreeze. From past experiences the coke bottles where few and far between but typically from the 20's and 30's but only time will tell. who knows how big it is. its in and out of trees but yeah there are plenty ofthings to dig up so we will see. First ay I go up ill take some pictures and h0opefully it goes all well. Maybe make some money or maybe find some wall hangers.