Old hand dug well detecting

[GKMan]

Hello All
At one of the properties I detect I came upon a solid looking field stone lined well. It is in an odd place off to the side of a field where no houses are known to have existed. Has anyone ever tried digging out an old well like that? It is probably about ten feet deep and large enough to squat in at the bottom.

 

[MNCoinhunter]

I would say that it has potential. Just be sure to have someone else with you in case something goes wrong. Too narrow for me ... I would'nt risk it myself.

 

[Smudge]

I agree. Great potential. But don't go at it alone.

 

[GunnarMN]

be carfull gas does not fill it , you will just pass out and the flys will soon lay thear eggs and all that will be found is a sceliton, you should have two or three with and a safty rope to pull you out ,

 

[GKMan]

You'll have to pry the ctx 3030 from my cold dead hands

 

[Critterhunter]

I know of an old well that looks very much like this one. It has clear water in it. Often when a well or a privy is no longer used they'll start throwing trash in there, which could mean valuable old bottles for one thing. I've thought about using one of those fishing cameras to drop down in this well as the water is so clear, to see if I can spy an old bottles or maybe even a cache or something. I figure if I did see any bottles I wanted I could use a telescoping window cleaning pole with a grabber on the end to pick them up without risking getting in there. Like they said, I would NOT go down in that well unless you've got several people with you and a rope around your waist so they can pull you out if something goes wrong.

 

[Smudge]

I knw of a fellow who looked in one of those wells and the bottom was covered with leaves. He tought he was jumping in on solid ground. He wasn't.

He jumped in to dig it out and disappeared under water. Turned out there was about a 7" layer of dead leaves floating atop the water and this poor guy darn near drowned when he jumped in.

Just a cautionary tale.

 

[Frank in NH]

Did it when i was joung and stupied. Clean the remains of a dead coon out and bleached the walls for them. Had on my wetsuit!

 

[fowlercharles]

Hi Killmerg, I0' deep, "Squating" room only and "solid looking " enough to bet your life on? You must be kidding us! LOL, Crap man,, no dang way! A rope or even a ladder won't be of much use to you if a wall caves in on you. I have walked up on several old dug wells over the years and have never been tempted to get "in" one of them. Saw an old dried up cow in one once and wondered how long before I would have looked like that.My first thought when I read your post was to wonder where the old homeplace is of those that built and used the well. I would concentrate on that , as it most likely is much older than any of the known homesites,.HH, Charlie

 

[GKMan]

I have got my self in some pretty interesting places over the years while spelunking and in numerous old mines, and because of that I have some interesting tales to tell. On the other hand I have a friend that literally broke his back from literally being buried alive during a construction project while working in a ditch... He will never be the same...So I am aware of confined spaces dangers.

I wonder if there could be a layer of leaves on top like Smudge mentioned. Has anyone ever seen the Fort William Henry display in Lake George for the well they dug out?

 

[5900_XL-1]

Maybe I am odd but you can keep the holes in the ground from wells and old bathrooms where you had to use the Sears catalog pages. I have my limits, especially when it involves well-diving into the unknown. If it doesn't have any promise of a money cache...all the old bottles are of no interest to me. Y'all go for it! martin

 

[GunnarMN]

me and my frend dug an old well , we got down 20 ft deep and where still finding old bottles, but disided to fill it in the wall were packed shuger sand the bottles dated from about 1900 to 1905 found a kilmers swamp root kidny liver & bladder cure but it goes to show wells did get filled in with old bottles, who knows how many coins are in the bottom that kids threw in thear , I am to old to dig like that now ,

 

[BarberBill]

I think it would be worth checking on as long as you can do it SAFELY. I too can tell a few stories about experiences in caves and old mines, but I've managed to survive them. Just be very careful so you can pass the experience on to us.
BB

 

[WV62]

Must be a pretty quick way to go, we had a guy got in trouble in a well a second guy went in after him and he got in trouble. The third guy went for help, both men died. So unless you know what you are doing I don't think it would be worth the risk.

I think it was methane gas that got them.

Ron in WV

 

[GKMan]

I was wondering about that, I remember learning about confined space hazards in firefighter training

 

[etracjoe]

I've been down 30 feet in the bottom of a sewer lift station cutting the bottom chamber lid with a torch so that the pump truck could suck it out. Oh did I mention I was upside down with absolutely no elbow room. Just because I'm STUPID dosen't mean you have to be lol. Actually my foreman had a sniffer to check the air quality but he did not know how to use it, but thats probably because we are a paving crew and the boss just wanted to have us do something else. But we did have a tripod with a line on a pully to pull me out if things got bad. As said before.....use caution and have someone with you. I would line the walls with 2 2x10 planks and then uses 3 srew bars and your walls will be fine if you dig down at the bottom. As far as air quality.....just find a way to circulate it. Chances are its not bad at 10 feet.

 

[rustydog]

try researching privy digging.They claim this is the most rewarding treasure hunting money wise.Theres ways to do this safely check out privy digging techniques and you might find you enjoy the cash flow.

 

[purplesage]

This is from the VietNam Veterans Memorial Wall...be safe!!

A Note from The Virtual Wall
On 15 March 1968 Companies "A" and "B", 1/5th Infantry, were conducting search operations near Bao Trang. While searching a well a man from Company B passed out. A second man was lowed into the well with belt links fastened to his own belt, but he too passed out and the belt broke, dropping him into the well. A third man attempted rescue, wearing a gas mask, but he too passed out. He was pulled out and a fourth man was lowed in with a gas mask, but he also passed out. Another man was lowered down and holding his breath, retrieved the men in the well one at a time.
Two of the Bobcats could not be revived and died, and a third died while enroute to hospital on a dust-off. The three were

2LT David R. Young, Fairbanks, AK, "B" Co
CPL Edward A. Lionetta, Springfield, MA, "A" Co
SP4 Paul A. Young, Mishawaka, IN, "B" Co

 

[jabbo]

A gopher hole next to the well saved my butt. Thirty years ago I was searching alone behind an abandoned farmhouse, my left leg went into the gopher hole. Found myself looking straight down into a deep well with water in it. Weeds grew over the well, didn't see it. Covered it up best I could and got the heck out of there, never went back.