What makes a good yard

MasonDixonMding

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I’m very lucky and have many 1800s cellars and or houses to hunt in my neighborhood. My question is can you tell if one old home is better than another?
 
I used to look at the foundations to determine the age. That and trees. My favorite is rental houses. So many people always moving stuff in and out makes the odds of losing stuff much higher.
 
I am blessed with many places to hunt. Got another one to day at work today not sure how old this one is yet. I think it’s 1800s maybe older? I recently upgraded detectors so I’m taking my time and going back over the places I started. Im not finding a lot but what i am finding keeps getting older. Yesterday I found my oldest wheat 1917 I am having a blast! Thanks for everyone’s help on this site.
 
Some good comments above. I also look at the lawn to see if it appears to have been re turfed or a lot of dirt added. Some of the homes here in Montana have grass and dirt that rises 6" or more above the original sidewalk, so I am pretty sure that the lawn has been redone and I may pass up such a yard. On the other hand, a lawn that is flush with the old sidewalk tells me I have a chance at some good old finds, good luck!
 
Yes, old grass is a really good tell. It is really hard to describe this, but older grass just looks weaker and darker in color, maybe a bit patchy with bald spots. Newer grass seems thicker, greener and healthier.

Newer grass can suggest resodding or grade and fill, which is bad. Older looking grass suggests the lawn was less likely to have been tampered with.

Also, as I understand it, soil is the result of earthworms eating grass. The thicker (newer) the grass, the thicker the soil, thus the deeper the coins. Digging modern clad (as opposed to 60s and 70s clad, which is a good tell) at 7 inches in thick grass is not fun, and a tell the site is likely a dud. OTOH, get a patch of old grass or bald spot under a huge old tree, and you can find 1800s coins at an inch or two. Of course, tree roots also help stop the sinkage.

I do not think that there is a hard and fast rule. It is a ton of factors and a ton of experience to asses whether a site will be a dud or a honeyhole. Throw some of the suggestions from this thread, and others, into the pot and let it simmer, and get out there, be observant, and eventually you may get a 6th sense about this stuff. A key is to quickly assess where the site is on the dud -> honeyhole meter, so your time can be spent most efficiently.
 
Well said, Randy, about being able to "read the grass."

Was up detecting in Missoula today, first yard had closely mowed original grass, pulled 10 wheaties and 1 Silver GW Quarter. Next two yards had thick unmowed grass and built up soil... nothing old so moved along fairly soon. Fourth yard had thick green grass, built up soil, I pulled a 4 wheat cent spill but finding clad quarters at 7" is definitely a tell. Fifth yard had tall grass and some soil build up but unwatered dry yard. Squeaked out another Silver Quarter and a lot of wheat cents, deep ones. Last yard was unwatered, dry short grass, no soil buildup. Got another Silver GW Quarter, Silver Rosie, lots of wheat cents.
 
You can never tell!!!
A friend invited me over to detect his yard prior to closing (selling). 1940's home across from the fairgrounds....I could not wait. I only found modern clad.

Fast forward 2 years....a coworker invites me over to her "new" house. The address sounds familiar and when I pull up it is the house next to the other one. I am a little dejected but start hunting the front yard. To date, this is the best permission I have ever hunted. Mercs, my first Benjamin, war nickels, rosies, jewelry and what seems like a whole roll of 1956 D wheats scattered in the back yard.
I hunted it 4 or 5 times with different equipment and as the signals diminished I started running over it with my V3i with a big coil in deep silver mode. It was a great learning experience.
 
Lots of good advice here already, but I’ll add my 2¢. Like Detector mentioned, I look at the trees. Not just the size and age like you might expect, but also look where the trunk meets the soil. For the types of tress I have in my area, if the trunk just disappears into the ground with no hint of root structure, the ground has likely been regraded or has been backfilled. The more root structure exposed near the base of the tree and/or across the ground, the more likely that you have old dirt closer to the surface.

As Lovestheshiny said, the height of the dirt/grass relative to the sidewalks and/or curbs (and the age of the sidewalks and curbs) is often an excellent indicator for how productive the ground might be - soil that’s level or lower than old sidewalks (slate sidewalks and/or low, squared off curbs make me drool) is a good sign.

Lastly, as Cellrdwellr and others have said, the ultimate determination comes once you start digging. Not just the depth and quality of finds (deep clad or modern trash is a very bad sign), but also take note of the type of soil you’re digging. With a little experience, you’ll quickly learn what “old” dirt tends to look like in your area. A thick layer of yellow “construction” sand is an obvious bad sign anywhere, but in my area, so is multiple soil colors or types mixed together in one scoop (strong indication of backfill material). If I start digging mottled, variegated silt or clay in a yard in my area, I know I won’t be finding anything old.

Of course, there are no absolutes - even backfilled sites can produce. All that backfill came from somewhere, after all…who’s to say it didn’t come from an 1800’s picnic grove? Odds are pretty slim on that, though.
 
One thing I always try to look for in parks and such is sunken areas where structures or trees used to be. If it looks like a big tree was there, I hit the spot around that. Some of my best finds have come from around a square sunken patch in a park that I believe might have been some kind of tool shed or possibly an outhouse. The stone foundation from the house is about 20 yards from that spot.
 
I've been digging around this site looking at old maps of my city.
https://www.loc.gov/maps/

And looking at my county assessment web site to figure out if I know anyone whose homes are on lots that showed up on the 1845 land survey.
 
What determines for me weather to bother with getting a permission is if there is obvious raised ground around the house. The majority of homes built before 1900 have had fill material placed around it to level the yard or to get rain water away from the foundation. The homes that never had this done usually were abandon before WWII.
 
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