Got permission on an overgrown lot, any advice?

Fooleeze

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2018
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340
Location
Copley, OH
I received permission on a lot near my house. The house on the lot was built in 1917, but it has been empty for several years, and the lot is overgrown. I drove by to see how bad it was, and the grass/weeds immediately around the house are a good 2-3 feet tall.

Do I take a trimmer or sicle with me? Do I swing as best I can through tall stuff? Do I save myself the headache and skip it? Or do I try to get permission to search in March after the winter thaw (hoping that weeds are laying down)?

What have others done?
 
weeded lot

If you ran a weed eater over it the owner might welcome you back any time, you have to weigh the possible finds on a house and lot that old verses the work involved. If you take a detecting buddy you could cut the work in 1/2. I would love to hunt a site that old lots of possible coins and relic , but you have no way of knowing if some one else has already hit it hard in the past.
 
If you ran a weed eater over it the owner might welcome you back any time
thinking the same thing or get your mower in there and clear it out.

It is very difficult to swing a detector through tall weeds.
I have a site where an early 1800's barn was torn down a few years ago. Wanted to check it out but waited too long and now is thick with three foot tall weeds.
I'll go next late winter/early spring after the snow has crushed it all down.
 
How many other properties does he own? a couple hours of yard work could open more permissions. I can weed-eat faster than I can detect. I would clear a path from the driveway to the porch and around the tree out front and search there. If you find anything worthwhile head to the clothesline ouback and keep swinging the weed-eater and the detector. If I was finding good stuff at an over grown lot I'd bring the snapper and cut the whole thing. He's doing you a favor why not return the favor and cut the grass for him?
 
I have the same problem at an old homesite near me...too overgrown to swing...I considered roundup LOL but that was the little devil on my shoulder...the angel beat him up before I did it.

I'm thinking taking a weed whacker out there once I either fix my current one or buy a new one.
 
This suggestion is kinda where I'm leaning. . . maybe I go and check out the spots I can get to this weekend (there's a big tree in the front, maybe I can get under that). I can put my trimmer in my car and maybe discretely hit a few spots near the front of the house to see if this is going to be a good property. Beyond that, maybe I can talk to the owner and ask for more permission to clean more of the property depending on what I find. Maybe he'll appreciate it. I don't know what his long-term plans are for the property.



How many other properties does he own? a couple hours of yard work could open more permissions. I can weed-eat faster than I can detect. I would clear a path from the driveway to the porch and around the tree out front and search there. If you find anything worthwhile head to the clothesline ouback and keep swinging the weed-eater and the detector. If I was finding good stuff at an over grown lot I'd bring the snapper and cut the whole thing. He's doing you a favor why not return the favor and cut the grass for him?
 
What I have done is bring a 4'x4' piece of plywood and lay it on the grass. Detect over the board that's smashing the grass down. When you cover that spot, flip the board and repeat.
 
Hm. . . that is a really great idea! So I shouldn't use a piece of plywood with a bunch of old nails in it, right? :D

Do you notice any impact to the signal through the plywood?



What I have done is bring a 4'x4' piece of plywood and lay it on the grass. Detect over the board that's smashing the grass down. When you cover that spot, flip the board and repeat.
 
What I have done is bring a 4'x4' piece of plywood and lay it on the grass. Detect over the board that's smashing the grass down. When you cover that spot, flip the board and repeat.

Never heard of this before. Good thinking.
 
I received permission on a lot near my house. The house on the lot was built in 1917, but it has been empty for several years, and the lot is overgrown. I drove by to see how bad it was, and the grass/weeds immediately around the house are a good 2-3 feet tall.

Do I take a trimmer or sicle with me? Do I swing as best I can through tall stuff? Do I save myself the headache and skip it? Or do I try to get permission to search in March after the winter thaw (hoping that weeds are laying down)?

What have others done?

I have a curiosity when it comes to others thought process. What was your "plan" when you asked permission?

Best thing to do? Turn him into the City, so they can make him mow it.

Go detect ;)
 
What I have done is bring a 4'x4' piece of plywood and lay it on the grass. Detect over the board that's smashing the grass down. When you cover that spot, flip the board and repeat.

This is how Crop circles are made.. someone been watching too much Ancient Aliens :laughing:
 

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When driving by one day I noticed that part of the lot was mowed down (I think a neighbor was cutting down hay), and the house was abandoned. I looked it up and saw that it was built in 1917 and that caught my interest. So I sent a letter to the owner asking permission, and he fortunately called me the day he got the letter, and granted me permission (with an understanding that more valuable items would need to go through him).

I then drove by the property to get a closer look of what I was dealing with, which was when I noticed how overgrown the grass around the house was. Obviously the prime spots are around the front and back doors of the house, by the driveway, etc, and those were the overgrown spots.

I really loved the plywood suggestion. I'm going to go there, take some pieces of plywood, I'll also have my trimmer and a weed cutter available just in case I want to be more destructive. :)

I have a curiosity when it comes to others thought process. What was your "plan" when you asked permission?

Best thing to do? Turn him into the City, so they can make him mow it.

Go detect ;)
 
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How many other properties does he own? a couple hours of yard work could open more permissions. I can weed-eat faster than I can detect. I would clear a path from the driveway to the porch and around the tree out front and search there. If you find anything worthwhile head to the clothesline ouback and keep swinging the weed-eater and the detector. If I was finding good stuff at an over grown lot I'd bring the snapper and cut the whole thing. He's doing you a favor why not return the favor and cut the grass for him?

^^^^^^^^

This, absolutely this! :yes:
 
Made it

Well, I finally made it to this property today. Man it was rough. As I described, the property has a yard, a garage and a small barn. It also has a few acres of field that was recently cut down.

The yard around the house is severely overgrown. I took some plywood to give that a shot. It kinda worked. I also took a weed cutter and cut down some weeds near the sidewalks, front door, back door, etc. I spent about 3-4 hours out there. I tried a bit by the front door, side door, the front yard around a few trees, etc.

Around the house, I found 15 - 20 coins, but all were modern, most in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. As I moved out into the field, I learned that this place is FILLED with trash and junk. My 'iron audio' was pretty much constantly grunting at me. I got to talk briefly to a neighbor, and he said it was practically a junk yard at one time.

I only hunted a portion of the property, but I didn't find anything that tells me I'm going to find a bunch of silver or anything. I may go back again at some point and explore the field some more, but I'm not optimistic I'll come up with anything significant.

I was hopeful, but oh well. Keep on hunting.
 
Well, I finally made it to this property today. Man it was rough. As I described, the property has a yard, a garage and a small barn. It also has a few acres of field that was recently cut down.

The yard around the house is severely overgrown. I took some plywood to give that a shot. It kinda worked. I also took a weed cutter and cut down some weeds near the sidewalks, front door, back door, etc. I spent about 3-4 hours out there. I tried a bit by the front door, side door, the front yard around a few trees, etc.

Around the house, I found 15 - 20 coins, but all were modern, most in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. As I moved out into the field, I learned that this place is FILLED with trash and junk. My 'iron audio' was pretty much constantly grunting at me. I got to talk briefly to a neighbor, and he said it was practically a junk yard at one time.

I only hunted a portion of the property, but I didn't find anything that tells me I'm going to find a bunch of silver or anything. I may go back again at some point and explore the field some more, but I'm not optimistic I'll come up with anything significant.

I was hopeful, but oh well. Keep on hunting.

Sorry to hear about that I had high hopes for you !!

You should of done the Crop Circle thing and at least made the evening News for your troubles..:grin:
 
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