Sidewalk leads toward the alley then turns.

[barberman]

This home is on the 1885 Sanborn with a long sidewalk leading toward the alley, then it makes a 90 to the east and continues for about 10'. Is this a possible location for privies? I've scraped the dirt exposing the sidewalk. Alley is 15' on past the sidewalk end. Probed a bit with my 5' probe, don't know really what I'm supposed to feel. Did I make my probe correctly? Rick

 

[JOETHECROW]

Sure seems logical to me... Worth a look see.

 

[RICKJJ59W]

ORIGINAL: barberman

This home is on the 1885 Sanborn with a long sidewalk leading toward the alley, then it makes a 90 to the east and continues for about 10'. Is this a possible location for privies? I've scraped the dirt exposing the sidewalk. Alley is 15' on past the sidewalk end. Probed a bit with my 5' probe, don't know really what I'm supposed to feel. Did I make my probe correctly? Rick

All the info I told you in emails and you are still talking about the probe tip??? I said it would work. I use a ball tip but yours will work also. Again "you wont know by looking at a scraped surface" you need to take some shovels out.

I'm not trying to be nasty or anything, I am just telling you what I do. You need to dig in man. Stick that shovel in and pull it out, look at the fill and see if there is any glass,bricks,or ash or anything not natural to mother earth. DIG down again look some more replete step 1 keep going until you hit hard clay or a bottle or two.

 

[creeper71]

ORIGINAL: RICKJJ59W

ORIGINAL: barberman

This home is on the 1885 Sanborn with a long sidewalk leading toward the alley, then it makes a 90 to the east and continues for about 10'. Is this a possible location for privies? I've scraped the dirt exposing the sidewalk. Alley is 15' on past the sidewalk end. Probed a bit with my 5' probe, don't know really what I'm supposed to feel. Did I make my probe correctly? Rick

All the info I told you in emails and you are still talking about the probe tip??? I said it would work. I use a ball tip but yours will work also. Again "you wont know by looking at a scraped surface" you need to take some shovels out.

I'm not trying to be nasty or anything, I am just telling you what I do. You need to dig in man. Stick that shovel in and pull it out, look at the fill and see if there is any glass,bricks,or ash or anything not natural to mother earth. DIG down again look some more replete step 1 keep going until you hit hard clay or a bottle or two.

Why you being so nasty? hahhaahaaa jokes nothing but jokes

 

[RICKJJ59W]

ORIGINAL: creeper71

ORIGINAL: RICKJJ59W

ORIGINAL: barberman

This home is on the 1885 Sanborn with a long sidewalk leading toward the alley, then it makes a 90 to the east and continues for about 10'. Is this a possible location for privies? I've scraped the dirt exposing the sidewalk. Alley is 15' on past the sidewalk end. Probed a bit with my 5' probe, don't know really what I'm supposed to feel. Did I make my probe correctly? Rick

All the info I told you in emails and you are still talking about the probe tip??? I said it would work. I use a ball tip but yours will work also. Again "you wont know by looking at a scraped surface" you need to take some shovels out.

I'm not trying to be nasty or anything, I am just telling you what I do. You need to dig in man. Stick that shovel in and pull it out, look at the fill and see if there is any glass,bricks,or ash or anything not natural to mother earth. DIG down again look some more replete step 1 keep going until you hit hard clay or a bottle or two.

Why you being so nasty? hahhaahaaa jokes nothing but jokes

Why? because im Sick that's why []

 

[creeper71]

ORIGINAL: RICKJJ59W

ORIGINAL: creeper71

ORIGINAL: RICKJJ59W

ORIGINAL: barberman

This home is on the 1885 Sanborn with a long sidewalk leading toward the alley, then it makes a 90 to the east and continues for about 10'. Is this a possible location for privies? I've scraped the dirt exposing the sidewalk. Alley is 15' on past the sidewalk end. Probed a bit with my 5' probe, don't know really what I'm supposed to feel. Did I make my probe correctly? Rick

All the info I told you in emails and you are still talking about the probe tip??? I said it would work. I use a ball tip but yours will work also. Again "you wont know by looking at a scraped surface" you need to take some shovels out.

I'm not trying to be nasty or anything, I am just telling you what I do. You need to dig in man. Stick that shovel in and pull it out, look at the fill and see if there is any glass,bricks,or ash or anything not natural to mother earth. DIG down again look some more replete step 1 keep going until you hit hard clay or a bottle or two.

Why you being so nasty? hahhaahaaa jokes nothing but jokes

Why? because im Sick that's why []

Sick? of repeating yourself? ...lol

 

[appliedlips]

Im with Rick on this one, I have dug my fair share of pits and it hasn't taught me anything other than I still have to dig them to put bottles in the bucket. I have to find them with my probe so I can dig them. I have to get permission to probe them,unless a construction site.[] I consider myself good at getting permissions, but at one time I drove by houses like a stalker for months before mustering the courage to approach the door. I consider myself good with a probe but was a slow learner and all the stuff I read and advice I got didn't help me any, pushing it in the ground did, digging spots that were not pits, not digging spots that were. I would have quit if it were a job but I had the fever! I used to try using Sanborns the first few tries, now I can find pits faster than I could find the right map. It looks like you have the knack for getting permissions, it is all downhill from there. Good luck, beautiful weather in the midwest lately,looking forward to seeing some glass!

 

[appliedlips]

I would however grind the thin part of the tip off of that probe and grind it round.

 

[appliedlips]

I would also start probing for the older pits about where the truck is parked, and on the property line near the longer shed of the neighbors.

 

[lexdigger]

Yeah, there is really no way to tell until you find them and dig em out. The bigger yards tend to take more time to find, especially if the property lines ever changed. At times you may find the pits to one house in the yard of another. It takes time to get the feel of probing. The best thing to do is just start probing and dig down ANY time you feel ANYTHING. It could just be some bricks or rocks, but it could also be a pit full of bottles. After stabbing the ground about a thousand times, you will get a Feel for what the natural topsoil and subsoil layers are like. Anytime you feel anything that Deviates from that, dig it up. You will dig a LOT of useless holes... I promise, but the reward of learning how to find pits will pay off in the end. No matter how good someone is with a probe, no one can find them ALL. Every digger out there has let pits slip through their fingers, but if you're persistent and determined you will find MORE than you have the time to dig!
I agree about the probe tip... it needs to be Ground down Flat on the end. I make mine similar to a crayon tip. Pointed enough to get into Kentucky Clay, but not sharp enough to break through glass or stoneware. At this point I can usually tell if it's a brick, stone, glass or pottery by just the feeling and sound alone. Soil samples on the upper side of the beaded tip will usually show white (lime), black (poop), grey (wood ash), red (brick dust) or brown (clay). Occasionally you may even see micro shards of glass mixed into the dirt.

I DIG anytime I feel ANYTHING in the ground and am getting colorful soil samples on the tip.