Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Fear of digging in own yard...

BugOutBob

BugOutBob

New Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2014
Messages
21
Location
Northern Indiana
I need some advice! I've been metal detecting (mostly woods / fields) for actually close to 7 years now, but I'm scared to death to dig my own yard. My house was the first built in the area so I'm the epicenter for any line / cable / pipe you can imagine. I called out 811 to mark my backyard once, because I wanted to till up a garden. They asked if they could stop after the had the general area down they were so exasperated. My yard looked like a small race track until I finished that weekend. Even after all the marking I ended up hitting a cable line, which from what I can tell, wasn't active. I'm even scared to dig my front yard, I know I have a fiber cable running somewhere through there and the gods know what else.

I just want to be able to walk in my own yard and putter around to see what I can find. I found an excellent signal about 2 years ago and slowly started taking layer by layer, but Indiana clay got the best of me. I didn't want to push my luck.

Any suggestions? (Or commiserating?)
 
Wow, sounds like if you dig you need do need to dig very little at a time.

It would be nice if you could at least know if there was at least one section of your property that was safe.

We live in a manufactured home right near the edge of woods, electric and internet cable lines are overhead, no gas line, no sewer line (septic tank, and I know where it is) just an underground PVC water pipe that I know roughly how it goes so I stay clear of getting too close to that.

Other then seeing if they can at least mark off a section that IS safe to dig, you need to dig a little at a time and/or hope for some shallow finds near the surface.

Maybe someone on the forum can suggest what signals might indicate places you shouldn't dig that more likely could be underground lines rather than an individual object.
 
BugOutBob said:
I need some advice! I've been metal detecting (mostly woods / fields) for actually close to 7 years now, but I'm scared to death to dig my own yard. My house was the first built in the area so I'm the epicenter for any line / cable / pipe you can imagine. I called out 811 to mark my backyard once, because I wanted to till up a garden. They asked if they could stop after the had the general area down they were so exasperated. My yard looked like a small race track until I finished that weekend. Even after all the marking I ended up hitting a cable line, which from what I can tell, wasn't active. I'm even scared to dig my front yard, I know I have a fiber cable running somewhere through there and the gods know what else.

I just want to be able to walk in my own yard and putter around to see what I can find. I found an excellent signal about 2 years ago and slowly started taking layer by layer, but Indiana clay got the best of me. I didn't want to push my luck.

Any suggestions? (Or commiserating?)
Click to expand...


Interesting question. This subject comes up from time to time on md'ing forums: Buried cables and utilities. Ie.: "should we be worried?, should we call 811 before detecting/digging anywhere ?", etc....

For starters, you will not harm "pipes" of any sort. Eg.: metal, PVC, concrete, etc..... You might "bump into them" (and you promptly move over to the sides, or fill back in your hole). But you won't hurt them.

So that only leaves the question of something like fiber optic cables, plastic wires with zero hard-case over them, right ?

Me thinks it's much-ado-about nothing. I've done THOUSANDS of yards, and never had an issue. And the same fear could be cited about normal municipal parks, school yards, etc.... Yet, as you can see, md'rs are combing the USA every day, and no one seems to be tangling with, or ruining, or harming any such lines.

The issue has been discussed many times on many threads. And sure enough, there's always several who will cite "dire sounding things". No doubt pulled straight from the utility Co. brochures that admonish everyone to "call before you dig" (and the brochure has a picture of a back-hoe on the cover, right ? :laughing: ). There will always be something you can find, if you asked enough pencil-pushers, that will make you think you can't even leave your front door in the morning. At some point, you have to read between the lines.

People dig in their yards all the time, and don't even think twice about it. Planting tulip bulbs, making a compost pile, setting paver stones, setting a fence-post, etc.... No one else seems to be worried. And the detector is not going to get a signal off of finely threaded wires, in the first place (or at least nothing you'd be angling for when coin/relic hunting).

I would never hesitate to hit my own yard, if it were the oldest house in the area as you say :cool:
 
Probably better answers out there but you could dig with a plastic trowel when the ground is wet and soft.
 
I need to add that I did have a time in the past (before I got into metal detecting) where I needed to dig in my yard (I thought there was a leak in the water supply pipe, turned out the leak wasn't underground, but where it fed into an outside water purifier above ground on the other side of the house) and in trying to uncover the PVC water pipe to inspect it I ended up punching a hole in it myself :lol: and had to shut off the water at the meter and fix the section of pipe I broke :lol:

So IF anyone does have PVC water pipe underground get an idea how it runs through your yard in case there happens to be a coin or other metal target close to where it's at.
 
I can't agree anymore, BugoutBob. When I first started detecting the first thing I read was "detect in your own yard". I'm a kid (new people might or might not be aware of this), and we kids are a bit selfish. I won't cover it, we are selfish, a tiny bit. I didn't want to absolutely excavate my yard and dig all the way to China, so I galloped to my local park and did it there. See, me be selfish. Perfectly fine if you have a small digger, 1,000,000$ smile, and have headphones. So, I just say do it in your local park to not risk anything, but one tip.

If your shovel hits something, HARD, and big? Go around that and see what it is. Sometimes it might be a rock, others it's a pipe. BIG no no if you bust a pipe.

Edit: looks like the pipe stuff is done. Then something new! A meme!

Screenshot 2021-04-27 2.37.54 PM.jpg
 
My question is, "How deep are the cables, wires, etc?"

My understanding is that they're required to be buried at least 24 inches deep, so shouldn't be a problem. And where I live (Wisconsin) all water pipes are below the frost line (4 feet here).

I don't think you'll be digging for stuff over 10-12 inches, so go for it.
 
CallMeGrey said:
My question is, "How deep are the cables, wires, etc?"

My understanding is that they're required to be buried at least 24 inches deep, so shouldn't be a problem. And where I live (Wisconsin) all water pipes are below the frost line (4 feet here).

I don't think you'll be digging for stuff over 10-12 inches, so go for it.
Click to expand...

Good point, I just noticed the OP's location: Northern Indiana

Likely water pipes must be deeper there than in the southern states :lol:
 
CallMeGrey said:
My question is, "How deep are the cables, wires, etc?"

My understanding is that they're required to be buried at least 24 inches deep, so shouldn't be a problem. And where I live (Wisconsin) all water pipes are below the frost line (4 feet here).

I don't think you'll be digging for stuff over 10-12 inches, so go for it.
Click to expand...

I hit the cable at about 6 inches and hit another in a completely different location at about 3. That’s when I got nervous lol
 
Cables are at different depths depending on installer, company and ground. My internet cables is 3-4" down. When I lived in the ozarks the propane company 'trenched' for my gas line at 2-3" down. They said with all the rocks they were tired of tearing up the teeth on the trencher.
 
CallMeGrey said:
Well, the National Electric Code requires 24 inches. So those cables must have been done by an amateur. :lol:
Click to expand...

But ... sure enough ... despite the "code", yet the *mere fact* that any md'r, at any time, in any place, can even TELL of ever having seen or hit a line, then : Guess what will happen next ? Everyone will fret & worry from now till doomsday that we are at "imminent risk" and should call 811. Blah blah blah.

It never matters how much of an isolated fluke something is. It's just gets thrust over and over and over again to the "top of the worry list" . And stays on the "should we be concerned" repeat-post-list.

We need to start a separate forum topic section for "The psychologies involved in md'ing", haha
 
The cable TV line (which often provides internet service) is the only thing I am concerned about hitting when hunting yards. They are often barely beneath the grass line. Everything else here is buried deeper. Just know where that cable line runs.

There are exceptions... I was hunting the yard of a 5 acre home site two years ago and exposed an electrical line. It was obviously not buried to a suitable depth - likely a DIY project for one of the previous homeowners. Luckily I didn't hit it.
 
I have some electrical lines that are less than 8 inches deep and I've encountered them several times and even knicked one pretty good, but didn't completely sever it.

When I'm in an area where I think there might be shallow wires/cables, I slowly push down on my Sampson shovel and now, I can usually feel the edge of my shovel hitting resistance and can quickly stop if I need to. Usually, it's just a small root, but you never can be too sure.
 
It seems youve already got some good advice here. I am recovering from flu and have to catch up on some stuff. I'm not going to read every post, so pardon me if I reiterate what anybody else has said.

How old is your house? If its old it probably has above-ground electric unless it was redone underground. Are there wires going from the poles to your house? If so, no need to worry about electric cables. Also your metal detector, used correctly, should be able to tell you if youre dealing with a pipe or cable. Youll just get a continuous signal running in two directions between source and terminus. You might want to scan around in all-metal mode and see if any signals fit that description. Dont use discrimination! Its possible the detector would ignore it.

Also, most pipes and electric will likely be a bit deeper than most coins would be found. If you check the things I said and keep them all in mind you should be fine. My sewer line (old!) comes into my yard deep enough that even all-metal modes on the 5 detectors I have used here dont pick it up. There is also a gas line that is not picked up, and I believe it runs about 4ft deep judging by where it comes into the basement. (Psst... thats another angle you can look at too, to clue you as to how deep your utilities run).

I actually found my outdoor water valve for the whole house while detecting with my Makro Gold Kruzer. It picked up the valve about 4" down, but no surrounding pipes...so the valve stem must drop vertically quite a bit before it goes horizontal and heads into my house.

Good luck! Just use some common sense and keep these technicalities mentioned here in mind and you should be fine.

And if it makes you feel any better, there is really little damage you could do with a little hand trowel. When they say "call before you dig" it generally refers to larger tools, backhoes, etc.
 
Hey! Stop fretting! Just call superman and ask him to use his X-ray vision! Then you'll be able to find that gold ring or cable lines MUCH faster...

Josh
 
CallMeGrey said:
My question is, "How deep are the cables, wires, etc?"

My understanding is that they're required to be buried at least 24 inches deep, so shouldn't be a problem. And where I live (Wisconsin) all water pipes are below the frost line (4 feet here).

I don't think you'll be digging for stuff over 10-12 inches, so go for it.
Click to expand...
Telecom service wire generally shallow, anywhere from right beneath sod to an average of about 6-7”, I’ve repaired probably a thousand or more.
 
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