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07/24/05, 03:44 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,197
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A Trap? For What?
At one of the far corners of my new property I discovered a large round metal ring buried into the ground to a depth of about 3 feet. Looks like a livestock water tank kind of. It is about 4 ft diameter and has no bottom (dirt) and no top. All around the top of it are nails which stick out about 2 inches. The placement is odd. It is at a ridge overlooking the creek that borders the property. My first thought was a trap for wild pigs but I'm not sure the placement is right for pigs, even if they are here. At any rate, it looks dangerous for my free range goats and dogs. Will have to find a way to unearth it and haul it away. Any ideas what they would use this to trap in south TN?
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07/24/05, 04:08 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: N E Texas
Posts: 5,362
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Revenuers?  No, I'm just kidding, and curious as all get out as to what such a contraption is for. Hope somebody knows.
Halo
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formerly known as HaloHead
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"... And what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8
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07/24/05, 05:09 PM
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 1,523
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Sounds like a hog trap to me. Does it look like it has been used recently?
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07/24/05, 05:14 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Ohio
Posts: 597
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Sounds like you could have Lil Viet Congs in the area. They like that sort of thing.
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07/24/05, 07:31 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Lower Alabama
Posts: 36
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That really does sound like part of an old still. I used to find a lot of similar things in the woods when I worked in the northwest Alabama, southwest Tennessee region. There were a lot of moonshiners in that area back in the day.
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07/24/05, 08:54 PM
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: michigan
Posts: 50
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i have been trapping for years and have seen or heard about everything. nothing like that rings a bell, except there is a turtle trap made that way, but it floats. like swampfoot said, sounds like part of an old still. maybe if you posted a pic, we would maybe have a better idea.
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07/24/05, 08:59 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: AR
Posts: 2,260
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where would the nails come into play in a still
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07/24/05, 09:56 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Washington, USA
Posts: 2,900
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when you say that nails "stick out", do they protrude point-out or is it the heads of the nails that stick out?
either way, sounds like there was some wood involved that has since rotted away.
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07/25/05, 05:51 AM
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In Remembrance
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: central New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 1,607
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Which direction do the nails point, too. That is, straight up from the edge in the same plane as the edge; or at 90° inwards, or at 90° outwards? Some angle in between?
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τΏτ Don Armstrong,Terra Australis
Grandad, tell us a story about the olden days, when you were young and men could walk on the moon.
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07/25/05, 07:55 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Lower Alabama
Posts: 36
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On the ones I have seen the nails have pointed inward and there were remnants of rotting wood. Basically a tank with a wooden top and bottom. That obviously wouldn't be a cooker on a still but some sort of tank (a thumptank or a cooler for the coil?). The old still sites I have found weren't necessarily on a creek but there was usually a water source at a higher elevation that they could pipe to the still. My granddaddy would have known  but he is sadly no longer with us.
I used to work with a forester from that area. He said the whole "Walking Tall" movie was based on events that actually occured in the area where AL/TN/MS come together. There is some beautiful and remote land around there.
Last edited by Swampfoot; 07/25/05 at 07:57 AM.
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07/25/05, 08:18 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Lower Alabama
Posts: 36
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Take a look at this picture...
http://www.ibiblio.org/moonshine/make/make.html
The copper still runs into a barrel in this case. I think the homemade tanks with the metal side and wooden top and bottom filled this role instead of the barrel. A copper cooker would have been too valuable to leave behind. Even if it was smashed by revenuers you could still sell it for scrap...
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07/25/05, 10:53 AM
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In Remembrance
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Alabama
Posts: 1,947
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its either the thumper or the slobber box. remember no two stills are alike. everyone had their own way depending on how large it was but mostly what they had on hand to make it work, i have made a pot still from a 5 gallon NEW paint bucket(bought at sherwin williams) some 1/4 inch tubing a plastic 5 gallon bucket and large mayonaise jar for the thumper. I also had a crockpot still made from a crockpot and a copper tube and a gallon milk jug. Pot stills are easily made. They are great and cheap to use but I prefer a stainless reflux still with a copper tower.
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What we have here...is a failure to communicate.
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07/25/05, 03:38 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,197
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Thank you for all the replies. I will try to take a photo now that I have some electricity to work my camera with to upload photos. Basically the nails are pointing toward the center of the ring, They were pounded from theoutside of the ring, about 1.5 to 2 inches apart all around this tank. Hog trap was the first thing that came to my mind but it is in an unlikely place for hogs, unless they were chasing them downhill I guess. Anything else would be able to jump out of it. It could also have been used to cook up some wood for the moonshine I suppose. Whatever it is , it is probably a liability if anyone trespasses during hunting season and falls into it. The nails are all rusted. Why can't I discover a treasure chest back there?  Or a working moonshine still? LOL
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07/25/05, 03:42 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,197
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Swampfoot
On the ones I have seen the nails have pointed inward and there were remnants of rotting wood. Basically a tank with a wooden top and bottom. That obviously wouldn't be a cooker on a still but some sort of tank (a thumptank or a cooler for the coil?). The old still sites I have found weren't necessarily on a creek but there was usually a water source at a higher elevation that they could pipe to the still. My granddaddy would have known but he is sadly no longer with us.
I used to work with a forester from that area. He said the whole "Walking Tall" movie was based on events that actually occured in the area where AL/TN/MS come together. There is some beautiful and remote land around there. |
That's right where I am thanks for telling me. The still theory is intriguing and would explain why it is so far back and right by the creek. Never saw the movie Walking Tall, will have to see it.
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07/25/05, 04:01 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: far north Idaho
Posts: 11,134
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In keeping with the "still" theory..maybe its a trap for "revenuers".
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07/25/05, 06:15 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NW PA
Posts: 730
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I swear that all this talk is making me thirsty. It must be at least 20 years since I had a good swig of moonshine...LOL
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07/25/05, 06:19 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Florida
Posts: 397
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Could it be a cistern, ( why by the creek i don't know ) maybe to let water settle. Tango instead of thinking it's remote, look at it again thinking that is where a house /cabin sat 150 + years ago, what could it be ?
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07/26/05, 09:09 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,197
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I hope that photo stays small. The creek is about 15 feet from it and it is not so high on a ridge as I thought. There is a path, a foot path, to the creek from the tank that has been overgrown. Today when the sweltering heat becomes unbearable to work in, I'll go back there and see if I can find other clues lying around.
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07/26/05, 09:11 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,197
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by JoyKelley
Could it be a cistern, ( why by the creek i don't know ) maybe to let water settle. Tango instead of thinking it's remote, look at it again thinking that is where a house /cabin sat 150 + years ago, what could it be ?
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Ill look for other things today. If there were a cabin, I'd probably find some wood around. There is none in the immediate vicinity but there might be higher up on the hill. I'll report back. It is a nice break from the heat and monotony of cleaning
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