Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

Discussion issues on Beer Cans,, Breweriana, Attended Shows etc...

Moderators: Forum Moderator, Current Officers, Previous Officers

User avatar
LostHoosier
Flat Top
Flat Top
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:36 pm
Answers: 1
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 1283
BCCA Number: 28740
Year Started Collecting: 1975
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 5 times
Zodiac:
Status: Offline
United States of America

Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#1

Post by LostHoosier »

The wife and I are spending a week near Machias, Washington County, Maine soon and I expect to have time to hit a few back roads in the Gardner Lake - Cathance Lake area. Plan is to do a little hiking, see some wildlife, including the moose (which we believe to be a mythical creature since we've never sighted one!), check out some ice age geology, and to see if I can find an old beer can dump or two.

So some questions for the Rusty Bunch New England dumping crews:

What is best way to hunt for dumps in downeast Maine? Drive roads and check pull-offs? Or park and hike into abandoned cabin sites (I have old and new USGS topo maps of the area)???

Are dumps generally on the surface in ravines, hillside pull-offs, or low places close to buildings, or does one need a metal detector to hunt for buried pits or cans buried in years of leaf litter??

I also have access to an area of cabins built in early 1900s and still in use, and these have fishing/boat docks. Any chance that cans sunk in the lake near the docks are still there?

Also was wondering about condition of cans - down here in Georgia and Alabama, low ground, acidic boggy soil eats away cans quickly, so how well do cans around the lakes of Maine hold up? I've seen some of the posts on here about dumping in the Northwoods and further west in Maine, and those cans look pretty good.

I like shiny cans, not rust, so I look for dumps mainly for the outdoor experience and to beef up trade stock. If I were to find anything interesting or notice a locale that needs more attention than a quick pass can allow, I'll relay the info on so that others can go back and look closer.

Thanks.
Ed R


Ed Reid
BCCA #28740
User avatar
Cap-Sealed
Overlord of Rust
Overlord of Rust
Posts: 6568
Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2006 3:41 pm
Answers: 0
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 101
BCCA Number: 28462
eBay name: Cap-Sealed
Year Started Collecting: 1972
Location: High Desert
Has thanked: 201 times
Been thanked: 886 times
Zodiac:
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#2

Post by Cap-Sealed »

I have never been to Maine but Gold is where you find it. Sounds like you are on the right track. Don't forget to check out the antique shops - this is your best bet for shiney cans. Brad (from NM) found a Stroud Ale in one for cheap!
*
Facebook: Roadrunner Chapter of the BCCA
KMA_367
ED S
RB #101 Keeping the Rusty Bunch RUSTY since 1985!
Always Going For Unobtainium!
Calcans@aol.com
User avatar
bantam10
Overlord of Rust
Overlord of Rust
Posts: 8417
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 7:54 pm
Answers: 0
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 866
BCCA Number: 34752
Year Started Collecting: 2000
Location: End of the 1/4 mile
Has thanked: 608 times
Been thanked: 905 times
Zodiac:
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#3

Post by bantam10 »

LostHoosier wrote: Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:08 pm

What is best way to hunt for dumps in downeast Maine? Drive roads and check pull-offs? Or park and hike into abandoned cabin sites (I have old and new USGS topo maps of the area)???

Are dumps generally on the surface in ravines, hillside pull-offs, or low places close to buildings, or does one need a metal detector to hunt for buried pits or cans buried in years of leaf litter??

I also have access to an area of cabins built in early 1900s and still in use, and these have fishing/boat docks. Any chance that cans sunk in the lake near the docks are still there?



Thanks.
Ed R

All of the above are great places. Honestly. It's like this here in MI too, not just Maine. If I were you, I would look for old cabins with your maps first and check those places out. If you find an old two track near an old or abandoned cabin that's a win win. The absolute best way to look for cans near a cabin though is with a metal detector, and you'll have to find what I call the "pit field" which is the general area where all the pits were used. Sometimes 30 ft away, sometimes it's right out the back door.

If they didn't use a pit then a ravine or lowland is your second best option. Ones near old houses and 2 tracks and roads are your obvious best places.

And even if you just hit pull offs, that's cool too. Because either people were roadside drinking or even roadside dumping.



Wonder how many people read all that? Anyway, hope that helps a little.
Bantam - when you pop a Regal OI, everyone will want to dig with you and no one will give you crap anymore.... until then, Keep On Truckin" !
User avatar
LostHoosier
Flat Top
Flat Top
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:36 pm
Answers: 1
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 1283
BCCA Number: 28740
Year Started Collecting: 1975
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 5 times
Zodiac:
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#4

Post by LostHoosier »

Thanks Ted:
Needless to say, southeast Indiana and the rural south doesn't have much in the way of vacation or hunting cabins, so my dumping has always been "scatter dumping" at pull offs or checking ravines or the woods near old houses, bars, or dance halls.

I believe you're probably right about checking the cabin areas - unfortunately, I can't carry my metal detector with me this trip, so I'll be scouting the surface areas. One thing in favor of surface dumping is that this part of Maine has some very rocky soil and digging pits would be difficult. There are also at least two old gravel roads that lead to lakeside cabins as well and I'll probably hike along them to see what's been thrown out.

I actually have "dumped" Michigan once and love reading about your dumping trips! Many, many years ago, when I was 16 and on a scout trip to the Grayling area, some of us found a campfire ring at the end of a two-track while hiking and about 20-30 ft out in the woods there was a ring of cans in the pine needles. Most were white Drewry's flats, Strohs flats, and Black Label (of course the BLs were nearly perfect), but we also found a grade 4 blue Sebewaing and a faded Paul Bunyan with the seam ate out. Fortunately for us, the Scoutmaster was a habitual picker and collector of stuff, so he had no problem with his troop taking home rusty beer cans! That is probably still my best dumping outing ANYWHERE!! There were a lot of cabins along the Au Sable River east of Grayling back then, so who knows what else is still out there.

Ed R
Ed Reid
BCCA #28740
User avatar
keithker
Rusty Bunch President
Rusty Bunch President
Posts: 4826
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:40 pm
Answers: 0
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 969
BCCA Number: 11507
Year Started Collecting: 1975
Location: Brandon Florida
Has thanked: 1141 times
Been thanked: 1908 times
Zodiac:
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#5

Post by keithker »

Ed......just recommend you stroll in the woodline whenever possible vice glancing down from the gravel road. You would be surprised at the different perspective you'd get looking up the hill rather than down it........I can't tell you how many times I'll look at something and then go from a different perspective/angle only to now see the gems poking back up out of the ground....
iggyks
Grand Marshall of Rust
Grand Marshall of Rust
Posts: 1945
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2012 10:15 pm
Answers: 0
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 1064
Year Started Collecting: 1973
Location: Kansas: The Land That Beer Forgot...
Has thanked: 26 times
Been thanked: 62 times
Zodiac:
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#6

Post by iggyks »

bantam10 wrote: Sat Jul 15, 2017 12:42 pm
Wonder how many people read all that? Anyway, hope that helps a little.
I did!!
I'm constantly finding good cans... in my mailbox. *** My third year of waging Schlitzkrieg on the Flint Hills of Kansas ***
User avatar
bantam10
Overlord of Rust
Overlord of Rust
Posts: 8417
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 7:54 pm
Answers: 0
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 866
BCCA Number: 34752
Year Started Collecting: 2000
Location: End of the 1/4 mile
Has thanked: 608 times
Been thanked: 905 times
Zodiac:
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#7

Post by bantam10 »

@LostHoosier even just looking on the surface is better than nothing. Go for it! I forgot about that part of the country being rocky.

And I got several places by greyling I'm going to hit this year. Never been dumping around that area before so it will be a challenge :)
Bantam - when you pop a Regal OI, everyone will want to dig with you and no one will give you crap anymore.... until then, Keep On Truckin" !
oldindiapaleale
Grand Marshall of Rust
Grand Marshall of Rust
Posts: 1590
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 8:25 pm
Answers: 0
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 892
BCCA Number: 34073
eBay name: record-american
Year Started Collecting: 2200
Has thanked: 248 times
Been thanked: 234 times
Status: Offline
Ukraine

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#8

Post by oldindiapaleale »

I havent been downeast but here in the midcoast (Freeport to Rockland) condition in the ground tends to be pretty rough due to the salt water. 20 or more miles inland and conditions get better. Western Maine along the New Hampshire border and in the ski resort areas where there are many old camps seem to produce the best results. Good luck.
User avatar
LostHoosier
Flat Top
Flat Top
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:36 pm
Answers: 1
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 1283
BCCA Number: 28740
Year Started Collecting: 1975
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 5 times
Zodiac:
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine?? (Follow Up Post)

#9

Post by LostHoosier »

Just a followup on attempted dumping in Downeast Maine (and yes, the key word is "attempted"!).

Although the area north and east of Machias is beautiful country, it doesn't lend itself to finding old beer cans. We spent a day looking at former cabin and homesites near lakes north of Machias, about 20-miles inland. It turned out that the group of cabins I had access to were used as a Church Campground from the early 1900s into the 1970s, before being sold off!!! Needless to say, no beer cans to be found! But based on the total crumbling rust of some 1970's steel soda cans, preservation of any older cans would have been poor.

Also tried walking along roadsides and wood line near the lakes. Found a few ACL soda bottles with the labels all but gone and some disintegrating (as in they fell apart when picked up) rusty flattop cans. The ground in this region is a mix of boggy soil on shallow rock with thick growth of lichen and moss coating the ground, to deep well-drained sand and gravel glacial deposits. Unfortunately, the good soils are cleared for wild blueberry production or are managed timberstands that have been logged and replanted in the last 40-50 years.

I didn't have time to hit some other promising areas that have older private camp cabins and a former college field camp, so there's still a chance there's dumps to be found - but it will be a lot of effort for potentially very few cans. And a metal detector would definitely be needed.

Even the antique stores and flea markets were a strike out this trip. Saw a few 1960's Ballantine and Narragansett pull tabs. Did see a dealer at one roadside flea market that had about a dozen old wood beer bottle crates including Narry, Krueger, and Ballantine that would interest some of you, but that was it.

Ed
Ed Reid
BCCA #28740
User avatar
Diamond State Boy
Rust Master General
Rust Master General
Posts: 688
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:49 pm
Answers: 0
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 0
BCCA Number: 0
Year Started Collecting: 1976
Location: Wallace NC
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 5 times
Zodiac:
Status: Offline

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#10

Post by Diamond State Boy »

Don't get too discouraged on an area based on what you find laying around..Thicker cans with thicker paint which were buried can easily hold up 50+ yrs longer than a surface pull tab. Less oxygen buried and longer frozen time has yielded sweet 30s cans to this day.
"Don't lend your hand to raise no flag..atop no ship of fools."
Paul Letostak
Rust Master
Rust Master
Posts: 480
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:35 pm
Answers: 0
Rusty Bunch Member Number: 557
BCCA Number: 30997
eBay name: paulcan
Year Started Collecting: 1978
Location: Georgia
Zodiac:
Status: Offline
Slovakia

Re: Questions about Dumping in Downeast Maine??

#11

Post by Paul Letostak »

Ed, glad to hear you and the wife got a chance to do some dumping! We missed you in Tucker. Hope to see you in Cleveland.

Paul
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “General Discussion”