wiring - Metal spike with heavy metal cord found in front lawn - Home Improvement ...

Page 1 of 3

sign up log in tour help

_
Home Improvement Stack Exchange is Here's how it works:
a question and answer site for
contractors and serious DIYers. Join
them; it only takes a minute:

Sign up Anybody can ask Anybody can The best answers are voted
a question answer up and rise to the top

Metal spike with heavy metal cord found in front lawn

While raking my front lawn I came across this metal stake in the ground, wrapped in a thick metal wire/cord. I could not pull the stake up. I dug
around and found the wire, pulling up on it and it seems to go quite a ways, so I stopped before messing up more of the lawn. It is obviously
not a live wire, as I touched it albeit through gloves.

I am a new owner, and I spoke with a neighbor to see if previous owners had a dog as I though it could be part of an invisible fence, and they
said there has not been a dog in the house for at least 30 years. The stake is within 5 feet of the house, and is close to some utility boxes
including electricity, old phone, and cable. However, I previously had the utility lines marked and nothing was in this specific area (though
could be old, or they could have incorrectly marked it). The main wire running away from the stake is going in the opposite direction of the
utility boxes.

Any thoughts? My concern is that it is protruding close to a half inch above the surface

EDIT: Thanks for all the comments, and no, it is not a bomb.

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/113518/metal-spike-with-heavy-metal-cord-f... 26/04/2017
wiring - Metal spike with heavy metal cord found in front lawn - Home Improvement ... Page 2 of 3

wiring outdoor lawn

edited 18 hours ago asked yesterday

Sean
123 1 6

6 Do you live in the US? As a European, I would be very careful with a unidentified metal object I find buried in the
ground, out of fear for an old WWII bomb. These things still surface every now and then even 70 years later...
Federico Poloni yesterday

If it's only half an inch above the surface, you could raise the lawn a bit in that area (it's probably sunk since they
installed it) or make a flower bed there. RedSonja yesterday

5 is it a grounding pin? dalearn 23 hours ago

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/113518/metal-spike-with-heavy-metal-cord-f... 26/04/2017
wiring - Metal spike with heavy metal cord found in front lawn - Home Improvement ... Page 3 of 3

@FedericoPoloni you really think there was ever a bomb with a 1.5 cm wire attached and buried? Carl Witthoft 18
hours ago

@CarlWitthoft as dropped from a bomber probably not. As a boobytrap, maybe. Dan Neely 18 hours ago

1 Answer

It's a grounding rod, probably 8 or 10 feet long, such as is required for any residential
installation. They're usually proximal to the breaker panel or fuse box in the home or
outbuilding. You may have encountered an obsolete one that's been disconnected. You'll need
to trace the bare copper wire to be sure.

You can drive it down below the surface if you like. Try not to damage the wire, which can also
be buried a bit deeper without causing problems.

answered yesterday
isherwood
21.5k 4 29 62

10 @Sean if you didn't catch it in the answer, they are 8 feet long. They take more than a love tap to drive them down.
StrongBad yesterday

9 If it moved at all, more hammering will move it more. Do excavate to make room for the wire so that you don't drive
the wire clamp off the rod. I find that persistence, more than brute force, helps get it into the ground. Ecnerwal
yesterday

6 @Sean follow that copper wire - verify where it goes before you go pulling breaking banging away .. Yes the Rod is
about 8 feet down , the copper wire runs 5 feet to the box pole probably. This is your home Ground. I would venture
it to be unlikely that it is not in use - although not impossible. The only reason would be someone came out and
found your ground was no longer 'ground' - using a tool called a 'Megger' . If you want it deeper it will take a big rain
and a sledge hammer. Ken yesterday

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/113518/metal-spike-with-heavy-metal-cord-f... 26/04/2017