Dowsing Rods

[J Hamilton]

This is the first time I've heard them called dowsing rods. I always heard them referred to as witching sticks

 

[John T]

I used a small thin green Y shaped tree limb it worked perfect to locate all my buried water lines EXACTLY !!!!!!!!!! I was taught how by an older gentleman and of course this sort of thing, regardless of the material or items used, does NOT work for everybody, to each their own abilities of course, it did work great for me is all I can say, I'm sure others have different experiences or ability or the lack thereof........

Of course people can google the answer how it works or how it don’t work lol one can find something on the net on BOTH sides of any issue. I’m just speaking of personal experience longggg before google or the net was ever invented by Algore lol

John T

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I've done it with bent coat hangers. Located water lines and well when we built the house. Can't say about the forked stick method but my dad said his dad would use it.

 

[tom upton]

What my Dad did made a lot of sense, and also made us believers in witching for water. He had two different guys come in . When the first person determined the spot to dig Dad marked it discretly with an old golf tee and covered it over with the grass. The second fellow was well known in our area for witching wells he pinpointed a spot that he said was good and we should hit water at around 18-20 feet. Dad reached down in the grass and there ws the golf tee almost exactly in the same spot! I was only a teenager at the time, but I will never forget it. I tryed with every wire, willow branch you could think of and I could not get it to work, but I do believe it works for some.

 

[moresmoke]

My neighbor drilled wells for decades. Said he never got into using them but knew another driller that would use them if landowners insisted. He asked the guy if he thought it worked. He said nah, he just walked around until he found a nice flat area to set up his rig, pointed them downward and said “right here”.

I had a friend locate a well for me. He marked it as 20 gpm, at 80 feet. At 75 feet, the well driller was skeptical in a still dry hole. 3 feet of really hard rock later he broke through into a vein of water. Would run 20 gpm easily.

Myself, I can find septic tanks, not much else.

 

[teddy52food]

If you have 2 people & one has the knack, just use one rod in the left hand of one & the other hold his with his right hand Then join hands right & left & try it. It will work for both & after that chances age good it will work for both.

 

[John T]

This is the first time I've heard them called dowsing rods. I always heard them referred to as witching sticks

Witching for water is also what I heard it called. It’s fun to hear different people’s experience and different tools be it wire or sticks ettc

It’s also funny how it works only for some but none whatsoever for others. Of course I can’t speak for others and sure not going to question their word so can only say what worked for me and that was with the green thin forked stick not rods lol

Fun thread and fun to hear different experiences from those for whom it works yayyy

Of course some gents may google it and what’s found on the internet has to be true doncha know even if two different articles claim just the opposite lol

John T

 

[John T]

Yes Mark .
The first wires I used were from plastic coated clothes hangers . No reaction whatsoever. My effective ones ; that found my sewer line , were steel wire rotating loosely in copper tube handles . I wish I had heard of Mr Randi's challenge, I just might have been successful !

Good for you and what worked for you.. what worked for me was different but I’ve seen and heard the types that worked for you by others. Different strokes for different folks as said

Best wishes

John T

 

[jwal10]

My uncle witched wells all over using an apple branch. Everyone found water, except on his own property. He could tell you how deep and how many gallons. Said 20' so he hand dug, to 30' and never found water. He found pockets of mud, just enough he kept digging, sure to find it. He said he could rub rods on whatever material he was looking for and find it. Said he found gold in Alaska but we never saw where he ran into money.

Never worked for me. I have been told too much electricity in my body. I can never keep a watch running. Brother has done some with good results....James

 

[olddavid]

I used a small thin green Y shaped tree limb it worked perfect to locate all my buried water lines EXACTLY !!!!!!!!!! I was taught how by an older gentleman and of course this sort of thing, regardless of the material or items used, does NOT work for everybody, to each their own abilities of course, it did work great for me is all I can say, I'm sure others have different experiences or ability or the lack thereof........

My grandfather could use just a very small diameter limber sapling (grabbed by the small end). When it started bobbing that meant water below. It would bob and you counted the number of bobs and when it stopped that was how deep it was in feet. Using an auger type manual post hole digger and pipe extensions I verified his accuracy in a couple of spots. One spot didn't have much water but it was there. One was pretty good and could work a sand point at low volume. Nope, it wouldn't work for me or my mom but when he grabbed her hand holding the stick it would start bobbing. Call me crazy but I know what I saw.

 

[Square Eye]

My grandfather could use just a very small diameter limber sapling (grabbed by the small end). When it started bobbing that meant water below. It would bob and you counted the number of bobs and when it stopped that was how deep it was in feet. Using an auger type manual post hole digger and pipe extensions I verified his accuracy in a couple of spots. One spot didn't have much water but it was there. One was pretty good and could work a sand point at low volume. Nope, it wouldn't work for me or my mom but when he grabbed her hand holding the stick it would start bobbing. Call me crazy but I know what I saw.

My grandfather could use just a very small diameter limber sapling (grabbed by the small end). When it started bobbing that meant water below. It would bob and you counted the number of bobs and when it stopped that was how deep it was in feet. Using an auger type manual post hole digger and pipe extensions I verified his accuracy in a couple of spots. One spot didn't have much water but it was there. One was pretty good and could work a sand point at low volume. Nope, it wouldn't work for me or my mom but when he grabbed her hand holding the stick it would start bobbing. Call me crazy but I know what I saw.

You are the first personfeed I’ve heard mention using the rod in this manner.

My father-in-law used a small green forked limb to find water, then used the green sapling to determine depth and gph. When he used it, after it quit bobbing up and down it would sway back and forth.

He liked to try to find a spot where two streams crossed for the well site.

As mentioned by another poster, he could lay a hand on the shoulder of someone who didn’t have the knack, and then that person could devine successfully.

 

[MarkB_MI]

I used a small thin green Y shaped tree limb it worked perfect to locate all my buried water lines EXACTLY !!!!!!!!!! I was taught how by an older gentleman and of course this sort of thing, regardless of the material or items used, does NOT work for everybody, to each their own abilities of course, it did work great for me is all I can say, I'm sure others have different experiences or ability or the lack thereof........

Of course people can google the answer how it works or how it don’t work lol one can find something on the net on BOTH sides of any issue. I’m just speaking of personal experience longggg before google or the net was ever invented by Algore lol

John T

John, if Maxwell's equations can't explain dowsing, should we just chalk it up to witchcraft? I'm asking you as both an engineer and a theologian.

 

[guido]

Yes Mark .
The first wires I used were from plastic coated clothes hangers . No reaction whatsoever. My effective ones ; that found my sewer line , were steel wire rotating loosely in copper tube handles . I wish I had heard of Mr Randi's challenge, I just might have been successful !

This is the first time I've heard them called dowsing rods. I always heard them referred to as witching sticks

Learn something new everyday,

Guido.

 

[guido]

This is the first time I've heard them called dowsing rods. I always heard them referred to as witching sticks

Learn something new every day

Guido.

So.... has anyone ever made a set of DEFECTIVE dowsing rods? You know, ones that didn't work? And when you replaced them with a different set of dowsing rods all the sudden you were able to find exactly what you were looking for?

Interestingly, dowsers are never able to demonstrate their ability to find buried objects under controlled conditions. The late James Randi had for many years a standing offer of one million dollars to anyone who could do it, yet no dowser was ever able to collect it.

Yes I have, Wood ones do not work for me. Maybe they wood should be made out of green wood?

Guido.

 

[guido]

Witching for water is also what I heard it called. It’s fun to hear different people’s experience and different tools be it wire or sticks ettc

It’s also funny how it works only for some but none whatsoever for others. Of course I can’t speak for others and sure not going to question their word so can only say what worked for me and that was with the green thin forked stick not rods lol

Fun thread and fun to hear different experiences from those for whom it works yayyy

Of course some gents may google it and what’s found on the internet has to be true doncha know even if two different articles claim just the opposite lol

John T

Hey John T

I have one from made from dry wood, it does not work for me. You say green wood? How do you use them then?

Guido

 

[Terry G]

My grandfather could use just a very small diameter limber sapling (grabbed by the small end). When it started bobbing that meant water below. It would bob and you counted the number of bobs and when it stopped that was how deep it was in feet. Using an auger type manual post hole digger and pipe extensions I verified his accuracy in a couple of spots. One spot didn't have much water but it was there. One was pretty good and could work a sand point at low volume. Nope, it wouldn't work for me or my mom but when he grabbed her hand holding the stick it would start bobbing. Call me crazy but I know what I saw.

If that same stick was used in a country that uses the metric system would it still measure in feet. Could it be calibrated to measure in meters?

 

[MarkB_MI]

If that same stick was used in a country that uses the metric system would it still measure in feet. Could it be calibrated to measure in meters?

If that same stick was used in a country that uses the metric system would it still measure in feet. Could it be calibrated to measure in meters?

It depends on the species. An American elm branch will always give the depth in feet, regardless of what country you're in. But a communist Chinese elm branch will be calibrated in meters.

 

[DanielW]

When I worked at a building supply store, a driller came in and was talling to one of the other employes on the desk about the witcher that worked with him. He said that he himself never had the gift. My co-worker asked, 'Can he wear a watch?', and the driller said, 'No, unless it' s digital'. My co-workwr said the person who witched his well had the same problem. Apparently conventional quartz crystal watches run erattically when worn by people with the 'gift'. I've never heard anyone else mention that.

My brother who works in geophysics also told me that, while never effectively proven in scientific conditions, every ancient civilization, even those isolated from each other, had developed similar methods of witching/divining.

 

[John T]

Hey John T

I have one from made from dry wood, it does not work for me. You say green wood? How do you use them then?

Guido

Mornin friend. Actually I never tried any old dead dried up limbs. The old gentleman who taught me insisted they be fresh green having something to do with internal moisture and being alive up until I cut them etc etc. I hold the fork loose and straight out and exactly when I crossed a buried water line or other times ??? It pointed and pulled down hard and big time.

I’m glad to see how dowsing works for so many of us farmers and ranchers maybe not so much for city slickers. Just because we can’t know or explain the science and reasons does not mean we’re all a bunch of liars no way I would accuse anyone here of lying about how dowsing works for them even if it don’t work for most others.

Again one could find about anything in the internet that proves or disproves anything take your pick. I can’t know or speak for others experienced or statements but don’t call them liars and can know for sure using fresh green y tree limbs allows me to find water or water lines.

Take care Guido nice chatting with you

John T

 

[John T]

Learn something new every day

Guido.

Yes I have, Wood ones do not work for me. Maybe they wood should be made out of green wood?

Guido.

X2. Only fresh green just cut thin limbs worked great for me I never tried old dead dried up ones. That’s all I can say and know what worked good for me but can’t speak for others if it works or not for them I take them at their word

John T