I find a lot of old iron while  metal detecting and I always wonder what it is. I made myself an account here because I think you guys would be the ones to know. My questions are

1) What are these little iron circles. They are completely flat on the back and were found in a grain field. 

2) What was this spike used for? I can't imagine hammering that into wood with out splitting it.

3) Do you see those two little toes on the bend piece of iron? Is that a cutting technique I find a lot of iron with 2 toes?

Any ideas?  thanks for the help

 

 

The spike is likely from an old harrow.  The donuts might be also, I'm not sure about them.

 Some farm equipment is regional by nature......and the type of grain in the field would make a difference in the equipment used.....were you in a rice paddy or a wheat field...milo perhaps maybe flax.......a little more info would be helpful ......ds 

 Thanks for the replies.  It was a soy bean field last year but the  farm goes back to the 1800's. The crops grown back then were wheat, corn and hay.

 

So do you think those rings are cast iron or hammered?

I would guess that they are NOT cast iron, probably forged or cast steel.  For ag equipment cast iron would rarely be durable enough.

I wonder if those rings weren't part of a seed drill?

 

I suspect that the donuts are part of the chains that were dragged behind the old seed drills to cover the seed.  Horse drawn equipment had a lot of cars iron in them.  Anything that had to be rigid.  Plough shares were cast or steel.  Cast wore longer but broke when you hit a rock.   Steel bent rather than broke but wore out quicker.  

Throw them in a pan of vinegar

it will dissolve the rust ... use some baking soda and water to clean them off... then you will see 

overnight or 2 should work