Mystery platform

[Old_wrestling_fan]

We have a genuine mystery at my oldest son's house that they bought about 2 years ago now. There is a very sturdy wooden platform on the ground behind the house that we do not know what is for. This is outside the city limits and does not appear to be related to the septic system and they share a well with their neighbor, so we dont think it is well related. (Although it could possibly be an old, abandoned well I suppose.)

At any rate, we lifted the structure and it appears to be...nothing. Just dirt. Why would someone go to the trouble of putting a 4' x 4' heavy wooden structure down if the hole, or whatever it is, was already sufficiently filled in? Could this give way at some future point? (I would lose my mind if my grandchildren fell into some death trap that we exposed, etc.)

The people that sold the house do not have any knowledge of what this is, it was there when they bought it, etc.

 

[jonesy5960]

Isn't it possible that it was being used as a rudimentary patio/deck and/or was moved to it's current location at some point in time?

 

[ICWestfan]

Maybe they had a shed on it? A propane tank? Chicken coop?

 

[millah_22]

Pic?

 

[Pinehawk]

4x4 is pretty small. Did it have footings? A solid floor (not a former outhouse?).
Likely not an abandoned well, old ones were commonly in well pits.
Best guess is part of some old structure, or livestock related build.

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

Isn't it possible that it was being used as a rudimentary patio/deck and/or was moved to it's current location at some point in time?

I don't think so, although it is built solid, like a deck would be. It is only about 4' x 4' and flat on the ground, about 30' from the house.

 

[millah_22]

I don't think so, although it is built solid, like a deck would be. It is only about 4' x 4' and flat on the ground, about 30' from the house.

like, how solid? 4x4 isn't that big.

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

Maybe they had a shed on it? A propane tank? Chicken coop?

Propane tank base is a possible maybe, although it would not be long enough to be a base for a normal sized tank. I did "find" an abandoned copper tube that would have gone to a propane tank. (They now have natural gas service, that comes in to the house well away from this area FWIW.) It may be related to a propane tank, but where I found the abandoned line was about 25' away from the structure in question and appeared to going in a different direction.

Although I didn't dig up the whole tube, so maybe it bends somewhat under ground?? Hmmm??

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

I'll go out there at lunch and get a couple pics...thanks gents!

 

[millah_22]

Just my guesses: Either 1. just a small platform deck so they could eat outside without having to be on the bare ground. or 2. It was for something else, got moved there temporarily, and never moved back, previous owners never bothered with it, and the actual use has been lost in time.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Probably a little bit of personal projection here with what I'm focused on but when you have bees you have to keep the hive off the ground, could be where the previous person put their hives. Most people just use pallets.

 

[QChawks]

Dang, I was hoping OPs wife got busted posting naughty photos on some underground website

 

[jonesy5960]

I don't think so, although it is built solid, like a deck would be. It is only about 4' x 4' and flat on the ground, about 30' from the house.

4x4 is the size of a pallet. Maybe something was delivered on it and was simply discarded to where you found it. If it was something really heavy it would have to be a heavy duty block pallet to support it.

 

[Pinehawk]

Some counties have aerial photography on their mapping software where you can look back in time. You may be able to see if there was another shed nearby, or something else that provides more context.
May have just been a platform to sit 100lb propane tanks to heat a shed or a small barn.

 

[OutbackBowl2017]

Could they have put a grill on it to cook in an area close to the kitchen or away from the deck so it didn’t take up space?

 

[Rifler]

Sounds like the type of small deck/minus stairs that you would position outside the door to a trailer...

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

Maybe they had a shed on it? A propane tank? Chicken coop?

this

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

this

Photos will tell us alot if there are any kind of markings, stains, spills, warping ect.

 

[Jerome Silberman]

Turkey fryer launchpad.

 

[TennNole17]

Stockade

 

[ICWestfan]

I'll go out there at lunch and get a couple pics...thanks gents!

Hopefully not too late, but if you take a pic, make sure to include your hand so we know it's real.

 

[torbee]

I don't think so, although it is built solid, like a deck would be. It is only about 4' x 4' and flat on the ground, about 30' from the house.

How remote we talking? Could it be a deer stand?

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

OK, I have a couple of pics now, but apparently I must never have shared any pics here on HROT, as I cannot see how to do so.

At any rate, the ground underneath where the platform was is solid, we dug down about a foot and found nothing other than regular, compacted soil. Upon further review with the previous owner, he thinks maybe they made this platform so as to place a homemade ladder on it for their kids to get up to their trampoline. (The trampoline is no longer there, FWIW.)

The screws that were used on the platform to hold it together appear to "modern" deck screws...so it does not appear as though this thing would have been fashioned ages ago. It was made with 1" x 6" treated deck boards.

We are leaning towards there being nothing of substance underneath it...so not a safety concern. (We also asked them if they had buried any pets in the backyard and used this homemade device as a "shield". Nope...best guess is that it was related to the trampoline entry, to keep their ladder from sinking into the soil and becoming unstable.

 

[torbee]

OK, I have a couple of pics now, but apparently I must never have shared any pics here on HROT, as I cannot see how to do so.

At any rate, the ground underneath where the platform was is solid, we dug down about a foot and found nothing other than regular, compacted soil. Upon further review with the previous owner, he thinks maybe they made this platform so as to place a homemade ladder on it for their kids to get up to their trampoline. (The trampoline is no longer there, FWIW.)

The screws that were used on the platform to hold it together appear to "modern" deck screws...so it does not appear as though this thing would have been fashioned ages ago. It was made with 1" x 6" treated deck boards.

We are leaning towards there being nothing of substance underneath it...so not a safety concern. (We also asked them if they had buried any pets in the backyard and used this homemade device as a "shield". Nope...best guess is that it was related to the trampoline entry, to keep their ladder from sinking into the soil and becoming unstable.

If the pics are on your phone, go to postimages.com and hit the "upload" button.

Once it's uploaded, hit the "copy direct link" button.

Then use the little picture frame button at the top of the thread and drop it in.

VIOLA.

 

[Pinehawk]

Yeah, then probably just a trampoline or above ground pool entry platform.

 

[CJ Beat Hard]

I bet you just woke up some demons. It was a sacrificial altar

 

[noleclone2]

Sounds like a classic Satanic Cult Insemination Platform (SCIP). You can find them in the woods in North Florida, especially Wakulla County.

 

[jonesy5960]

OK, I have a couple of pics now, but apparently I must never have shared any pics here on HROT, as I cannot see how to do so.

At any rate, the ground underneath where the platform was is solid, we dug down about a foot and found nothing other than regular, compacted soil. Upon further review with the previous owner, he thinks maybe they made this platform so as to place a homemade ladder on it for their kids to get up to their trampoline. (The trampoline is no longer there, FWIW.)

The screws that were used on the platform to hold it together appear to "modern" deck screws...so it does not appear as though this thing would have been fashioned ages ago. It was made with 1" x 6" treated deck boards.

We are leaning towards there being nothing of substance underneath it...so not a safety concern. (We also asked them if they had buried any pets in the backyard and used this homemade device as a "shield". Nope...best guess is that it was related to the trampoline entry, to keep their ladder from sinking into the soil and becoming unstable.

This might be the most over-engineered trampoline ladder support in the history of trampoline ladder supports. A couple of $2 patio blocks would have sufficed for that.

 

[THE_DEVIL]

Remnants of a witch burning platform?

 

[Funky Bunch]

They robbed a bank and buried the money there

 

[IAFB2021Champs]

Wouldn’t it be great if the people that lived there previously just built it to make the people that moved in wonder what it was for. Even better is that they claim they don’t know what it was used for.
If I ever move again, I’ll have to build something weird to make them wonder.

 

[TheCainer]

If the pics are on your phone, go to postimages.com and hit the "upload" button.

Once it's uploaded, hit the "copy direct link" button.

Then use the little picture frame button at the top of the thread and drop it in.

VIOLA.

Frank, is that you?