METAL DETECTOR INFO NEEDED

3RRL · Aug 2, 2006

Hi,
I want to get a decent metal detector in the $150 to $200 range to use for general purpose and also to locate burried pipes. Can you advise me what Brands and models will detect deep enough to use? I imagine about 24" deep or so would be good enough...then again, I'm not sure....maybe a little deeper?
Thanks,

Jimbrown · Aug 2, 2006

White and Garratt are both very good and there are others. $200 is low end for metal detectors. The good ones are a lot more costly. There are different kinds of dectectors. Some are made specifically for coins, some for beaches and some prospecting and some for artifact hunting. You might want to call one of the larger distributors sellers and tell them what you want to use it for. I dont think the ones designed for coins are particulary good at finding pipes ect in fact they have specialized circuits to keep it from doing so. You might need one of the ones designed for prospecting as they look for gold iorn ect. The ones good at artifact hunting might be good also as they are used to look for cannon balls ect.

3RRL · Aug 2, 2006

Hi JIm,
I saw the Garrett brand ones. I noticed they had an expensive model nearing $1,000? Is that normal? I was hoping to get one a lot cheaper than that...
I will call them and ask, like you suggested.
Thanks,

monkeymonk · Aug 3, 2006

Hey 3rrl

got any gold around?

I bought a "whites" they have a good line of detectors in all sorts of price points. The gold ones run round $700-1,100 the everyday fun ones are cheaper, Mine Lab makes a good piece as well. If you got gold around its not a bad idea.

Jimbrown · Aug 3, 2006

I have a whites it is fairly old and would be the equivelant of this one
http://www.whiteselectronics.com/mxtw.php Mine cost about $450. It has the multi mode they talk about with the MXT It is good at coins and stuff that are not very deep. I have never tried to find pipes. Mine are all PVC. I have used it to verify electric lines that were only about 18 inches deep. Deteectors are one of those things you will never get your money back from except in fun. My experience here in the Tombstone area is that none of them work very well in the all metal mode. There is simply so much metal in the ground that you have to squelch the sensitivity so high that you would stumble over a nugget before the thing went off. But I am not an expert user.

3RRL · Aug 3, 2006

I'll look into the Whites today too. I fugure on keeping the figure below $500 from what all you guys have said, it might be good enough.
Don't know if I have gold or not? But maybe I'll find out...
Thanks all for the input,

Jimbrown · Aug 3, 2006

You might want to look here and possibly buy one of their mags there are always lots of dector adds in the thing. http://treasurenet.com/westeast/

Brant · Aug 3, 2006

You might try eBay. Whites, Fisher, and Garrett are good names. I bought a really nice Whites Pro XL on eBay a few years ago. It was in perfect condition and was half the price of new. Generally, there is no do-it-all metal detector. Finding pipes with a standard detector may be difficult. They make special metal detectors just for this purpose. The Fisher TW 6 is a well known example.

EddieWalker · Aug 8, 2006

Rob,

I bought mine from www.cabelas.com a few years ago. I've found all sorts of junk with it around my place, but to be honest, I haven't touched it in over a year.

I wouldn't spend big bucks on one until I spent some time out in the field with it. It's not for everyone, including me, and you might find it's not for you either.

For me, I found that the stuff I found didn't interest me. It a fair amount of work for minimal reward. My land belonged to the Army during WWII and I have all sorts of junk from then. It's just junk to me and better left in the ground. But that's just me.

Steph's Dad is a huge metal detecting fanatic and he doesn't go anyplace without at least one of his detectors. He has them for under water and various heads for different areas that he goes to. In al the years he's been at it, he's found a few rings and some coins, but nothing anywhere close to what he has into it in equipment.

I have used it to locate a survey pin and a gas line on a house I was working on, but other than that, I doubt it will get much use in the future.

Eddie

3RRL · Aug 22, 2006

Thanks guys for all the tips. I ended up calling a couple of stores I found on the net and started talking with one of the guys about what I wanted to do. He said I would have to pay big bucks...like you all said...if I wanted to get one that goes really deep. Then he told me about the new Garrett model that was pretty good all around. It's listed for about $200. He said there was a larger scanner hoop for it but that would not necessarily go deeper, only finer control and more options.

He finally said I'd be better of with the standard head as I could always upgrade later. He ended up selling me the Garrett Ace 150 for $142 and that included headphones, a hand shovel, a book about relics and coins and a carry bag....not a bad price for it. I then used it at my property just screwing around and found a big pair of adjustable Channel Locks that I had lost a month ago while grading part of the homesite. Also found the knob to the stabilizer bar for Pat's EZ cahnge system....sheesh, pretty cool!