metal detectors

[rathbone]

 ok, need some info on good metal detectors.  Anybody using one they would recommend? any suggestions as to where to look for them would also be appreciated.

Thanks !!!
Rathbone

[Bob Smalser]

One a these days I'm gonna spend the money, but mine reaches about three inches into the log, yet the sawblade reaches 8 inches.    Consider than when evaluating these.

You can guess the rest....I look for iron staining in the log's end grain, and generally give house site lower logs to 8' away for firewood.

I can't post my pics here easily, but here's some articles on hardware logs:

The railroad spike was in an upper log, probably hung there in the 1930's to hang a lantern.

[jerry-m]

Check /call Garrett Metal Detectors in Garland Texas... They make just about every kind & type of metal detector... And tell them what you are looking for a metal detector to do...

Its true that some low end ( cheap) detector will not go very deep into a log... I don't cut very large logs so I haven't had any trouble finding metal with my detector...

Some times people buy or use a very complicated detector that has a multi purpose use..  For just searching a log for metal one would only need an all metal type detector... If your detector has all metal mode and also a discrimate mode you will only need to use the all metal mode as that is the deepest seeking mode...

Perhalps a Gold Seeking type detector would work better for searching for metal in a log as most are made to find the tinyest  little piece of gold...

Other Brands of good quality detectors are Fisher, Tesoro, Whites, Compass, & Minelab... But any of these Companies should  be able to help you get a good detector...

Also when looking for metal in logs you will have to have the log away from any other metal that might happen to be laying around ie. (metal log deck, etc. )...  After you become used to your detector you may be able to compensate for any close by metal...

If anyone will Private E-Mail me I will be glad to help you find a detector dealer and help anyway I can...

Jerry

[Paul_H]

Bob,

here is a link to help upload pics to the forum

Link

[Ga_Boy]

Run a search in the archives there is a wealth of information there on metel detectors.

Short version is get a Fisher or Whites.

[raycon]

I picked up a whites xlt used. Don't use it as often as I should -- tending to trust the loggers word on where they came from...If you buy one used bring some firewood /lumber with steel in it and run tests to see if it works  to your satisfaction.

It comes in handy for finding the mill keys in a pile of sawdust as well as the battery cover wingnuts.  THe deepest find  I've had with it was a chain embedded in a 30+" spruce it wandered through  the log for a bit which was 18' long -- Ended up milling the log to see what was inside it for curiosity sake--5' section of chain. 

This past month I've been milling walnut and cherry yard logs.  Pulled out 2 eye bolts and 3 cluster of nails  with the detector. Clothesline's,bird house and fence line would be my guess.
The walnut eyebolt  if going by eye I would not of caught especially milling 24" wide 8/4 boards it was 2" below the surface with no staining.  5/4 narrow boards its pretty easy to see whats going on as you peel them off. Diving the band in that slab would of been lost $$-- a MD pays for itself quickly in butt logs of value. I'll be resawing chestnut barn beams in the summer -- sure it'll come in handy then as well. 

I did not do enough shopping around --- ask the FF Coasta Rica Connection -- one of them is an expert on this stuff.

[Qweaver]

I called Garrett's and Fisher.  They both said that most sawers buy the hand held units.  They could not tell me for sure how deep the scanners could detect in wood but the guess was about 3" depending on the size of the embedded metal.  The price for these was between $150 and $200.  I've been using one of the cheap $39 Harbor Freight detectors and it has worked OK but when I get my Lucus swinger I'll need to detect much deaper, I guess?   
Do I need to spend the bigger bucks and get a more powerful detector?  I can replace many blades for what a $400 to $800 detector costs.   I guess I should make a test to see how deep my cheapy unit detects but I'll bet only an inch or so.
Quinton

[Ga_Boy]

The Fisher 1224 or a White's Classic IV will work and they are in the $300-$400 price range, I ordered a Fisher but the manufacture was backed ordered so I ended up with a White's Classic.

Good unit, it will read metal 8" to 10" deep.

[SPIKER]

do a quick & easy test on that cheppy HF unit by taking a small nail and laying it on the clean dirt then lay some already cut bords over the top, untill it don't pick up anymore and see how much wood is between the nail & the top board

easy to see how well it tests, also try it with NEW batteries and then swap in OLD batteries. & see if that makes a difference.

post back the results so we all can see em please ;)

mark M

[jpgreen]

You need POWER and you need non discrimination circuitry (NOT the ones that filter out bottlecaps, trash, etc.)

The best unit I can think of for the money is the Fisher Gold Bug.. the old original NOT the Fisher GoldBug II.

Why? The orignial Goldbug is just as powerful and way less money, 'bout $275 used on fleaBay. Gold dectectors are made to dectect metals deep.  Mine will find a nail in a log 12" deep, depending on the angle you can get it at.  The flatter, the stronger signal.

These are full manual machines.  The ones that are automatic give up power in the "Auto" mode.  You learn how to set the machine for your log and then run it balls to the walls maximum.

The handhelds they are talkingabout IMO are worthless for what you need. Park type coin models are not as powerful as the gold machines neither... 

[woodmills1]

try this

http://metaldetect.com/hand_held.html

[Frank_Pender]

I use a Rens 3000.  It will go through a 3' log with no problems and find water and powerlines down 4' in the ground. 8)

[jpgreen]

THose look nice and powerful.

The hand helds that I was refering to were the ones by Garret or Fisher etc., that are used by schools and such, to check people for weapons.  They don't have the power to find a nail at 12" in a log.

[TexasTimbers]

I've been in Garrett's sveral times up until 1990 when my first baby hit the ground. Snubbed my metal detecting. Back then there was a personal feel to place. I even got to talk electronics with The Man (Charles Garrett) on one occassion. I listened more than talked. Brilliant man. Genuinely humble too.
Now I have a reason to drop in again. 
Don't know if the place has changed much or if I'll get to talk to The Man, but ya never know.
Contrary to what some of my friends and family wondered in 1992, I did not name my son Garrett after the brand name of metal detector I preferred. I had a 1989 Grand Master Hunter. I believe it was the first year they were available. Bought it from Kelley Co. Back then there were still hobby shops that carried metal detectors and hated Kelley Co and Garrett too for allowing a mail order company to undercut them so drastically.
Kind of why there aren;'t as many Husky shops I suppose.

I had found silver coins up to 11" deep with it BTW. I know wood wouldn't be as accomodating.

[jerry-m]

When you decide to buy a detector be sure to get one with at least a 12 inch coil, they will go deeper into the wood...

I hope i am not breaking any fourm rules, but you can call Keith Wills at 903-843-5555, He can fix you up with a good used or new unit... I just talked to him the other day and he sales a lot to the timber guys...  He is also a good place to have your detector repaired, any brand..

Jerry.

[TexasTimbers]

I found most of my deep stuffwith an aftermarket 18" Hothead Coil. I always wanted to get a Garrett Depth Multiplier Attachment, but you really need a backhoe to look at your finds with that and I didn't have one. You also need a pretty good idea of what you are looking for or else you'll be digging holes all your life.

I'd think you would want a pulse induction machine with an eliptical coil for logs. I have been out of the game for 15ish years. There must be a whole new world of technology I don't know about. I can't imagine that machines have not been broguth ojnto the market that will penetrate logs. Machines that are affordable to the average sawmiller. Anyone who can afford a sawmill should be able to shell out another $1000 for a detector. Is there not a detector on the market for under 1K that will penetrate at least a foot from each side, making 24" logs within reach?

I have no ideqa how much the unit Frank is referring to costs.

[jerry-m]

Hey Kevjay,

My first detector was a D-Tex Koin King, It was a beat frequency detector it would null out over a void in the ground...  A beat frequency detector was also know as a motor boat detector because of the sound it made...

My next detector was a Garrett ADS7 with all the extra coils and the deep seeking two box... I never used the 2-box much for the reasons you stated... The last time I tryed to use the ADS7 it wouldn't work... Guess I will have to get it fixed...

Today I have the Garrett. 2 water garrets, Tosoros 2 ea., 3 Compasses and assorted other things designed to find things of value...

I know, I know you can only use one at a time

Got any good leads you need help with??? :D

[TexasTimbers]

I gar-own-tee I have some good leads!  ;D
But alas, they are probably just empty holes by now.
The one lead I wanted to most persue - and I did do reseach on - was the Mexican gold packtrain that was attacked on the Red River just North of where I presently live, at the end of the war. A fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, mystery, and of course GOLD!!!!   8) 8) 8)

[Qweaver]

Thanks for the lead Jerry.
I talked with Kieth and he has a used White on the way by UPS. 

Quinton

[Tom]

Jerry, My first detector was a White's Beat frequency oscillator too. Then I finally stepped up to the Garrett Master Hunter 7 ADS .  Mine just got sent to the factory for repairs today.  I have sent it back twice, once in '95 and now this time.  It's been limping since 2000 as if there were a loose connection.  I couldn't find one so I figure it was in one of the components.  The other day it just quit so I'm biting the bullet.   :D


I wish I could readily find batteries for my old White.  I think one was a 57 volt and the other a 20 volt.  It' out in the barn somewhere.  What I found was really neat about that detector was that it would find bricks.   I've used it many times to locate old foundations.  My buddies all had "super whizzbang" expensive detectors that wouldn't find anything but coins. I was always invited when someone wanted to go to an old town site or homestead.   I know that someone could probably figure a way to make the old detector work on today's batteries and I've given it some consideration.  I wonder if White's Electronics would consider it? 

[TexasTimbers]

My dad got me into hunting with an ooooold Garrett BFO. He still has it tucked away in a closet somewhere.
When he was about to retire from the Navy in '76, he and Mom didn't want to move me in the midle of my senior year. I had been moved around every 2 -3 years of my life and when I was about to be a senior I put my foot down and said I was moving back to Texas for my senior year with or wothout them. You just didn't talk to Dad like that, so he knew that by me risking that level of disrepect with him I must be serius. So he sent me and Mom and my sister packing back to Texas (from Chesapeake VA) so I could start the school year down here.
Well, to stay out of trouble, he told Mom he was going to take up metal detecting and find buried treasure. He hunted for 6 months while he was still up there with his ooooooold Garrett BFO. I finally took and interest in it around 88 and borrowed his old BFO and then bought various used detectors until in 89 I bought the GMH from Garrett. State of the art. Funny thing is, when you look at what Dad found with his oooooold BFO and what I found with my newer "Hi Tech" machines, his pile of 6 months of effort of watches, kinves, coins, jewelry, rings, endless trinkets make my app 3 year effort look like HE had the Hi Tech equipment and I had the old unit.
We still argue today about it. I have the theory that he was simply better at it, and that if he would use more modern equipment, with his tenacity and patience, he'd find even more stuff.
His theroy is that where and when he was hunting had alot to do with it. He said he knows many of the spots he hit were virgin territory. Some of the tales he has sound like fish stories, but I have seen the piles of stuff he recovered. He does admit my unit (I sold it in '95) went deeper, but claims his was more sensitive within its range.
I can't hardly call him wrong. In my book, HE, is the Grand Master Hunter. 

[getoverit]

FWIW, I bought a Bounty Hunter "Pioneer 202" metal detector from wally world. So far I have been pleased with it. When it tells you there is something inside a log, you can believe it. I havent found anything metal inside a log  yet that this thing didnt tell me was there.

[jerry-m]

Yeah Quinton, glad you are getting fixed up... Keith is a great guy and is always ready to help  you out with any questions so don't hesitate to give him a call anytime... But I bet he already told you that...

Tom, I wish I still had my BFO but a kid down the street wanted it so I sold it to him... There are somethings that the old BFO will help you with that no other modern detector will... Garret factory will get you fixed up real  soon...

Getoverit, Bounty Hunters are good machines... I did have one that I would take to the park with our bus sunday school kids and let them do the digging... They could keep all the coins...

[karl]

After sawing two 40d nails in two logs in half an hour  the other day- I went E-bay hunting and now have one of them thar Pioneer 202's on the way - first thing I'm lookin' for is my wedding ring- it vanished and is hopefully waiting for me right near the mill...shore miss it......

BTW- why is it the straightest, clearest and generally most desireable logs that somebody needed to nail into ???

[wiam]

Karl  stiff looks better hanging on them. :D :D

Will