Going to the iron infested property. Need advice

[Truth]

Went to the iron field where I’ve found half dimes and reals but basically got lucky just sifting through the hole in my opinion. Not sure if it was a single silver hit among different junk targets or just a falsing of the iron. Anyway does anyone have a setting that can help separate better. Should I use the 6”? Just as of now a iron square nail can hit a solid 21 for example. Any opinions would be appreciated. These iron bits really where me out.

 

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[lairmo]

I don't have any advice on your machine. I think all the people that do are either out hunting or stuffing their guts!! lol Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Icewing]

Use your small coil and when you fund an interesting tone turn yourself 90° and swing over it again, if the tone changes it's probably not a coin. However if it's a chuck of iron with a hole in it it, be it a tack ring or cultivator point it might still give you the same false positive.

I've never swung an Equinox, so I don't know how it works, but on my Xterra the pinpoint mode can often give away a targets actually make up. When I stop directly over a target in pinpoint mode and the TID goes negative it's picking up iron. Both machines are Minelab so I'm just guessing they may operate in similar ways.

 

[1637]

i use a 2 in dim 3ft long pvc pole with a rare earth magnet on the end to clean up the trash before i start.
good luck brad

 

[Hawks88]

I will agree with Icewing on this. Pin point can sometimes let you know whether to dig or not. I’ve had this happen to me with the six inch coil. Good luck.

 

[Oddjob]

Went to the iron field where I’ve found half dimes and reals but basically got lucky just sifting through the hole in my opinion. Not sure if it was a single silver hit among different junk targets or just a falsing of the iron. Anyway does anyone have a setting that can help separate better. Should I use the 6”? Just as of now a iron square nail can hit a solid 21 for example. Any opinions would be appreciated. These iron bits really where me out.

Dig it all, you never know.

 

[DirtDigginDan]

i use a 2 in dim 3ft long pvc pole with a rare earth magnet on the end to clean up the trash before i start.
good luck brad

Is that magnet strong enough to pull out the trash buried 6-8" deep?

 

[Truth]

Dig it all, you never know.

Boy I did believe me. I was more like a sifter today.

 

[smokeythecat]

You are going to have to dig most of it.

 

[Truth]

You are going to have to dig most of it.

Did I

 

[Wild Colonial Boy]

any good stuff come out from digging it all?

some say that only applies to other single frequency machines

I go over the same iron clad ground I try lowering sensitivity, , and also I go single frequency, change all settings, iron on, full metal wide open, full discriminate , different recovery speeds

Truthfully after nearly 7 months of intensive nearly daily detecting on colonial sites, Ive had mixed results, and am now very frustrated in heavy iron situations with Equinox, After trying every word of advice from many kind subscribers to this page.

I am convinced this machine is just too sensitive and glues to iron no matter what you do and at the same time masks good targets,

all the talk in the world about this new wave of detectors are the best since sliced bread , the knowledge gained by constant field usage convinces me the technology is still in its infancy.

with Equinox any time I feel it is iffy but maybe good signal (jumpy numbers and sounds with a small repeatable positive number range and sound) and it repeats from different directions I dig its becomes a nail or flat iron sheet, the machine has been correct all along, when I doubt what its telling me it I get nails,

The promise of the 6" coil seeing through nails was true, I experienced it myself first hand on sites i already cleaned out with 11" coil, but the upgrade turned the now obsolete 6" into an Iron lover

but at this stage I know its just not seeing through nails enough to inspire me to dig it all,

and these are 1700's sites that have not been hunted and I know there has to be decent stuff been masked

the only way I see is, physically turning soil like you do when your planting spuds then magnet cleaning out iron first then detect,

the current "best" machines alone are not good enough yet to find the good stuff lost by the house inhabitants that is now covered in a blanket of iron when the structure came down

sorry for the downer lecture but its time to call a spade a spade here
i spent the last week hunting 3 virgin colonial sites on private land and heard and orchestra of iron and no happy high pitched pings in-between
i going to go back and pick a 5x5 square are turn 5" and rake t and magnet the sh... out it and see if the results improve.
my days of relaying solely on this apparent Godsend Detector is now moving on

 

[Truth]

I agree 100% I also hunt minimum 5 days a week for 7 months and the Equinox just makes iron sound way to sweet. I feel like a glorified sifter. I dig big plugs and just pin point everything out. I’ve gotten 2 half dimes and a real, but I honestly couldn’t tell you if I heard the silver or a falsing nail and got lucky. I dig just about everything now and it’s mentally draining. I’m getting a Deus because I think it’ll do better at this sight and if not I still have a 800 and a Deus not a bad combo. I will say my 800 is a mid tone beast but then again I dig a lot of pulltabs as well. All this iron got me a war nickel.

 

[RayinAlaska]

Regardless of detector used, the most important thing to remember is that if one is detecting at an old site with the possibility of detecting some good targets, and the site is infested with iron, pieces of lead, and so on: you have to come up with a plan of attack. It is either digging everything, or just choosing clear high or low-conductor targets. Don't expect to be good at detecting with a detector that you don't know how to use. As with anything we use, it takes a long time to know how a detector works.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Hey guys, I’ve spent the last couple months hitting iron infested cellar holes with the Nox. I dig very few iron targets. Occasionally a deeper iron horse tack ring or a square nail, but really happy with the results.

I run Field2, multi freq, recovery middle and sensitivity starting at 15 and work up if possible. Iron on and only dig targets that are 2 way after turning 90 degrees. If the mid or high tones are “dragging” the iron grunt I pass. If the tones are not clean and distinct, I pass. If the pinpoint is not small and strong, I pass. (I hate digging iron...)

I’m talking small areas 8’ x 20’ iron patches, going really slow, listening for those target tones.

Good luck

 

[Truth]

Regardless of detector used, the most important thing to remember is that if one is detecting at an old site with the possibility of detecting some good targets, and the site is infested with iron, pieces of lead, and so on: you have to come up with a plan of attack. It is either digging everything, or just choosing clear high or low-conductor targets. Don't expect to be good at detecting with a detector that you don't know how to use. As with anything we use, it takes a long time to know how a detector works.

Very true but you have to start somewhere and I have permission for life plus I detect A LOT.

 

[Truth]

Hey guys, I’ve spent the last couple months hitting iron infested cellar holes with the Nox. I dig very few iron targets. Occasionally a deeper iron horse tack ring or a square nail, but really happy with the results.

I run Field2, multi freq, recovery middle and sensitivity starting at 15 and work up if possible. Iron on and only dig targets that are 2 way after turning 90 degrees. If the mid or high tones are “dragging” the iron grunt I pass. If the tones are not clean and distinct, I pass. If the pinpoint is not small and strong, I pass. (I hate digging iron...)

I’m talking small areas 8’ x 20’ iron patches, going really slow, listening for those target tones.

Good luck

I gotta try your advice, but if I was just waiting on solid signals I’d just be walking around all day at this location and it’s huge.

 

[Wild Colonial Boy]

I agree 100% I also hunt minimum 5 days a week for 7 months and the Equinox just makes iron sound way to sweet. I feel like a glorified sifter. I dig big plugs and just pin point everything out. I’ve gotten 2 half dimes and a real, but I honestly couldn’t tell you if I heard the silver or a falsing nail and got lucky. I dig just about everything now and it’s mentally draining. I’m getting a Deus because I think it’ll do better at this sight and if not I still have a 800 and a Deus not a bad combo. I will say my 800 is a mid tone beast but then again I dig a lot of pulltabs as well. All this iron got me a war nickel. View attachment 1654213 View attachment 1654214

Its funny your considering Deus, last night after writing my rant to you, I went to "todays finds" and went through reports of Colonial coin finds at celler holes and a lot of them where from Deus owners, then I watched this video from a Guy who hunts the same kind of sites as me and is very skilled at finding good old coins, comparing machines and the Deus picked up a quarter with a nail over it from all angles and Equinox really fought hard to find it at all.

the one thing I don't understand is the user got better results at a recovery of 3 rather than 6, as I thought the higher the number the better the separation?

 

[Wild Colonial Boy]

Hey guys, I’ve spent the last couple months hitting iron infested cellar holes with the Nox. I dig very few iron targets. Occasionally a deeper iron horse tack ring or a square nail, but really happy with the results.

I run Field2, multi freq, recovery middle and sensitivity starting at 15 and work up if possible. Iron on and only dig targets that are 2 way after turning 90 degrees. If the mid or high tones are “dragging” the iron grunt I pass. If the tones are not clean and distinct, I pass. If the pinpoint is not small and strong, I pass. (I hate digging iron...)

I’m talking small areas 8’ x 20’ iron patches, going really slow, listening for those target tones.

Good luck

well done, they are nearly the same settings and approach i take one my first round at a farm site,
I will try the 15 up and much slower sweep, I usually save the sifting at 15 until later


i still feel I am missing a lot, but thats what the technology offers at the moment

 

[HighVDI]

There has to be a specific trend in those falsing signals at your site. I've dug lots of nails with my 800 while learning and they just don't sound the same as a coin. Coins have a rounded out tone where a piece of iron has a sharper, almost clipped high tone. Or.....a very washed out signal.

 

[Wild Colonial Boy]

When the nails are right angled, or have a bulbous encrustation attached I found they can sound like a coin