Best MD for NC clay soil?

[jcgso]

Hey all, new here with a question about getting a new detector. I will be hunting for relics and coins/jewelry in North Carolina and possibly Virginia. The soil here is solid red clay.
I'm considering a Teknetics Euro Tek Pro with 11" DD coil. Would this be a good choice?
Thanks!

 

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[Carolina Tom]

Hello JCGSO,

I live in Charlotte and I use a Garrett AT Pro. I hunt for coins, but find all sorts of stuff. The AT Pro seems to handle the red clay. One of my friends has a Garrett Ace 350, and it seems to work too. I don't know teknetics, so I can't comment on that.

Any machine that has ground balance should work for you.

Most of the places that I hunt, have a layer (4" to 12") of organic material, on top of the clay. That "dirt" is dark and easy to dig through. When the red clay is dry, it is hard as concrete, I am sure you know this. I try to avoid it. The only good thing is that, coins don't sink very deep in that red clay.

I hope that this is helpful. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me...... If you have an awesome spot to hunt, don't hesitate to PM me and invite to come along! Greensboro aint that far away...

GL&HH, Carolina Tom.

 

[Fletch88]

You will need a machine with GB for sure and the ETP (very good machine in mild soil) is a fixed GB machine.

 

[jcgso]

Thanks Tom and Fletch.
So, not to get too far off budget and have GB, I'm looking at the Teknetics Gamma 6000. Its closer to my budget with the 10" coil and about $90 more for the 11" DD. Is it worth the difference or am I better off putting the extra $ toward a good pinpointer?

 

[Fletch88]

I would also consider the X-Terra 505 or 705. It is a great machine that you can change the frequency of by changing the coil. There are 3, 7.5 and 18.75 kHz coil choices which all have uses depending on hunting conditions and targets sought after.

 

[fella]

You will need a machine with GB for sure and the ETP (very good machine in mild soil) is a fixed GB machine.

I dunno what the clays are like in NC, but around here we have VERY highly ferrous gounds and the ETP has been handling em very well and that's with the concentric not the DD. I would imagine the DD to be that much better!

 

[jcgso]

Fella, where are you located? I don't know if the clay soil is highly mineralized here. I have read nothing but great reviews about the ETP, but from the other posts, I might need GB. I'm now looking at the Teknetics Gamma 6000 and maybe Fisher F5. A bit more than I wanted to spend, but I don't want to have to upgrade quickly.

 

[BladeRunner2019]

I'm in NC and have no issues with my AT Pro.

 

[reednc]

I'm in the Raleigh area and have no problems with my AT Pro either. Almost all of the sites in the area are very trashy so you might want to consider a smaller coil rather than a bigger one. I use my 5" x 8" most of the time.

 

[Massieville Mike]

I use the teknetics gamma and love it! Took some getting used too though (still learning it), as it seems to be very sensitive. I can't comment on the clay in NC, as I have not hunted there. The soil here seems to be for the most part pretty mild. That said, conditions can and do change. I have went from hard packed dirt, to gravel, to sand, to moist loamy dirt, all in the same hunt. The ground balance is a plus for sure. And ground balancing the gamma is really easy using the "ground grab" feature. Manual ground balancing is also an option. Oh, by the way, we do have clay here as well. It may not be the same type or as concentrated though. Terrain and ground composition here can vary quite a bit in a hurry IMO. I have the stock 8" concentric, 5" & 11" DD coils for my gamma and they all seem to work really well here. I use the 5" for tight or trashy areas, the 8" for general purpose, and the 11" for larger areas like big parks, soccer and ball fields ect. If it were me, I would purchase with the stock coil and use the other towards a pinpointer. Less time recovering a target = more time to find another one! Hunted for a year without a pinpointer......Very frustrating at times, I didn't know what I was missing until I got one, now I can't imagine hunting without one! Whatever you do, good luck and happy hunting!