Looking for a good relic hunting machine...any advice?

[Rocky77]

Hello everybody. I currently own an X-Terra 705 and love it, but I want something with a little more punch for hunting relics here in the bad soil of Virginia. I mostly detect in woods and thick, overgrown old home sites. the X-Terra is good, but I know I'm missing a lot of stuff.

I was looking at a White's machine (used XLT, DFX) or possibly a Deeptech Relic...I'm not sure about the European detectors, though. I need something that will go deep and has fast recovery speed.

I'd like to buy used, so any advice as to what I should look for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Tesoro Tejon.

 

[Rocky77]

Tesoro Tejon.

I hear you're the Tesoro guru, right? How would it stack up against a White's XLT or M6 or MXT? Do you have any links to posts that compare or these detectors? Thanks for the reply.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Sorry Rocky, I don't have a lot of love for Whites machines. I can tell you that if you want depth for "relics," my first choice would be my Minelab GPX 5000. My second choice would be the Tesoro Tejon. I am not a huge fan of comparisons because there are too many variables. You need to buy the machine you feel most confident about. If that is a Whites machine you need to go for it.

 

[dbsmokey]

Sorry Rocky, I don't have a lot of love for Whites machines.

I'm curious why. Which White's machines have you used?

 

[DigitNY]

I hear you're the Tesoro guru, right? How would it stack up against a White's XLT or M6 or MXT? Do you have any links to posts that compare or these detectors? Thanks for the reply.

Take a look at the fisher cz models...can't go wrong.

 

[Terry Soloman]

How do you keep a "dbsmokey" in suspense?

 

[diggerj]

let me know if interested.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

let me know if interested.

Digger you have to be a charter member to sell here.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[DigitNY]

How do you keep a "dbsmokey" in suspense?

Very good terry, harsh but funny.

 

[TOMBAC]

my buddy artifacts is selling his mxt , why don't you contact him for details. good luck

 

[dbsmokey]

Very good terry, harsh but funny.

I suppose some might find it funny; Terry criticizes a brand but appears hesitant to provide evidence why he is criticizing. It is not wrong to criticize, but the criticism might actually carry some meaning if he shared experiences why he believes as he does. It calls into question how much experience with different machines of that brand he actually has, thus removing validity of such criticism. Agreed?

 

[Terry Soloman]

I think we can all agree how to keep a "dbsmokey" in suspense.

 

[dbsmokey]

I think we can all agree how to keep a "dbsmokey" in suspense.

Suspense is the wrong word; irritated is more like it. Those who already know you aren't surprised. A newbie, however, might be errantly swayed by your comments. That's irritating to me! I don't really care if you have/have not used White's machines, so I'm not in suspense. I just don't want people steered in a wrong direction by you. You criticize and then willfully fail to offer detail; you must either have none or just want to be an irritant. Either way, in your current position, your criticism fails! But I will let it go now unless, you Terry, care to give a list of which White's machines didn't work for you.

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

I would think a ML 705 is as good as anything out there unless its a Xcal II or a PI unit . I still use a coinmaster II and have for years and it will go 5-7 inches on soft soil . I hate digging deep .

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

I had an old BFO that couldn't be beat for finding old relics...it was a garrett...found an old wood stove 3+ feet down up in Prescott..in the creek bank...

 

[Wes-N-VA]

Rocky77,

Hello to a fellow Virginian! Depends where you live in our wonderful Commonwealth. I am from southeastern Virginia and the soil is beautiful here. We have some clay, but mostly a nice sandy mix soil. If you are out in Orange County or the surrounding counties then a PI machine would be your best beat in my book. If not, I have used a White's XLT and MXT Pro and to be honest they were not that great for me. The depth was never there, but I did manage to find some nice relics with both of them. I did perfer the XLT over the MXT Pro, just less noise in my opinion. I am not going to bash any machine because I feel that if you learn any given machine you will find relics. Now, I also have a Tesoro Tejon and I do like it....A LOT. I have found some deep relics in my area and west of my area until I get into central VA, then the minerals start to play havoc on it. It is light weight and has a fast recovery like you asked for, but maybe to much if you have never hunted with a non-digital machine. The Tejon does not have any digital read outs..it's all ears my friend. Again, depending on where you are and your budget I would like to recommend the T2SE from Teknetics. It has a very fast recovery speed, very light weight, DEEP, & easy to use. My only negative with the T2 is that she can be CHATTY! It does frustrate certain people, but it is a great detector. I still use it all the time in conjunction with my Minelab E-Trac and Tejon. I find myself switching back and forth from the T2 to my E-trac more tho. The E-Trac does not fit into what you wanted but it is a very good machine for coins, silver, and relics. IT IS HEAVY and the recovery speed is not so good in a trashy area or iron laced site and it is pricey. But, if you work her slow and listen you will be rewarded. So, if I were looking for an upgrade in the same price range as you are in now I would go with the T2SE. I just feel it would serve you better over the long haul. Visit my Youtube page (Wes-N-VA) to see live relic hunts with the T2, E-Trac, and Tejon and see if you like the results?

On a different note, have you tried all the different coils for the Xterra? You have a lot of options with that machine and you may need to spend more time with it on different frequencies and coil types? Good luck and keep the coil low and keep it swinging. HH!

Wes