Need advise on type detector to purchase for specific needs... Im a "Newbie."

[olcus]

Need advise on type detector to purchase for specific needs... I'm a "Newbie."

Howdy all, I have 32 acres of Oak trees and a portable band-sawmill here in the Ozark Hills of Southwest Missouri. I came to this site today to find out what detector... "experience"... recommends, and also, have always wanted to get into this hobby. I'm a 54 year old, retired, disabled combat veteran and should have a little more free time now to treasure hunt. But for now I need to be able to detect barbed wire, glass, rocks, and whatever else these Oak trees may have swallowed up over their many years of growth before I saw into junk and ruin a good hardwood blade. Also need to detect buried electric cables, water, sewer, gas lines, etc... before I put ol' Yeller (my Case 580E Backhoe) to work. Then I would like to find Native American artifacts, old glass bottles, and Civil War items (a lot of that around here I think). So... multiple detectors?... One specific type?... ain't got a clue. Thank you all in advance for your help.[/I]

 

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[villagenut]

Just about any detector will find junk iron eaten by your old oaks. But if you want to transition into treasures, you might want to aim higher. There are many good choices and I am sure someone will give their ideas based on soil conditions where you live and a price range would be helpful. BTW type louder, I can hardly hear you ...and welcome to tnet

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Nothing will help you find "glass, rocks, and whatever else these trees have swallowed up" unless it is metallic. Barbed wire, spikes, staples, old tools . . . up to 6" or 12" deep or so in the wood. The more you spend likely the deeper it will work; but anything over $700 you're just adding finesse features. Metal detectors detect metal. Not bottles or native artifacts. Unless they are metal.

Underground pipes - maybe. Some water and sewer lines are not metal (ceramic, concrete, PVC, etc). And if they are over three feet deep; probably not even if they are metal. Call 811 (most states) or 1-800-344-7483 (in Missouri) before excavating.

For plain 'ol iron any detector with an all metal setting will do. Fisher F2, Garrett Ace 250, etc.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Spend $600.00 and get a Tesoro 10.5" Sand Shark Pulse induction all metal machine for maximum depth and sensitivity to all metals - good luck!

 

[Mike70]

If you want to find rocks and glass, the only thing I can think of is a GPR unit, (ground penetrating radar) but that may also pick up anything that happens to be under the tree you are scanning. Failing that, only other option would be X Ray machine. Not sure if that would go through a tree though. Like Terry said, Sand Shark would be your best option for metal.

 

[olcus]

Thank ya fellas. I am now learning. I like and agree with your "Green Words" there Charlie; she does need savin'. 10-4 on the Tesoro Terry; I'll check it out. Thanks again all. By the way... How does a 'Stud Finder' work?

 

[penzfan]

By the way... How does a 'Stud Finder' work?

How do stud finders work? - HowStuffWorks

 

[finderskeepers]

Thank ya fellas. I am now learning. I like and agree with your "Green Words" there Charlie; she does need savin'. 10-4 on the Tesoro Terry; I'll check it out. Thanks again all. By the way... How does a 'Stud Finder' work?

Are you asking how effective they are at finding metal OR how they function?

 

[olcus]

How they function finderskeepers... thanks.

 

[woof!]

For detecting metal in wood, that's a job for a machine that's got a good all metals mode. Many choices, mostly singlefreakers in the $500-1200 range operating over 10 kHz. We've got a variety of those but I suppose proponents of other marques will suggest theirs. If they're good I probably designed those, too. (Only partly tongue-in-cheek).

For detecting stuff that a backhoe could damage, dial 811. Combo of art and science and until you've got a knowledgeable locater-person on site, it's hard to say what piece of apparatus will provide the best "starting point". We make a variety of underground utility locating apparatus in the Fisher industrial line. WARNING: metal detectors are rarely good gadgets for tracing the paths of underground utilities! They're designed for detecting regular size coins less than a foot deep, because that's what most people are looking for and if it can't do that it can't do whatever else they had in mind either. In metal detectors designed for finding natural gold of unknown size and shape and depth, the standard target for comparison is the modern US 5 cent "nickel" coin.

 

[Honeyman]

Have you asked some bigger commercial sawmills what they use to find the metal objects in their logs before cutting? They might be willing to share their knowledge and experience with you. Good luck and work safe!

 

[olcus]

Thanks Woof, good info.
Yep Honeyman, I log into WOODweb.com very often and ask these questions. In their "Knowledge Base" section on this subject all I see is what they (sawmill companies) have cut into, and how it destroys their blades. Gotta be a better way; or just don't saw logs that were close to a road or property line. I really like this web site. Y'all are awesome. Thanks.

 

[Papakhan]

I have a friend who uses reclaimed lumber all the time for furniture and trim so he has to make sure the wood is clear before running it through his planer. He uses a Garrett security wand type detector like they use at airports. It works extremely well for him for this, one of these might help you.

 

[Goldmoon]

I started with the Ace 350 and it worked well, I used it for about 4 years.

I just recently upgraded to the AT pro, and it's great, I can actually find quarters now lol (For some reason the new canadian clad quarters wouldn't show up on the 350)

 

[olcus]

Papakhan, wonder how deep those security wands will detect? Some of my logs may be 30" in diameter.