City Beach Cleaning Machine, Does it pick up treasure?

[petersra]

I have seen the beach cleaning machines pulled by a tractor, running up and down some popular beachs early each morning. Before I strated MDing I had always assumed they were cleaning out the beer cans and bottles from the day before. Do they also pick up things as small as rings and coins? The two rings I found this last week in the dry sand were a Volly Ball Court and around a picnic shelter where they couldn't get to. Am I wasting my time looking behind them? Do I need to offer my services to drive the tractor each morning for free?

 

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[lostandfound]

I heard when I lived by chicago (I used to hunt the chicago beachs), that they have holes big enuff to let things as big as quarters fall out, but they get all the watchs.

Your friend Randy

 

[wmas1960]

Here is a picture from my last trip down to Florida where they use one of these machines. There was a similar question made last year. You might try and go back and see if you can find the thread.

I have never gotten real close to one of these machines but I would sit on the balcony of my parent's apartment on Marco Island and watch as the tractor groomed the beach below. From what I could see the machine involves a rake kind of device that skims the sand and directs litter up over a chain link conveyor. Large items like bottles, cans, food wrappers and such are directed over the conveyor and directed toward a bin where it is collected. Smaller items like coins and most jewelry should drop right through the holes in the convayor and back into the sand where the rakes even off all the foot prints and holes dug by children, sand castles... and the beach is, in a sense, graded and smoothed over. There is an area up the beach where they dump these machines and where trash is put into dumpsters to be hauled away. If you know where they dump stuff, and it is accessable, you might try and detect there.

While the machine has holes large enough for most treasure, as we would call it, to fall through, there is the possibility that chains from necklaces and bracelets could get caught up in the machine. However, it is my understanding that something like a ring or a watch or definately coins should fall right through.

Just read the other post about a machine near Chicago. As I think of it, I would think a more solid bracelet could get picked up by the machine and perhaps a lot of watches. I would guess it would depend on the watch and issues like the thickness or size of the band or the wach itself. I smaller watch, like a womans watch that would be rather small might go through. MAYBE a watch like mine that is average size with a linked band that is somewhat flexible and all. However, some really heavy and large watches would probably get caught. Definately something as big as a pocket watch would be caught as would things like money clips, large key chains... and so on. I would try and see where they dump the machine if you can get access to that area.

 

[petersra]

Thanks, good input. Happy Hunting...

 

[willie d]

A friend of mine told me before my first trip to the beach, that I should get there before they "drag" the beach. About 10 minutes after I got there before the "beach rake" as it is called around here showed up. I figured that I was already here so why not see what I could find. I found a decent amount of coins that first trip. On subsequent trips I've found plenty of coins, a few rings, a few earrings, a watch, a few bracelets. You get the point, I guess it depends on how efficient the "beach rake" is. The one's around here don't always get the big stuff like bottles and cans so I know they are probably not getting the smaller "good" stuff. I'm going to get back to beach hunting in a couple of weeks and I can't wait. Good Luck and happy hunting.

 

[Sandman]

I have experience with some of these beach sifters. Most items like coins, rings and like items aren't caught in the screens. If they were the things would plug up with shells, and rocks and have to be cleaned more often. They will salvage cans, bottles, towels, shoes, watches and some chains. They are mainly for grooming the sand so it looks nice and removes the garbage. I have also seen some of the newer ones that have finer screen sifters that will collect coins and like sized items after the bigh groomer goes thru, but these require more manpower and funds.

I like to get on the beach when the crowd is thinning out in the evening and you get first pickings. Sometimes if I am in a group of friends we stay till after dark.

 

[FLauthor]

Beach Sifters (http://www.hbarber.com/) will recover all items from dime size and up depending on the machine down to the depth of 6 inches but most are set at 4 inches. Broken glass, plastic, syringes, cigarette butts, pop-tops, straws, cans, tar balls, stones 3/8" to 6" in diameter, sea grass, seaweed, fish, small pieces of wood are retained in the hopper. Sifters depending on the model can clean 2 to 7 acres per hour.
There are six figure contracts negoitated in North Florida for cleaning beaches. Hasn't caught on in other areas. Machines are quite expensive to buy and maintain. Such heavy cleaning would remove all the surface trash leaving the deeper targets for detectorists.
If you live in the area where these machines are used. Find out where the contents are dumped and get permission to search the piles. It could be very rewarding.

 

[wmas1960]

Just revisited this thread this evening and clicked on the above posted link. It is interesting. Found this portion of interest. It shows how the machine works.

http://www.hbarber.com/Cleaners/SurfRake/HowItWorks.aspx

It seems that a lot of coin and jewelry and such would be left in the sand as it can't be grabbed by the tines in the first place. Especially, depending on the depth the machine is set. Also, does this depth indicate the uneveness of the sand? Is it 6" from high to low or a constant 6"? I read on the site that the tines are adjustable to 6". I take that to mean that they can, if they choose, set the machine to go no further than 6" down. I guess it would depend on the user of the machine how deep they feel they need to rake. Also, keeping in mind that the deeper you rake, probably, the more often you will need to maintain the machine and replace tines I would imagine that they would rake as shallow as possible to get the debris off the surface.

Anyway, it also seems that anything small enough or not shaped in a way to facilitate being flung up the shute, by the tines, like coins etc., will be left in the sand. Items would, it seems, need to be light weight, large, or grabable to be picked up. Perhaps chains and maybe an occasional ring and some bracelets might get snagged. The machine here doesn't seem to have a "Filter" or screen type conveyor although i can't really tell. It doesn't seem as though it would pick up much sand, the way it works, to need that. It says that it has a conveyor with the metal tines attached It is just raking up cans, rocks, shells, dead fish, syringes, seaweed.... and such off the surface and depositing all that into a hopper.

For kicks, just did a GOOGLE search on Beach Cleaners. Also found this one.

http://www.beach-trotters.com/ing/maquinas/unicorn_magnum-gtm.htm

Seems a slightly different design where it uses a bristle brush to sweep the trash onto a convayor that seems to be a mesh. This would be where sand could be swept up and the holes in the screen would determine what stays in the machine and what falls back to the surface.

Here is another good link that I found.

http://gometaldetecting.com/beach-rakes.htm

 

[Gambit7]

I found in another forum that the beach cleaners on South Beach, Miami are all magnetized and therefore pick up all ferrous items close enough to the surface. I was told not to bother with this beach because of it.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[backitup83]

If it picked up all the nails and such from the surface, seems to me it would be a great place to hunt. As the gold and silver items would be left un touched. Except for the ones that may have got scooped up. Buts odds would say something non-ferrous was left behind.
MIKE

 

[Gambit7]

If it picked up all the nails and such from the surface, seems to me it would be a great place to hunt. As the gold and silver items would be left un touched. Except for the ones that may have got scooped up. Buts odds would say something non-ferrous was left behind.
MIKE

Unless the gold/silver items are completely pure, will they not have ferrous content?

 

[wmas1960]

If it picked up all the nails and such from the surface, seems to me it would be a great place to hunt. As the gold and silver items would be left un touched. Except for the ones that may have got scooped up. Buts odds would say something non-ferrous was left behind.
MIKE

Unless the gold/silver items are completely pure, will they not have ferrous content?

Not necessarily and I believe unlikely. The metals that are routinely mixed with Gold and Silver are also, I believe, non ferrous metals. Like Copper, Palladium, tin() etc. There are other metals used, that I don't recall off hand, that also would not be attracted to a magnet. Metals like, Copper, Brass, Bronze, Gold and Silver and Platinum are all non-ferrous, meaning that they are not attracted by magnets. Add to that, metals like Aluminum which is also not attractable to a magnet.

Now, that doesn't mean a piece of jewelry can't be picked up by the magnets. It could be that there is a steel piece in a finding. Finding is the term used for the pins, clips, clasps mounts and other parts of a piece of jewelry. So, if there is a steel pin on the back, a broach could be picked up. Or, if the clasp on a necklace is steel or the post on some earings being stainless (some stainless is magnetic). They MIGHT get caught in a magnet. But, a basic gold ring, even if it is 10K or less would not likely get caught in a magnet.

 

[ringding]

On Tybee Island Georgia they don't use a beach cleaning machine. There is a couple of guys that drive in a city truck on the beach and the passenger uses a grabber stick to pick up large things from his seat in the truck. Then the driver moves on to the next big thing on the beach. Then after that there is a herd of volunteer citizens that walk the beach and pick up things like wrappers, cigarette butts, and other stuff. Then there are people with wheel barrows that hand out bottles of water.

 

[Pennyworth]

There is a good article on beach cleaning machines in the Western & Eastern Treasures magazine July 2001.

 

[wmas1960]

unfortunately too small to read the photos. Is there a place online to get a printout of the article? Don't know if my library would have a copy Might have to check.

 

[Pennyworth]

I tried to post the article in full size photos but it just wouldn't go thru for me, probably because I have dial up. lol

I don't know if the article is online or not.

 

[wmas1960]

At least there is the date for the article. Will help in trying to find it somewhere. I tried online, http://www.treasurenet.com/westeast/200107/features/ However, the listing for the article is not a link and doesn't appear to be available for online viewing. Like I said though, maybe I can find it at the library...

 

[Pennyworth]

wmas1960, If you like I can make a copy of the article and send it to you in the mail. If so you can pm me your mailing address and I'll send it to you.

 

[wmas1960]

Thanks for the offer. Will let you know if I have trouble finding locally.

 

[Stainless Steet Rat]

I was in Virginia Beach and talked to a guy running one, he told me he makes about 300 a year in paper money. He said their machines don't pick up change but he does get watches and chains sometimes. I followed behind one in the morning and found change in its wake. In one week at Virginia Beach I got about 6 bucks in change and 2 pieces of junk jewelry. I am pretty sure they dont use use magnets on the Virginia Beach ones because too much black sand. I was using a magnet on a stick for the bottle caps and it would be full of black sand everytime I picked it up.