Digging in wood chips

[gregl01]

Hi all, I went to my local elementary school on Sunday and I had many hits in the wood chips, but didn't retrieve them.
Any ideas on digging These chips are tough to get through and then after a few inches I lost the target. I am not sure if I was digging false signals or what. I had the sensitivity on the ACE250 at only 3 or 4 bars. Any ideas would be helpful.
Thanks,
Greg

 

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[nutso]

I don't recall ever finding anything good after once losing the target. In my experiences it always ends up being something small and useless like a chunk of foil, or piece of metal. There are exceptions of course, I flung a buffalo nickle 2 feet away once while digging. I found it as I continued on my way.

 

[Getty]

I've found alot of paper clips in those places.After moving them its easy to over look them.


HH, jimmy

 

[treasurekidd]

Most of the schools in my area have these wood chip playgrounds. I find it easier to dig thrugh the compressed wood chips with a hunting knife rather than a trowel, the blade slices into the chips a lot easier. There are a lot of good finds at playgrounds like these. I've found pendants, a silver ring and TONS of clad in these spots. I hunt them with my ACE250 in Jewelry mode, with the sensitivity at 3-4 bars. Try a good sized hunting knife and see how it works for you. Good luck!

 

[gregl01]

Thanks all, I will try again soon. I am still trying to practice with pinpointing, haven't gotten down pat yet. These ACE250's are a coin sniffer for sure!!!!!! HH
Thank again,
Greg

 

[hollowpointred]

if your signal disappears in the wood chips you probably just moved it. try scanning over the chip pile you made. coins are very hard to spot in that damn mulch. ive spent quite a few minutes fishing around for targets in them.try spreading the mulch pile out a bit and scan it again. your target ought to reappear.

 

[Monty]

Instead of wood chips they use pea gravel on the playgrounds here. That stuff is almost impossible to dig. In the play area it falls back into the dug area as fast as you can pull it out. Just outside the play area where a lot of good "stuff" is found, it compacts and is like digging in a gravel parking lot!

 

[Leon]

I tried hunting in those chips once, but gave it up because of the ruff dig'n...
I was thinking one of those little 3 prong garden cultivators, 3 prong fork looking thingy, would probably do pretty well just raking it up out of the hole, instead of dig'n. Haven't tried it yet, but it may help...
Good luck & Happy hunting~

 

[gregl01]

Thanks Leon, maybe I'll try that instead. Thanks all for suggestions. Hopefully I can try again this weekend. Will post anything good!!!!!
HH All
Greg

 

[Mi$$ouri Jim]

I like digging in woodchips... I use a lesche & put all my weight on it to get it in deep.?

Around here? the playgrounds have wood chips, pea gravel, sand & tiny bits of rubber (what I assume to be shredded old tires).

Kiddie playground areas are easy digging & make for good practice at digging trash items. I love playing the "is it a nickel or pulltab" game in those areas.?

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

I have been doing a lot of wood chip digging. I find moving the top layer over 1-2 feet, then checking the pile to see if i moved the target over. If the signal is still in the original place I dig just a little hole and check it with my pinpointer. The pinpointer helps a lot if you don't have one you should get one. Anyway After I have a small hole and nothing is in it I put the spade almost flat with the ground and put it in the little hole I dug. It is easier to put the spade in with the direction of the chips laying instead of striate down. Then I just turn up the spade and the chips come out real easy. I dig a bunch out and check the pile if the signal is in the pile I search the pile with my pinpointer. If its still in the hole repeat other steps. I don't go for the deep signals only about 4-6 inches.

Hope this helps HH!!

 

[hollowpointred]

hey mud, what kinda pinpointer did you get?

 

[chrisjets]

I've found instead of trying to dig I just shave a little at a time pushing the chips to the side works pretty good. Keep your eyes peeled cause it's easy to miss a coin in them chips. Generaly i shave a bit then recheck it and see if the target has moved if it has'nt I keep shaving. good luck and keep shaving.

 

[Xraywolf]

Woodchips suck, as do pebbles. I guess you can more or less consider them sand.
They are however where I found my 3 gold rings to date, so they can be worth the trouble.
You need two things to succeed with woodchips, besdies your detector of course.
a 5 in 1 paint tool, and a pinpointer.
5 in 1 is cutaom made for wood chips. You can dig out as little or as much as you like, and it hook end slices right through stubborn stuck/compressed chips.
Pinpointer is self explanitory - The object can be all but invisible, even with good detector pinpointing.
The pinpointer will let you know if your in the right vicinity or noe pronto.

 

[Mi$$ouri Jim]

Hmmmm... I have never really had problems digging in woodchips.... even when they are hard packed.? However...I remember one time I DID have a problem finding a tiny silver earring that was VERY deep in wet, hardpacked woodchips.
? ?From some of the responses in this thread I am wondering if the woodchip areas around where I live are the same kind of woodchips as the ones from some of the posters in this thread. ? These are mostly large shreded wood chips we are all talking about ... right?

When i get a signal in woodchips.... if it is a shallow target I move off the loose top layer with my foot. If it is a deep target.... I stick my lesche in a diagonal angle, place my free hand with fingers outstretched & palm down over the area where I think the object is at & then lever out a large mass of both hard packed & loose woodchips while keeping a grip on the mass (with my hand on top & lesche underneath). Then move it to the side & check the hole (and/or the pile)with my pinpointer. Works well for me.

Woodchips & sand are the easiest playground digging material there is.? Sure beats dirt diggin'!? ?

 

[mvSWAT]

I have to agree with MUD, use of a pinpointer is a must. There have been so many times I couldn't see the target with my eyes untill I laid the pinpointer to it. Happy Hunting.

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

I use the AutoMax Precision v2 Pinpointer. It works very well, I got it almost free from KellyCo. With the purchcase of my detector.

HH!!

 

[dfxdude]

I love the woodchip playgrounds. You don't have to deal with the mineralization that some kinds of pea rock pose. I carry a Sampson shovel for wood chips. It "cuts to the chase" in a hurry. I use the "foot mashie" for the top couple of inches. Pinpointer is a must. Those small zipper pulls will drive you nuts sometimes. And the aluminum ferrules on lead pencils are another irritant.

 

[chrisjets]

A couple of weeks ago me and the misses were checking out a playground with woodchips. I picked up a reading and started to dig. In pushing the woodchips aside I saw something dark about the size of a dime. I could not find it again so I yelled over to my wife, I was reading a target and now there is nothing there. I was quite amused later in the day when I was digging another target and grabbed the blade of my shovel and found a dime shaped magnet attached to the back of it. Since then that has happened to me again. The machines they don't lie.

 

[DiggerDude101]

I go out with my detector, a whites pinpointer, and a 10" thick bladed scuba knife on every hunt.
Well maybe not every hunt. I leave the pinpointer behind on the underwater hunts.

I agree. A pinpointers are a must in word chips.
I have discovered coins stuck to the back side of a wet wood chip become very hard to find with out the pinpointers.

I have found alot of clad. No silver. and I have yet to find any rings/jewelry in them.