Best Tesoro relic hunter ?

[Indian Steve]

Howdy All, I have been hunting a 1748 Store site in a corn field with a Tesoro Compadre. It seems like most of my small finds are found in the top 4 inches of ground. I know there has to be good stuff deeper. I am selling a Garrett GTAX 550 on ebay and plan on buying another Tesoro to hunt relics and some coins. I am looking at the Vaquero. How does it do on depth and how hard is it to get used to the manual ground balance? I have added some pics of what i am finding to give you an idea of size. The dime in the pics is for size referance. Thanks Steve

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Hi Steve! I think you will love the Vaquero! I just want to throw this at you as well. I never hunted Farm Fields before last year, when FMERG taught me the ins-and-outs last year near Kingston, NY. I have been a gold nugget detector, or "Nuggetshooter," since 1977. One of the machines we use to look for gold nuggets is the Tesoro Lobo Super Traq. Automatic ground balance and tracking (specifically programed for heavily mineralized soils), Constant Threshold in All Metal, with the ability to knock out iron in Discriminate mode.

I was completely surprised and delighted at the Lobo's performance as a relic and coinshooter! In a farm field in all metal you are good to 12" on a small sleeve button, and door hinges are talking to you at 14"-15" with the stock Double-D eliptical. I was shooting a little deeper on smaller targets with my Pulse Induction Sand Shark, but I did get tired of pulling bolts at 20" Check it out!

 

[Indian Steve]

Hi Terry, I had wanted a Lobo Super Traq when i got my Compadre but didn't have the funds. I traded some stuff for the Garrett GTAX 550 but didn't like it. I actually think the Compadre out hunts it. I recently sold a 1951 Ariel Red Hunter 350 motorcycle and will be able to spend a little more for the next detector but even with that sale, times are tight and i can't splurge without selling the Garret first. If my 1949 Indian Scout sells, no problem. Lobo here i come ! Thanks for the advice, Steve

 

[Indian Steve]

I went back to the site today and my second target was a cut 2 Reale. Got more lead and more nails. The Reale was about 4 inches deep. Dreaming of a Lobo. My 49 Indian starts on Ebay tonight. Check the pics. Dime is for size. steve

 

[Terry Soloman]

Wow! Congratulations Steve!

 

[Jersey Hunter]

Great finds. Congrats. I think you'll like the Vaquero also. I love mine.

 

[Killer Angel]

I don't use my Vaquero for relic hunting so I can't help you there but the manual ground balance is really easy. The Vaquero comes with an excellent and easy to read instruction manual. The manual takes you through the process step by step, 4 steps I think, and it's done!!! Once you've done it a few times you'll have it memorized. It is easy!!!

 

[Indian Steve]

Howdy All, It's a great day. I just won a Lobo Super Traq on Ebay and my 1949 Indian Scout just reached reserve on Ebay. I've been back to the store site 3 more times for about an hour each and found more lead shot and nails but nothing exciting. I'm hoping that the Lobo gets here before the start planting. I really want to see the differance and hopefully get some more silver. I will probably be asking advice on settings to get the max depth when it gets here. Thanks Again to all who have replied to this post and THANKS A LOT to Terry for pushing me back to the Lobo that i wanted in the first place. Steve

 

[Terry Soloman]

Howdy All, It's a great day. I just won a Lobo Super Traq on Ebay and my 1949 Indian Scout just reached reserve on Ebay. I've been back to the store site 3 more times for about an hour each and found more lead shot and nails but nothing exciting. I'm hoping that the Lobo gets here before the start planting. I really want to see the differance and hopefully get some more silver. I will probably be asking advice on settings to get the max depth when it gets here. Thanks Again to all who have replied to this post and THANKS A LOT to Terry for pushing me back to the Lobo that i wanted in the first place. Steve

Best of luck with it, and let me know how it is going!! TerrySoloman@aol.com

 

[Indian Steve]

My Lobo Super Traq just arrived !!!!!!! I'm so excited. Can't wait to get in the field. Can you give me any idea which settings would work best. This is quite a differant beast than the Compadre. I've been running the Compadre in all metal and digging everything. I do turn the knob after i get a signal to try to get an idea what i am digging and have gotton pretty good at guessing but i still dig it all. I was only getting about 4 to 5 inches deep and am swinging over and around corn stalks. I've mostly dug lots of rosehead nails, musket balls, trash and the two cut Spanish 2 Realse. I'm hoping to pull up some more goodies from a little deeper. Thanks Again for everybodies advice. Steve

 

[Terry Soloman]

My Lobo Super Traq just arrived !!!!!!! I'm so excited. Can't wait to get in the field. Can you give me any idea which settings would work best. This is quite a differant beast than the Compadre. I've been running the Compadre in all metal and digging everything. I do turn the knob after i get a signal to try to get an idea what i am digging and have gotton pretty good at guessing but i still dig it all. I was only getting about 4 to 5 inches deep and am swinging over and around corn stalks. I've mostly dug lots of rosehead nails, musket balls, trash and the two cut Spanish 2 Realse. I'm hoping to pull up some more goodies from a little deeper. Thanks Again for everybodies advice. Steve

NORMAL Mode; All Metal; set your threshold to a low hum; ground balance by pumping the machine up and down 7" to the ground, back up, back down in a fast motion until the tone goes to a steady flat hum. Now put it in DISCRIMINATE, and set the discrimination to 4. That will knock out most iron and keep nickels (gold). Good Luck!

 

[Indian Steve]

Thanks Terry, I will try it out today if i can avoid the rain. If you are ever near Martinsville Virginia, let me know. I have a guest roon availlable if you need a place to stay. Thanks Again Steve

 

[Indian Steve]

Howdy all, I just got back from a one hour hunt at the same 1748 store site with my new Lobo. I'm very impressed. We had really hit the site hard before with my Compadre, a Whites Coinmaster, and a Whites 5000. Last hunt, i spent almost 2 hours and got 3 lead pieces. Today, i came out with 12 pieces of lead and shot, 3 modern bulletts, and 3 nails in under an hour. Thanks Again for all of the advice and help. steve

 

[Terry Soloman]

Oh yeah baby! Way to go Steve! Welcome to the Howlin' Lobo Brotherhood!

 

[Indian Steve]

Howdy All, Went back to the field again today and got my first button and a strange copper tube and more lead. Dirt is very dry and i am hoping for more depth after we gets some rain. I may try some park hunting tomorrow. Loving the Lobo. steve

 

[cokat7]

Nice finds. The lobo is treating you well.

I have used the Vaq for almost 2 years and it has treated me well, it has great depth capabilities, But I would have to give the edge to the lobo for raw all-metal depth. the only downside to the lobo is that I needed headphones to hear the small deep stuff, the threshold when set right is too quiet to hear faint targets through thee open speaker. In disc mode it goes to a preset Groundbalance which can affect it's peak performance, but if the preset GB is set close to your ground conditions this shouldn't matter. For relic hunting I would suggest getting the 9x8 spoked coil, it's discrimination and depth capabilties exceed that of the stock 5x10.

Keep up the great finds.

 

[Steve Ia]

Steve, The copper tube looks like a ramrod guide for a musket rifle.