Home Made Sand Scoop?

[Tin Shilling]

Has anyone built their own sand scoop? I've seen scoops in posted pics that look home made. If you have, please post a pic or two of your scoop with some instructions, do's and don'ts to building one.

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Tin welcome to TN,

It would depend on what kind of hunting your planning on doing. If its just light sand every Blue Moon, get a cheap hand scoop, if your going to do much serious digging in the sand, unless you can weld your better off buying a good one. You basically get what you pay for. But a cheap one it want last long. I broke the handle on my first $40 scoop diggin at the beach. A good new and some used ones will cost you in the neighborhood of $100 but it is well worth the investment if you use it much.

I have two,one is a "Zeke" scoop from a member on TN who I don't think is making them any longer, and the other I got used, it's a Beach Brute PRO and it takes a bite out of the ground like a backhoe. I had someone weld 2 extra handles on it to make it easier in the water. It is what I use when I beach hunt.

If you can't afford a new one check here for used or on EBay.

good luck and HH

 

[kevino1960]

If you are looking to buy try travisnuttall@yahoo.com (ph 727-492-7928) also on ebay, he makes one dandy beach scoop.

 

[FLauthor]

Go to any feed store and buy a galvanzied grain scoop for about $10.00. Go to a Home Depot or Lowe's hardware store and buy a 8 foot length of 3/4 inch EMT tubing and have them bend it in the middle so its U shaped. Attach the EMT to the grain scoop with 1/4 inch stove bolts. Use your imagination. You might want to replace the grain scoop handle and cross bar with EMT to make it durable. I've built these long handled scoops years ago when money was tight. Don't have a current photo as I upgraded years ago to a manufactured scoop.

 

[spez401]

My advice would be to bypass making one yourself. Sure you can get away with making a homemade scoop for 20 or 25 dollars, but along with the money and time you put into it, you're going to have to consider the frustration you're going to have when you use it... especially if you plan on hunting the lane and water.

homemade scoops would classify at best as light duty. For another 20 bucks, you can get a decent scoop from RTG, or kellyco, or a number of places. For 100 bucks you can get some phenomenal scoops that are nearly indestructable... and if you break it... the company will probably replace it for you.

Sandman and Max are famous for saying something along the lines of "the only thing you can't get back is time... so why waste your time with an inferior product." Spend the money on a good scoop, especially if you plan on doing a lot of beach hunting. the ease of retrieval with a quality scoop will surely outweigh the cost, and the frustration you'll have when you bend and break the homemade one.

Take it from somebody who has tried and broken quite a few scoops before getting a good one

check out:
www.proscoops.com
www.rtgstore.com
www.nuttallenterprises.com
http://sunspotedm.com/beachscoops

steve

 

[Tin Shilling]

Thanks for the replies guys, I have a couple of off the shelf scoops as well. I thought it would be an interesting project to build my own, better mouse trap and all that. I was thinking about an auger in a tube as a possible beach digger, small battery powered motor to turn the auger, elbo and a screen to catch the item.... Just thinking out loud.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Spez is correct. I broke my first scoop, a $40 one from KellyCo. It was just too lightweight for digging the compacted sand. There was no returning it to KellyCo, I tried. I figured out real quick that it wouldn't take long to waste enough money on a couple cheap scoops that I could have bought a good scoop. I have the "beach brute" now, got it used off of Ebay for $100, it digs like a back hoe, and a "zeke scoop" that is still working good, it's my backup.

A good heavy duty beach scoop is worth its weight in gold if your goind to do any heavy duty beach work.

 

[ELECTRA]

I have to admit I am inexperienced when it comes to scoops! I have been using a solid plastic garden trowel (like a long spoon). I "modified" it by drilling about 4 holes in it to allow sand and water to fall through.

I see these large scoops that people use here and wonder how they use them! Do they prevent you from bending over every time you want to dig? How do you generate the strength to "scoop" and plant such a large sand scoop? I would thing you need to put down the detector, take off your headphones and start digging. The problem I see here is that there is too many moves. There is no "economy of motion".

My light little plastic garden trowel allows me to dig with 1 hand. I don't have to remove my headphones, or put my detector down. I can dig-check-dig-check etc and move along to the next target.

How do you guys dig and what do you do to have "economy of movement"??

Thanks.

 

[G.I.B.]

Basically I’m not looking for ‘economy of movement’. I can either go to a gym and get on a hamster wheel, or go to the beach and dig dig dig. I use a heavy duty hand scoop as I intend to do lots of bending over and getting back up. It’s my personal ‘fat boy’ exercise program.

---and my Sand Shark has me doing lots of digging. It helps me get lots of exercise digging up ½ “ pieces of 22 ga. Wire 10” down, along with the extremely valuable antique pull tabs and beer bottle tops.

I did look at the long handle scoops and I don’t see how you can get enough leverage to get a deep bite out of the sand, especially when wet. The few fellows I’ve watched with the long handles were working the loose dry sand higher up on the beach.

I guess it gets back to personal preference, and upper body strength.

And I’ve been known to loiter and dig when nothing at all is there….

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

My beach brute has a 5 foot handle and a huge basket, I can stand on it take a full bite and pry it up with out bending the handle. I had 2 additional handles welded on it to help pull it up when I'm in water over waist deep.

The main reason I use it is the leverageit gives, and when I'm hunting waist deep or deeper it really helps that I don't have to go underwater to pull it up and look. Just my preference is all.

Guyinback, I know what you mean, I have searched for a target that was never there on more then one occassion.

 

[ELECTRA]

No doubt about the exercise!! I decided I will make a new hand scoop with some old 4" PVC pipe I have. I got the idea from one that is for sale on ebay. It will definately quicken my effectiveness and use of time. It will allow me to take big scoops, shake and find my "hit" very quickly. I can't tell you how much time I spent with my old scoop just trying to find a penny!

 

[Mona Lisa]

Here's the cheapest scoop that you can make. I used it for two vacations in North Carolinia. It worked pretty well. I bought a plastic feed scoop and drilled holes all over it. Make sure the holes are smaller than dimes....and you've got an easy cheap scoop.

 

[aleman]

Hi guys,
I build myself that sandscoop out of a 4" PVC Pipe and a heavyduty Fiberglass Handle that I found in the trash. It works pretty good. Great in dry sand good in wet sand, but not big enough for the surf. Sometimes I have to dig over ten times because the waves fill the hole back up. In dry sand it takes 1-3 digs and in waist deep water 3-5 digs.