Tot Lots

[Blind Squirrel]

Does anyone ever find anything of real value in tot lots? I've probably detected 23-30 or so, but all I ever find is a small amount of clad. Thanks and HH. Mean Gene

 

[kai_gold]

I found my first silver coin at a tot lot, a barber dime. Maybe a kid got into a coin collection that he shouldn't have.

 

[miser]

Does anyone ever find anything of real value in tot lots? I've probably detected 23-30 or so, but all I ever find is a small amount of clad. Thanks and HH. Mean Gene

I'm still in the clad camp too, but I keep at it.

Take a look at the posts of Tabdog who almost exclusively uses a $150 Tesoro Compadre that he got for $70.

He hunts plenty of tot lots (his favorite) and he has posted photos of what he has found.

It's enough to inspire even me.

 

[scrubber]

I haven't found much of value in a school tot-lot, but in an upscale neighborhood park tot-lot, I found a $1500 diamond ring. That park had a beach so maybe a mommy's finger shrunk from swimming and then she pushed her kid on the swing and.....oops.

Of course that's only a sample of one good find out of at least 100 tot-lot hunts so it doesn't mean much. You never know where that heart-stopping find will happen. HH

scrubber

ETA: Oh, of course the ring in my avatar isn't the one. I didn't replace it.

 

[Shortstack]

My best gold find was on a Middle School front lawn area in a lower-middle class neighborhood. The school was also used as a polling site. I found a one ounce 14 kt. yellow gold drop pendant with 10 diamonds (no chips; cut and faceted stones). I've written about this find on another thread, in the past, so won't go back into it now.

It was at the grass root level, about 6 feet off of the side of the main sidewalk leading to the front door. It could have been something that a little girl decided to "barrow" from Mama or was lost by the lady owner while standing around in the shade, waiting for her kids, or to vote. Maybe even a teacher lost it.

The point is, you can never second guess what you MIGHT find on a school yard or tot lot.

 

[Born2Dtect]

Yes. I found my first gold diamond ring in a grade school tot lot. It was small, 14k and had 5 small chips. Get this, it was a rubber tire lot. You know shredded. Right of the end of a slide.

Happy detectin'

Ed D.

 

[Produce Guy]

Blow off the tot lots and find out were the teenager lots are (usually behind their highschools) and go there early on a Saturday or sunday morning. I've gone to where my kids use to go and have found a ton of aluminum cans and full unopen bottles of booze,last week we found a keg of beer,still half full with ice around it and with the tap still on it.We've also found silver earrings ,bracelets,etc.But start checking these out instead of the tot lots.

 

[JackInFlorida]

I've gone to where my kids use to go and have found a keg of beer,still half full with ice around it and with the tap still on it.

Did you reprimand your kids for leaving that beer there to go bad? That's alcohol abuse!

 

[Shortstack]

Blow off the tot lots and find out were the teenager lots are (usually behind their highschools) and go there early on a Saturday or sunday morning. I've gone to where my kids use to go and have found a ton of aluminum cans and full unopen bottles of booze,last week we found a keg of beer,still half full with ice around it and with the tap still on it.We've also found silver earrings ,bracelets,etc.But start checking these out instead of the tot lots.

Did you return that tap and collect the deposit?? " Found" money, don't you know.

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

Depends on how hard your competitioin hits them. You can do very well or get skunked. Timing is everything.

Lots of folks will hit the tot lot and leave. Don't do that. Since you are there, check out the fence lines near ball fields, picnic tables, water fountain, grass/dirt parking areas etc..

Happy Hunting.

 

[dave-enc]

its like the others have said if you can be first then you will have a good shot at finding some goodies, if you cant be first as often we arent with me working every other saturday morning now you have to be resourceful. knowing your detector is key going slow is key being in a hurry makes you find less faster. we are dedicated tot lotters and probably will never change ok maybe when its nice and damp a little grass but by and large strictly totlots. we have found gold silver old stuff, and whole lots of other stuff. do we use high end machines no, do we know our machines really good yeas. we dont get to charlotte very often as our schedule has been condensed but we have talked about making a return visit in the next 12 monthes. so if you see 2 old people and a jack russell detecting stop and visit
hh
dave+bobbie

 

[zenwes]

Hi all, I've been lurking for a while and just signed up. I'm still pretty inexperienced with metal detecting and I had a question as I read through this thread. Are school playgrounds and other school "areas" considered public property? Do I need to ask the schools permission? It just seems like you would look very suspicious "snooping" around a school on the weekend. Thanks for the answers...

 

[baylorhall]

I think public schools are fine if the school isn't in session. Private schools are another thing. If you dig in grass and make a mess, someone might complain. Otherwise, I think it's fine.

 

[Lowbatts]

Hi all, I've been lurking for a while and just signed up. I'm still pretty inexperienced with metal detecting and I had a question as I read through this thread. Are school playgrounds and other school "areas" considered public property? Do I need to ask the schools permission? It just seems like you would look very suspicious "snooping" around a school on the weekend. Thanks for the answers...

If you ask permission, will you recieve it? On the other hand, if you go hunt the playgrounds or fields, will anyone complain? Have you ever seen anyone else MD'ing in your area? I spend a lot of early weekend mornings "snooping" around the schoolyards and no one has ever complained, as far as I know.

And the only ones who see me at that time of day on the weekends are the local PD, but they've seen me for years and pay little mind to me unless I call them over to pick up something I think will interest them.

Of course as baylorhall suggests the terms "public" and "private" draw lines of deference for me. Only hit one private schoolyard in all my years, because the caretaker there saw me nearby and asked if I'd like to at the time. Haven't been back, because I'd only go in with a proper invite like that.

And of course, only some short-stemmed reptilians would hunt a schoolyard during the week, when staff or kids are present. Have fun and happy hunting!

 

[TORRERO]

Hi all, I've been lurking for a while and just signed up. I'm still pretty inexperienced with metal detecting and I had a question as I read through this thread. Are school playgrounds and other school "areas" considered public property? Do I need to ask the schools permission? It just seems like you would look very suspicious "snooping" around a school on the weekend. Thanks for the answers...

If you ask permission, will you receive it? On the other hand, if you go hunt the playgrounds or fields, will anyone complain? Have you ever seen anyone else MD'ing in your area? I spend a lot of early weekend mornings "snooping" around the schoolyards and no one has ever complained, as far as I know.

short-stemmed reptilians would hunt a schoolyard during the week, when staff or kids are present. Have fun and happy hunting!

Generally speaking, I hunt it unless told otherwise......
Public schools to me are generally that... Public ...
If there is a fence around it and the gate is open .... I go inside and hunt it...
If it's posted but I see all kinds of local people enjoying the playground, I hunt it...
If its posted and nobody is there.... I don't...
If its a football field with a stadium and the gate is open... (for those joggers out there)
I go in and hunt it.... (good gold potential here..)
If it's a private school but appears to be open (as in no fences) I go...
It's extremely rare to get run off of a place like this, and I don't have set hours, if it's 3pm and I'm
driving by and a playground looks empty....
It won't be for long...
It will have me in it...

And yes, I would be that "short-stemmed reptilian that would hunt a schoolyard during the week"
If that is the only time I see an oportunity to do so....
(but I generally like to wait when no one else is around)

 

[Lowbatts]

Hey Torrerro, I know better, you're not that reptilian.

Saw a couple bulbs working the schoolyard out in back of my place one day while recess was on. They got a polite reprimand from one of the staff, the local PD DARE officer. I think they gave up MD'ing and moved on to some other more nefarious hobby, maybe golf.

But hey, if folks in your town don't mind you walking into a playground during school hours, hunting the grounds, then good for you. Nothing better than a pack of younguns clawing away at every chirp from your machine.

 

[TORRERO]

Hey Torrerro, I know better, you're not that reptilian.

Saw a couple bulbs working the schoolyard out in back of my place one day while recess was on. They got a polite reprimand from one of the staff, the local PD DARE officer. I think they gave up MD'ing and moved on to some other more nefarious hobby, maybe golf.

But hey, if folks in your town don't mind you walking into a playground during school hours, hunting the grounds, then good for you. Nothing better than a pack of younguns clawing away at every chirp from your machine.

In desperation I have been known to hunt a playground when kids are there, or when a ballgame is going on and the kids are in the playground and mom and dad are watching the game...
Only when I was real desperate....
and homeless...
and looking for my next dime...
But it has happened

 

[zenwes]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I was thinking what was said, a public school should be public, since we pay for it afterall. I notice that you are in Charlotte torrerro. I'm in Hickory. Maybe one weekend you could show me the ropes if you felt like having someone tag along.

 

[Cool Hand Fluke]

Gold, gold, and more gold! Tot lots are one of the best places to find it. 10K, 14K, 18K, and 24K jewelry. This is a small sample of over 150 pieces of gold jewelry I've taken out of the wood-chip and sand boxes.