what is a good beginner water machine for fresh water hunts?

vaquero44

Bronze Member
Dec 6, 2009
1,264
329
Maine
Detector(s) used
Deep Tech Vista RG 1000, Deep Tech Vista Gold, Deep Tech RELIC, Garrett prop pointer.....bazooka gold 36" gold trap, Angus MacKirk Grubstake sluice, my version of mikes trommel, echo crevice vac, Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Upvote 0

bootybay

Gold Member
Aug 9, 2007
11,314
120
NJ
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
EXCAL 2, SOV. GT
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hate to tell ya but no matter what machine your using its going to be the same, machine in one hand scooper in other.. just have to get used to it is all.
 

COTTON

Hero Member
Apr 28, 2008
934
12
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Booty nailed it. But i would get the Tiger for fresh water an then you can make a belt leash for it.(hands free)The only time i use mine is when its time for a new chew.LOL. :tongue3:
 

bootybay

Gold Member
Aug 9, 2007
11,314
120
NJ
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
EXCAL 2, SOV. GT
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
and Cottons right too on the tiger shark ( forgot about that one, since I dont have any fresh water lakes near me)... sides, you should see me in the ocean... I could win a funniest home video.. lol
 

OP
OP
V

vaquero44

Bronze Member
Dec 6, 2009
1,264
329
Maine
Detector(s) used
Deep Tech Vista RG 1000, Deep Tech Vista Gold, Deep Tech RELIC, Garrett prop pointer.....bazooka gold 36" gold trap, Angus MacKirk Grubstake sluice, my version of mikes trommel, echo crevice vac, Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
well what was awkward was that i had no scooper which i do have i keep forgetting i do but just was using my hand on real small stuff was hard to pinpoint!
 

Bobbie

Full Member
Nov 7, 2005
111
0
Connecticut and SW Florida
Detector(s) used
2 Minelab Excal 1000, Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Get yourself a DetectorPro Pirate Pro, electronics are in the headset and the machine is good on pinpoint.....right center in the coil with good depth.......6 - 8 inches. Plus it is not expensive and works great on land. The headset is water resistant and can take a dunking.
 

Willee

Sr. Member
May 6, 2009
312
56
Corpus Christi, Texas
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 600 ... Fisher CZ-70 ... Deus 2 ... Makro Legend
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Bobbie said:
Get yourself a DetectorPro Pirate Pro, electronics are in the headset and the machine is good on pinpoint.....right center in the coil with good depth.......6 - 8 inches. Plus it is not expensive and works great on land. The headset is water resistant and can take a dunking.


LOL ... yeah sure ... it is a great machine ... :laughing7:
Had them all ... the best one is the Pirate Pro and I could not get rid of it fast enough. IMHO
Course ... you got to consider ... I am used to using detectors that actually are great machines.

There is no beginner detector.
What you are really wanting to say is "CHEAP".
You will get what you pay for and believe me you will regret buying a cheap machine.
Buy American .... stay away from the Chinese made detectors.
Buy a quality detector and it will pay for itself.

I would strongly recommend you stay away from any PI type detector for fresh water.
Go for the VLF type machine like the White's BeachHunter ID or the Tesoro TigerShark.
A used Fisher CZ-20 or CZ-21 would be a very good choice as would the 1280X they make.
The older Garrett waterproof VLF detectors work well ... but all they make now are the PI types.
 

Bobbie

Full Member
Nov 7, 2005
111
0
Connecticut and SW Florida
Detector(s) used
2 Minelab Excal 1000, Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Willee said:
Bobbie said:
Get yourself a DetectorPro Pirate Pro, electronics are in the headset and the machine is good on pinpoint.....right center in the coil with good depth.......6 - 8 inches. Plus it is not expensive and works great on land. The headset is water resistant and can take a dunking.


LOL ... yeah sure ... it is a great machine ... :laughing7:
Had them all ... the best one is the Pirate Pro and I could not get rid of it fast enough. IMHO
Course ... you got to consider ... I am used to using detectors that actually are great machines.

There is no beginner detector.
What you are really wanting to say is "CHEAP".
You will get what you pay for and believe me you will regret buying a cheap machine.
Buy American .... stay away from the Chinese made detectors.
Buy a quality detector and it will pay for itself.

I would strongly recommend you stay away from any PI type detector for fresh water.
Go for the VLF type machine like the White's BeachHunter ID or the Tesoro TigerShark.
A used Fisher CZ-20 or CZ-21 would be a very good choice as would the 1280X they make.
The older Garrett waterproof VLF detectors work well ... but all they make now are the PI types.

We have had a variety of machines, presently owning Excals, Whites and DetectorPro. We have the first generation DetectorPro Pirate, the newest one is the Pirate Pro, and for an inexpensive machine it really works very well and finds just as much as an Excal. You can easily use this machine on land where it works very well. What you don't want to do is buy a USED Fisher product, they are horribly expensive to fix and there are plenty of broken ones out there waiting for the right sucker to buy it. Whites and Tesoro are both good and have a good repair reputation as well as DetectorPro. It is all in what you can afford and how much water detecting you will be doing.

Don't let someone scare you about DetectorPro, they have a good product and the owner has a lot of history with designing detectors. As far as being made in China..........even the best of the machines have most of their parts made in China. Even Minelab has moved operations to Malaysia.....and that is the best of the best.

If you can wait, save all your clad that you can find and then go top end on a machine.......but remember it is the operator of the detector that finds the treasure, not the detector and a child's toy in the right hands will find treasure.
 

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