which detector for beach and river for gold?

strickman · Mar 23, 2008

i need input from (owners) .which detector would be good for salt beach,p-cola area and fresh water river/creeks for sniping bedrock,must be underwater detector,not affected by black sands ,to use while dredging and beach wading/diving while on vacation.i know this is a tall order ,also as cheap as possible.(yeh,i know every one wants to hit the lottry too ,right) but i would appreciate input .thanks

xXx · Mar 24, 2008

Strickman,
One of the detectors I use is the Beach Hunter ID. This is a good detector if you don't want to dig tons of trash that a PI unit will detect. However, if your looking for depth and it's not a trashy area, I would recommend a PI Unit such as the Minelab SD 2200v2 (not submersible) or White's PI Pro (submersible) just to name a couple good detectors out there.
It all depends on the area your searching (how much trash there will be) and how deep your wanting to go. Not to mention how much you want to spend on the detector. But, that's a whole new topic that wasn't in your question.
Good Luck. Keep the coil to the soil.
xXx

JOE(USA) · Mar 24, 2008

Re: beach and river for gold / coil choice.

strickman,

Something that wasn't mentioned is coil choice. Whatever you end up with, I think the detector should be able to take different size coils. If a detector is used for just one purpose, for one type of target then you might get away with one coil. That doesn't seem to be your case. As "Strickman" correctly told you, the amount of trash is a big factor in whether you choose a PI or VLF machine
I'm a Tesoro dealer and admittedly prejudice but I think the the Tiger Shark would do a great job for you. If you would like to discuss it at length,please PM me. Joe

Eu_citzen · Mar 24, 2008

I would recommend a PI Unit such as the Minelab Excal. or White's PI Pro (just to name a couple good detectors out there).

the ML Excal is a VLF.

PI: big and deep gold, problems with thrash, basic "disc", a ground balancing PI unit is good for Black sand(s)
VLF: big gold not so deep, small gold not so deep, better disc then a PI, might get problems in extreme mineralization.

What size(s) are you after for the gold?
I don't own one but look into the PI made by Garrett the Infinium LS.

xXx · Mar 24, 2008

Good point on the coil selections. I also use an MXT and use different coils for different situations and locations. When it comes to a good multi-purpose machine with several coil possibilities the MXT is a great choice. In fact, this is a great gold machine. Just keep the box dry.
For example, when in a high trash area I'll use the 4" shooter. When on the beach I want as big of a "foot print" as possible. In other words, the larger coil covers more ground with each sweap.
I use the MXT on the salt beach here (which it has a seperate setting for) as well as prospecting for gold in and around streams (which it also has a seperate setting for). This is pretty much a turn on and go machine that sounds about what your looking for although not a submersible detector. For the most part you can't change the coils on an underwater detector.
Good luck
Keep the coil to the soil
xXx

Pepper2004 · Mar 24, 2008

Strickman,

I use a MXT. One thing I love about it is I have several coil options. In fact I just ordered a small coil for it to hunt for gold and in trashy area's. As stated above, you can NOT get the box wet.

If your really wanting a machine where you can dive underwater I would PM Joe.

Let us know what you end up with.

Pepper

Farmercal · Mar 24, 2008

I can only offer advice on the Excalibur 1000 as it is the only water machine I own. It is a great machine and I use it in the surf at Fort Walton Beach, FL. I find lots of coins and jewelry but no iron. It completely ignores anything with iron in it. I do find plenty of can slaw but can slaw and rings sometimes sound the same. As far as black sand, I'm not sure is these Florida beaches have black sand. Good machine and the only one I want to use at the beach (in the water).

Treasure_Hunter · Mar 24, 2008

I can only speak about what I have owned and used.

I had a Beach Hunter ID, good machine, but IMO the battery door is a poor design and you have to be very careful when changing batteries. You could not dive very deep with BHID, and watch the battery door, mine leaked twice and was repaired by Whites under warranty, I traded it in on a new Sovereign GT.

I loved my Minelab Excal, and the way it scored at the salt water beaches, but it is heavy for land hunting. Once I tried the Sovereign GT, seeing what a fantastic machine it truly is, it became my primary dry/wet sand, shallow water detector and the Excal became strictly my surf detector. I got lucky and found another Sov GT for sale that had been customized and was water proofed, I bought it and the Sovereign GT has become my primary water detector, the Excal is now my backup water machine.

Minelabs null on iron and are not affected by blacksands, and are highly praised by their owners.....When they say it "nulls on iron", you still know when the iron is there as you recognized the null as meaning "it's iron"....the good point is they will still tell you when there is a gold ring right next to an iron nail.

Water proofed Sovs are rare, and hard to dive with, but with the Excal II out now, you can pick up a good used Excal 1000 or 800 for $500-$750 used. You want be disappointed if you decided to try the Excal.

Good luck and good hunting.................

John-Edmonton · Mar 25, 2008

I think you might want to research the Infinium. It is not cheap, but 1/3 of the price of the high end Minelabs for gold hunting and is built to be used under water. It gets incredible depth, has some discrimination capabilities and a variety of coils available. It works well in both fresh and salt environments. It does have a learning curve to it. One must learn through the tones what it is telling you. I am assuming that you are a musician, and I have always noticed that people with music abilities do very well in metal detecting. This machine really shines in hunted out areas and in the deeper water. It is not the best for hunting in areas with a lot of junk, as it sounds off on everything. If this is your first detector, I don't recommend it, as it will have too much of a learning curve. Some of the single frequency water machines also do OK, but lose depth as the salt and/or mineralization increases. There is no do it all machine out there. Keep searching and asking a lot of questions. You will eventually get a detector which should help you.....

John-Edmonton